A dinner remembered

I am not really a party-person and more often that not I turn down most party/dinner invitations even from fellow ex-pats and local colleagues because I simply cannot stand certain types of people I am certain I would meet and socialize with at a party.

Last year, my husband and I had dinner with one of our project advisors, Irish Spring and his wife. Irish Spring comes to PP periodically for project meetings and for the first time, Mrs Irish Spring joined him for a trip to Angkor Wat. It was because of this that Mr Irish Spring suggested for us to meet socially with our respective partners.

It looked like the non-party-goer (me) was being pushed a little out of my comfort zone. I conjured images of an awkward, self-conscious, boring dinner. Nothing personal, perhaps it's just me.

I made an exception with this one.
Before leaving, I warned myself (and R) to be out on our best-est behaviour
So off we went - R and I arrived at Khmer Surin restaurant earlier than them. Personally, I would not choose Khmer Surin due to a previous bad encounter there. Food is great there, no question about it, but you will need all the patience of a pilgrim as service is painfully slow. Anyways, I digress.

Surprisingly, R and I survived and I realized we actually had a good time. Somehow, the awkwardness slowly vanished and the conversation flowed. The conversation was casual and anything and everything went. Over wine and beer and sumptuous Khmer-Thai food, we mostly talked about ex-pat life here in Cambodia and even had small gossips over common friends. Mr and Mrs Irish Spring had a lot to say and R and I shared as well. It was rare for me to be talking a lot since I am not usually talkative with people: 1) who I don’t usually socialise with, and 2) who I have met for the first time. Anyways, we all lost track of time and soon it was already past 11pm, way beyond Khmer Surin’s closing time.

I remembered my American colleague A telling me years ago that I should be more outgoing after I had turned down her invitation for after-dinner drinks in a bar. Maybe she's right. Maybe I can be outgoing and extrovert if I want to.

Have you ever experienced reluctantly going out to a party and ended up having a great time?