Today i met two people who had finally physically met for the first time after knowing each since 2005 (i wish i could say it's the people in this shot above but they're not (though these two are equally as lovely)...i'll probably see them again in a week or so so perhaps i can get some shots of them then!). They seemed so close that i thought that they were childhood friends or so. I've only known my friend Hanna for a month or so now but when i see her, she always asks about my life and school as though we've known each other for much longer & today she introduced me to her friend from Israel and we bonded over some green tea and wagashi (japanese treats). She talked about her long week of going to language school and taking tests and he talked about his love for green tea and about his trip to Japan and they would smile at each other once in a while during topics.
So i asked them the obvious: "So...where did you two meet?" (i had a hunch that they were more than just friends).
And Hanna laughed and said "Oh, we actually just meet yesterday...physically. Remember when myspace was around before facebook? That's how we met in 2005."
And he added "And though there were some blank months, we kept in touch with the occasional birthday greetings and messaging. And do you want to know when i came to Japan? Yesterday. I began planning my trip on Tuesday, worked on Wednesday and jumped on a plane on Thursday. But it's funny, I always thought we'd meet in Israel or England (where she lived before)".
All i could add to that was "Well, that's the beauty of meeting on the internet."
It just made me feel lucky that i was there to be in the presence of two friends (or more, who knows? Well it's their life, i shouldn't butt my nosey head in) who were finally able to actually meet after knowing each other so long - that's not something that happens everyday nor something that happens to a lot of us. It takes the right mix of timing, friendship, commitment and luck and hopefully when i'm 35 (their age) i'll have some experiences like that of my own to share!
Though it's pouring cats and dogs (and possibly frogs and cows at this rate) i uncovered some photos that i'd taken in August in Yokohama on a b-e-a-utiful day.
Wherever you live, be safe and stay warm and hope you have a week where you get to eat something new and sing songs in the rain.
