I'm picky on curie - No videos, no creepy stuff, no monsters or gaming, no fiction. So that mostly leaves cool art, travel, and food. So far, so good and you are sure right about those huge posts. I used to post only 2-3 times a week and do long posts like that. HUGE waste of effort. None got curies at all lol. I like mostly short posts now.
SD was fine in the beginning. I should have left before my kid got to hs. We were in a small, rich town with great schools so I stayed for that. Now about 15 of the kids he grew up with are dead and many more are very damaged in many ways. He is only 25. For awhile there kids were dying monthly and it was very traumatic. They were his friends and my babies that grew up hanging out at our house.
I pay zero attention to news or politics so that was not my problem, but at the same time the police state was really getting to me, unhappy people, bad food, too expensive etc. After 911 I had to stop telling people I was Canadian or they would give my grief about it and tell me to "go home" if I did not like something there. I always had the plan to see the world after my son was grown so that was that.
Everywhere I have been in SE Asia - no matter how poor or out of the way, the people are friendlier, the food is healthier, it's cheaper, and the lifestyle is more relaxed than in the states. I'm really glad this is where I came.
You hit the nail on the head about my weight loss and this is why I fail as a coach. As soon as someone "gets it" they don't need me anymore. I teach them a few skills and places to look for healthy food and they are done. They call me a year or two later to thank me. If I am lucky I made $79 for a few coaching sessions and maybe they bought one of my books and I made $2 :)
howdy there fitinfun! oh my...I usually am not speechless but that's a whole lot of powerful stuff there! All your son's friends dying and then people being mean if they knew you were Canadian, I don't get that one, why would they be so mean to you? I love Canadians! I love Canada.
The information about Asia is pretty darn interesting too, what about the language barrier?
The language barrier works for me since I usually don't talk much anyway. This is something people who know me do not like. I am a writer, not a talker.
In Thailand I barely spoke for the whole 2.5 years. Most of the other countries I've visited are also like that. But in Malaysia the people speak English and are very friendly. It is exhausting sometimes. I am the only Westerner up where I live in a Chinese/Malay/Indian neighborhood so everyone wants to know what the heck I'm doing up here. I am approached often.
My son's friends started dying in 8th grade and the few years after hs graduation were the worst. I've written about it a few times. There are many causes and each was worse than the last. One beautiful young girl washed up on the beach all broken and this crime or whatever has not been solved. That summer about 5 of them went and she was in the middle of it.
Only some people are mean about the Canada thing, but I just stopped mentioning it for those who are. People get scared by "terrorism" and lash out in fear. I wish they were so scared by obesity sine this is a real problem.
Here we have all races, and clothes, and differences and everyone just seems to not care. I'm oblivious to a lot of things anyway and I like it like that :)
howdy today fitinfun! hey did you work on doing any of the curie posts comments this week? I think I did two by accident! lol. I wanted to do them but just didn't want to ignore people who were writing and commenting.
Anyway so it sounds like Malaysia is the perfect place for you! All that needs to happen now is for the price of steem to go out and then you can start making a living there.
Wow though how interesting about your not being much of a talker. I mean, you have to be the only woman in the world like that! lol.
But the neighborhood there and Malaysia sound really nice so I'm thrilled for you.
What about obesity there in Malaysia? That has to be rare doesn't it? and did you change your diet any from being there?
Yes, I curied this week. I do not know if I got a lot of them though. We shall soon see.
Obesity is here, but not like in the states. Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar were all very low on obesity. Thailand and Malaysia are higher, but nothing like in the states. Both have a lot of us fast food. The other countries do not.
My diet is WAY better in all countries here. Something like 900 substances allowed in us food are banned in these countries. US Food has to be relabeled for that reason. Most westerners lose weight without trying when we first get here.
But this country is the hardest so far. There have lots of gravies and bread and yummy fattening food and the good stuff I seek is harder to find.
I'm an accountant and I was always "the new kid" growing up. Both of those are reasons not to talk so you can find out what people have to say. I have had many people say to me, "Don't you ever talk?" One friend was with me and my son a lot and said," If I did not talk, would there just be silence with you two?" We both said yes at the same time lol.
haha! I'm laughing at that last sentence, that's funny. Well most people can't stand silence when they're with someone because they think it's awkward. But you don't feel that way apparently.
I'm normally not a big talker at all when I'm around people because I just ask them a couple of questions about themselves and they'll talk all day about it and then I don't have to worry about knowing what to say or talk about! lol.
So are you saying that being there is tempting to eat the fattening stuff or it's just harder to find the good stuff? I imagine that most of the vegetables and fruit is all organic.