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Meeting friends

(Note: This post was written by Laurel Regan and originally published in a separate blog called “Why Windsor…”, which was later merged with Alphabet Salad.)

I‘ve been giving some thought as to how I’ll go about meeting people and making new friends once we’ve moved to Windsor, and thought I’d do a bit of a braindump here so as to remember some of the ideas I’ve come up with.

My main concern about making friends is that while I consider myself to be an extrovert once I know someone, I tend to be fairly shy with new people, and that shyness means that the introductory stage of a friendship can be a bit of a challenge. With that in mind, one of the ways I’m hoping to get out there and meet people is by joining some groups and taking a class or two based on my interests. Here are some of the things I thought I might try:

  • I’ve been a member of BookCrossing for years, and have been part of a couple of different local meets in Victoria throughout that time. Talking about and sharing books is a great icebreaker, and a fun way to build friendships. I don’t think there’s a BookCrossing meet in Windsor – at least not one that’s active at the moment – but perhaps something like that could get going again.
  • Failing being part of a BookCrossing meet, I could look for a book club that’s accepting new members.
  • I’m getting back into crocheting and needle felting (and might even try knitting some day!), and would love to join a Stitch ‘n Bitch-type meet.
  • My mom, sister and I are talking about taking a trip to Italy together in 2012, and I want to learn some rudimentary Italian before we go. Italian classes in Windsor would be another great way to meet new people.
  • Since I’ll be working part-time, I should be able to devote some time to volunteering. I’m not sure where, but I know there are always places in need of willing helpers, so I’m sure I won’t have too much trouble finding something!

That’s all I’ve come up with so far, but any other suggestions are always welcome!

Edited to add a suggestion from windchick on Talk Windsor:

Laurel Storey, CZT – Certified Zentangle Teacher. Writer, reader, tangler, iPhoneographer, cat herder, learner of French and Italian, crocheter, needle felter, on-and-off politics junkie, 80s music trivia freak, ongoing work in progress.