Cambridge Coincidences Collection

In 1992, after graduation from university, I went to teach English in Tokyo, Japan. My girlfriend, whom I had met at university in London (UCL) came with me and I stayed at her parents' house in NakaJujo. I had lived there for about 3 weeks when she and I decided to go to Roppongi for a drink. We were walking down the street talking. I was talking about my friends from university, some of whom she knew. One of them was called Simon. As we approached and entered the Gas Panic bar I was talking about Simon and when I opened the door Simon was sat there at the bar. Unbeknownst to me, he had also decided to live in Tokyo and go for a drink at that bar, on that same night. Some facts: Roppongi is the most popular place in Tokyo, and therefore Japan, for foreigners or 'gaijin' to hang out. If you were going to meet someone by co-incidence it would be in Roppongi. Gas Panic is / was one of 3 or 4 very popular bars for foreign tourists in Roppongi. Simon was not a very close friend at university (although we became much closer whilst living in Tokyo).

My ex husband and current male companion share the same birthday

Around 20 years ago, I went to Marlborough College Summer School, where I met a girl of the same age as me. She lived in London; I lived in Essex. We kept in contact as pen pals for some years afterwards. In one of her letters, she sent me a copy of her birth announcement from the Times (October 1979). Mine was immediately underneath.

In the early 1970s my wife and I were teaching in Ethiopia. We came to know a young Ethiopian university graduate, and his girl friend. When we returned to America in 1974 we said fond farewells, even donating my wife's wedding dress for their use, but because of the political turmoil in Ethiopia we thought it best not try to maintain contact. Flash forward to the summer of 1985. We and our two teenagers were taking a month-long vacation in Europe, culminating with a few days in London. Our daughter wanted to visit the shopping district, so she and my wife sought out Harrod’s while my son and I went to the British Museum. However, our daughter suddenly and desperately needed a bathroom. So they went into a McDonald’s restaurant. While my wife was waiting in line in the ladies’ room, a black woman approached her and hesitantly called her by name. She then identified herself as our friend from a decade earlier. She brought my wife and daughter to the eating area and presented them to her amazed husband. Incidentally, by this time our daughter had announced that she didn’t really need to use the bathroom after all. What were our one-time friends doing in London?