From Andrea: I hadn’t planned to blog today but HAD to share this story! After a day exploring Gamla Stan (Stockholm’s historic district), then enjoying two walking tours guided by Rick Steves’s helpful tour books, we found a yummy Vietnamese restaurant near Hotorget (Haymarket). We had planned to return to Gamla Stan for dinner to a Russian restaurant, but decided to stay where we were as we were a bit tired. Well, after dinner we began our walk home. As we turned the corner onto a busier street, a woman approached me and when I looked at her, I realized she was a former student of ours from Kazakhstan. [For those of you who don’t know, Aaron and I worked in Astana, Kazakhstan, for two years after college. We taught English, economics and business (and I think Aaron even taught Spanish) in local universities.] Julia was such a huge part of our lives during those two years, so imagine my surprise to see her on the streets of Stockholm! And I cannot believe she recognized us! I was in complete shock and utter disbelief at the probability of this encounter. Julia lives in Germany with her beautiful family and is in Stockholm for the weekend. What an absolute joy it was to reconnect with her! The last time we saw her was in Boston in 2002. As we walked home, the kids listed all the things that had to happen to put us on that corner at that precise time, starting with canceling the UK portion of our trip, followed by the little decisions we made throughout the day (thanks to August for making a last minute run to the bathroom at the restaurant!), including abandoning the plan to go to the Russian restaurant. We are so thrilled to be back in touch with Julia and completely honored that our children had the opportunity to meet her.
In the spirit of reconnecting, we were excited to learn that Aaron’s younger cousin, Klara, is now living in Stockholm and tomorrow we will have dinner with her. What a treat to be able to see family all the way in Sweden!
