It's a Small World

I Graduated From There!

Today was the first class with a new group of trainees. As I have done many times before, I presented my introduction lesson. I am getting bored of it, so I was considering not using it this time, but I left it in and I am glad that I did. I had a surprise when I was going through the places I have worked at in Korea. When I got to the elementary school I used to work at, one of the trainees said, “I graduated from there.” This was unexpected because the school is not in my province, though the city is nearby. There are 1.4 million people in that city, Daejeon, so it is coincidental that I met someone who graduated from the school I taught at. I thought to myself, “Wow, it’s a small world.”

Meaning

We use it’s a small world to describe a situation where you coincidently meet someone you know far from your home or in an unexpected situation. You did not know that they would be there. The phrase can also be applied to when you discover that you have an unexpected connection to someone.

Example (far away): If you see your friend from high school walking across the street while you are on vacation in Kenya, you might say, “Hi Joey! It’s a small world, isn’t it?
Example (unexpected connection): I can’t believe we both know Dorothy. It is a small world.

Origin

The saying appears to be hundreds of years old and may have come from Spanish. I couldn’t find good information on this, but there is a phrase in Spanish that has been around for hundreds of years that is nearly identical: “El mundo es un pañuelo.” The Spanish translates to English as, “The world is a handkerchief.” Perhaps a Spanish speaking friend can help me on this one. But it seems that it also means the world is small. The other person is so close they share a handkerchief. There was an art exhibit by that name first shown in the London Print Studio Gallery in 2019. It was a collaborative project between 50 international artists. Each artist shared ideas of their home country on a handkerchief.

Serendipity

There are two famous stories that I would like to tell you that are examples of it’s a small world. They are both about couples getting married and discovering that they had a connection they never knew about.

The first story involves Xue and Ye. They met in 2011 and eventually got married. However, they were both visiting Qingdao in July 2000. Additionally, they both posed for a picture at the same time. After they were married, they were looking through old photographs and discovered the amazing coincidence. It’s a small world.

Married couple in China discover they appeared in same photograph as teenagers: Report https://t.co/n0OLNxKbUi pic.twitter.com/vrSlECRRmP

— CNA (@ChannelNewsAsia) March 11, 2018

In a similar story, Alex and Donna Voutsinas were engaged to be married. Just days before their wedding, Alex was looking through Donna’s childhood photos and found a surprising picture. In the background of one of her pictures from Disneyland he saw his father pushing a stroller. In the stroller was HIM! It is certainly a small world.

Do you have any example of a small world? Have you met an acquaintance far away from your home or had an unexpected connection to someone you just met? Let me know.

Chris's Story

Check out Chris's example! Can you imagine meeting your neighbor in a foreign country?

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Reference:
https://www.gingersoftware.com/content/phrases/its-a-small-world/
https://cfpr.uwe.ac.uk/project-and-exhibition-announcement-the-world-is-a-handkerchief/
https://www.inmsol.com/spanish-proverbs/its-small-world/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1285238/Engaged-couple-discover-paths-crossed-Disney-World-toddlers.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/14/married-couple-discover-photo-of-them-both-from-11-years-before-they-met
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alex-and-donna-voutsinas_n_2910919

It’s a Small World