When we boarded our Los Angeles bound flight in Singapore, we discovered that we were to be seated in a side section for three instead of the four-seated middle section we had requested. That meant we’d have to stand up every time the person by the window wanted to get out. I just hoped it wouldn't be LaMarcus Aldridge, the 6’11” basketball player. Not to worry! Our seatmate turned out to be a petite young Asian woman.
About an hour after our flight took off, I began to chat with the young woman at the window. She told me she was from Hyderabad, India.
“Really?” I asked. “Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh? I used to teach at a girls’ school in Rajahmundry!”
“What? In Rajahmundry? You must have learned Telugu then. Do you still speak it?
From then on the time simply flew. When I asked her where she was going in the U.S., she explained that this was her first trip to the States. She would be studying at a university in a place I’d probably never heard of - Redlands, California.
Now it was my turn to be surprised. “Our son works there, and we’re on our way there now to see him!” I told her excitedly.
By the time we had landed in LAX, the two of us had exchanged email and Facebook addresses and promised to keep in touch. What a coincidence to be seated next to someone I could become friends with!
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My husband, Daniel, was scheduled to give several presentations at a conference in Columbus, Ohio the following week. After a five-day visit with our son in Redlands, we took a Super Shuttle to LAX to catch our next flight. The Hispanic driver smiled at us as we said goodbye to our son.
Heading west on I-10. Daniel and I chatted together in Indonesian. Stunned, the driver glanced back at us through his rear view mirror. “Excuse me,” he said, “but are you from Indonesia? I was born in Jakarta!”
Twenty minutes later our son called to check on us. While talking to him, Daniel suddenly leaned forward and gave instructions to the driver. In a puzzled voice our son asked, “Dad, who are you talking to in Indonesian? What? You mean that 'Hispanic' driver is from Indonesia?”
What a coincidence! I mean, what are the chances of just happening to get a LAX Super Shuttle driver who speaks Indonesian?
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Fast forward two weeks and we were boarding our plane from LAX to Singapore. This time we were assigned seats in the middle section, as requested. A Western couple came in and sat in the other two seats of our row of four. We said hello to each other briefly but didn’t talk much until we were approaching Narita.
“Are you getting off in Japan or continuing on to Singapore?” the lady asked.
“Going on to Singapore,” I replied. “And you?”
“We’re stopping off in Singapore on our way to Indonesia to work in Surabaya,” she continued.
“Oh, we live in Indonesia!” I replied. As we continued chatting, we were amazed to discover that their stateside director had participated in the same conference the week before at which my husband was a keynote speaker. Even more surprising, he had told them all about Daniel – who then opened his laptop and showed them a picture of himself with their boss! Out of 300 people on the plane, what a coincidence that we just happened to have been assigned seats together with these people on our trans-Pacific flight.
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A young, vivacious Indian woman who spoke Telugu, knew my home town in India, and was going to Redlands where our son worked? A Super Shuttle bus driver in Redlands who had grown up in Jakarta and spoke to us in Indonesian? And now an American couple whose boss had met my husband and told them all about him? What a coincidence!
Or was it?
About an hour after our flight took off, I began to chat with the young woman at the window. She told me she was from Hyderabad, India.
“Really?” I asked. “Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh? I used to teach at a girls’ school in Rajahmundry!”
“What? In Rajahmundry? You must have learned Telugu then. Do you still speak it?
From then on the time simply flew. When I asked her where she was going in the U.S., she explained that this was her first trip to the States. She would be studying at a university in a place I’d probably never heard of - Redlands, California.
Now it was my turn to be surprised. “Our son works there, and we’re on our way there now to see him!” I told her excitedly.
By the time we had landed in LAX, the two of us had exchanged email and Facebook addresses and promised to keep in touch. What a coincidence to be seated next to someone I could become friends with!
-------------------------------------
My husband, Daniel, was scheduled to give several presentations at a conference in Columbus, Ohio the following week. After a five-day visit with our son in Redlands, we took a Super Shuttle to LAX to catch our next flight. The Hispanic driver smiled at us as we said goodbye to our son.
Heading west on I-10. Daniel and I chatted together in Indonesian. Stunned, the driver glanced back at us through his rear view mirror. “Excuse me,” he said, “but are you from Indonesia? I was born in Jakarta!”
Twenty minutes later our son called to check on us. While talking to him, Daniel suddenly leaned forward and gave instructions to the driver. In a puzzled voice our son asked, “Dad, who are you talking to in Indonesian? What? You mean that 'Hispanic' driver is from Indonesia?”
What a coincidence! I mean, what are the chances of just happening to get a LAX Super Shuttle driver who speaks Indonesian?
------------------------------------------
Fast forward two weeks and we were boarding our plane from LAX to Singapore. This time we were assigned seats in the middle section, as requested. A Western couple came in and sat in the other two seats of our row of four. We said hello to each other briefly but didn’t talk much until we were approaching Narita.
“Are you getting off in Japan or continuing on to Singapore?” the lady asked.
“Going on to Singapore,” I replied. “And you?”
“We’re stopping off in Singapore on our way to Indonesia to work in Surabaya,” she continued.
“Oh, we live in Indonesia!” I replied. As we continued chatting, we were amazed to discover that their stateside director had participated in the same conference the week before at which my husband was a keynote speaker. Even more surprising, he had told them all about Daniel – who then opened his laptop and showed them a picture of himself with their boss! Out of 300 people on the plane, what a coincidence that we just happened to have been assigned seats together with these people on our trans-Pacific flight.
__________________________
A young, vivacious Indian woman who spoke Telugu, knew my home town in India, and was going to Redlands where our son worked? A Super Shuttle bus driver in Redlands who had grown up in Jakarta and spoke to us in Indonesian? And now an American couple whose boss had met my husband and told them all about him? What a coincidence!
Or was it?