Where Are You From?

Imagine the following situational analysis, which is purely fictitious:

 "Where are you from?"

I stare blankly back at the grey haired, smiling lady, as her question sinks in. The first words she has uttered to me, after we exchanged names. I grin widely. "I'm from Jo'burg", I say vaguely, giving a general answer.

"But where in Jo'burg?" She smiles politely, rocking back slightly on her heels and straightering up. "I'm from Sandton", she says, "to the north of Jo'burg".

"Ah yes", I say with a drawl as realisation hits me, "I'm from Roodepoort", and I place emphasis on rolling the "r" and elongating the "oo" sounds.

Her smile shudders slightly and her interest wanes. "Well, better run", she murmurs as she grabs her handbag and turns to go. "I have a long day ahead of me."

I watch her go. She really seems to be hurrying away.

I giggle to myself. Should I perhaps have answered, "near Ruimsig", which is part of Roodepoort, when she asked me where I was from? You know, Ruimsig, the home of the country club and prestige golf estate and luxurious country manors? Or I might have said "Weltevredenpark", which has some really wonderful houses. Roodepoort sounds so, well, hard to explain really. When I say Roodepoort I think of run down houses crammed together, and it's not necessarily a place you would proudly say you were from if you suspect a motive behind why you are being asked. Why did she want to know anyway, I wonder, as we both now live worlds away in a new country, where different cultural norms are at play? Do the same rules still apply? Why did she hurry away like that? Am I judged on where I am from even before I have said my first real sentence?

Where are you from? Does it matter?