BBQ at Gil's House

Yesterday was a nice day ( we have a lot of nice days ). First my football team played against the teachers team from the British International School (beautiful school and a lovely football pitch). We play this game every few weeks. My team is formed from a rag-tag bunch of ex-pats who play a regular game on the big pitch by Patong Beach.

We are actually better than we look (or should be considering our age). We have beaten the teachers every time so far and yesterday was no exception. We beat them 4-0. The team played well and I played well, capping it all off with a nice goal. I really am too old for this game but I still love playing and I can still put in a respectable performance.

In the evening we went to a small party at a good friend's house. His name is Gil and he comes from Israel. He is also a longterm resident of Phuket and married to a Thai. He works offshore in Nigeria for 10 week stretches and only gets 3 weeks off. It is a job that he is starting to hate - not surprising since there are kidnappings on a daily basis out there.

Gil is a great guy. He is mostly happy and easy going. There is one big exception. He is a rabid Man U fan and whenever they are playing he turns into a ranting, gibbering tazmanian devil. He doesn't realise it but he is the worst type of Man U fan. The sort that give all Man U fans such a bad reputation. He thinks Man U fans have it tough, he turns on his own team whenever the game is proving difficult, he believes everybody is against Man U, he genuinely believes referees are biased against them, etc. Yesterday Man U had to beat Man City to take a huge step towards the Premiership title. Man U won 1-0 and were mostly comfortable. That didn't stop Gil from screaming abuse at the TV, turning on their manager and most of their players, jumping up and down and throwing peanuts around. I am used to it and couldn't help laughing. His wife's family was there and looked a little uncomfortable.

The game finished and Gil turned back into the normal affable bloke he is for the rest of the time. We had a good BBQ and a few beers. Our two little toddlers always love these events and played themselves to exhaustion. It was a late night for them but it doesn't do them any harm now and then.