First, thanks for the welcomes! And yes, Sharon seems to have no hesitation in welcoming new members.
LOL! Well, Khwan, you have put me on the spot, because to put everything into contest means that I have to flesh out the portrait of myself here. Otherwise, I won't make any sense at all!
It would probably be MOST interesting to hear how her parents met and dealt with cultural differences! Sadly, I can't supply any information on that.
As I said, I'm 57 and retired from the US Navy. Yes, I have a lot less hair on top than I used to have but I don't think I'm fat! I've also been a bit of an "oddball/misfit" most of my life which has meant that I haven't been much of a prize for the typical Caucasian American woman. So, when I joined the Navy at age 21 and finished my initial training I had the good fortune to do well enough on my grades to choose from from the available orders. So, on the basis of "how far from the American Midwest can the Navy get me?" I wound up stationed on a guided missile frigate (later re designated a guided missile cruiser) homeported in Yokosuka, Japan. It was soon clear to me that I "Wasn't in Illinois any more, Toto!" when, two weeks after reporting onboard we had to go help evacuate Saigon.
Stationed on her for three years. In addition to Japan, saw quite a bit of the Philippines, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, and even Iran. Did cruises back there in 1981, 1984 and 1986.
Yes, the Asian women I encountered over there were pretty much the ones you would expect a sailor to encounter. And, frankly, I found them to be much better company than the Caucasian women I hand known in the US. Did I encounter some "mercenaries?" Sure! But the ones I would call that were very much in the minority. The rest were matter of factly making their living being women, but clearly did enjoy and appreciate my company especially as for my part I accepted and enjoyed their company as a person. The view of some of the old timers was that if you do that, she will watch out for you like a hawk to see that you aren't taken advantage of or ripped off and in my experience it was true. I came away with a lot of very happy memories and recollections of individual girls which bring a smile to me to this day.
Meeting my fiancee? Well, I am going to deliberately be vague concerning her, out of respect for her privacy and wishes for reasons which will become clear.
She is Japanese-American and a few years younger than I am. Her father was also a Navy man stationed in the Western Pacific after WWII, he met her mother in Japan, they were married and she was born in Tokyo. She speaks Japanese well and is thoroughly familiar and comfortable with Japanese culture and is thoroughly American at the same time. She grew up mostly in the US and married soon after high school. The marriage lasted about 10 years, until the birth of their son at which point her husband divorced her, apparently couldn't handle the responsibilities of fatherhood. And there she was, pushing 30 with a high school diploma, no work experience and an infant son. She was determined to give him the best upbringing and start in life that she could, and doing it on welfare or minimum wage jobs just would not be possible. So she selected a legitimate occupation which would bring in enough income to do it, and became an adult film/video actress. She achieved a fair degree of celebrity and put her son through college. She is now retired and very protective of her privacy (she had at least one very disturbing stalking experience and doesn't want any more!), and so I will avoid references which might identify her.
In my view, she has a lot of responsibility, determination and courage. She has faced a number of the same challenges as her working sisters in Asia, and won through.
We met at a club where she was appearing a few years before she retired and hit if off as friends immediately. We stayed in touch, and yes, the friendship grew into love. It took her a while to develop the trust to go forward -- on top of her prior marriage, the guys in the adult entertainment industry aren't all paragons of character. But she had the courage to put her heart forward once more, and she's not going to regret it!
Culturally, my time in Japan has certainly helped me appreciate her Japanese side, and she enjoys that appreciation. We hope to take a vacation there soon.
Well, sorry for being so wordy, but I wanted to be clear!
John S.
In a message dated 6/11/2010 9:25:21 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, khwan@khwan.com writes:
I would just be curious how you met. And if there any difficulty you found with culture diffrences and if you have any advice for people planning on walking the same path as you.
KHWAN
--- In asianamericanromance@yahoogroups.com, simanton@... wrote:
>
> I'm about to wrap up for the night, but I will try to post some more detail
> tomorrow. Is there anything in particular you would like to know?
>
> John S
>
>
> In a message dated 6/10/2010 10:47:31 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
> khwan@... writes:
>
> Hi John:
>
> Thank you for joining and welcome to the Group.
>
> Would you mind telling that Group a little more about your life and your
> future wife?
>
>
>
> KHWAN
>
> --- In asianamericanromance@yahoogroups.com, "John S" <simanton@> wrote:
> >
> > I have just joined the group after Khwan announced it in her other
> group. I will probably not be very active at the start, I prefer to listen,
> learn what's going on and gain impressions of the active participants first.
> >
> > Some basics, I am 57, retired from the US Navy, and spent time in
> Southeast Asia between 1975 and 1986 which, I confess, left me with an
> appreciation of Asian ladies and probably had something to do with my present
> engagement to an Asian-American lady.
> >
> > I'm looking forward to the activities and discussions in the group.
> >
> > John S.
> >
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/asianamericanromance/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/asianamericanromance/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
asianamericanromance-digest@yahoogroups.com
asianamericanromance-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
asianamericanromance-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
__._,_.___
No comments:
Post a Comment