Occupying Your Freetime on a Business Trip? 73
Eric asks: "I just learned that my employer is sending me on a project abroad, in a medium size city for 3 months, starting early August. This will be a 12-hour flight from home and I have friends just an 8-hour drive from there. This is not the first time I am being sent on a remote location, but it used to be short trips (one week, typically), so I didn't have time to get really bored. What do you do while on a long business trip? how do you meet people when you cannot use your network of friends and don't have months to waste on building a new network?"
"Getting to know people from the opposite sex would be nice, but I'm also looking for chaps to simply share a beer with. I'm your average geek, with normal social skills, but it usually takes me a long time (around 3 to 6 months) to make friends in a new area. Hobbies that do not need to be pursued thoroughly are good too.
Here are a few things that I've thought about:
- join a sport club, though the sports I'm into (swimming, rollerblades, hockey on rollerblades) aren't the best for meeting people or aren't practiced everywhere
- lurk in clubs and bars, but going there by yourself spawn images of sorrow drowning in my mind
- take dancing lessons; a good way to meet girls, and it doesn't usually require to get a yearly membership
- learn a new skill; I've registered on a distance Spanish course some time ago; not very successful so far (mostly due to laziness)
- the geeky way: join an open-source project, though I'm not sure if I'll have a proper internet connection at the hotel
Buy a bunch of blank CDs (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Buy a bunch of blank CDs (Score:1)
Original Poster : Where are you going? (Score:2)
Re:Buy a bunch of blank CDs (Score:2)
Pickup sports (Score:2)
A dream come true. (Score:2)
You could always be productive and expand your knowledge base as well. Maybe work on some economics theory or learn to program in a new language (or an old one like assembly). Find the time to work through that Quake II code.
I have a list of about 4 years worth of stuff to do when I retire (which is hopefully soon). It's sad when people cannot
One word (Score:3, Funny)
or Call Girls if you prefer the luxury of your hotel to the back seat of a rental car.
Seriously... (Score:1, Informative)
If you're in town for three months, you're looking for 'no strings'. No one wants fewer strings than your friendly sex worker.
Plus, it's legal in Canada and most of Nevada.
If you're freaked out about diseases, get thee to a massage parlor. Usu
Re:One word (Score:2)
Rent a van.
Do what I do.. (Score:2, Insightful)
I work at home, I never leave but to go grocery shopping; even that is sometimes done by my wife.
I have some friends from highschool, but I see them only once every few months.
Of course, I'm terribly lonely; if it wasn't for having a wife, I'd have gone mad a long time ago.
OMG, its the Gimp! (Score:2)
"Bring out the Gimp" - Pulp Fiction
Where are you going? (Score:3, Insightful)
You should have said where you were being sent. There's probably a /.er living there or close by.
For the rest of it, if you're religious, find the closet church and go the first sunday you're there. They'll love you.
Other then that, figure out what interests you, and try googling for "interest and city and state" or something.
Re:Where are you going? (Score:1)
Pennsylvania has the highest ratio of native residents of any state (80%), so most people have friends they have known since they were kids. It is hard to plug into a network like that, but religious institutions are good for getting to know people because there is a shared set of values, and they have all sorts of events to attend.
If you are lucky, you will find someone who takes a liking to you, and you can go there for dinner all the time.
The com
Alternative to typical church. (Score:1)
I thought geeks didn't like cliques (Score:2)
Keep it simple
Re:I thought geeks didn't like cliques (Score:1)
Where do you plug the cable into a person?
Re:I thought geeks didn't like cliques (Score:1)
Re:I thought geeks didn't like cliques (Score:2, Funny)
Wha??? (Score:5, Funny)
I'm your average geek, with normal social skills...
Um, don't those two statements contradict each other?
GMD
Re:Wha??? (Score:1)
Re:Wha??? (Score:2)
Um, don't those two statements contradict each other?
Not really, normal geek social skill level is "None", isn't it?
Hookup with a Local Chick. (Score:4, Funny)
Dude, it sounds like you need to... (Score:1, Funny)
Girls In A Nutshell
Life for Dummies
Idiots Guide To Living With Humans
Re:Dude, it sounds like you need to... (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Hashing (Score:5, Informative)
I was working in Africa last summer and found that for me the best way to meet people was by joining the local Hash House Harriers [gthhh.com]. I won't get into too much detail, but it basically bills itself as "a drinking club with a running problem." The runs were typically on farms and in the woods just outside of the city where I was staying and the landscapes were beautiful. Plus, the runnning was good and the beer was insanely cheap. :-)
You didn't really give any details about where you're going, but if it's anywhere internationally, chances are there's a local HHH. It's got a lot to do with the whole ex-patriot community.
-Gameboy, Lusaka HHH
Re:Hashing (Score:2)
Re:Hashing (Score:2)
No, only on how badly you retch after 5 miles and 5 pints.
