I don't particularly like the word "serendipity," but it fits

On my way home from work today, I stopped by a little school supplies shop. It's run by an older woman, and sits on the corner where I turn off the main road and down a narrow back way that takes me to the Ise road by my apartment.

I gave the lady who owns the place 660 yen for two pens and a couple packs of stationary, and she gave me a good 15 minutes out of her day, a little jingly cow charm, and her sincere wishes for my dreams to come true. Every time I answered a question she would exclaim that I'm exactly like her own daughter - early 20's, only child, working in a foreign country before going to graduate school - and that even though my mother lives far away in America, she knows exactly how she must be feeling. She frequently patted my arm in a quite maternal fashion. It was like we had known each other for years, but we never even exchanged names.

Today was chilly, dreary, and really dragged towards the end since I'd only had 4 hours of sleep & the office was nearly deserted. But it's days like today that make me feel a bit better about living in the inaka for another year.