Indonesian Food

Last night, F and I were invited to a big dinner party by someone who works in the same company as F, an Indonesian fellow. It was more party than dinner party. When we walked in the door, I followed F around shaking hands until we came across Rosie who greeted me with a firm handshake and an American accent. I saw a seat beside her and immediately took it.

"Do you live here, or are you visiting?" I asked her.

"Oh my goodness, we've lived here for...Gordon?" She asked her husband. "How long have you lived here?" Pause as they converse. "About thirty years."

"Oh. It was the map that threw me off."

"We're buying a house in the south of France. Here, I'll show you."

Rosie kept me entertained for the next hour or so as she told me and Uwa, another person who works with the first guy, about the house in detail. During dinner, I began talking to Gordon. He's Canadian. They've lived here for 30 years, raised two kids and are being "forced" to buy a house in France because of Dutch tax laws. (If you cash out, you have to pay taxes. If you buy a new house, you don't.)

It's amazing to me that people do this. There are tons of people who moved here a long time ago and love it and will never return to the states to live.

We eventually ate. It was really good food. Indonesian food is amazing and really good for buffet-type parties. Then I awoke with heartburn, which I have avoided for the past few months. It was good, but spicey and I got bored and started eating again.

It was so nice, refreshing to talk to Americans living here. Amazing how that is. I didn't see F until the end when I approached him and pointed to my watch. He's so nuts. He tells me that we have to leave at 10:00, I say something to him at 9:40 and he rolls his eyes at me like I'm being a pest. Oh well.