Alternate title for this entry: Quel drôle de monde
When I was an exchange student in France, there were two Australians (fellow exchange students) who became particularly dear to me.
The first one was a boy named Joseph who had already been living in France for 7 months when I arrived, and so had to leave 4 months after we met. The second one was a girl named Claire who arrived in January around a week after he left.
Incidentally, both came from northeastern Australia (the Cairns area), and got the chance to meet shortly after Joseph arrived back in Australia, and shortly before Claire left for France.
I never had the chance to be with the both of them at the same time, despite being the center of this interesting circle of friendship that spans an impressive distance.
(If it counts somewhat, Joseph and I Skyped Claire when she was still in Australia, and then Claire and I Skyped Joseph when he was back in Australia.)
I left France in June 2013, and Claire left it in January 2014. I haven't seen any of them in almost a year and a half. So why am I writing this?
The other night, I got a message from Claire that seemed rather urgent, asking to Skype me right away. It just said something along the lines of "Guess who I saw!?!?"
When I saw that the message was sent from Brisbane, where Joseph is now a university student, I knew.
The suspense was killing me nonetheless, especially since Brisbane is more than 800 miles away from Cairns, so I got on Skype at around 2:45 am (4:45 pm Australia) to talk to Claire.
Hearing her voice again brought me so much joy I forgot the fact that I was dying to go to bed. It was just as I had remembered it in my mind.
It turned out she did run into Joseph again, but hearing how was astounding.
She was at his university for some function with her school, not knowing that he went to school there. During a break, she and a friend were hanging out by a soccer field. There were some guys playing. One of them seemed oddly familiar.
She took a closer look and became absolutely certain that it was Joseph.
She wasn't sure what to do, since she had only met him once before. Then she came to the realization, Amanda will kill me if I don't talk to him! (You bet I would.)
So she went up to him, and he was extremely surprised, but he recognized her. They were only able to meet very briefly, but were glad to see each other nonetheless. She told him that Amanda would kill her if she didn't go say hi, and he laughed, "Yeah, she probably would."
What I wouldn't have given to be with them at that moment.
It's so strange to think that the last time these two met, Claire and I hadn't met yet, and hadn't yet made all the amazing memories we have together. But as of then, both share an abundance of wonderful memories with me. It made me so, so happy to hear of this serendipitous turn of events. At the same time though, my heart ached a bit that I couldn't have been there with them.
If anything, that random incident encouraged me. It encouraged me that the amazing people I met whose memories are still so strong in my mind continue to exist somewhere in this world, and that chance reunions, even those that are too good to be true, can indeed happen.
It's in my hopes now that one day, I could see them again, planned or by chance (though considering how things in my life never go according to plan, a chance meeting would be more likely). Maybe even at the same time. A traveler is always open to every possibility.
Either way, here's a timeline I made for fun to visualize this entry better!
When I was an exchange student in France, there were two Australians (fellow exchange students) who became particularly dear to me.
The first one was a boy named Joseph who had already been living in France for 7 months when I arrived, and so had to leave 4 months after we met. The second one was a girl named Claire who arrived in January around a week after he left.
Incidentally, both came from northeastern Australia (the Cairns area), and got the chance to meet shortly after Joseph arrived back in Australia, and shortly before Claire left for France.
I never had the chance to be with the both of them at the same time, despite being the center of this interesting circle of friendship that spans an impressive distance.
(If it counts somewhat, Joseph and I Skyped Claire when she was still in Australia, and then Claire and I Skyped Joseph when he was back in Australia.)
I left France in June 2013, and Claire left it in January 2014. I haven't seen any of them in almost a year and a half. So why am I writing this?
The other night, I got a message from Claire that seemed rather urgent, asking to Skype me right away. It just said something along the lines of "Guess who I saw!?!?"
When I saw that the message was sent from Brisbane, where Joseph is now a university student, I knew.
The suspense was killing me nonetheless, especially since Brisbane is more than 800 miles away from Cairns, so I got on Skype at around 2:45 am (4:45 pm Australia) to talk to Claire.
Hearing her voice again brought me so much joy I forgot the fact that I was dying to go to bed. It was just as I had remembered it in my mind.
It turned out she did run into Joseph again, but hearing how was astounding.
She was at his university for some function with her school, not knowing that he went to school there. During a break, she and a friend were hanging out by a soccer field. There were some guys playing. One of them seemed oddly familiar.
She took a closer look and became absolutely certain that it was Joseph.
She wasn't sure what to do, since she had only met him once before. Then she came to the realization, Amanda will kill me if I don't talk to him! (You bet I would.)
So she went up to him, and he was extremely surprised, but he recognized her. They were only able to meet very briefly, but were glad to see each other nonetheless. She told him that Amanda would kill her if she didn't go say hi, and he laughed, "Yeah, she probably would."
What I wouldn't have given to be with them at that moment.
It's so strange to think that the last time these two met, Claire and I hadn't met yet, and hadn't yet made all the amazing memories we have together. But as of then, both share an abundance of wonderful memories with me. It made me so, so happy to hear of this serendipitous turn of events. At the same time though, my heart ached a bit that I couldn't have been there with them.
If anything, that random incident encouraged me. It encouraged me that the amazing people I met whose memories are still so strong in my mind continue to exist somewhere in this world, and that chance reunions, even those that are too good to be true, can indeed happen.
It's in my hopes now that one day, I could see them again, planned or by chance (though considering how things in my life never go according to plan, a chance meeting would be more likely). Maybe even at the same time. A traveler is always open to every possibility.
Either way, here's a timeline I made for fun to visualize this entry better!
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