I love the way you talk to me...

Like a grade school fantasy, I told myself in my going to Europe I wasn't to return home to the States until I was married to an English boy and my paperwork for citizenship was in the final stage of review. I couldn't quite bag Daniel Radcliffe but through my experiences in England and Prague I had the opportunities to connect with a fair share of blokes. Some as platonic friendships and some were more deeper that that. Here are the better few:

Neil and Andy are boyfriends in their late 20's. They live in Leicester, which is the largest city in the East Midlands of England. They own a house together. Neil works in an administrative office setting and Andy is a store manager for Topman, the stand alone business counterpart of Topshop which caters exclusively for men's clothing. I acquainted with Neil through MySpace; we both share a passion for the Titanic (the actual history of it, not the DiCaprio film). When I initially arrived in Europe they were the ones that first greeted me at Heathrow. Sure it felt awkward at first but they were all well and polite. They had a derisive style of humour that made me feel comfortable quickly. Andy hadn't met many Americans or someone of an accent of my Yankee type, so consequently he often would mock my speech jokingly. That was fine by me (at times I couldn't quite decipher a few comments he said either). I also saw how the twos underlying wit contributed to their relationship. I have noticed similar findings with other committed gay couples, American and English alike, that share both a love and a mortgage together (which can really seal the deal). They often find humour in teasing each other because they seem to know their subtleties and quirks to a tee. Of course this can be found within heterosexual relationships as well but watching gay men do it, let alone English gay men - it's much more entertaining. The idea of entering into that seems convenient and discouraging at the same time, but with a English boy it seems more amusing - as skin-deep as that sounds.

We toured a couple of port towns to satisfy the likings of the ship enthusiasts. We also toured Stonehenge which was quite spectacular. Neil and Andy had a comfortable home in Leicester in which Neil conceded to me that he will be paying off until retirement. Neil was a Midlands homebody and despised the congested streets of London, so while there his obvious peeves were always made apparent in any confusing fast paced situations. Andy seemed more open minded and was in good spirits wherever we went. They balance each other out well.

Also, Neil and Andy's neighbors met us in London. They were a lesbian couple of polar opposites except for the width of their body frames. I do forget their names. One woman was younger and closer to my age. She dressed mostly in black and had the dominant role in the relationship. She spoke in the very brash fashion lesbians have stereotypically bestowed upon them - then mixed with dry English wit, it made her into even more of a bruiser.

Her partner, a woman of 40 something, upheld a more sophisticated ambiance. Unlike her virile ill-bred partner, she was polite, inquisitive, and made more of an attempt to be social to me without the attribute of being innately crass. She was what I had then expected by mere assumption of how a middle aged English woman was supposed to act. The only qualm I had of her was she brought a large formal wardrobe for traveling. She dumbfound-idly decided to walk around my first night in London in heels. She also did the same in Southampton. The picture you see of Neil and I with some beers was in Southampton. I had just finished airing my clothes with a hand dryer in the restaurants restroom after we were engulfed by down pouring summer rain due to the absence of an umbrella, and as the result of the steady paced blue coated women pictured above. I brooded in silence throughout that entire dinner.

Walking with them was like stop and go traffic and it detracted the great anticipation I had for my first memories in England. I was rather pouty over this (see my face). Neil and Andy understood this and later said they regretted even inviting them. Returning to Andy and Neil's home sweet home in Leicester was a nice relaxing change of pace. We toured an extravagant historical park, ate out locally at variety restaurants that had flair on the walls, and went to the movies. It felt like Oakland County but only English (minus the extravagant park). Neil and Andy will probably be the ones I will most likely keep in touch with in the future.

I also met Jack via Internet as I meet almost all gay males. Jack is 3 years my junior. He was born and raised in London (which is a type of all its own). He attended University in Bournemouth which was an hour south of London. Frankly I was really taken by my first impression of Jack. I see attraction through an array of minimal and subtle features and he captivated that so well. He had a very refined London accent, which are less common to find as you may think. He had a tendency to ramble at times which was cute of course because I adored his accent. He had an adventurous sense of style. He could pull off a glittery sweater that was meant exclusively for the character of one of the Golden Girls (Blanch Devereaux) and it would still compliment him. Perhaps because he had such a boyish appeal he couldn't help but not look charming in anything. Young Londoner's wear all sorts of tacky and colourful articles of clothing; where in comparison by here you would be perceived as a class five hipster that seems like he is trying too hard, but in London it's widely embraced amongst the more progressive generations. We spent nights at each other place. I liked his family as well. Jack's mother is a high school teacher that lives with her girlfriend of nearly a decade who works at a rehabilitation facility of some sorts. It was such a lovely family dynamic. I remember having dinners at their East London homestead where all of us gays, young and older, gathered around the table and discussed casual topics of interest over wine. Afterwards we would adjourn to the living room for a movie and tea. It felt comfortable with him but nothing lasting could work as a result of particular circumstances; Jack was definitely not one for committed relationships at this time in his life and obviously nor was I. We also argued at times over trivial matters. We were alike in many ways; we both could be brutally curt and we often made snap judgements at the explanations of ones perspectives. Regardless of similar antics, he was nice companionship. He recently wrote me and wished me a happy birthday and asked of my doings, which was kind of him.

Alasdair was a free spirited 21 yr old I met from some mutual friends in Prague shortly before I returned home. It was infatuation at first sight and we had a short lived romance. He spent some years living in America because his father was stationed in the navy. It was refreshing to hear how well he knew geography in the US. He was also in Prague teaching English for a stint which he had come to loathe. We both liked 80's synth pop and when in privacy we would listen to it dreamingly. Alasdair moved to India a week before I came home. We often sat in pubs through late hours of the night contemplating what will be in store in the soon to be future of our lives. He was going to be riding elephants in New Delhi while I was going to be coming back to a place where people eat in delis like elephants. I haven't been in contact with him since I came home because I am foolishly pendulous like that.

Robert was a good friend in Prague that I had throughout the extent of my stay. He was a independent and an observing thinker like me, which patened a rather maladroit friendship. We didn't always have an enormous amount to moot on about together, but we still enjoyed one anothers company nevertheless. He had been living in non-native English language countries for the past 4 yrs or so I could imagine if that made an impression on making a little small talk. I was only there for a little less than a year and I know for a fact it made an impact on my way of casual conversing (to put that lightly). Robert and I were there for each other when we both quit our jobs in Prague out of frustration. He lived in London for a couple months. I visited him there directly before I flew home to Michigan. Robert didn't last in London and I foresaw that even though I encouraged him to be optimistic about it. Robert found London to be too superficial, and one night he really demonstrated his feelings concerning that at a bar in Soho. Just a few days ago he moved back to Prague. His facebook status yesterday indicated that he was having his first beer in Prague. I think I'll send him a message.