Noni and I met in Medan in September of 2010. I was on my way to a conference in Japan, and she was visiting her family for Lebaran. We had a mutual friend that brought a bunch of people together one evening for dinner, and this was the first time we met. I still remember sitting at that coffee shop in Sun Plaza, when she walked up and we were introduced. The combination of seeing her for the first time, and the fact that I was just learning Indonesian, made my introductory response remedial at best. I think that I may have said something to the effect of "nama saya Matt" (i.e., my name is Matt), and that was it!
We had dinner with a bunch of people, only one of which I was friends with at the time. I had a really hard time following the Indonesian conversation, and kept thinking that all I wanted to do was talk to Noni. My contribution to that portion of the evening's festivities was for all intents and purposes, lacklustered.
After dinner, a few of us decided to head to another restaurant for a some relaxing evening drinks. However, prior to that, we stopped at a few shops in Sun Plaza, including a shoe store (note that shoes are a major favorite of Noni's!!!!). It was in the shoe store that Noni and I first exchanged any meaningful conversation. It wasn't much, but Noni is so great to be around, that I will never forget those first few exchanges.
At the other restaurant, I was lucky enough to get a seat near Noni, and was again able to have a go with my broken Indonesian. We made small talk, but I was so nervous that I am surprised Noni did not attempt to change seats with someone. Wrapping up the night, I ended up with Noni's phone number, but truth be told, I am still not sure how that happened.
If first impressions are important, I do not know how I got where I am today, as I was all Busch league that evening. I suppose that I owe it to Noni's beautiful patient personality, and her ability to see the good in others.
I will say that I salvaged a bit of dignity later in the evening by
sending some text messages while I was packing for my trip, and again while I was waiting for my flights to Kuala Lumpur and then Japan. It was during that time that we agreed to meet again, when I returned from my conference in Japan.
I likely left out some pretty funny and embarrassing details about that night (Noni will be able to fill those in), but what I clearly remember was that I desperately wanted to see Noni again. As things go, I liked her from the first moment I set eyes on her.
0 comments:
Post a Comment