More on anecdotal marriage to gweilo...

Now that I think of it some more, there are other marriages to gweilo that come to mind, so here goes (continuing on from previous posting):

(e) When I was at school back then in Hong Kong, I would sometimes skip school to work on exhibitions. I liked to try different things, meet new people, see different perspectives. In one of the trade shows, I met this woman in her early 40s who worked the temp job in the same show. We talked a bit, and she told me her story.

She got married when she's in her 30s. She said she was a bit desperate, but she also wanted to be picky. So, a friend of hers introduced her to a British guy who went to Hong Kong to take up the position as a superintendent (or some such) in the Royal Hong Kong Police Force. (Yes, there's a Royal prefix, because Hong Kong was still under British rule.) As a gweilo, it's a cushy job. Being a civil servant and an expat Brit, he had very generous benefits, including housing and salary. But he's a shy guy, and she chose him. As she told it, she was candid enough to admit that to me that she had high hopes that he would introduce her into some expat circle. While I don't like that attitude of hers, I reserve that comments to myself. She was rather sorely disappointed that, given how shy he was, he didn't like partying, and rarely went out with her at all, since he didn't like missing with crowds, even with his own fellow Brits (perhaps, particularly with his own kind, I sometimes wonder). Still, stayed with him, she did; but she set out to beat her own path; hence, her working temp jobs in trade shows and exhibitions to see new people. I never met her again, but I doubt she'll ever leave him. She liked too much the status that he could afford her, as an expat's wife. I sometimes wonder though, how she's going to handle the dreary weather in Britain, after his retirement from RHKPF and they went back to England.

(f) Given all the "bad press" about these social climbing women, or clueless airhead girls with pretty face, there are cases when inter-racial marriage does not have to start and end badly. Stella is a friend of my other sisters, who married a French guy when she's close to her 40s and he's working towards his retirement. She's a bit of a romantic-at-heart, but never found the right guy. After a long courtship with this French, they finally decided to tie the knot in a small church in France. She's not the showy type, and always very down-to-earth. In fact, she has even bought term life coverage to herself, so that the proceeds will benefits charity organizations.