“你一定是Alex，” 她伸出一个坚定的握手。

她穿着一件优雅的小黑裙，简单的白色西装外套，右肩上一只大黑色拎包。我们站在在有着建筑瑰宝之称的芝加哥文化中心Preston Bradley大厅中心，在我们头顶之上，是世界最大的Tiffany 玻璃穹頂。我们在这里庆祝耶鲁大学芝加哥校友会150周年纪念。

和她握手的那一霎那，我竟一阵紧张，“你是？” 我问到， “我叫Gigi，” 她回答。

这是怎样的机率，一个在俄罗斯圣彼得堡出生的男孩，和一个在中国上海长大的女孩，有一天，在美国芝加哥的中心，他们会相遇。

“You must be Alex,” she said extending a firm hand-shake. She was dressed in an elegant black suite, a simple white blouse with a large black handbag hanging over her right shoulder. We were in the center of the Preston Bradley Hall, the crown jewel of The Chicago Cultural Center. Above us, was the world’s largest Tiffany glass-domed ceiling. We were here to celebrate the 150 year anniversary of Yale Club of Chicago. As I shook her slender hand, I felt a shock – “and you are?” – I said, “I am Gigi,'' she responded.

How unlikely it would’ve been to imagine back in the 1980s that a boy, born in St. Petersburg, Russia and a girl, born in Shanghai, China, would meet in the middle of the Chicago’s architectural marvel, in the heartland of America.