Well obviously you can meet new friends in far away places via Twitter and Facebook but when you get to the far away place, how do you do it?
I am in Doha, Qatar for a bit and it’s been surprisingly easy to meet new people and make friends
First of all I took the opportunity to make a connection with someone who had only just moved out to Doha: Julie Buck.
I was able to contact Julie because I met a friend of hers via a ladies networking event in Guildford, UK (small world).
Following a quick chat over a cup of tea (or glass of cold water – it was quite hot at the time) we discovered that we were both in a similar position – new to Doha and running our own businesses. With something in common to discuss – it was easy to keep in touch!
A few weeks on and Julie invited me to a foody launch event (I never say no to things involving food!) and there I met some other lovely people who have all been in Doha for varying lengths of time.
Fast forward to this morning:
I decided to get back into the fitness regime and so I went to a Spin class at one of the local hotel gyms here. I arrived first, so I selected a nice looking bike at the back of the room. Don’t want to be at the front on my first day, I thought! Just as I was setting up 2 more ladies arrived – both of whom were also new to that class. Straightaway we had something in common!
After the class I chatted with my new friends and we decided we would try and find some other good classes to all go to. I promised to investigate another hotel gym and took contact details so that I could pass on my findings. In the meantime we decided to meet next Wednesday at the same Spin class.
As I was leaving one of my new friends asked: ‘So you said you’ve got to get back to work, what do you do?’
‘I’m a handbag designer and I run my own business’ I replied. Then they asked for my card: Then I told them I’m having a sale on Sunday….. email addresses were exchanged and I don’t think I’ll have to wait until next week to see them again!
What is the line you use for breaking the ice and making friends? I am probably very lucky – my ‘Handbag designer’ line works with women all over the world!
