I've been meaning to write a post on this for a while but I don't really know how to write it, or what exactly the point is that I want to make. So, bear with me if it turns into a long ramble.
Since living in Tokyo (and basically also, since starting this blog) I've started meeting more and more people from the internet. It's really become an addition to my social life in the real world. And in that sense, it's been very good as well as I've made some fabulous new friends, met really interesting people, and it has made life just a bit more adventurous.
It is always strange when meeting these people though. I've become fascinated by how contact is never initiated in the same way, or kept up in the same way as a different contact. This is especially true for one-on-one contact - you can be msn'ing for months and finally accidentally meet for coffee, or out of the blue start emailing and see eachother within days.
Some of my other friends are usually quite surprised (well, not anymore, come to think of it) when I tell them I am going out to dinner with a guy I met online, or that I'm going to see a concert of a band that I don't know with people flying over from the US. It makes it very fun as well. I think that most people reading this have some sort of experience with meeting random people of the net though, so maybe you can relate a bit more ;-)
In any case, I've thought about it before, but these past few weeks have been a bit intense in this sense, and will continue to be too, I think. I love meeting all these new people, but it's also scary as hell. It's easy to portray a certain image on-line, but is that really you off-line as well? On-line you actually have time to think about your quick and witty response, but in real life? It's never happened that I don't get along with someone in real life, but hardly anyone is the way I expected them to be. So I doubt I am what people expect neither.
I've also come to realize that it is a way for me to expand my comfort zone, so to speak. I don't seem to be looking so much for a relationship as I am looking just for new people in general. People who are outside of my (great, but in a way also confining) group of friends at home, people who can give a new form of inspiration maybe also (or just give me good tips on exciting new music and gigs). And I think I've also started to see it as a way of pushing boundaries, becoming more assertive, becoming more comfortable amongst completely unknown people.
I was surprised recently when several people seperately from eachother started saying how they really thought I was really sociable, could talk to everyone and have no problems in just approaching anyone. It was good to hear, but so different from what I think of me, and how others usually see me - different from the image that I think I portray. On the other hand, I know I'm getting better at it, and by pushing myself to meet new people (it be either a group of foreign travellers to catch up on traveltales, or a potential romantic interest) I think I'm actually doing myself a big favour by it as well.
Of course, it doesn't mean I will start doing stupid things like drinking champagne on some stranger's balcony ;-)
