Kindness of Strangers
In late April 1980, I traveled to France to begin a year studying the
French language. I flew to England and took the train/ferry/train to
Paris (I was poor) where a friend was to meet me. On the train, I had
made acquaintance with several people, one of whom was a young
Japanese man who had just finished his studies in Germany and was
travelling before returning to Japan.
My friend, unfortunately, was confused as to the date of my arrival
and was not at the train station to meet me, as I had expected. When
I called his home, his mother, who spoke no English, answered. She
understood who I was, but I didn't understand where my friend was. My
new Japanese friend refused to leave me stranded. He got out his
well-used copy of Europe on Ten Dollars a Day, in Japanese, and
helped me find a hotel near the train station, and even went with me
to make sure that it would be OK. I don't remember his name and I
never saw him again, but he was a Godsend!
The people at the hotel were kind enough to call my friend's mother
back and give her the telephone number at the hotel, and my friend
came the next day with many apologies for having been out of town
when I arrived. This experience turned out to be the beginning of a
great adventure for me: I studied for a year and liked France enough
that I found a job there with Petroleos Mexicanos and worked 2 more
years before returning to the US in late 1983.
Luri
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