Then along came Tinder! I resisted it at first- pretty easy to do when you don’t have a Smart phone, but when your girlfriends get you an iPhone for your birthday with the Tinder app installed and a profile ready, as if you’re going to say no! They were very thoughtful friends, as it was all to make sure I got laid for my birthday– and doesn’t everybody want that?? Anyways, that night is very alcohol-induced hazy, however, I’m pretty sure we (ok, I’m pretty sure it was actually one gf in particular) might have swiped right to every guy between the ages of 18-35 years old in a 150 km radius! As I was a Tinder virgin, you probably want to know if, well, I got fucked? The answer, unfortunately, is no. What my first experience taught me, is that a lot of guys will match you, but then just stop there.
Don’t know what Tinder is, or how it works, you say? Never used Tinder? Well, imagine going to a bar and having guys lined up within your preferred dating age-range. With either only looking at them, or possibly (let’s say half of them) listening to them talk about themselves for 15 seconds, you decide whether you want to continue to chat, or tell them “Adios Amigos”. Now imagine that all of this is instead online, but you now have up to 100 men, boys, boy toys, or just plain idiots- whatever ever you want to call them, pretty much thrown in your face. The only catch — they have to want to chat to you too. So, here we enter a whole new world of dating, or at least options of men to date.
During this time, I was living in Queenstown, the “adventure capital of the world”, so there were both a lot of locals and tourists on Tinder to choose from. I went on a few dates, dated someone for six months (that experience could be an entire blog in itself, it was so bad), but the point is- there were options! I didn’t know how good I had it at the time. Unfortunately, Queenstown had been challenging me in other parts of my life, so I decided to change careers, change countries, and move to Cambodia to teach English. — This is how I ended up living in Siem Reap.
Dating in Siem Reap has been an entirely different experience. And by different I do not mean better. I mean so fucking bad, that I actually used some of the shit experiences of dating here in my first ever (charity fundraiser) stand-up comedy routine. It was actually at this fundraiser that I gave out my phone number at the end of the performance. Or did I? Sorry, just talking shit again. I mean, I did pass out pieces of paper to the audience with a phone number on them but, it wasn’t mine! Apologies to the random person who might have got calls that night, opps!
“When you dedicate half of your debut stand-up comedy routine to the fucking shit dates you’ve had, you know the pickings are slim, and there is a lack of talent!”
For anyone who lives here in Siem Reap, you will know what I’m talking about. For those who don’t, let me explain. There is a local (Cambodian) community, and an expat community. Within this expat community, you predominantly have single women +35, gay men, heterosexual couples, men +55 who want to meet a nice Cambodian girl to take care of them, and 25-35-ish year old single men. Hold up! I bet you’re thinking what’s wrong with these 25-35 year old guys?? Well, nothing if they actually wanted to date someone but, it seems, the majority do not. Instead there is a big “player” scene, where a girl is lucky to be the flavor of the week, or flavor of the month. Hell, it might even take six months for it to be your turn again. — Yes, I can actually confirm this one from personal experience.
So, who the fuck can you date??!! Well, your choices then become locals or tourists. As I mentioned in my debut post, I tend to go for tall, white guys. Translation- Asian guys are not my type. That leaves tourists, and well, the best way to meet a flock of tourists is on Tinder! It’s not all unicorns and sparkles though! When you dedicate half of your debut stand-up comedy routine to the fucking shit dates you’ve had, you know the pickings are slim, and there is a lack of talent! Now, that’s not to say I haven’t had a few fun dates with a couple of the tourists I’ve met. I think one I even fell in love with one the moment I met him. It kind of didn’t hurt that he looked like a Calvin Klein model. — Did it just get a bit hotter in here?
Last year, however, I was so disheartened by the dating scene in Siem Reap, I actually only went on a handful of dates. This year though, I decided, as a New Year’s “resolution” kind-of-thing, to get out and meet more men and give more of them chances. I want to find someone to share all the love I have to give. I resolved I was going to open myself up to love this year, in hope of it coming back to me. You know, positive thinking to receive some sparkles in return. This is how ‘The Bachelorette: Siem Reap‘ came to fruition this past February.
Check out my next two posts to find out what happens when I become The “Bachelorette”. You can also follow me here, or like my FB page https://www.facebook.com/jossdatingblog/ to know when new posts go live.
Are You My Mr. Right? 