A funny thing happened to me this morning when I tried to buy a newspaper at the Incheon International Airport in Seoul. The proprietor of the newsstand -- an elderly gentleman who spoke very little English -- looked me dead in the eye and said, "Harry Potter ...?" At first I thought he had "mistaken" me for the boy wizard and I prepared to become "indignant." Then, however, he produced a copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" from under his desk and explained that he had only just received a few initial copies to sell moments ago. Given the time difference between Seoul and L.A., this meant I was looking at some of the first copies of the book to go on sale anywhere. Thinking quickly, I realized that if I read like a maniac during the flight home, I might just be able to finish the 759-page tome before crossing the International Date Line. "Just think of it," I told my colleague who quickly snapped up a copy for himself, "We might be able to claim we've finished 'Harry Potter' before its official launch date!" Anyway, 5,664 miles and 476 pages later, I was interrupted by a polite tap from the person sitting next to me on my connecting flight home. He said, "Hey, don't I recognize you from the Starbucks at 7th and Montana?!?" It turns out he's a neighbor from Santa Monica Canyon who hangs out at Starbucks regularly. What a small world we live in. You can fly backwards in time, cross cultures in the blink of an eye and meet neighbors in the sky. If that isn't magic worthy of Hogwarts, what is?!?
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5 comments:
Wow, what a magical day. The world is SMALLer than I'd ever imagined. --Cin
LOL didn't quite work out, but what's the odds of running into a Starbuck's-mate all that distance away? Harry Potter can wait!
We were on holiday in Oz and were in a store. I said to my b/f, I am sure I can here Grahams voice in here (he had a distinctive Scottish brouge0. With that our neighbour popped his head round the corner and said, what are you doing here?
It was another Harry Potter moment!
Gaz ;-)
PS, At least, you survived the Kimchi!
ive never been abroad but you can never get away from the co op customers.They pop up everywhere!!How wierd though, Beckie xx
An international traveler, indeed, and now a famous (or infamous) one at that!! No, not film or the stage, not even a politician...he's a regular joe (sure), having a cup of joe at 7th & Montana. Doesn't get any better than that :)
xoxo ~Myra
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