No matter where I am in the world things happen that make the world seem like a small place. Whether it’s meeting people from my hometown when I’m in France or someone commenting on my photo on Facebook that I’m hanging out with her sisters best friend in South Africa. Or that time that I met a Dutch guy in South Africa who turned out to live in a student room one floor below mine in The Netherlands.
While travelling you meet so many people and all those people seem to be connected in some way. Sometimes they know your friends and sometimes you turn out to have the same interests or live very close together without even knowing it. When I was studying in Jyväskylä, Finland, I went on a holiday to Latvia. While I was waiting for the bus to the airport in Tampere I met an Italian boy, on his way to see his family in Italy. He wanted to know at what time the bus would come, because he was running late. Noticing I wasn’t Finnish he started talking.
“Where are you from?”
“Well, I’m Dutch, but I am currently studying in Jyväskylä.”
“No! Me too. I am in year three. What do you study?”
“Music and media management.”
“What? I do something with music at the ammatikoulu.”
“I’m at JAMK. What a coincidence.”
We had a whole conversation and then found out that my new Italian friend was pressed for time. He had to get a taxi to make his flight, whereas I could easily wait for the bus.
Before he left he asked me one more question: “By the way, what’s your name?”
“Andrea.”
He started laughing.
“Noooo!” I screamed, “Your name isn’t Andrea too is it?”
He nodded and we started laughing. Then he hopped into the taxi. A few weeks later I saw him in Jyväskylä. Sometimes the world is small indeed.
thanks for the smile – and yes, it is a small world!! 🙂