Bev Lukasevics:  

Life I lived and worked in High Point, N.C. at different jobs and positions from 1972 until 1982. I worked in a hospital, a Hardees, for an electrician, a Pizza Inn, in a print shop, a travel agency, and finally a bank. I met my future husband from Philadelphia on a blind date, and my life became a cinderella story....small town girl meets the love of her life and travels the world and lives in foreign countries. When I got married in 1982, I gave it all up for the man of my dreams; my apartment, the best job I'd ever had, my car, my friends, my family, and my country. We got married and moved immediately to Manila, Philippines for 3 years. We were there during the Aquino murder, and subsequent overthrow of the Marcos dictatorship. It was pretty exciting, but also just a bit scary. Although I think my friends and family were more afraid than I was. I learned somthing really interesting about our media, and the press. I learned first hand about how the written word can be twisted and turned. My parents were constantly calling to find out if I was safe, which I was. The "riots" that were filling the pages here in the states, were really little more than organized parades down Main street in Manila. Generally, it was posted in the paper, by radio, and/or tv when these scheduled demonstrations would take place. You watched for the notices, and avoided these specific places. Although I did end up getting caught during one. Caught, meaning I was driving back from town, and didn't get out of downtown before it began. I was pretty scared, but tried not to panic. The street was pretty much like a parking lot, similar I guess to what it might be like to get out of a concert or baseball or football game. Except I noticed everyone was blowing their horns. But not out of anger. More like a celebration. Filled with the prospect of.....freedom! As I looked out the windshield of my car at people sitting in their cars, I noticed they were all putting up on their foreheads what here in America would be the symbol for "loser". So I did the sme thing, blew my horn, smiled really big, and very slowly crawled the car along till I could get off the main street. When I finally got home, I was trembling and shaky, but relieved I had made it home at all. It wasn't till several years later that I realized I had been in a country in the early stages of transition.....from a corrupt dictatorship, to true democracy. We lived in Manila from 1982 till 1985, when we moved to Connecticut. Can't say I really liked the place...the weather was bloody cold, and the people were even colder! I had a bank teller tell me one day that I was naive and when I asked her why,she said: "Why? Well, because you are from the south...they trust everybody!" My daughter was born there in 1987..Brianna Liza(leeza). We moved shortly after to New Jersey...not much better. But my son Nicholas was born there in 1988. Moved to Pennsylvania in 1989. What can I say? I was working my way back south one state at a time. Lived there one year before making another big move..to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I actually loved living in Kuala Lumpur. Although things did change when the first gulf war started. Mostly, I felt safe. But there were a few major incidents, such as someone getting shot in front of the American Embassy. Americans got the cold shoulder from people they had known and lived with there for years. One thing about Malaysia was if you wanted to order "white meat", you didn't call it "breast". That was a no-no. They called it ribs. Another intersting thing to learn was you always carried a packet of tissues everywhere you went....they don't use toilet paper! Bummer...pun intended. Oh, and I learned to drive on the other side of the road..not too hard. When we moved to Guangzhou, China, I thought it would be just another big, dirty, crowded Asia city. The biggest difference was no one speaks English. And everything of course is written in Chinese.That was the hardest part. When you go to the grocery store, you can recognize Tide or colgate, but is it Tide with bleach o...Expand for more