A Small World

I've been having a nasty ulcer for a few days, and finally remembered to get some gel to treat it today. Went to Shopper's because I knew there was a pharmacy there, and asked for some help to pick out something for the ulcer. The pharmacist was nice - she came out from behind her counter and walked me to the aisle in the drug mart that had Orajel. I was double checking with her that this was the right type of ointment for the ulcer when she asked with a smile, "Where are you from?" I told her I was from Singapore and she exclaimed, "So am I!" But her accent was so Canadian, so natural.

I was really surprised, so I asked her - Sylvia - more about when she had come to Canada. She arrived in a small town in Winnipeg 4 years ago (said it's a long story), met her boyfriend here, and just shifted to Ottawa 2 months back. Her family is back in Singapore, so she's here on her own. Made me really curious - why would she go to a remote place in Winnipeg to start out? And to have succeeded in getting through to practise here - she must be one tough cookie.

Anyway, she was really keen to meet up for dinner, especially when I told her I'll be going back in over 3 weeks. So we're going to a sushi buffet tomorrow night :-) Apparently there are some people from HSA here next week too, and she has a friend in that delegation whom she's catching up with one evening. She invited me to join them as well. Isn't it a small world? All because of one ulcer...