Connections

We have met “heaps” of new people in the past couple of weeks. Being 10,000 + miles from Houston hasn’t stopped us from running into old friends and work colleagues, and anyone who has met Vince knows that he has “never met a stranger.” Still, I find this incredible! You can hum “It’s A Small World After All” as you read the next paragraph.

While perusing the produce section of our local Coles grocery store, my cell phone rang. On the other end of the line was Jim, my college buddy and these days a commercial pilot, spending a couple of weeks in Perth. A couple of days later, the receptionist in Vince’s office informed him that a gentleman from Texas was in the lobby and would to meet with him. Turned out to be a guy he worked with 15 years ago, now dividing his time between Australia and Singapore. On several occasions Vince has been approached by friends and work colleagues as we’re eating dinner in a local restaurant. Amazing. They come from all over: Italy, England, USA, South Africa… and more.

Even cooler, these wonderful people have introduced us to friends and experiences that would normally take years to occur. For example, one fellow invited us to a dinner party the very next day. We met several native Perthians there, including a quarter horse racing enthusiast (owns 4 of his own), an artist, and a guy who supplies shrimp to literally half the world’s restaurants. Vetter family shrimp lovers, feel free to drool! These social events keep us from feeling lonely, and the people we’ve met are helping us find ways to get the most enjoyment from this city. Our new artist friend told us about a ballroom and social dancing classes, which we promptly visited. It’s perfect for us – just the right experience level, and very good exercise. Our downstairs neighbour introduced us to the Perth Arts Festival, going on from January through March. And we spent Thanksgiving night sailing on the Swan River. We might have missed these opportunities if not for the hospitality and friendliness of the “locals.”

Tomorrow night we’re headed to Joondalup, a suburb of Perth about 20 minutes north of town. Our mission – to see a film called “Bride Flight,” the story of 3 young Dutch women who leave their homeland to escape the devastation of post-war Holland and make a fresh start in New Zealand. It’s part of the Perth Film Festival, and we’ll bring a picnic and watch it under the stars at an outdoor theatre (there’s a lot of that here).

At last, we have Internet access at the house, so I am no longer dependent on the Internet café. Woo-hoo!