Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If you're a true introvert, your biggest enemy is yourself. It's your desire to be alone. It's your preference for living by yourself, for quiet moments away from others, for nights spent at home, watching Netflix or playing games. Making friends means making an effort to hang out with them, even when it doesn't seem like the most immediately pleasurable, comfortable, or convenient thing to do at any given moment.…
"I have learned the art of being incredibly outgoing and a veritable chatterbox when need be." How did you learn ?
How can an introvert Asian engineer like me make friends?
351–360 of 453 posts
Re: How can an introvert Asian engineer like me make friends?
#352I lived in the bay area for a few years just after college. I moved there alone without knowing any friends in the area. I'm white, american, fluent, and witty enough that I can regularly make my friends laugh. But even despite those advantages, I felt a strong sense of recognition reading this post - I felt exactly the same way about my ability to connect with people, and about the weekends. I think there's a struct…
I've been in the bay area for north of 1 year now, and I can attest to this. Coming from Austin, this was a big change for me. It's not that people are rude, they're just caught up in what they're doing passionately but there's nothing wrong with that. I tried joining meetups and socializing with co-workers but I always left with the sense of it being forced.
Maybe i'm still in college mode and I just ache for my comfort-zone where all my friends understand me and get the inside jokes. Whatever the case may be, it's really not worked out for me and I'm unclear on what I should be doing next.
Re: How can an introvert Asian engineer like me make friends?
#3531) Rock climbing gyms. I made a lot of great friends at Mission Cliffs and Berkeley Ironworks. I have no natural talent for climbing, but I love the mental and physical challenge, and I enjoy the social aspect.
2) A super-social connector. When I first moved to the Bay Area, I made a ton of new connections through the marketing woman at my startup. Simply by saying 'yes' to invitations and actually following through, I found my social network increasing.
3) Meetup.com and various activity groups. When I was in Tokyo, I found Tokyo Gaijins to be a great resource for meeting people. Like food? Take a cooking class.
By the way, living on the Peninsula without a car is social suicide. Move to SF, that's where all the cool kids are. Also -- potentially controversially -- SF is the home of Asian women dating dorky white guys. If you want to meet a nice girl, do what my (Asian) friend did and move to Vancouver, B.C. He went from perpetually single to dating in a few months, and got married last year.
Re: How can an introvert Asian engineer like me make friends?
#354Here's my thoughts, as someone who's naturally shy, socially awkward (or maybe just plain weird), and loaded with anxiety issues. Start small. Don't try to make friends at first, just practice interacting with people. Ask totally random people questions you can Google. Is the 6 train running on time today? Is this the way to Market Street? Do you know a good coffee shop around here? Ask people in social situations pe…
Some great advice! Getting into a routine of going to the same place seems like a real winner to me. Mastering small talk in England is incredibly easy. If the weather is inclement, talk about the weather. If the weather is clement, talk about the weather. If you get bored talking about the weather, talk about football (particularly apt right now). If you know nothing about football, either watch enough that you can…
Re: How can an introvert Asian engineer like me make friends?
#355(Anonymous bc this is a very honest comment.) I'm a massive introvert who spends most of his time coding, playing video games or Magic the Gathering, and my life has devolved 3 times into full-blown WoW addiction -- the fool's gold life people take on when they feel their real one sucks. I have almost no friends, hate making plans and, generally, would rather be alone. "Hell is other people" is my motto. And of cours…
You got any suggestions for the "structured organization" besides the fraternity? I'm out of college now and I'm looking for a group.
Anyway, as it stands, I think the best option is to try to work at a place with other young, career-oriented (as opposed to family-oriented) people. I've tried young professionals associations and athletic teams, but they didn't work. The young professional stuff seemed too forced -- like singles dating -- and you don't get enough "talk time" with sports teams: you're too busy playing the game.
Truthfully, most of my friends in this city have come from playing Magic the Gathering. There were a few semi-normal, hygiene-conscious guys in the crowd and we get together on a semi-regular basis. We're not as close as my college buddies and I can't get them to go out doing the fun stuff I used to do, but it's good enough.
If you live in small town america, making friends might be difficult or impossible. I actually went to a therapist when I was really depressed and told him how much I hate this city. I told him I thought it was very cliquish (exclusive to newcomers like myself), that every girl worth having is married at 25 and that every guy friend I make gets stolen away by marriage.
I expected him to say "Suck it up. Go meet people." His response was actually "Ok so maybe you need to move to a place with more independent, career-minded folks like yourself." In other words, sometimes circumstances really are the problem, not you.
I want to reiterate my original point: I'm as white and normal as it gets. I can't blame any personality-related, aesthetic, racial or economic disadvantage, and yet I'm still a sometimes-depressed-and-unhappy loner.
