berlin is a big city (or so one would think)

however, i have managed to almost double the amount of finnish(speaking) people i know in berlin in the last couple of days.

on monday, when walking home carrying my violin after a concert of my orchestra, a young woman stopped me on the street.
she: "hei (the finnish version of hi)
me: "hei?
she in finnish: "i'm sure i know you from somewhere..
"...??
"did you happen to play violin in this orchestra in this small city X in finland like some 15 years ago?
".. ?? .. actually yes..
"i played there too!

and i could vaguely remember her face. so we chatted a while about how weird it's to talk finnish in the streets of berlin, and maybe we'll go for a beer (or visit a sauna) together sometime. i found it amazing that she could remember me - i used to have a long hair and i always imagined my face had somewhat changed since being teenager, but obviously i'm wrong or she's just really good in recognizing people after years.

***

this morning, leaving my house i was waiting to cross the street. a young man with gorgeous yellow vespa asks for advice.

he: "sorry, sorry, can me tell me where the next gas station is?
"uh, you just walk straight...
he interrupts in finnish: "do you happen to come from finland? you have this accent and i thought...
"yes...
so we chat a while in finnish, i get his card and he and his pal (who obviously didn't understand a word about what was going on) start rolling the vespa towards the gasoline station.

***

both of these accidents made me smile widely, not only because i like talking finnish, but because i just find the odds to even meet someone finnish speaking just like that so small. so it's kind of winning in a everyday lottery.