Making Friends

I generally make friends pretty easily, but there is something very scary about going out totally on your own and trying to meet people. My first week here I did just that three nights in a row. 

This was me the first Wednesday in the UK. (before I knew the Nerdist meetup had been moved) I sat at the bar for a while sipping my beer, looking for somebody who looked friendly enough to approach and start talking to. I actually thought about going up to some people at a table and saying "Hi I just moved here and know nobody, will you be my friends?" Luckily it didn't come to that. After I had finished half my beer, a couple came and sat at the bar next to me. The girl had very blue hair which I loved! I told her so and started talking to the two of them. They had never heard of Nerdist and were there for some video game tournament Meltdown holds every Wednesday night. I ended up hanging out with them for the rest of the evening and learned a lot about Hearthstone (the game they were playing.) I found out they attend the London Comic-con so we exchanged info so I can meet up with them again. 

The next evening I did pretty much the same exact thing. Went to the bar, got myself a beer and looked around for somebody who looked like they were by themselves or nice enough to talk to. The guy sitting next to me was wearing Star Wars print sneakers so I told him I liked them (apparently my in with strangers is to just compliment them) and found he was there for the Nerdist meetup as well. By the end of the night we amassed quite a group. 

Nerds are so wonderful. It's why I love comic con so much. You automatically have something in common and can just strike up a conversation about movies, tv, video games, books, etc. Two of the guys also go to the London Comic-con and dress up every year so we had fun showing each other pictures of past costumes. 

The third night, Friday, I went to the Oktoberfest at Kilburn Grange Park. I got myself a liter of cider and sat down at one of the long tables. I sat by myself for probably 1.5 hours looking around for an approachable group while I danced to the hilarious German band. I wanted to just go up to somebody and start talking, but the music was so loud and people were either dancing crazily or yelling conversations at each other. After a little while, the 2 men sitting across from me started chatting with me. Both were probably in their 50s or 60s and looked a little... lets just say, haggard. When they found out I was from the states they both told me that they weren't allowed there because of their criminal records. I didn't even know what to say to that. One of the men went on to tell me that his "criminal record" was from selling marijuana. I was like "Oh! That isn't so bad" and he replied, "No, like, a lot of marijuana. I think you would call it smuggling." They seriously reminded me of Horace and Jasper from 101 Dalmations. And instead of dealing in puppies, this guy dealt in Mary Jane. 

A couple of their friends joined them after a while and one had a face tattoo. While the men were all perfectly nice, I just thought to myself, you can't have a winner every evening ha. Maybe meeting really cool fun people 3 nights in a row was asking too much. I told the men that I was going to the bathroom and then heading home. I figured I'd just give the dance floor a pass through to check out the band a little closer before calling it a night. While I was walking by, I saw a group of guys taking a selfie and offered to take the picture for them. INSTANT FRIENDS. Turns out they are all teachers at a nearby school and were having a "lad's night out." They were all much closer to my age and no criminal records (at least that I know of). I ended up dancing with them for the rest of the evening to the sweet jams of 90's and early 00's that the German DJ was spinning. He played all the best songs - the Macarena, Spice Girls, Back Street Boys, and of course Robbie Williams because, hellooooo - England. 

I felt so Australian my first week here. (In my few travels abroad in the past, I was always meeting Aussies traveling by themselves and just up for whatever friends were thrown their way for the evening) Luckily it ended up working out really well for me. I haven't gone out by myself since, but at least I know that I have a 90% chance of meeting fun people and having a decent time.

Week 1 in Review

So I've officially been in the UK for 1 week now. Here are some highlights.

Day 1: 

I rode my first motorcycle! (or motorbike as they call them here). My friend drove us over to the mall on his bike so I could get a sim card. You don't have to pay for parking on a motorbike and you're allowed to drive in between lanes (which you are definitely not allowed to do in the states) so it makes for a much faster/easier/terrifying mode of transportation. Once I got used to it, it was kind of fun driving between the cars. And the gloves I wore are made from kangaroo. KANGAROO. 