Seriously though, I found a HHH on Vanuatu's Efate island (look it up.) They're everywhere. And don't let the 'no nerds' thing distract you--the ones I've encountered are usually a really easy-going bunch of people (not just guys.)
Re:Hashing (Score:2)
Re:Hashing (Score:2)
How physically violent is hashing?
Hashing is not hard at all - no worse than O(log n) or so.
Re:Hashing (Score:2)
As a general rule, men only hashes tend to be a little more extreme.
However, I have run on hashes that have performed a climbs up a frozen waterfall, going through disus
Re:Hashing (Score:1)
If you want to see what we intended, viewed best in Internet Explorer! No nerd browsers, please.
I'm not so sure they'd be so friendly to a /.er
Re:Hashing (Score:1)
Re:Hashing (Score:2)
what you talking bout (Score:1, Funny)
hold up...
your post both frightens and intrigues me.
These boots are made for..... (Score:3)
Walk around. Talk to people. Ask them questions.
Exercise. "Street level" social/cultural interactions. It's all there. Just get up and go. You'll find people with interests that will keep you busy. Coffee shops. Book stores. The street corner. Make random friends. Exchange numbers. Get together next Tuesday here or there. Talk more. Get introduced to friends, friends of friends, etc.
Ask. Ask. Ask. And you shall learn.
Ideas from a movie: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:1)
You're asking Slashdot (Score:2, Funny)
Re:You're asking Slashdot (Score:2)
dude you are a geek..thus.... (Score:1)
Here are some suggestions... (Score:2)
When I've been out for a long span of time.. (Score:2)
I brought a laptop of my own, to toy around with software.
Re:When I've been out for a long span of time.. (Score:2)
>
> I brought a laptop of my own, to toy around with software.
Hang out with your own kind. (Score:2)
Re:Hang out with your own kind. (Score:2)
Is it just me? (Score:2)
And of course, if you're socially inclined (un
Friendster (Score:2)
who lives near your temporary location.
What are your interests? (Score:2)
If you're in any professional/hobbyist/whatever organizations, look to see if there are any chapters where you're going...for those geeks, maybe a linux users group [linux.org], perl mongers [pm.org], whatever.
My Big List (Score:2)
Check out the architecture (probably irrelevant if you're stuck in the midwest)
Learn the language (or any language)
Read a book
Get in shape
Pick a relevant exam, and study for it
Ask through your network of friends if there's anyone around there you should meet
Work on some personal projects on a laptop (takes discipline)
Find a cafe, buy a newspaper, light a cigarette, and relax. It's summer. Enjoy it.
Write letters
The best thing about working somewhere else on a project is that you don't hav
Re:My Big List (Score:2)
Sorta like the married guy that got a mistress and let his wife he had a mistress. Now his wife thinks he is with mistress, the mistress thinks he is with his wife, and he is down at his office attending some serious guild sized raids in the new expansion zones.
Some Thoughts.. (Score:2)
2. Basketball or soccer. There are always people ready and willing to play.
3. Learn arabic. I've tried for the fun of it, and it's no picnic. But looks from your co-workers as you read Al-Jazeera every morning would be worth it!
this is hard? (Score:1, Redundant)
* casinos
* strip joints
* in-room porn movies
* did I mention strip joints?
Free time should be spent off the computing grid. Go remind yourself what boobies feel like.
You could... (Score:2)
always go geocaching [geocaching.com]. There are caches all over. Take some cool USian trinkets to leave in the caches, and you could probably find some cool local trinkets to keep.
be consistent (Score:1)
Just.... (Score:1)
Try this (Score:2)
Gameboy Advance (Score:1)
go to the ballroom, now that's geeky (Score:1)
Salsa, Tango, or whatever is there for you, could be a keyword. You do not need to be a womanizer to nicely spend some time dancing. More to that, learning salsa is even geeky. Man really have to think and plan how does he want his partner to move, otherwise it won't work. It's not just jumping around to the music
--
And remember:
Classes and Volunteering (Score:1)
There are lots of various classes that you can take. You've already identified dance classes, but any sort of class in something that you have some vague interest would be a good way to meet people. I've met some really nice people in pottery and cooking classes. In Houston, there's an outfit called Leisure Learning that serves as a clearing house for some classes on various topics. There may be something similar wherever you ar
Depends where you are going... (Score:1)
But I would suggest hiking and cycling to get to know the local area not to mention much needed exercise...
There is plenty to do, find it! (Score:2)
Every city I've been to has pleny of things to do that you could wonder for 3 months and not see the same thing twice unless you wanted to. Just visiting all the historical sites within driving distance of my midwest town should take you more than 3 months if you spend time to really look them over instead of running through it. (And we consider many things less than 75 years old historical, perhaps the city you visit will be much older)
Check out the zoo - nearly all cities have one, but in some cases
work, work, work (Score:2)