Speed Dating

I've come back from Hong Kong, and have been quite busy. To quickly get to the main point, a quick update on things.

So in Hong Kong I collected my $6k, opened up a new bank account, renewed my 3 year mandatory visit and some much needed time off. My last real holiday was to Venice with my ex a good two years ago, so it's felt good to not work. But now back in the UK in this crazy cold weather. Can't believe there's snow in March, and from the sounds of it the freezing temperatures will continue into April. Boooo......

So what the bulk of this entry will be about is that I went Speed Dating on Monday. Normally I would shun these opportunities, because I never really liked the way you are in a forced environment to meet other single people. But the concept felt interesting enough to try it out. It's like the trendy thing to do, and I was curious to see how it works.

I did need a push though, but all that was required was for my housemate to ask me to go. I didn't really need any more persausion. Who incidentally has settled into my spare room now. The cats are amazing and soo cute, and funny. I have fallen in love with them. However they seemed scared of me after I came back from HK so hopefully they'll warm to me again. I will most likely blog about them at some point.

So lets get into the nitty gritty of what happened. Overall speed dating was quite exhausting, and difficult to remember exactly what I talked about during the 3 mins with each girl. But I will try and summarise everything from the top of my head.

I believe some speed dating events differ slightly depending on the organisers. So you spend 3 mins with each girl, the organiser will blow a whistle to signal the end of the 3 mins and the guys have to move to the next girl. You're given a form to fill in as you go, and you write N for No, F for Friend, Y for Yes you are interested, and a section for your own comments if need be. You then have to give the form back at the end.

I was given a tip to take a picture of the form before giving it back. So that's what I did, because how else are you going to remember names. The organisers will send an email out to confirm who you've matched with.

The setup was not how I anticipated though. As I've seen in movies and tv shows that there are desks laid out one by one as you take turns. This was located in a bar, with booths seperating the people, however the booths were shared between 2 girls, so you can see the other couple talking as well.

So here is my run down on what I thought of the girls. It was a bit of a blur for some of them , but i'll do my best.

Girl 1: NHS, older. No one else asked about age, she was the only girl to and when I told her how old I was she said she felt old. So obviously she's older than me, with me being 29. F

Girl 2: In finance, for some reason felt awkward. I think becuase it was the start and everyone was trying to get in the swing of things. I think she mentioned she has been before.  N

Girl 3: Bubbly, seemed fun 3 mins went quick, which was a good sign. She had this thing about putting smiley faces for her own form. Then got started talking about each other before it was all over. So would like to see if i can continue our rapport. Funnily enough because she sat next to my friend and they got along. I may see her again regardless of what we picked, in future night outs. Y

Girl 4: As mentioned the next girl I already knew, so had a quick catchup and made a few jokes. It was really only my second time I've met her. So I am sort of trying to get to know her still. She's easy to talk to, but I don't know, there's something missing I feel. I know I'll see her again, so I can play it relatively cool with her. She seems like she wants to talk to me, but I'm not giving anything away. She is attractive, but I there's just no spark. F

Girl 5: Next girl is from China, and was difficult to talk to. I didn't find her that attractive, and with Language issue, I'm afraid I put a N for her.

Girl 6: Tall PR girl, fun. She ended up talking alot about her PR job. so it was quite hard to guage exactly what she is like. I only gave her an F, as I was a bit unsure and she is quite tall.

Girl 7: I had a mini chat with her before the event started, so we sorta carried on where we left off, easy to talk to. I'm ashamed to admit that I drifted off when she was talking about her position in IT, because I can see the next guy in front struggling with the girl in front. So hopefully she didn't see that I wasn't paying attention, but I think I recovered. :p F

Girl 8: So yes after seeing what happeend, I was a bit weary of this girl. And straight off I can see why. She was mainland china, and although her english was good, her answers were short, and was difficult to make way for a good conversation, I did try tho. In hindsight now, i think I may have been overly harsh. I maybe should have put an F. As i think she was trying to engage with me. Also the guy in front of me isn't the best candidate in the world, which did me some favours I suppose. So an N

Girl 9: Essex girl, seemed fun, easy to chat to. We got a bit lucky, because she was the last one before the break, so I sat to chat abit longer. As well as going back to her after the break which unfortunately caused me to skip the next one. I gave her an F, I'm thinking she may have put Y for me, but unfortunately I do not find her attractive, I know I'm horrible and shallow....

Girl 10: Skipped accidently. went to see her and a quick chat in the end, but she looked tired and disappointed it seemed. Would have been a N if I could have filled in the form.

Girl 11: Was warned by my friend about this next girl that she may be tired, and won't engage with you. She did look it but it seemed like she tried. And we did chat F

Girl 12: My Housemate, just chatted about how our nights were going. This was when I knew the guy in front was a bit sleazy and the other guys were not so great either. Which gives me a bit of confidence, but also felt abit bad for the girls. F

Girl 13: Singapore girl, conversation wasn't really flowing, she looked tired too. We tried to engage again and just chatted generally. I'm abit unsure how it went, but she was quite pretty. Rather than a typical Y just because she is prety, I gave her an F cos I don't think there was a click.

Girl 14: Hong kong girl, didn't look interested, or very enthusiastic. I remember not filling the form in for quite some time and as I filled it near the end I wasn't sure so I gave her an F, which is safe, but in hindsight probably should have been a N.

Girl 15: Doctor, talked about Kent, chat was flowing I think. She was definitely engaging, when it was me that was struggling. I got to the point where I ran out of things to say differently and I didn't want to to repeat myself, so I may not have come across very well with her. She definitely seemed older. Gave her an F

Girl 16: The extra sheet lady. Seemed fun and chatty, but also she was old, unfortunately the least attractive person there. I reckon she may have gotten a few Ns, but I felt like being nice and gave her an F, because honestly she seemed like she has a good personality.

Girl 17: The artist, she was a lot of fun, attractive, chatty and we seemed to get along. Again we got lucky because it was the final round so we talked a bit more even though it was over. I actually regret leaving her to chat to the girl I skipped. And she was the one I didn't write a name for on my sheet, before I took the photo, so I've forgotten her name.... plus I'm now thinking she may be too young as she is still studying... I still gave her a Y

So overall two Ys and 3 Ns officially. The rest Fs.

In hindsight, maybe I should have given some more Ns, as well as turning some of the Ns into Fs. It was hard to make quick snap decision sometimes... maybe I'm too nice.. I'm assuming most people just put down Fs anyway. It's a bit of a scapegoat, but it's the safest choice. 3 mins is not long to make a good judgement, but I suppose that part of the fun I guess.

I feel a bit confident knowing the calibre of the guys that were with me were not so great. I mean I know I'm not unattractive, I can make a joke, I can talk to girls with out blowing my balls. So I feel like I'm in good stead. I do feel bad for some of the girls, hopefully they met someone they felt had a connection.

So that was my experience. I mean it was a good experience, and I did have fun, but there's something demoralising out of it as well. You need to have a bit of a thick skin and able to take rejection well, because you will be rejected no doubt about it. You will not get along with everyone, but I suppose if you find someone it's all worth.

So we shall see once I get the feedback, and if it doesn't work out with any of them, then it's no problem. I probably wouldn't do it again in a hurry, I'll give it half a year probably.