I second the motion — hanging out with people more intelligent than you can definite increase your intellectual capacity.

Last night, I had dinner at Macaroni Grill with the head of sales in the fourth largest equity/investment banks in Taiwan. He’s a friend of a friend, who hopefully can be a friend of mine as well.

Great guy, such a charmer. Mind you, this is what the guy does… to sell. But still, that doesn’t change the fact that he’s good at it, and he’s managed to make me like him in a span of a few hours. From the very beginning, he was all about “Tell me about you,” while I was trying to sway the conversation back into his direction.

Regardless, the evening was full of laughs as we regaled him with hilarious stories of Phuket, him and my friend reminiscing about their life in another bank and generally anything after the sun.

“You know, it’s quite rare to meet men like you who are adept in social graces, in such that you treat the lowliest of the low and the president of the country the same way,” I told him.

And it’s true.

Especially here in Taiwan, I find guys with social graces and know how to move their way around a crowd to be severely lacking. My gosh, invite them to a black-tie event and most of them don’t even have the suit to wear. 🙁

It’s enough to drive me up the wall!

“Don’t get too swayed by him,” my friend warned me. “Always remember, he’s in sales so his job is to sell. Don’t believe he’s here just because he likes you. He’s here because there’s a possibility to get something from you in the future.“

True, but I still had a great evening regardless.

It’s amazing though how small the equity/investment banking sector is… everybody knows everyone. So one still has to be careful on how one conducts oneself in their company.

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Head of sales guy mentioned something that I found to be very true. This was when we were talking about finding friends in Taiwan.

“It’s not just about the language,” he said. “I mean, I speak both English and Mandarin fluently.“

“You have to understand, connection and communication is still different,” he continued. “For example, if you can speak the language, you can communicate with them… tell them what you want, or what you don’t want. But the connection is different. It’s really difficult to find people you can connect with because the mindset is totally different.“

That’s so true.

Despite my over three years in Taiwan, I find it difficult to connect with the locals here. All of my friends are or have been educated abroad. They’re more open-minded and totally different from those who never left this island.

*shrug*

No matter what I do, I never feel that I can belong here. I mean, Taiwan’s just a transitory place for me, a place where I can spread my wings and discover myself.

But to marry, have kids and settle down here…?

Not very likely (never say never!).

I’m just too different to stay here for long.

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“You know what?” head of sales friend murmured. “I prefer the married life than the single life.”

“No matter how wild and fun single life is,” he continued. “There’s still a sense of peace, calm and belonging that married life has.”

I’m starting to yearn for that now. If you asked me a year before if I could imagine myself getting married for the next year or so, I’d probably say, “Are you freaking nuts?!”

But now, the question silences me.

If the right guy comes, why not?

God, my heart aches right now… but the yearning is there.

No matter how fun single life can be, it can be lonely. And I’d like someone to share my wonderful life with.

Aiyo.

Stop with the sentimentalism, Raven and get back to work!

Till tomorrow guys!