[Angeheade]

If you've met a lot of family, maybe you already know what to expect. It's just a book, after all. My copy is quite battered from me reading it at least three times, my friend reading it at least once. And one of her friends claims to have learned a lot from it too... Often when I've been puzzled or confused I've gone back and found something useful in it.

I have met her parents and maternal grandparents. They are all great and friendly- though I have been scolded by her mother for keeping her out too late one night (her father just smiled behind her and gave me a thumbs-up haha).

Its kind of tough because talking on the phone is so difficult- the calls between Alaska and Thailand are terrible to begin with, plus we've lost the ability for body language and pantomiming. Last night was really rough; I was frustrated to no end with the connection quality.

What I hate is I keep getting little bits of doubt on the edge of my thoughts- I keep reading about stories and bad things that happen to the farang boyfriends/husbands. I do know that most good news is never reported and bad news is, yet still... doubt gnaws at me every so often.

I mean, the way I view it is as this:
- I met her while hanging around a little festival thing we had going on in Korat, not at a bar or anything like that- I had/have no interest in sex or prostitutes.
- I met her mother within an hour of striking up conversation with her. I met her father a week later when he came back from a job in Bankok.
- I do know for a fact she is a student at a university. I've seen her books and class homework, as well as spoken with one of her teachers on the phone (slightly better english).
- She's never asked me for money- I generally did pay for things while we went out, but she'd go get me a water bottle or a snack without being asked (I didn't expect even that, since she's a student).
- Her mother and mother's best friend drove my friends and I around for about 6 hours to see Pei-Mai (sp?), a national park, and some other areas around Korat.
- She cried like crazy when I left, and even still on the phone from time to time
- And she has made a lot of effort to call me, using up all her minutes in the process.

I'm not trying to make our relationship public or anything, but I feel like those are good signs. She's always seemed sincere with me.

Her family too; they made us a big dinner but her mom asked that I pay for the drinks. Not a problem- we had quite a bit of beer, a large bottle of some sort of liquor, and several sodas for everyone (6 people). I gave 1,000 baht to her mother who was thankful (she seemed... displeased with 500 baht), but her father was concerned I was paying too much and didn't want me to think they were ripping me off. I know it wasn't worth that much, really, but they did cook a lot of food...

So, I dunno, what are your thoughts? Am I being the fool and blind to love? I've tried to go in with eyes wide open and think that I've been cautious- but matters of the heart rarely are. It may seem silly but I would like some advice and/or words of wisdom from those of you who have been through this or seen this.

Thanks!