Friends - Making & Keeping, Old & New

Friends - Making & Keeping, Old & New

 Photo Credit: Gwennypics

Today is the birthday of my oldest and dearest friend, a friend I've had since I was in first grade and one I only see once every year or two (or three) these days.  With a couple exceptions, it seems that my dearest friends are all at a great geographical distance from me.  This isn't surprising, nor is it even that unusual.  I came across a great blog this weekend, MWF Seeking BFF, the online chronicle of a girl in Chicago seeking BFFs because, like me (like many of us, apparently), her oldest and closest are also scattered far way.

Thinking about Friendship in regard to my own future in Vienna, my mind goes in two different directions....

Making New Friends
I had a similar longing to search for a few local BFFs myself a few months ago.  When Kiefer and I moved to our new suburban neighborhood, I thought I'd maybe connect with a few of that gals I have worked with in the area - built in friends!  Alas, I didn't actually do anything to make that happen.  I'm not the most outgoing, social, put-myself-out-there kinda gal and I'm a little nervous about what that means about being in an entirely new country with no connections and not even an acquaintance.   I'm not a joiner, a meet-and-greeter, but in my dreams, I overcome my natural reserve upon arriving in Vienna and make myself find ways to meet people and make those connections. 

Keeping Old Friends
If/How/Will I keep in touch with my current friends when on the other side of the pond to keep those friendships alive and well?  Actually, I imagine it'll be fairly similar to the current state of communication, which is, I must shamefully admit, not the best (regular phone calls are not my forte either).  Gosh, I'm not making a very good case for myself as a friend!  Email, Facebook....I'm good at those.


I was just about to launch into the Go Me phase of the post, which is to say the I can do it!  I can connect and re-connect with  friends NOW, while I'm here, enjoy my time left with the people here! spiel.  I'd like to believe that pep talk would send me running to the phone to set up a few friend dates for this coming weekend.  I have always wanted to be That Girl, you know, the girl that makes friends quickly and easily wherever she goes.  And then, once I become That Girl, it'll be easy to move to a new city in a new country and make friends lickity-split.

But then I remember who I am.  I have a new personal commandment that I adopted from The Happiness Project, which is to Be Caroline.  Accept my true likes and dislikes and not waste time kicking myself for not being something that I really would like to be but just really am not.

I think I was hoping to have the answer all wrapped up in a nice bow at the end of this post, that just writing about it would inspire a brilliant idea or I'd find a quick link to "How to Make Friends Easily & Quickly - in 30 days or your money back," but I'll just have to accept that it's something I'm going to have to think about longer and harder.

And I'll end the post on a positive note by devoting this closing moment to my oldest and dearest friend today.  Happy Birthday, I love you!