Bored Blog 6: When You Live In A New Place

7/16/2021

Sorry, I didn't post yesterday. I'm taking a dance class once a week now. It's in the evenings when I usually write.

It's dancing on roller skates, which is something new to me. I noticed if you fall while the teacher is instructing the group, it takes a while to get back up. Thus you can miss something or you'll have to find a way to catch up with everyone else. In the middle of the lesson I thought maybe "This is too advanced for me. "

I'm confident in moving forward down the rink, but spins and whatnot is something else. It's a real test of balance. Besides balance I feel like whatever else I learn in this class could be useful for me in the future. Just a hunch.

I didn't have anything planned to write this morning. When I woke up I remembered I never responded to a text my friend sent me. She's currently living in Texas. I think it's her first time living by herself where it isn't a study abroad program.

I was really happy for her when she moved. It's financially tough to live on your own. Choosing Texas was a good idea. Things are cheaper there.

My friend and I were catching up and she said she's planning to move back to the city. She said she misses her friends and family. I was telling her that what she's doing is awesome and making a new life somewhere else takes time. She pointed out that making friends as an adult is difficult. Which is very true.

I didn't make many friends in college because I kept moving around. After graduating I only made seven new friends? Two of them live in a different country, two of them live in different states, another one I'm questioning our friendship at the moment, and the other two are usually busy. So, most of the time I'm alone.

It's tough because people are less open to making new friends, they're more picky than when they were a kid, and everyone has their own life. There are also times when you think someone can be your friend, but maybe you're actually just acquaintances, or that person only talks to you when they want something from you.

But that doesn't mean you should give up trying. Honestly a majority of the people you meet won't be a good fit, but the few you do find are like happy surprises (depending how the friendship goes lol).

I don't think my friend should give up and return home. She should stick it out longer.

When I was living in Turkey for six months and it was really tough.

I had a hard time meeting people my age and finding someone who was free to meet up and explore Istanbul. So there was a lot of stuff I did by myself.

It took a long time until I made two friends from my Turkish class.

Please ignore my hat. It was a gift ＼| ￣ヘ￣|／

We would hang out a lot. During Ramazan we broke our fast together, we talked about how hard it is to find a boyfriend, we tried new foods together, and we complained about the summer heat together. It was great.

And then it was time for me to go back home. =^._.^= ∫

I told my friend that's now in Texas, I saw her Tik Tok and knew she was taking a dancing class. So, I asked if she's talked to the people there? After that she stopped texting me. It's a dance class that would make your grandma blush, so I'm guessing she got embarrassed and didn't want to talk about it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I really hope she stays longer. She hasn't been there for a full year yet. There's still a lot of opportunities for her.

Some advice for when you go live somewhere new, is it's going to take some time. Use your curiosity of a new place to your advantage. Start meeting people when you get there and ask about the area. Take classes to learn something new or the next level of what you already know. Also, if someone invites you to an event that's an opportunity to meet more people!

If you're an introvert, go to events that have things that are interactive such as games, interactive art, or plane old art that you can look at. You don't have to talk to everyone. Just talk to at least one person. Just one!

It doesn't even have to be a conversation. I count asking someone for the time is talking to someone. Easy right?!

Best,

Emel