a biennial deal
I wasn't planning to update until I'd gotten all the pictures and whatnot together, but the freakiest thing happened last night, and I have to write about it because it's just that freaky. Long story short, I met someone whom I had met two years ago on a bus in England and not talked to since. And he's here at Brown and we still both remember having met each other, which is the freakiest thing of all.
Long story long: Two years ago I was in a summer program for American high schoolers at Cambridge University. We stayed in Cambridge most of the time, but occasionally we would take day trips to London or other parts of the country in sex-segregated buses. One day the all-girls bus I was on broke down in the middle of one of these trips (if I recall correctly... I mean it was two whole years ago) and we got shifted onto a all-boys bus that was only half-full. Of course, the boys, being the horny teenagers that they were, had deliberately spread themselves out throughout the bus so that girls would be forced to sit with them. Most of these boys were preppy girl-crazy Southern boys (the summer program had a ridiculous excess of them, for some reason), and at that time in my life I was rather socially awkward and deathly scared of having to interact with preppy girl-crazy Southern boys. And so when I got on the bus and saw that I would have to sit with a guy, I went and chose the geekiest-looking one I could find. I was thinking that I might be able to avoid talking to him altogether on the whole trip back, but after a few humorous icebreaking comments about the mindless action flick that was playing at the front of the bus (I don't remember what was said, but I'm pretty sure the movie was The Fast and the Furious), we ended up talking and cracking up the whole way--which was two or three hours--in what was honestly one of the most comfortable and least socially awkward conversations I had had ever. I don't think I was attracted to him at any point (two years ago, despite being a geek myself, I wasn't really into flamingly geeky guys--yeah hypocritical I know), but by the time I got off the bus I was thinking I would very much like being able to talk to him again. But we only bumped into each other a few more times before the program ended, and we left each other no contact info. Since then, his existence probably crossed my mind in passing a few times. I know he crossed my mind when Hurricane Katrina happened, because he was the only person in the world who I could remember was from Louisiana--which was also the only personal detail I remembered about him. Well, besides the fact that he was really into Japanese things and was facing some pretty amusing challenges trying to learn Japanese, which was the only other thing I remembered about him. I didn't even remember his name.
Fast forward to last night: It's past midnight, and I'm hanging out with some kids after watching Taiko, a pretty intense and awesome Japanese drumming performance put on by Brown students (BIG DRUMS, BIG SOUND). These kids live in Perkins, which is basically as far away from my end of campus as you can possibly get, but I follow them there anyway and find myself in Jo's, the one campus eatery that I hardly ever go to because it's so goddamn far away. Perkins kids are regulars there, though, because it's conversely the only eatery that's actually close to them. My companions stop by a table full of Perkins kids to say hi, so I look around to see if I recognize anyone, and a minute later we're starting to turn away when a guy at the table starts talking to me.
Guy: (pointing at my Cambridge University t-shirt, which I just happen to be wearing) "Hey, did you actually get that in Cambridge?"
Me: (kind of used to this) "Yeah, I was at a summer program there two years ago."
"Really? Was it a Cambridge University program?"
"Yeah, it's called the Cambridge College Programme--"
"Really? I was in that too, two years ago!"
"Really? That's amazing!"
"Yeah, and when I got here I found that Sarah--" (gestures at a girl at the table) "--who lives on my floor, was also in the Cambridge program. And now there's you. So wow."
"This is pretty incredibly coincidental, for sure."
"Yeahhh." (by this time he's starting to look at me kind of oddly) "Do you think it's possible we met each other there?"
"Maybe..." (by this time something about him is starting to ring a bell in the back of my mind too) "Where are you from?"
"I'm from Louisiana."
"Ohhh. Uh, umm, I think I did meet someone from Lousiana there. It might have been you. Possibly."
"Huh. Which college did you live in?"
"Uhhhh... I can't remember right now. Uh, if you're the person I'm thinking of, I might have met you on a bus--"
"Yes! A bus! ...Did you use to wear glasses?"
"Yes. Yes I did."
"Oh my god. I think I remember meeting you."
"I think I remember you too. We talked for a really long time on a bus. I don't remember where we were coming from."
"Me neither."
"What were we talking about?"
"I...I don't know."
"I think we talked about perfect circles at some point. I remember this because we were talking kind of loud and this girl across the aisle asked us if we were talking about the band A Perfect Circle, and we were like no--"
"--no, we're actually talking about actual perfect circles, because we totally aren't that cool."
(a certain shock falls over us for about three seconds)
"... So, what is your name?"
"Tim."
"... I guess I better facebook you."
This is freaky because
a) we talked for a total of three hours, maybe, two years ago, and haven't heard from each other since
b) we both ended up at Brown
c) we still both remember each other, and neither of us needed help remembering
d) I never go to Jo's, and the one time I'm there, he's there too and I happen to be wearing my Cambridge University t-shirt, of all the shirts I could have worn, and we have mutual acquaintances there so that we actually end up being within 10 feet of each other
One word: FREAKY.
The sad part is, he also lives in Perkins (a good 15-minute walk from my dorm) which means that visiting him would have to be a very deliberate action. I do have existing friends there, though, and band practice is also in that area, so maybe we'll meet again. Although I did suggest, upon parting, that perhaps we should consciously avoid each other and see if we bump into each other again two years later in some random place in Africa or something. Haha, maybe that will actually happen.
