So, I live in Berlin. So, I love techno. So, I had no friends to go out with. But I can assure you, that sometimes that can be quite good. I like to be alone, meet new people, toss off random stories about who I am, role-play Björk dancing by myself like a lunatic, and having the freedom to just do whatever I feel like doing without having social pressure or to check up constantly on my friends. I always leave the dancefloor with hilarious anecdotes to share with friends, once hangover is away from my body.
Ever since I started going out, I always „accidentally“ lost my group and dedicated some time to meeting new people, and making up stories. One night, I fancied telling a guy I was making out with that I was a prostitute. I obviously did not go all the way with my tale, I just left to the toilets after seeing his reaction, and made sure I didn’t come across him again. Side note: I don’t do that anymore, I was 18 – yes I know, even that one is not a proper excuse.
Now, when I decided to move here, I knew very well that it wouldn’t be so easy. My friend count was in, approximately 2 people. So if in Buenos Aires it was hard for me to find someone to go clubbing with, imagine here, where I knew no one. My feet were burning, my ears craved for some beats, so I picked a Jägermeister bottle (they come in oh-so-convenient measures!) and took off to Stattbad, first making a pit stop for other provisions. If I was going to act all night by myself as being high on music, I better be high on something else, to keep the high-ness flowing and natural.
Got in, started dancing and then I noticed staring from some corners, but I couldn’t care less. I was having fun alone, my self-confidence levels were skyrocketing, so I kept on dancing and having happy thoughts. Met some people, invented some stories, obviously left them, and kept on talking to everyone. At one point, I realized I had organized a casual conversation group and we were all talking about the German school system on a side of the dancefloor. Going out alone makes you discover abilities you never thought you had: apparently, now, I could organize assemblies and moderate debates – I was Stattbad’s own Oprah Winfrey.
Finally I called it a night. I was walking down the street, nah, I was wobbling down the street, and two guys called me. As conversation developed, they tried to teach me German, which was funny, because I am not able to pronounce „ein Jägermeister Shot bitte“ correctly at my soberest, so imagine that scene. I left them at my station, changed to the U-Bahn, where I chatted with some group about sneakers (go figure what I made up there, I had bought my first pair a week ago, I’m a shoe kind of person), and kept on my wobble all the way to my place. I got home, sat on my bed, and smiled, satisfied. I may talk to everything with a pulse, this going out alone thing may not be normal (or at least I get some funny looks when I admit it), but I can affirm that it is better than to go sharking for girls/guys, and a lot more interesting. Call me weird, but I don’t have the slightest intention to change or hide that. Since my first days here in Berlin, I have actually gotten some friends, but I always make sure I lose them for a while, it just spices up things a bit more.
Headerfoto: Darrell Berry via Creative Commons Lizenz!