The only thing left to blame is my introversion.
One last point: I, like many millennials, was raised by my parents and the media to believe I am the center of the universe. Accordingly, my empathy quotient has historically been crappy. Then I had some life events a few years ago that jarringly recalibrated my ego. As painful as these events were, I'm not as full of myself nor as big an asshole as I used to be and I'm finding it easier to relate to other people as well as make and keep friends.
Read articles and writings by David Wong (aka Jason Pargin). He's the patron saint of self-righteous millennial deprogramming.
Re: How can an introvert Asian engineer like me make friends?
#356Here is a church in Milipitas which may be close to you. I will pray for you too and ask that God brings people into your life!
Re: How can an introvert Asian engineer like me make friends?
#357Re: How can an introvert Asian engineer like me make friends?
#358Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even extroverts need downtime to recharge. I've noticed this a lot in my own life. I'm very extroverted and feel a driving need to charm everyone I meet. My wife is very introverted and hates/fears interacting with new people. So we go to parties, and we can get equally worn out. Too much interaction is actually quite hard on extroverts. It's like too much exercise, or overeating, or overworking. It can lead to burno…
Like the OP, I find myself often wondering how people met, how they clicked, how they keep it going. With you describing your wife as very introverted, fearing interaction with new people (I could describe myself the same way) and describing yourself as an extrovert, how did you two meet, click, make it work? I find that with me being like your wife in that regard, I've had an extremely difficult time even meeting so…
Her social life revolves around a very short list of very close friends. The people she loves, she loves, and she's incredibly devoted to them. But she's also distrustful and fearful of others. She's prone to resentment, especially of the careless and irresponsible type of extrovert who gets away with being a flake because they're charming. Her way of dealing with her fear of other people is by being prickly, which makes it hard for people to get to make the effort to get to know her and get past her defenses. So poor social choices she makes due to introversion end up making the problem worse. But some people do make the effort, because she's incredibly intelligent, talented, and beautiful. The work is hard, but the reward is great.
So how we started... well, we met and started dating. Apparently, I was attractive enough to get her past her fears to really reach out. After our first date, she went home and broke up with the boy she didn't tell me about! Then she sought me out at work two days later - this was the pre-internet days when you actually had to go see people in person. On our second date, I was struggling that day with some private family difficulties, and found I could just open up to her about something I'd normally keep to myself. It was also a point in my life where I was getting tired of my ladykiller lifestyle (and I am good at that), and was ready to settle down. We fell in love very quickly, and were engaged in just a few months.
I bring a very different personality to our mix. I find just about everyone I meet interesting in some way or another. I'm very open about my life, except for a small zone of privacy that is very strict. If someone disappoints me, I just ignore them and move on to the next interesting person, rather than stewing in anger and hurt feelings. Because she lets so few people in, the stakes are higher for her. For me, with more friends than I can really manage, the stakes of any one person are lower. And it's not just people, it's life in general. Little setbacks don't get me down. I enjoy risk and unpredictability. She likes stability.
For 20 years, I worked in the enterprise corporate world, a very safe career path that keeps me easily employed and well-paid, because it makes her feel safe and happy. But it makes me feel stifled and frustrated. Now, it's time to swap. I'm leaving it all behind for my own startup (this is actually my last week of dayjobbing), and she's terrified, but going along with it for my sake.
Being able to give enough to let the other have what they need, if not always what they want - that's how to make the introvert/extrovert relationship work.
Interestingly, it works in other ways as well. She often brings me to social events to run interference for her. I can "hold court" (her term) anywhere I go, charming people and bringing them into my orbit. She can stay with me if she feels she needs cover, or wander off if she finds something to do or someone to be with, knowing that I won't be bored.
Does this help some?
Re: How can an introvert Asian engineer like me make friends?
#359I would say that your main issue is not showing up at all the events where you can socialize.
You have to consistently go to places where you can meet new people. No matter how hard it is for you to go and face your fear you must do it. Start researching meetups, co-ed social sport clubs, jiujitsu classes, volunteering - anything you can think of that will give you the opportunity to meet new people.
If you'll feel awkward or alone it doesn't matter. Keep going. At this point you can start reading the advice here and books on the subject and think what works for you and what doesn't. But remember that 90% is taking action and showing up, that's the only chance something will change.
Re: How can an introvert Asian engineer like me make friends?
#360Hello, I’m not sure I fit into the conversation because although I have lived the last 2 years in exile in order to finish my university (in 3.5 years I might a Pharmacy degree at hand). Let’s say that I was on a mission and it payed back. I’m not an introvert. In my town there are more people than I could count that would wanna hang out with me. I have a girlfriend, a sports-car, etc. The things I do when I wanna ge…
Are you sure they weren't Romans? Or maybe Greeks who spoke Latin.