Meth: a Ticking Timebomb Gone Viral

Me to Us

I knew it would take some adjusting to go from single to a couple, but I didn't realise just how different it would be.

Let me start with the good, of which there is plenty. Nada is so sweet, and at the ripe old age of forty-seven, is almost innocent. She has never worked in a bar and is the quintessential Issan girl...easily pleased and easily hurt. I have to be careful of her heart because it is so tender. From what I have seen so far, my girlfriend appears to be the real deal.

Nada has long black hair, which I love, but it gets everywhere...in the shower, on the floor and throughout my townhouse: a small price to pay and something my cleaning lady will have to deal with.

Our first three nights together were magical, but by the fourth night, we were both tired from lack of sleep. You may be thinking that is due to us having lots of sex, and even though that is in part true, the main culprit is that we are both used to sleeping alone. Sleeping next to someone who makes strange, night-time noises, and takes up all that space we normally have for ourselves, is something we need to adapt to. Nada hasn't slept with anyone in six months, and me, in eight years, and last night was our first good night's sleep in five days.

Nada came home from work a few nights ago and fell asleep on the couch. I made us some dinner while she rested, and when I tried to wake her by tickling the bottoms of her feet, she didn't blink an eye. The palms of her hands and soles of her feet are like leather from years of hard labour, and the gentle approach had zero effect on sleeping beauty.

For many years, Nada worked in the hotel industry, and one story in particular had me rolling on the ground in laughter. Some people had checked out and Nada was making up the room when, in one of the bedside drawers, she found what she thought was a rather large lipstick. She took the 'lipstick' out and examined it...and then decided to see what colour it was. When two batteries fell to the floor, she still had no idea what it was she was looking at. Then, as she replaced the batteries, she got the surprise of her life when the thing started buzzing. More confused than ever (I know...isn't she the sweetest thing ever? And as she continued with this part of her story, I gave her the biggest hug, looked up and said, "Thank you"), she called her supervisor...and it was then she was told exactly what the item in her hand was. It's hard to believe that a woman of her age wouldn't know what a vibrator is, but as I have gotten to know her better, the fact is that Nada really is that innocent.

Now, she may be innocent in some ways, but she also very much knows her worth. It would be impossible to estimate how many foreigners over the years have approached her and asked for 'boom boom'...needless to say, it would be a lot. With that in mind, I cannot believe my luck, but as Ray Kroc once said, and I quote, "Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get." And I have done a lot of sweating over the last six months.

I no longer sleep till 9.00 am, and instead, get up with Nada at 6.30. While she showers, I get our breakfast ready, and when she leaves for work, I lovingly watch her ride away on her Scoopy motorcycle. Then, as she disappears around the corner, I begin to think about the what-ifs of our meeting. What if on the day we met and she decided to offer me a lift, I had delayed my walk by a minute? If I was lazy and didn't get out there and do the work, we might never have met.

Nada reminds me of a dark-haired Barbara Eden from the TV series, I Dream of Genie. She very much wants to please, and acts a little subservient, thinking she needs to do that for me to love her. And while that is totally adorable, it is something that I will teach her is unnecessary. At the moment, we are both big on showing appreciation. We understand that I can provide a better life for her, and on the flip side, that she can also provide a better life for me. A few days ago, when she told me how lucky I was to have her, I couldn't have agreed more.

I'm no dummy and have been looking for signs of a scam, but so far, I've seen none. I believe it's a genuine exchange...not that much different to one in the West. Scammers always reveal themselves eventually, and I will continue to believe she is innocent until proven guilty.

Back in Australia, no woman looked sideways at me. In that world, I could never have hoped to find someone like Nada...and that's because there is nobody like her there. Is it any wonder so many Western men flock to Thailand in an attempt to find love?

So, here I am, living my dream. I'm no longer addicted to meth, psychosis has, for the most part, disappeared since Nada arrived. I'm falling in love with a girl who looks at me exactly the way I want to be looked at. Someone who treats me the way I want to be treated. Who respects me the way I deserve...who is falling in love with me, the way I always dreamed a girl like Nada would.