Thankful it's a small world!

The thing about living abroad is that you make a lot of friends. And somehow you seem to run into people again even when you don't expect it. Even after 10 years! That's what happened this weekend... 

When I was 22, I graduated university and headed off to China to seek adventure and my first teaching job. This weekend, one of my friends from that adventure arrived in Budapest. In 2002 I moved back to America from China, then Kenya and Hungary. While Fan Fan got married to an American friend, lived in China, then America and now has two beautiful daughters. Our lives have definitely changed since we first met in 2001!

This weekend we enjoyed catching up, hearing stories and hanging out again. Last time we saw each other was 2004 when I took a trip back to China. We traveled to Tibet together then, and now I'm showing her the sites in Budapest. As Fan Fan said to me today, "Who would have thought it back then."

Then: 2004

Look at that awful hair Kim!

Trip to Tibet

Now: 2014

The world is a very small place. All the places I've lived have enabled me to meet amazing people from all over the world, but somehow there are these moments where we bump into each other again. And each time that happens I learn again... People have many changes in their lives, but we really never change who we are. Friends remain friends and can pick up right where they left off.

Fan Fan, it has been so much fun! I'm thankful it's a small world!