Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Another train ride

I spend a lot of times on trains. Non-car owners must seek alternate ways of transportation or stay home. I don’t stay home.

Sometimes I meet fascinating people like the woman who was Jewish and was hidden from Nazis as a child, was separated from her sister and had just found her a half of a century plus later. Meanwhile she had been and was a retired trapeze artist from Ringling Brothers Circus.

This time I was with a young Chinese girl who wants to be a journalist and is getting a masters degree. We had a lot to share as she gave me information about her country and I talked about some of my writing experiences. The three hours seemed like minutes. We also were joined in a conversation by another woman who had just returned from Prague, and she and I shared our appreciation for that incredible city encouraging the young Chinese girl to visit if she could get a visa.

The young woman who speaks English and French besides Chinese (I am not sure which dialect) is worried about what will happen to her professionally, but I am sure with everything she has to offer someone will snap her up in a trainee program.

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