Central Illinois can be a tough place to make friends. Often it seems like the people you might want to be friends with have been here forever and already know everyone they want to know and their lives are too full for new friends.
I'm the kind of person who will put myself out there to make friends. I ask my husband's co-workers whether their wives have enough friends. I have asked women bartenders out to the movies. I'm persistent. I had to invite GoneCompletelyFeral out like 4 times before she agreed, but then we had a good time with and without children in tow.
With my longest friendships dissolving since gradual school, motherhood and mistakes intervened I find a need for local friends, or at least local friendly aquaintences. And so I turn to the internet. Blogging has been a good way to meet people, luckily a few Central Illinois folks, but most are far flung.
The best way I've discovered to meet flesh and blood people in the area are Meet Up and Yahoo groups. You can meet people with some similar interest who want to get together. And that's a pretty good way to start when you don't go to church and all your classmates have moved to Chicago. For me, Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter don't have the same effect, though in a large city it might. My sister swears by Twitter for making local friends.
In conclusion, need a friend? Join a meet up group.
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5 comments:
You are my "meetup group". And am I ever glad you put yourself out there, because you are right with this. It IS hard to meet people in Central Illinois.
xoxox
And boy am I glad you are! If B hears one more time "I like Mrs. Chicken SO MUCH" he'll probably...hear it one more time. H asks every couple days, "Are we going to Chicken and Cheese's house today?"
Wow, Meet Up is cool! Thanks for sharing.
My boyfriend and I are trying to meet more other couples, and no matter where you live, it seems harder and harder to make new friends as you get older. Common interests are always a great place to start!
"Often it seems like the people you might want to be friends with have been here forever and already know everyone they want to know and their lives are too full for new friends" - We felt the SAME way when we lived in Columbus. Maybe it's a midwestern thing? It ended up that all of our good friends were also transplants.
Thanks so much for the tip about Meet Up. I'm definitely going to check it out. I figure if I can meet total strangers that I only know from my blog, I can do anything.
We are having this problem now too...our best friends here have all moved this summer. CU is a very transient place. Thanks for the tips!
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