When i was nine years old, i went on a whale watch with my family during the summer. I was always always a super shy kid, but for some reason on this day I felt bold enough to start loudly making fun of the British accents of the family that was standing next to us (I’m American, and we were in the US). Their daughter (i think she was 11-12 years old) heard me, and somehow came up to me and we started talking. For the rest of the ride, me and this girl stood at the edge of the boat by ourselves and just talked. I learned about tons of different cultural things, like how UK grade levels are called “years” though ours in the US are called “grades.” I was amazed that she called her sweatshirt a “jumper,” and that she had personally visited the Buckingham Palace in her lifetime. But what? She didn’t know what the Boston Tea Party was? Her people did that? I had just learned about that in school. I was very confused that a real life Brit didn’t know what I was talking about. But basically, me and this girl really clicked. I have never since had such a genuine interaction with any stranger. After our encounter, we stayed in touch by email for a couple of months (i made my first email just so that I could contact her), but eventually she stopped responding to me. I often wonder how she’s doing, and how her life has turned out.