Procyon

Yeah, Shantaram was a page-turner, although it got a bit too long-winded towards the end. Definitely worth reading though, especially if one has been to India.

Your day is almost exactly like mine! Only I don't really watch TV but am online then as well, lalala. And I can't sign on to forums and such at work either -- so when I'm at work, it doesn't annoy me as much if my computer doesn't work, unless I'm doing something urgent and really need it; at other times I can do something else instead, and that is usually rather nice. At home, however, I hate it when my internet doesn't work. Nice to meet so many other internet addicts! That there's so many of us means we're all normal, right?

Okay, this is not as easy as I first thought. If you don't like travelling, for instance, it'd probably be a bad idea to do this, and if you'd have to go to high-risk areas all the time, too. And you're an American, which probably increases the risk somewhat. It's not a good idea to do this kind of thing only for the money, either. But if you want to see these places, and it doesn't involve travelling through dangerous areas all the time (some risks you may have to take), then it'd certainly deserve some consideration. Of course you'd want to make sure that you'd be able to go home on leave every year, that you'd be able to travel in the area (to see the things you want to see), etc. I have a friend who is in Sudan right now, for similar reasons. He's certainly enjoying it, although it is dangerous, but if you don't think you'll find the places you're going to interesting, you shouldn't do it. If you're going be somewhere for six years you need to want to go to that particular place or else it'll be unbearable. If you do want to, however, I say go for it! Does it seem tempting, are you curious, does it make you feel excited? Will you regret it if you don't go? In that case, go. But if not, think it over carefully. And if it's only the money that is tempting, it's probably a bad idea to do it. I hope it's not too agonising -- good luck!

But it was a beautiful ending! The "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" kind of beautiful.

You don't mean that time in the science center when one of you was kneeling in front of the other one with his mouth at, well, a certain height? I'm sure your hair wasn't dishevelled, though.

Hi, I realised it might be a good idea to introduce myself since I've begun to take part in some of the discussions. I found this forum through corvus who kept talking about it until finally I had to join, and it seems like a nice place.

I know it can work because I did it once (I tried to vote in the poll but couldn't... ) but it would probably get complicated if one of the people involved actually fell in love. Then I agree that the friendship might change irreversibly, and friendships are definitely more important than the need for sex. It is not worth risking a good friendship to have sex, but if you know someone really well -- and I mean *really* well -- you'd probably be able to be honest about this kind of thing. And also, if there's romance from one party it may well ruin a friendship anyway, even without having sex.