Help with socialising...

[mayerling]

I guess the title says it all... FI and I live in an area which we've lived in for several years but we have no family around (both are families are in other countries) and pretty much everyone we know has moved away. So I'm feeling kind of blue because we have nobody to socialise with.

For instance, I want to have a dinner party but I'm finding it hard to come up with more than 2 people that I could possibly invite. And even those 2 people I'm not really close to. There's a sale on now and I was walking through a large department store the other day and saw a dinnerware set for a great price and thought I should get it; but my next thought was "when will I ever get to use it?". Isn't this depressing?

Does anybody have any ideas on how to meet people? I should probably also mention that I'm only working part-time these days (mostly from home) and don't have any real colleagues that I could invite over.

Any ideas?

 

[Porridge]

Hey Mayerling.

Making friends is so hard at this stage in life isn't it? What I do when I move to new areas is join a choir or musical society. That's cos music is my hobby and performers tend to be outgoing and chatty so it works for me. I also try something new that I always wanted to do. In my last city it was windsurfing. Do you or your FI have any hobbies or anything you want to try out?

The one thing about moving to a new place and trying to make friends is that you have to push yourself. It's a pain in the ass. You have to be up for anything you're invited to, you have to be friendly and chatty. It takes effort and it can be exhausting, but it's worth it!

 

[zoebartlett]

My husband and I have been in the same situation and it's not always easy to meet people.

One idea is to hold an open house and invite neighbors. One of our neighbors recently moved and before she left, she had an open house to say goodbye. She put an invitation in the front hall of the other buildings in our condo dev. and many people showed up. It was a great way for my husband and I to meet other people here. Maybe you could think about doing something like that.

I've herd that meetup.com is a great way to meet others with common interests.

 

[mayerling]

Unfortunately an open house is not feasible. We don't live in an apartment building and in the UK people aren't very keen on going to strangers' houses. I don't think I would go to one if I were invited like that. I'll try the hobby idea though.

 

[lulu]

The best advice I have is to find people with similar interests--I always join gardening clubs and book clubs. Another good idea is doing some volunteer work.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

2nd to volunteering. People tend to volunteer in areas they're very passionate about. Also, another is go to a pottery class or something that you will enjoy. Once you have a common topic to discuss w/people, making friends becomes a lot easier.