My New Friend

I made a new friend today. It was a lady who lives not too far away from me. She's got two mixed kids (White & Chinese), the girl is called Nikki & the 16-month-old boy Leo. She and her mom are Christians, and her hubby is Catholic.

I lost my bible last Sunday on my way to church. This woman was just strolling around w/ her hubby a few blocks down from where I live and her hubby's the one who caught the bible. I'm so grateful that he did. She called me two days ago (my phone number's on the 1st page of the bible) and was going to meet up yesterday, but it turned out that our time didn't work out and I never called to confirm the time. This evening on my way home, I just happened to see the Langara Garden sign which reminded me of her. So I called her right away & showed up at her door like 10 minutes later. And we chatted it up pretty quick, and I got introduced to everyone in the family except for her husband who was busy with something, or maybe he simply didn't like visitors.

She and her family actually moved to Vancouver from Toronto just this summer. There are a lot of things that they have to decide on, and she's currently looking for a Mandarin-speaking church, a Chinese school for her kids, and a baby-sitter. So I'm goin' to hook her up with this other friend of mine from Mainland China who I think would be able to help her out. Funny, it's moments like this that I really believe that we're all somehow connected together. Friend's friend, and friend's friend's friend, and so on...There are people who flash into my life and out within seconds, there are some who stay longer, and there are some who've been with me ever since I moved to Vancouver (which to me is my whole life, although in numbers, it's not quite half of it yet). I believe that there's always a reason why you meet certain people, or why certain people linger around in the background whom you don't exactly interact with but who are somehow always there. I don't always know what the reason is, nor do I spend much time thinking about these things, nor do I think I will in the near future. But this weekend has been time spent chatting and interacting with different people...and that's what got me thinking again. I truly believe that people rub off on each other, and I eagerly hope that my influence on others is a positive one. I don't expect much, maybe just to bring a smile on someone's face, to make someone feel good about himself/herself...really simple little things which could mean so much to some people.

On a lighter note, I just realized that I can speak Mandarin. Not perfectly of course, with an accent probably. And I don't always know the words, or how to express myself in that language. But I surprised myself and my friends when I found myself talking OK with the herbalist/Chinese medicine doctor yesterday, and again with my new friend today. Yup, living with a Mandarin-speaking person for 2.5 years does come in handy!