How We Got Together- Part I

Last Wednesday, the 26th of January, was a milestone. Tan and I celebrated a month of being together. So let me tell a little about how it started.

We met at a church mixer for the Young Professionals group of Evangelical Church of Bangkok. It was on a Saturday night in November at an art gallery that is run by members of the church. I met lots of people that night. I met Tan and Ice at the same time. They are both Thai and have been friends for about six years. I was impressed by how well they spoke English. Of course, they're cute too. They both have studied abroad. Tan went to Adelaide, Australia and New Zealand. Ice went to London. They told me that they were students. Tan's major is English studies. Ice is studying to be a special needs teacher. I told them about teaching and my trips around Thailand and to Vietnam and Hong Kong. Then I didn't see them again for a few weeks.
I saw them again after church. They help teach Kid's Time during the second service of our church. I usually attend that service because the first one is too early. I met two of their favorite kids - Josiah and Jesse, a brother and sister from Great Britain.

One time we went to have lunch at a food court in Emporium shopping mall. Bernd, a friend from Germany, also went. We had a great time! We were very silly, especially Bernd. I don't know a more goofy guy than him. Whenever I say something like, "I've got this friend that..." He'll interrupt and say, "Ooh. You've got friends! That's so cool. How much did you pay for them?" He's almost never serious. And Tan jokes with him a lot. Bernd might say something like: "I'd like to go to Starbucks. Would anyone like to go?" She'll say, "Yeah, Bernd. You should go. We'll stay here." It's all just fake mean things we say to each other. Then we'll all go.
Bernd left and I hung out with Tan and Ice. We played a spot-the-differences picture game. Then we had ice cream and talked some more.

It wasn't until much later that I asked Tan out. One Saturday in December I got a call from her. She wanted some help with her homework. She had to write an essay in English about cultural differences. She wanted to know what I thought were differences between Thai and American culture. We met at Starbucks and talked for a long time. I showed her pictures from my trip to Sukothai and Maesod. Then I told her that I wanted to go shopping for Christmas decorations and a gift for a white elephant party. She offered to help me find them. She was very nice. We found everything and she got my present wrapped in the store. On the Skytrain we started talking about good places to eat. I thought about where all of us could go and then it occurred to me that it would be nice to go on a date.

So I said, "Maybe just the two of us could go on a date?" "What? You mean you like me or something?" I nodded. "But we barely know each other." "So you don't want to? That's okay." "No. I mean I'm just surprised. We can go. When?" So we made a date for Thursday night at Larry's Dive. It's a Mexican Restaurant. She'd never been there. Then I called Bernd and we all went to Saxophone, a blues and jazz pub. It was Bernd and Tan's first time to go there. We all had fun.
More later.