It actually is a small world after all

You often hear it is a small world, but I have been blown away a few times by how true this statement really is. I have instances that are amazing.

Well, at least I think so.

The first time I remember clearly telling myself it is a small world was when I was in a bar in the city of Taichung, Taiwan and I met a girl who had lived on the same dorm floor I had when I attended the University of Maryland. I lived in an eight story building that had 80 students on each floor.

This girl was passing through and I barely remember what she looked like. Still, she made an impact. First, it started out that we realized we had gone to Maryland. I think I was wearing a Terp t-shirt. For those not in the know, Terp is short for Terrapin, our school mascot. A terrapin is a very vicious turtle.

Okay, maybe not vicious exactly if found in the wild, but the school’s motto is “fear the turtle”. In truth most terrapins native to the mid-Atlantic states are hard to find because they were used in turtle soup.

I love turtle soup.

But I digress.

This girl and I figured out fairly quickly we had lived in Easton 7 (name of dorm and floor) although it was at different junctures of time. Both of us exclaimed at the same moment what a small world it was. I can honestly say, even being in bars or parties in Maryland, I have never found someone who lived on the same floor of the dorm where I went to school.

Truthfully, this encounter pales to the next time I realized what a small world it was.

Taiwan

My buddy Darby Doll (Buck and Ardyce Hoem’s grandson for you folk that have lived in the Valley 50 years or so) and I were in a little beach town in Taiwan. Kenting, back in that time, was magical because it wasn’t really developed and you could camp on the beaches. Plus, there was a nearby national park that had awesome jungle hiking. During this time, there were small hotels, but no resorts or five stars that had invaded places similar to Kenting.

I would guess the town had about 5,000 people around that time. It is situated at the bottom tip of the island. Getting there is a bus or car ride and, although Westerners did come to Kenting, it was a place that mostly hordes of Taiwanese and Chinese tourists visited. They would come in, literally, by the busload. Westerners stuck out because there usually weren’t that many and there was sparse American representation of that group.

Food was mostly Chinese or a terrible, terrible imitation of what the Taiwanese thought Western food tasted like. There was one exception. A Frenchman and his Thai wife had a fusion restaurant of Thai and French food called Didi’s. It was awesome.

I guess another small world story is that the French guy worked with my ex-wife when she had come to Taiwan a couple years before I had come to the island. I will never forget him telling me I was lucky to be an ex instead of a current. Anyway, whenever I went down to Kenting, Didi’s was on my agenda to stop by.

So, one time Darby and I were walking into Didi’s and a couple older guys were sitting on the outside porch drinking beer. Those who know Darby know he will tell people he was raised in Encampment, though he went off to Ft. Collins for high school. As we walked in, Darby heard them say something about Wyoming. He stopped and asked if they were from Wyoming. They said yes and, of course, Darby asked from where. I will never forget the next words.

“Aw, you probably haven’t even heard of where we come from. It is a little town called Baggs.”

Needless to say, Encampment boy immediately bonded with these guys. They were oil workers of some sort. I found it hilarious that these guys from two small towns in Carbon County were meeting in a small beach town 4,000-plus miles away from Wyoming.

If I really think about it, I do have a lot good small world stories.

Oz/D.C.

However, the one I am going to relate now is by far the biggest contender for “it is a small world.” It took place in Australia and Washington D.C.

Huh?

For about a year I lived in Noosa, Australia. It was my second time to go live in Oz. The first time, I had lived in Brisbane, Queensland and I loved it. My strategy this time around was to start in Sydney and just head north until I found the town I wanted to live in. It took me a couple weeks, but when I came over the hill with the town of Noosa unfolding before me with its jungle and beaches, I knew I found my home for the year to come.

I found a motel that was decent and I immediately went off to a rental office. Noosa is on the Sunshine Coast, which is about two hours north of Brisbane. It is a bit of a tourist place because it is reputed to have the best surfing beaches in the entire country. There are also two national parks surrounding the town with a sleepy river that empties out into the sea right next to the town. It really is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, much less lived.

I snagged a cool furnished apartment in a small complex of six units that had a small pool where I could do laps. My neighbors were incredibly friendly and I have always been grateful I got to live where I did. Noosa is fantastic to begin with, but to have an excellent place to come home after a day on the beach or a run through the national park made it one of my all time favorite places I have lived. Plus, I bartended at a superb establishment and even did some writing.

Leaving Noosa and the life I had established was one of the hardest things I have ever done,but I knew a new adventure was awaiting me in Wyoming. My regret was tempered with finally getting to live in the townhouse I had bought in Saratoga the year before.

First, I had to go back east to get all my stuff that had been put in storage when I left the U.S.

While in the D.C. area, I decided to visit the minister I had known since I was twelve. He was only in his twenties when he took over the ministry of the church my family attended. When I saw him this time, I was in my 30s and he was knocking on 60.

Paul is a great guy besides being an amazing minister. He presided over my marriage ceremony and counseled me during my breakup. It is no understatement to say he has been an important person in my life

When I came to the church of my younger years, it had a very homey feeling. Little did I know that my best “it is a small world” story was about to happen.

I met Paul in his office and he was welcoming, even though it had been almost a decade since we had seen each other.

It didn’t take long for us to get on the subject of Australia. I even had some pictures with me. To my surprise, he told me that he had been taking his vacations in Australia for the last ten years. He said the past year he hadn’t been able to make his yearly trek. Then, in the next moment, I found out he always went to Noosa.

Noosa, including suburbs, is only 20,000 people. Although Australians know it well, it is off the beaten track for American tourists. Plus, you could only get there by bus. There was no airport and the train station was inland about 10 miles. So, yeah, not a place on the usual tourist map. I was a little blown away he knew the town I had recently called home.

Paul asked me where I lived and I decided I would give him the name of the street that was a little more well known. My street jutted off it.

“Oh I know Natasha Street,” Paul said. “I lived in a complex that was off Katrina.”

No way! I lived off Katrina.

Given that there were only four of five complexes all about the same size on Katrina, the next moment was finding out exactly where on Katrina.

Unbelievably, it was my complex.

What are the odds?

Then came the next startling revelation. The unit he always rented was the one I had lived in. He had a standing agreement with the owner, but due to Paul staying away that year, it was rented to me during the time he would have been there.

I remember showing pictures I had of the pool area and he pointed out two trees he had planted.

Crazy.

I had pictures of the apartment and sure enough, Paul confirmed it was the place he resided while in Australia. It was a little ironic to me the bed I had used for sleeping and other things was the same my minister used.

Seeing Paul was a good visit not only because I have a minister who is so cool, but I walked out realizing it really, is a small world if you go out and see it.