Fully Automatic Friend Mode

I've been told more than once that I can make friends anywhere I go. It comes naturally to me. It's not a talent I had to work at to perfect, but it has always seemed odd to me that other people find it so hard to do. The question has also crossed my mind as to how fast I am at doing it. How long does it take me before I make a new friend in a place I've never been?

The answer, apparently is about 10 to 15 seconds.

On arriving at the SameSun Nations hostel in downtown Vancouver, Claire just wanted to drop the luggage and crash out for the night. At this point is was some time after 9pm local time and we had been up since 6am Irish time, some 32 hours previous according to our bodies. I had napped briefly on the plane, but Claire hadn't, so we got the key to our shared room, shifted several large bags up two flights of stairs and barged in on the current occupants.

It was at this point that Claire and I did two very different things. Claire said a quick hello to the others in the room, three guys of varying nationality, and left to seek out the bathroom, equipped with a random assortment of toiletries. I, on the other hand, camped out on the top bunk and turned my mouth and vocal cords to full auto.

By the time Claire returned, I knew who was in the room by name, where they were from and whether they were staying or leaving soon. The guy on the top bunk across from me was Will from Sydney and was just on the last leg of a trip around the US. He was flying out of Vancouver tomorrow for LA and then on to Sydney after a short stopover. Below his bunk was Jeon from China who had very little English, referred to Claire as my "honey" and grew stranger and stranger over the following days, much to the amusement of myself and third guy in the room.

Sam had just arrived from the UK the same day, but on a different flight. Like us, he was staying for a year and hoping to find work in or around the city. We got chatting for a bit and when Claire decided that she couldn't stay awake any longer, the three English speaking guys headed downstairs to the bar to continue our conversation. I bought the first round of drinks, which ended up being a glass of water for Will, who was travelling early the next day and still recovering from his last night out in Vancouver, a 7-Up for Sam and a coke for myself. Seriously. What are the chances that me, being a lifelong teetotaler would happen upon two guys that, at least for that evening, were staying on the soft stuff as well?!? Insane! Sam offered to buy the next round, before we discovered that we get free refills on minerals, and at that hour, two large glass fulls were enough. He promised to make it up to me the following evening.

We wandered back up to the room shortly before midnight, snuck in as quietly as possible and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning all three of us were downstairs enjoying breakfast, and letting Will fill us in on things to do in Vancouver.

I miss Ireland. I miss my friends terribly. The first Sunday here was particularly hard as I realised I couldn't be at our weekly breakfast meet-up, or hang out and chat about the stuff we watched, or read online, or whatever. But I love making new friends, and I know I have the chance to make loads here. After I finish writing this, I'm heading to our local gaming store just a few blocks away to join in their boardgame night and hopefully make even more. I've already spent over an hour chatting with the staff about games and comics.

I think I'm going to be alright.

San Diego- Baseball

I've mentioned that we went to a baseball game twice now, but haven't actually talked about it. You might be thinking that that is because we didn't have a good time, but you would be wrong.

After arriving at USA Hostel, we discovered that the Monday night event was to go see the home baseball team, the Padres, playing in the local statium, Petco Park. So Claire and I signed up, and tagged along with 11 others from the Hostel, including some staff, to enjoy the game. The Padres were playing against the Arizona Dimondbacks, and so far, their season has been pretty poor, according to those that knew anything about the game.

We all had a blast! The group was sitting across two rows, covering six in one row, and seven directly behnd them, so we were all close together, having a god laugh. The game started slow, but we got to see a few homeruns, the bases were loaded twice and, in the end, the Padres won! This caused a lot of excitement, and really added to a great night.

But more than just the game, we had a lot of fun. I got asked to warn the guy sitting in front of me when I was about to make a smart comment, as my "Put him down like a $10 hooker" comment almost caused him to spray a mouthful of beer on the row in front of him.

And July was $1 coke and hotdogs!! So Claire and I had ourselves a feast for four bucks!

We experienced the "7th Inning Stretch", where everyone gets upand stretches and dances to "Shake It up, Baby". We threw ourselves about for the "Dance For The Cam" in an attempt to get on the JumboTron. We hurled (mock) insults at the opposing team, and cheered on a great game from the home side. In general, we had an incedible night!

Claire and I bought Padres shirts today (expensive, but worth it!), and plan on going to the game either Friday, when the old mascot, the chicken makes a long awaited return, or Saturday for free t-shirts!! Not sure which we want more. Which would you guys go to?

SDCC- The Experience

There really isn't much point in trying to describe what an amazing time we had at Comic Con International, San Diego, 2008. It's difficult to describe, and would take far too long to type. Besides, most of the stories will go up on my Flickr account as the photos go up. When it comes to the guests and people lining places like Artists Alley, lets just leave it at "Incredible, unbelievable, nice, friendly and warm" and move on. They'll get their time in the spotlight as the photos go up.

Instead, I want to talk about our fellow attendees. Over the course of the four days we met literally hundreds of people, either at the con, or on the trolly's or buses to and from the event. All of them were amazing, nice people who shared our enjoyment of the weekend and loved to exchange stories and tips with others. We had a lovely time meeting them all, and if any of them happen to ever find this blog, Claire and I want to thank them.

I especially liked meeting Daniel and his family, who we bumped into not once, but an unbelievable three times over two days! In an event with 125,000 attendees, this was astonishing. We also had a great time talking to Ryan and Taleya at the Adult Swim party. We were sharing a table, and ended up sharing some really great moments. Plus, it turns out that Ryan is a sculptor, and will be working for Hasbro in the near future! How awesome is that?!?

Beyond that, there are just far too many to name that we met on buses and trolleys, or indeed, while queuing for stuff. We spent over an hour chatting to various people while in line to meet Hideo Kojima, and while meeting him was cool, meeting those fellow con attendees was actually far cooler. We got chatting with people from all over the world, including a large group from Ireland that were working at the con as event staff. We met a great person on the way in to the con on the first morning that walked us to the door and gave us loads of tips and recommendations. She was so incredibly helpful, and we can't thank her enough for helping two very lost looking Irish holiday-ers. Or the couple from New York that we got talking to on the way back from the con on Saturday, only to realise they were getting off at the same stop, then discovering they were staying in the same hotel, and they were in 206, while we had 207!! And the nice person on the bus on Sunday morning that took us to a Borders to buy me a new sketch book. She was great fun, and Claire and her swapped email address'. Also, she recognised my Jamie Madrox Multiple Man t-shirt, so that was cool!!

And then today we arrived in USA Hostel and ended up in a room with two guys from Dublin, Gary and Niall!! We ended up going to a baseball game with a big group from the hostel and having a great night!! I only wish we could have spent more time in the hostel during the con, but we have six more days ahead of us to meet and make new friends.

Looking good so far!