Close encounters . . . of the Galesburg kind

Sitting in Chiang Mai at a small local restaurant serving up breakfasts of congee and dim sum a middle-aged white guy sauntered over to our table and announced, 'Ever since people like you (meaning tourists) starting turning up in here they put up their prices.'  He then cracked a smile and in a deep Midwestern drawl said, 'Where ya'll from?'

I said I currently resided in KL, but we were all - for lack of a better term - 'native Americans.'  We gabbed for a minute about the virtues of Malaysian cuisine and he turned to ask my travel companions where precisely they were from, two promptly responded with Colorado (unashamedly ditching the home states of Alabama and Texas) and then my third companion did something I gave up doing years ago, she said, 'Galesburg, Illinois.'

Pinpointing Galesburg geographically during a foreign encounter can be a bit of a challenge. Few people (Americans often included) have a detailed image in their head of the location of cities and states across our vast country.  So I often say 'near Chicago' or just 'Illinois' and am pleased when I get a response of 'that's kind of in middle, right?'

Well, this jolly character had no trouble pinpointing Galesburg at all.

'Galesburg, Illinois you say?  You know Galesburg is the only place in the world I've ever been where you can get fish bait and tackle out of a vending machine at a gas station.'

Turns out our new found friend had once worked for the Knox County nursing home and was now a permanent resident of Chiang Mai where he runs a small guesthouse.

We carried on for a bit and eventually the Alabama origins of one of our party were exposed. Unsurprisingly, he knew a little something about Alabamaians too.  He says,

'Well, I know a guy from Alabama out here. He sounds like a first class hick but he's smarter than hell and he's got two masters degrees and speaks and writes fluent Thai.  I asked him awhile ago if he ever wanted to go back and put that fancy education to use and make some money. 

Nah, this guy says. See I'm not the most attractive guy in the world and back in Alabama the girls wouldn't piss on me if my heart was on fire but out here they can't get enough of me and the weather's warm and the beer cheap.'

 Needless to say it's a small world and growing smaller and this little encounter with home put a smile on my face for the rest of the day.