Cheers to New Friends!

When I moved back to Vancouver on my own, I’d been away for seven years. My old friends didn’t live near my neighbourhood and they were busy with their own lives (young children tend to do that), so I saw them only rarely. It took me a couple of months to find a steady job and the weeks without company had made me a little lonely. I knew I needed to use any “in” I could to start meeting new people.

I’d found a little writing work, but it wasn’t steady enough so I looked for work in my fall-back job: bartending. Now I don’t necessarily suggest this exact strategy if you’re not a bartender, but in the first week of my new job I stopped in at the bar nearest my new work and my new apartment. I introduced myself as the new bartender across the street and was immediately welcomed by this bartender. As peers, we instantly had lots to talk about: "Who just left?", "How is x, y, and z staff?", "What’s this place like to work in?" Thanks to such a friendly start, this bar soon became the hub of my new social life. And through my expanding network I met a couple of good friends to hang out with outside of the bar, and later met my fiancé.

Since I felt comfortable in this bar, it was likely that other people who came here felt the same and we had that disposition in common already. Maybe that’s why I made some friends fairly quickly. It helped that there was a pool table, a shared activity to break the ice and have a laugh over. When I was new in Phoenix, I’d found a British Pub that likewise helped me meet new people. It had a pool table too, and a live trivia night; both good conversation starters. And you can bet, when we first move to England, I’ll be spending some pleasant evenings searching out a local to call my own.