You Know You're an Expat When...
...deleting the names of dear friends from your mobile phone's address book -- due to the cruel whimsy of job re-location or repatriation -- seems like a monthly occurence. Alternately, and fortunately, the same is true for adding the names of new friends to your mobile phone's address book -- thanks to the same job-related whimsy which in these cases seems downright serendipitous.
Thus, without further ado: So long to Rachel, Robbie and "Sandwich Kids" (a.k.a. Patrick and Daniel)! Wishing you the best of luck in Oz, and knowing we'll catch up again either in your neck of the woods or back up here if your Bangkok friends can lure y'all up for a Thai holiday! You made more impact here during your brief year-plus-change, thanks to your philanthropy and easygoing friendly ways, than many people do despite much longer tenures. All kinds of folks are going to miss you. Ciao, bella! And thanks for introducing me to karaoke! (Bron, we've gotta try that again soon!)
Then, of course, a warm welcome to Karen, who entered BEM's life via an introduction, fittingly, from Rachel, after moving from Hong Kong into Rachel's apartment block. Karen arrived with a near-four-year-old son (who's so verbal, he's actually a 12-year-old trapped in a four-year-old's body), twin nine-month-old boys (did you hear that?! TWINS!) and a husband working crazy long hours, and without the job she enjoyed for most of her stint in HK. Despite this mishigas (that's Yiddish; I've no idea how to spell it), Karen is adjusting to life here with enthusiasm and a twisted (i.e. my kind of) sense o' humah...so she's got that going for her, which is nische. (I knew I had a new friend the first time Karen quoted "Caddyshack".)
Nice to see you posting at last....but O.o WHAT?! Could you please elaborate on the missing month and a half? We all thought that you were coming back at the latest on 7th December 2005...and now January 2006 is more than half-way along the calendar!
We've missed you!
Posted by: Elemmaciltur | January 25, 2006 at 02:47 AM
Seriously. Good to see you posting again.
Posted by: Heather | January 25, 2006 at 08:58 AM
Hey! You're back! So how was the vacation?
Posted by: chrsitina | January 26, 2006 at 02:16 PM
lkajsdfl
Posted by: traci | February 05, 2006 at 10:37 AM
Hey Lyle! Thanks for your comments. Happy to be home but missing Bangkok like crazy too. Keep up the good blog work.
Posted by: Rachel` | February 08, 2006 at 08:09 AM
Yeah, being an expat is tough when it comes to the friends department... especially when you need someone to talk to. But as for Caddyshack -- that's always a great way to pick up new friends in a strange land!
Posted by: GC Philo | February 10, 2006 at 07:38 PM
I agree, the comings and goings of expats can be insane! I used to write everyone in my address book in pencil, until I realized I was smugging everything from overuse!
Posted by: NiHao | April 30, 2006 at 02:02 AM
hi,
i'm new to your blog. i have to say your myanmar photos are absolutley smashing. they are so clear and crisp. are you a professional photographer? this blog is very informative and i will definitely be back!
Posted by: april | May 12, 2006 at 08:32 PM