My husband came home one evening from work, and out of the blue asked “what do you think about living in Germany for the next three years?” Joke? I was set and primed to do my doctoral research in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and had all the dominoes lined up ready to knock them down, so Germany? NOT!
What do I know about Germany except, dankeschön, auf wiedersehen, schnitzel, Volkswagen, and Heidi Klum? I had just learned how to spell Albuquerque, now I had to think of spelling Deutschland?
But being married to a soon-to-be retired Air Force Colonel, and one that had always wanted to go to Germany (they make a lot of fishing reels in that part of the world, and he collects reels), I immediately began to try to wrap my head around the idea of research completion on an international travel budget.
Long story short, once in Germany, trying to find a hard to find house, eating strange food and surrounded by strangers, homesick and beleaguered by questions of how I was possibly going to finish my research with my target population on another continent, I was, needless to say, frustrated and depressed.
During this time I met a young Thai housekeeper at the base lodging and seeing her felt like finding a friend from home. We began to talk about a subject near and dear to a Thai’s heart…Food!
When asked the location of the nearest Thai restaurant (I was in withdrawal for Thai peppers and rice) she commented that she could show me, but not tell me the directions, besides she stated “I cook better.”
After another long and disappointing day of house hunting (should have watched “House Hunting International” on the HGTV), we were tired, worried, and hungry. Behold! Upon opening our room door, the table was covered in wonderful, wonderful home cooked Thai food, a welcome to Germany by my new housekeeper friend! She will never know what that bit of home and hospitality did for my tired soul, but at the moment all I could do was to succumb to hearty tears, wipe them away and eat!
From that first drop of friendship, I realized that when God closes a door, He opens a window! This young Thai woman became an instrument of God in my heart, as she helped me to be able to go through that opened window to find a new target population in Germany. As she was fluent in German, married to a German, and drove like one, she was able to introduce me to the local Thai cultural spots such as the grocery store, the Buddhist temple (Wat), the Royal Thai Consulate, and her Thai friends.
Through her friendship, I was able to acquire new informants, research subjects, and build a Thai network which then enabled me to develop and conduct my research in Germany. Now that is a true ‘snowballing technique’!