It's a small world afterall...!

Britta, my friend from Germany, and I (Campbellton, 2006)

Devan, Kyle, Sakura and I, with our Chinese friend, Jackson, in the middle (China, 2004)

Where the world feels smaller, MTA (Fall 2006)

Fridays were always a good day in high school, because there seemed to be a different kind of energy in the air on those days; everyone was in a better mood, less work got done, and people talked about their plans for the weekend. Fridays are a different kind of wonderful now, and I most certainly still enjoy them a great deal. Friday afternoons are probably the highlight of my week, as I finish class at 1:20, have lunch, go to my voice lesson, and I'm free, absolutely free. That feeling is one that I always look forward to; the feeling that I don't have any work to do that day, because it's Friday afternoon, and it's pretty much my one afternoon off. Wonderful.

Now yesterday, Friday afternoon, I wasn't free like I normally would have been. I had an External Affairs meeting, and then a Bloggers' meeting, but that's alright. The Bloggers' meeting was actually quite interesting, and as the discussion turned to many different topics, it eventually reached a point where I was reminded of a memory from a month or two ago, a memory which reminded me how small the world really is. I was walking back to my residence, Harper, on again, a Friday afternoon, having just come from the grocery store, when I met a Chinese student whom I'd never spoken to before. So, I made some conversation, asking her where she was from and such, and she said that she was from Beijing. I happily informed her that I had visited Beijing two summers ago, and asked if she knew of the Concord College of Sino-Canada, where my exchange had taken place. It turned out that she had actually been a student there, and I eagerly asked her if she knew of Wao Mung, who's English name was Sally, and who was my Chinese partner during my exchange. And what blew my mind was the fact that in a city of over 15 million people, and a world of over 6 billion, she knew just who I was talking about. In fact, they were quite good friends, and said that she would said 'hi' to her for me the next time they spoke. I'm always baffled when I think back on this, and I'm reminded of other situations that I've experienced, similar to this. Like the man from Ottawa I met in the airport in Zurich who was a frequent visitor to my cousins' restaurant in Ottawa, or the girl I met at an interview for the Parliamentary Guide Program who grew up in the town next to mine. And this, this is how Mount Allison is for so many students. You meet people from across the country and around the world, and there is always something in common between you. It's an awesome feeling, and is one that makes you feel like you've finally found home.

The ways that we are able to communicate with one another are the main reason for this 'small world' feeling, I think. I mean, I can pick up the phone right now and call my parents who are vacationing in Florida, or I can call one of my best friends, Britta, in Gommern, Germany, just to see what she's been up to. I mailed her a Valentine's Day package, and even though she lives across the ocean and thousands of miles away, it got to her. My old vice principal, Gilbert Cyr, was our chaperon for two of the trips to Europe I took, and he met someone that he knew in almost every single airport or city we visited. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

Now, today seems like a magnificent day! It's Saturday, for starters, which means I got to sleep in until like 11:00, which is, as you can see in my profile, one of my favorite pass times. The sun is shining in full force, and it's a wonderful 5 degrees. I should go for a walk or something this afternoon... I absolutely love the feeling of spring, and even though it snowed a bunch last night, the temperatures look to be getting warmer and warmer. When I was home for Reading Week, I had my window open and it smelled like Spring. Can anyone else smell Spring other than me? I hope so, because it is such a fresh, happy smell :)

Well, I think that about sums up how I'm feeling about life in general for today! I've got some reading to do, and a Psychology midterm to study for, and hopefully a walk to take, which would be nice. As always, please feel free to e-mail me with anything: questions, comments, suggestions, or just to say 'hi'. I always like to hear from those of you who are reading this :)

Much love,

Sue

sjhumphrey@mta.ca