- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
Weird. "Follow your bliss" one day, "tough it out" the next.
At the moment I am also in SE Asia. At one time I thought I wanted to stay here for good, but as bird-flu and suicide bombers and American arrogance have conspired to make this option less attractive, I'm moving on. Tall white guys in a sea of short brown are too tempting a target. Most expats who are still here obviously disagree, though I do my best to avoid other westerners and always have.
Yet there are those, like you, Ms. Letter Writer, who enjoy the company of fellow expats. Of course you can bail the hell out of suburban stagnation and return to Jogya or Cebu or Seoul or wherever. No, the exact same group of people may not be there when you arrive, but that's not the key. The key is that you are fish out of water in suburban USA yet swim like a dolphin where you lived before.
Go back. Choose another city in the same country, maybe, but go back and continue moving forward with your life. The alternative is to flap around gasping until you asphyxiate from despair.