Real update coming up...soon!
Long story long: Two years ago I was in a summer program for American high schoolers at Cambridge University. We stayed in Cambridge most of the time, but occasionally we would take day trips to London or other parts of the country in sex-segregated buses. One day the all-girls bus I was on broke down in the middle of one of these trips (if I recall correctly... I mean it was two whole years ago) and we got shifted onto a all-boys bus that was only half-full. Of course, the boys, being the horny teenagers that they were, had deliberately spread themselves out throughout the bus so that girls would be forced to sit with them. Most of these boys were preppy girl-crazy Southern boys (the summer program had a ridiculous excess of them, for some reason), and at that time in my life I was rather socially awkward and deathly scared of having to interact with preppy girl-crazy Southern boys. And so when I got on the bus and saw that I would have to sit with a guy, I went and chose the geekiest-looking one I could find. I was thinking that I might be able to avoid talking to him altogether on the whole trip back, but after a few humorous icebreaking comments about the mindless action flick that was playing at the front of the bus (I don't remember what was said, but I'm pretty sure the movie was The Fast and the Furious), we ended up talking and cracking up the whole way--which was two or three hours--in what was honestly one of the most comfortable and least socially awkward conversations I had had ever. I don't think I was attracted to him at any point (two years ago, despite being a geek myself, I wasn't really into flamingly geeky guys--yeah hypocritical I know), but by the time I got off the bus I was thinking I would very much like being able to talk to him again. But we only bumped into each other a few more times before the program ended, and we left each other no contact info. Since then, his existence probably crossed my mind in passing a few times. I know he crossed my mind when Hurricane Katrina happened, because he was the only person in the world who I could remember was from Louisiana--which was also the only personal detail I remembered about him. Well, besides the fact that he was really into Japanese things and was facing some pretty amusing challenges trying to learn Japanese, which was the only other thing I remembered about him. I didn't even remember his name.
Fast forward to last night: It's past midnight, and I'm hanging out with some kids after watching Taiko, a pretty intense and awesome Japanese drumming performance put on by Brown students (BIG DRUMS, BIG SOUND). These kids live in Perkins, which is basically as far away from my end of campus as you can possibly get, but I follow them there anyway and find myself in Jo's, the one campus eatery that I hardly ever go to because it's so goddamn far away. Perkins kids are regulars there, though, because it's conversely the only eatery that's actually close to them. My companions stop by a table full of Perkins kids to say hi, so I look around to see if I recognize anyone, and a minute later we're starting to turn away when a guy at the table starts talking to me.
Guy: (pointing at my Cambridge University t-shirt, which I just happen to be wearing) "Hey, did you actually get that in Cambridge?"
Me: (kind of used to this) "Yeah, I was at a summer program there two years ago."
"Really? Was it a Cambridge University program?"
"Yeah, it's called the Cambridge College Programme--"
"Really? I was in that too, two years ago!"
"Really? That's amazing!"
"Yeah, and when I got here I found that Sarah--" (gestures at a girl at the table) "--who lives on my floor, was also in the Cambridge program. And now there's you. So wow."
"This is pretty incredibly coincidental, for sure."
"Yeahhh." (by this time he's starting to look at me kind of oddly) "Do you think it's possible we met each other there?"
"Maybe..." (by this time something about him is starting to ring a bell in the back of my mind too) "Where are you from?"
"I'm from Louisiana."
"Ohhh. Uh, umm, I think I did meet someone from Lousiana there. It might have been you. Possibly."
"Huh. Which college did you live in?"
"Uhhhh... I can't remember right now. Uh, if you're the person I'm thinking of, I might have met you on a bus--"
"Yes! A bus! ...Did you use to wear glasses?"
"Yes. Yes I did."
"Oh my god. I think I remember meeting you."
"I think I remember you too. We talked for a really long time on a bus. I don't remember where we were coming from."
"Me neither."
"What were we talking about?"
"I...I don't know."
"I think we talked about perfect circles at some point. I remember this because we were talking kind of loud and this girl across the aisle asked us if we were talking about the band A Perfect Circle, and we were like no--"
"--no, we're actually talking about actual perfect circles, because we totally aren't that cool."
(a certain shock falls over us for about three seconds)
"... So, what is your name?"
"Tim."
"... I guess I better facebook you."
This is freaky because
a) we talked for a total of three hours, maybe, two years ago, and haven't heard from each other since
b) we both ended up at Brown
c) we still both remember each other, and neither of us needed help remembering
d) I never go to Jo's, and the one time I'm there, he's there too and I happen to be wearing my Cambridge University t-shirt, of all the shirts I could have worn, and we have mutual acquaintances there so that we actually end up being within 10 feet of each other
One word: FREAKY.
The sad part is, he also lives in Perkins (a good 15-minute walk from my dorm) which means that visiting him would have to be a very deliberate action. I do have existing friends there, though, and band practice is also in that area, so maybe we'll meet again. Although I did suggest, upon parting, that perhaps we should consciously avoid each other and see if we bump into each other again two years later in some random place in Africa or something. Haha, maybe that will actually happen.
Real update coming up...soon!