Single Serving Friends

March 11th marked my 6 month anniversary of arrival in SE Asia and has got me to thinking a lot about relationships. Moreover, I have been thinking a lot about how fleeting relationships can be here. I know I mentioned this a few posts back, but it has weighed enough on my mind lately that I decided it deserves an entire post.
Chuck Palahniuk coined the term "single serving friends" in his novel turned movie, "Fight Club." This refers to those people you meet, exchange stories with, maybe spend a large chunk of time with all at once, and then most likely never see again (like on an airplane). This is a very common occurrence in the life of an expat. So there are two ways you can view this: for an optimist this can be seen as an amazing opportunity to meet different people from all over the world, and make connections. For those who are perpetual pessimists you could say that we are constantly investing time in people we will likely never see again. I like to believe I am somewhere in the middle. With modern day technology, mainly Facebook, you can maintain at least some sort of connection. Plus there is always the possibility that your paths will cross again at some point, whether intentionally or not. I like the idea of knowing people from all around the world. If I visit the hometown of someone I met while traveling one day there will be that familiar face. On the flip side these Single Serving friends make for a very inconsistent life style. Here in CM I am lucky enough to have a support network of a few close friends, whom I know have my back. I couldn't ask for much more after only 6 months. I often come across visitors that I wish were around longer, and this is always a tough one. There is the constant possibility for a meaningful friendship or even relationship, just not given the circumstances and/or timing. You are forced to really know yourself, and have a lot of independence whether you like it or not. To know this is to understand you can be surrounded by people, but feel lonelier than you have ever been before.