Coincidence

The representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs caught me at the door.

"I just had to catch you," he said. "Qing-Shan--that was my school! Fifty years ago, that's where I went."

He shook my hand. "I congratulate you."

And with that, my day was made.

Our day of presentations ended up going from 1pm till after 10pm but, though long, it was anything but boring, as we heard about projects regarding everything from Shakespeare to bioethics; from portraiture and visual identity to architecture and astronomy and viola performance. It was fascinating to hear everything all the Fulbrighters are doing.

Of course, Kaohsiung ETAs presented last, when we were already running a good 45 minutes behind schedule; despite our best efforts to go quickly, we were an hour behind by the time we finished, and most people had clearly checked out mentally hours ago.

Which is what made the stop at the door so fantastic: not only had someone been paying attention to my presentation, he had liked it, and had had a personal connection to the school that few people I talk to have ever heard of. There's even the added possibility (which I asked him about, but he didn't know) that he attended back when they were in the old building which is now a factory which my 6th graders visited on a field trip a few months ago.

I love random circumstances like that. They make even 9 hour presentations quite lovely.