Citizen of the world

I'm hanging out with a POM. So I left England last January, went to the Malaysian jungle , moved to a country town in Australia, then went to Thailand and took a 10h train trip to land in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere to meet.... a POM?!

How did I know he was a POM? He took me out for dinner.... at 6pm. Only English eat that early.

What? How did I end up in this village in the first place? God I need to update this thing more often.

Where was I? Couch surfing. These people did me pick me up. And they are not people. They are now friends, almost family. A traveler never calls people ''people'' for very long. We make friends in 2.30 minutes. And with Roast apple ( her name translated to English) and her husband Taj, it was even quicker than that.

'' What do you want to eat tonight?''

Touche. that's how you should approach french people. With food. Well done.

So , for 2 days I forgot that I was a gluten free lactose intolerant vegeterian freak and decided that my middle name was '' try this'' . So they took me to all the possible local markets I could imagine.

Locals did not look at me like I was called '' tuk tuk'' or ''taxi'' anymore they just looked at me with kind curiosity.

'' where you from?'' I replied France although I could feel the sense of belonging right here, in Phuket town with these people who let me stay for free at their place.
I felt like a '' citizen of the world'' . That term makes me laugh and always reminds me of when I was working in Kipps Backpackers back home in England.

Many of the crazy people who walked in used to call themselves '' citizens of the world''. Once, a french lady even refused to talk to me in French because she said she was a citizen of the world ( read this with a heavy french accent it's hilarious)
We ended up kicking her out as she burst out crying as someone was sraying air freshener '' you are all killing the planet shame on yooooou'' ( still in a terrible french accent)

A few days later I said we were fully booked to a guy whose tee shirt read " I'm a citizen of the world'' . You can never be too careful...

So yeah. Ironic that I feel like I'm one of them now ( and I guess Kipps backpackers will now think twice before letting me in again haha)

Me and Roast apple became really good friends. Yes, in 2 days. We talked about relationships, Thai politics ( yes , this new woman in power IS a puppet by the way. Don't worry Julia Gillard, you still have the best hair cut)

She showed me all her pictures from her trips and guess what her job is.... Travel writer that is!

And just like that I started to write my own book!

I helped her with gardening and got green noodles in coconut milk for dessert. My french way of saying thanks in Thai ( kop koon kaaaa that is)

I feel like I have family in Phuket now. This, added to France England Ireland Australia and also Malaysia, I can feel the world citizenship coming....

Speaking of which, is there a stronger sense of belonging than being picked up in Bangkok airport by one of your best Uni friends ? Celebrating a 13 year old friendship on the other side of the world having thai massages and tuk tuk rides together. And going to dodgy toilets with no toilet paper. Only a hose . But that's another story.

And then came the surprise. She took me to that dodgy internet cafe place in the tourist area and told me I had a message from our other best friend from Uni. Yes, a brother almost.
The message read ''congratulations''. I looked at her like '' for what?'' I clicked and there it was. The ultrasound picture. '' you're going to be an auntie. Baby due in January.''
I stared at the ceiling and had to be dragged to the nearest Irish pub and downed 2 beers straight repeating ''he's pregnant , he's pregnant'' .
So yes, finding out you're going to be an auntie in Bangkok when you are an only child is quite full on. World citizenship on its way...

When my friend Amy left Thailand I stayed with her Russian friend that I will be calling Anastasia here ( how original hey) . After a few days she became my Russian sister and was worried when she was working too much ( i still am)

I myself had to take the train down to Chayia because I'd heard there was a meditation course starting on the 1st August there. That's all I knew when I landed here yesterday . No booking , no nothing.

That's when I met him. Roy from England. Roy from Home. Exactly when I needed that sense of belonging , this 60 something year old British potter who lives in Japan showed up in my life. Yes, he vaguely remember England and still had the accent and the humor . God have I missed that. He lived all around the world and had all these cool jobs. He's taking the same meditation course and he's heading to India and wherever after that.

It does not matter in the end where we ARE . It's all about where we BELONG...