Day 2:

Monday mostly consisted of me waiting in lines - went to the post office to get my residency permit which took over an hour. Then I went to school to register and get my student ID which took about 2 hours. Though while in line I did make my very first friend! Felicia from Singapore. She even let me use her portable charger since my phone was dying from using it for navigation all day. TRUE FRIENDSHIP. They had a little tea reception but by the time we got through the registration line most of the good stuff was gone. Also my student ID picture is horrendous. My hair looks straight up yellow. Keeping that one in the depths of my wallet forever and ever. Then I came home to set up my bed. 

After a few mishaps I finally got the frame together and then it was just a matter of locking in all the support boards. The mattress came rolled up in the red bag. I thought it must be a skinny mattress, but as soon as I got it out of the red bag it started to suck in air and I could hear springs popping. It was basically inflating. I had to work quickly to get it positioned on the bed and cut off the second sheet of plastic it was wrapped in before it was too bulky for me to move. Luckily it all came together well and after 8 years of sleeping in a twin, I finally have a big girl bed!

Day 3:

We had our program's welcome talk and then they brought us to a bar afterwards to mingle. I met a lot of people and I probably remember 10% of their names. We are all foreign. I think there were 2 people who lived in the UK in my program and neither of them are English. It's about 80% Chinese, a fair amount of people from the EU, and then me! the only American.

Day 4: 

Wednesday I had 2 classes at Cass. One was to show us how to access financial databases (thrilling!) and the other was a 3 hour overview on the Financial Services industry. I thought 3 hours of this would surely kill me but it ended up being really awesome! When the class began our instructor asked for 2 volunteers to come up and act out a scenario. Nobody wanted to volunteer. I never volunteered in undergrad. Fly under the radar. That was my motto. However this time I felt a weird urge to raise my hand. Maybe because I don't know anybody yet, so what do I have to lose. Or maybe because I did actually talk to the instructor some before class and felt like I should help her out. (she complimented me on my preparedness for the English weather as I was the only one in rain boots and it was pouring out) Either way, I found myself up on stage reading lines for "Amy," a misguided girl at a career fair. I'm fairly certain half of the people in that room now think my actual name is Amy. It ended up being a really fun and interactive 3 hours to prepare us for the Career Fair. Afterwards I successfully took a city bus for the first time by myself!! I was so nervous about having to push the stop button and making sure I was at the right stop. I was heading to a bar for a Nerdist meet up but after I arrived I discovered it had been moved to Thursday. Womp. At least I know how to take the bus now. 

Day 5:

I had a refresher course on Quants. The class was so full I ended up having to sit on the floor. The professor thought there was going to be 20-25 people, there were over 100. It was 2 hours of math. But not like fun, lets solve this problem together math. It was more like - remember when you learned this pre-calc stuff over a decade ago? To be fair, for a lot of the students it was probably only like 4 years ago. Thursday evening I returned to Meltdown for the Nerdist meetup with Jessica Chobot. 

She hosts their news channel and also has a podcast on weird supernatural things. I told her I am going to Romania to see Dracula's castles for Halloween and she gave me her business card to email her pictures! Her Insta gets way more likes than mine. 

Day 6:

I went on my first run and discovered an Oktoberfest in a nearby park. So I went there to throwback a liter and listen to the craziest German band ever. 

They were so fun! I knew some of the songs thanks to Busch Gardens. And then there were a lot of interactive songs that required large and ridiculous hand motions. Right up my alley. 

Day 7:

Saturday I took the tube one stop to a giant Sainsbury's to grocery shop and get the rest of the toiletries I needed. Then realized it was a 10 minute walk back to my flat so skipped the tube home. #poorplanning. Later I headed south of the Thames to meet up with my Australian friend Jo and her Canadian coworker Amanda for drinks. It was 2 for 1 cocktails so we had a fun time. The Rugby World Cup is going on and we watched Canada lose horribly to Ireland which was also fun because I know nothing about Rugby. 

All in all it was a good first week. Had some ups and downs but I am feeling relatively settled and am starting to make some friends. I also no longer need to use my phone for navigation 24/7! Longer battery life FTW!