I think I may have just met a new eccentric.
One of my neighbors in our apartment building is a woman from Kazakhstan who grew up under Soviet rule. She tells me that her father was an opera singer, so at the age of six he had her start learning piano. Being in the USSR this meant that her life was thereafter dedicated to music.

I met her at a housewarming party one of the other tenants was giving. She has classic Mongolian features and a default expression that is rather forbidding, but as soon as I began chatting at this party she tuned directly in on me and informed me that I have an unusual voice. Puzzled, I politely asked her what she meant.

"You have great resonance and timbre," she replied in a very Russian sounding accent. "You should be a singer and perform opera."

It took a while to convince me that she wasn't joking. I knew that she was a serious musician as I had seen the workmen carrying a baby grand up the stairs, but this? Really?

I have an appointment tomorrow to come to her flat so she can really get a feel for my voice. I'm actually a little nervous.

On the other hand, I have got to figure out a way to get her to say "moose and squirrel" at least once...

UPDATE: on having spent three hours with her, I conclude that she's not actually an eccentric, just a woman whose main passion in life seems to be music. But after three hours of voice training I do need a day or two to recover.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Tue 2 Oct 2012, 18:34, 7 replies)

Why would she have Mongolian features if she's Kazakh?
Does she have Down's?
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Tue 2 Oct 2012, 21:01, closed)

Here, let me help you with that.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakhstan

Also, from the Wikipedia article on Mongolia: Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Kazakhstan's eastern tip.

All is explained there, though from what I've seen of your reading comprehension skills I may have just wasted my time.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Wed 3 Oct 2012, 5:22, closed)

That's lovely.
Only there's a Kazakh sitting next to me wondering what the fuck you're talking about. Are you an idiot or just totally missing a sense of humour?

(that's a question from her, not me ... I already know you're an idiot with no sense of humour)
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Wed 3 Oct 2012, 18:01, closed)

...ummm... yeah. Right. Tell ya what, why don't you and your invisible friend go off and play with yourselves, mmkay? That's a good boy.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Thu 4 Oct 2012, 6:40, closed)

She's a colleague.
She's still curious why you would think a Kazakh would look Mongolian.
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Thu 4 Oct 2012, 8:02, closed)

My wife is Russian, she is asked to say, "Moose and Squirrel" quite often.
(Dneprdave, Tue 2 Oct 2012, 22:55, closed)

Hopefully she has a good sense of humor about this.
I don't know this woman well enough yet to joke with her about her accent, but wow does she sound like Natasha.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Wed 3 Oct 2012, 5:24, closed)