It's always a treat to meet new folks that move into our beautiful valley and village (not very often) ,and meeting Jerry and his wife Nook, was no exception.When Jerry introduced himself I knew right away that there was something different about him that caught my attention, the accent and the tone of his voice caused me to ask a few questions just to be sure my hunch was right , and sure enough he was from America and not only from America , but from my home state of North Carolina , But not only from North Carolina , but he was born and raised 30 miles from where I grew up as a teen, and in fact we are somewhat aquainted with each others famlies, having lived and worked in the same area. What a great time talking about home and family and things we have seen and done and also we shared a few of our experiences since we have lived here in the LOS . He is married to a great Thai lady and Ciejay and her became friends very quickly jabbering away in Thai , and I'm sure sharing some of their experiences of being married to a Farang ,while Jerry and me enjoyed our coffee and new friendship, we have a lot of the same interest and amazingly we seem to think a lot the same, with some of the same likes and dislikes . I have always enjoyed being the only full time residence in Whang Pho , but since meeting my new friend , I am glad to say that it will be a real joy to share My little piece of paradise with him and his wife , and I hope that as friends we can enjoy a few hours every once in a while together over coffee and good conversation.
What are the odds of meeting someone that comes from , not only the same country and state as you , but from the same local area . Have you meet anyone new lately? Do you like many that I see in the LOS that put their head down and pretend that they did'nt even see you , or for some reason afraid to talk too and meet other folks living and visiting this great place? Do you enjoy meeting new folks and shareing some of your experiences and things learned , good and not so good , and have a good laugh and some pleasent conversation over a beer or a good cup of coffee?
Like I said , I'm sure happy I meet my new friend and hope we continue to enjoy each others company. Malcolm
4 comments:
Nice going M.
Surround yourself with decent and righteous folks.
Malcolm, can't say I go out of my way to find folks from back home. This is probably because some of them are the same folk I would have avoided in the UK.
That said it was great to meet Lawrence and his wife a few weeks ago.
Glad you got on well.
Malcolm I'm happy you have a new friend in Wang Pho who is from your previous neck of the woods. I'm certain there's going to be a few empty beer bottles in both your gardens as you talk over your former times and future plans. It's nice for Ciejay as well as she can have a good chat with your friend's wife knowing you're as happy as a sand boy. Two cowboys in one small town. I ber the Sheriff is starting to twitch.
Malcolm, we call that "the foreign effect" here in Taiwan. seeing another foreigner ruins the illusion that living in Thailand, married to a local woman, etc. etc. is somehow unique. that tends to make foreigners ignore each other. that's particularly confusing to local people who would associate only among themselves if all were in another country. also, as it was alluded to by another commentor, often people who move to a foreign country have little in common with expats from the same country, especially with the ones who only visit the foreign country, can't speak the language, etc.
there is one distinct difference between the expats in Taiwan, and the expats in Thailand that i've noticed: all of us old timers in Taiwan can speak Chinese. i have yet to meet an old timer in Thailand who can speak Thai very fluently at all. the difficultly level for each language is roughly the same. i wonder why that is?
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