davewe wrote:publicduende wrote:...I would end up sad and depressed...in the Philippines! I came exactly for the opposite reason. To conjugate hard work with some fun and the opportunity to find the kind of young woman I have always wanted.
Nowhere to go where I won't find the same faces, the same behaviours, the same rituals...the same s*it.
Do you guys really feel like rockstars because a few dumb 20-something with no chance in life are interested in latching on to you and give you what you want in exchange of all they can get?
IMHO this admission is a great sign and hopefully a turning point. It was clear to me that several of your recent threads about the women you were or were not meeting were not about the women but more about whatever is going on with you. Now none of us truly know you and therefore can't assess whether this is general dulldroms or true depression. Since you are not a kid and pretty self-aware I suspect you know yourself well enough to know what action to take to get out of your current malaise. If you don't know it might be time to talk to a professional.
Perhaps this is a good time to deal with your core feelings and not just to find the latest girl.
Just one clarification, Dave. I am
not clinically depressed.

I am perfectly fine and able to function to the best of my abilities, including meeting people (lots of people!).
My sadness is more of a background noise. I am obviously using this forum as an outlet because I know there are plenty of people, just like you, who are able to understand and advise me. I am taking good advantage of the camaraderie and kindness of many HA members and, believe me, that I
do profoundly appreciate, beyond any bunch of words that could be written here, in anonymity.
Yes I agree with you, it's about me, not about the girls. I can't change the shape of a country just because I want it. The kinds of young women I would like to pursue are a very scarce commodity and I constantly fail to compromise.
The situation is getting "worse" with every passing year: the arbitrage window is closing, and fast. Every girl who has a smartphone and the usual flurry of social media apps, is exposed to the wider world. She knows how a Westerner should look like to be considered gwapo, so a 50-something pot-bellied with a kind attitude just won't cut it anymore (besides his ability to provide for a poor girl and her family). Her aesthetic canons are being heavily biased towards the baby-faced heartthrob so
en vogue with Korean pop culture, but are hard to replicate with an adult Westerner. The Philippines are growing as a tourist and even business destination, so young and good looking foreigners are no longer an unusual sights in cities other than Metro Manila and Cebu.
Finally, the rampant materialism means an adult man will be seen at "face value", not for the experience or maturity or quality of feelings he can bring to the table. Whether it's a young Pinoy or a mature foreigner, the questions are always the same:
- do you look good based not just on my canons, but those of my friends and peers?
- will I embarrass myself if I go out with you in public?
- can you help with money when(ever) I need it?
- can you entertain me continuously, cover me with attentions several times a day and satisfy my whims?
In short, nothing that different anymore from what a girl in the West, or in China, would be looking for.
The fact some girls, in fact a lot of girls in the Philippines would be willing to cut on those requirements doesn't necessarily mean they are girls with good moral values. It simply means they know they can't find better, or they life experience thus far showed them that.
Believe me I have seen and heard it, I have seen girls leaving their mature boyfriends whom they swore eternal love (and from whom they are enjoying a distance relationship and financial help) fall into another man's arms just because he's younger, has more "face value" and is right there with them. And to the lover's surprise, they even have the guts to say things like "yeah I have a bf but he's so old and boring". Another girl I recently chatted to on DIA looked really cute and was a pleasure to talk to. She told me she did a short study period in the US and has many friends there. She was looking for friends in Europe, so I said I am from there and told her a few things about Europe and Europeans, which, I believe, she appreciated.
Then out of the blue she told me she was waiting for her passport to move to Australia and I made an ironic remark on how that would stop me from courting her properly. She hastily told me that "that's cool as it is" and gave me her goodnight. I never heard from her again, despite contacting her again for the following couple of days.
Hypergamy in women only needs one observation, and the bar is set. If a girl had a single foreign boyfriend who is young and good looking, or she is being chased by one, she will be very reluctant to downgrade to an adult foreigner. Girls who live or work or study abroad, who make friends with men considered "cooler" or more handsome. Once their mind is set at that level, we become invisible.
So you guys' theory of going off the beaten path, hoping to find girls who haven't been exposed to men better than us, may work, but up to a certain point. Internet-enabled smartphones and social media are available even in rural areas, and any girl who doesn't literally live under a rock can easily put herself in a shop window and set her standards to the best "face" she's been approached by.