OznAsia

I first met Ead and Tong in Australia many years ago. This was back when I had made just a few visits to Thailand. I was moving towards spending more time in Thailand and had been trying to learn the language by myself. I reached a point where I thought that I needed real Thai people to practise with.

One night I was at a party and saw a guy in the crowd who I thought looked Thai so I went and said 'hello'. Sure enough he was Thai so we chatted for a while. Before the evening was over I suggested that we could get together for a language sharing.

Ead and his wife, Tong, were both studying for MBAs in Brisbane. They invited a few of their friends and we had a little group that got together from time to time to practise each others languages. As a group we did a lot of things together as well as practising language. We often visited each others homes and we participated in Thai cultural celebrations. I saw my first Loy Kratong festival at UQ in Brisbane.

They all returned to Thailand before I made my move there at the end of 2002. Ead and Tong's house became my base whenever I was in Bangkok. They were always good to me. Ead was always waiting at the airport whenever I flew into Bangkok. I see them as my brother and sister in Bangkok.

When I made the decision to return to Thailand again I sent an email to both Ead and Tong telling them I would arrive on July 21 and giving flight details. On June 21 Ead turned up at the airport and there was no sign of me. He rang Tong and asked her to check my email to see if he had the date right. 'No,' she told him. 'He comes on 21st July.' I guess he was just keen to see me.

Thanks Ead and Tong for the love you have both given me over the years. It is really appreciated.

Labels: Asia, Bangkok, thailand, travel