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Getting Out in Our New Community

When moving to a  new community, getting involved, meeting new friends can be a challenge. I know, I lived in a suburb of Lima for 13 years without making friends, which isn't to say I didn't try, because I did try; but it just didn't happen for me, in that community.

And then one day, I changed communities. Rather than the bedroom community which had no library branch, local athletic center, or other local gathering places to meetup with other community members, I turned south (8 miles) to the small town of Wapakoneta, where I quickly and easily, met and made friends through activities at the library and YMCA. Often, I would run into the same folks around town at the store, gas station, bank, etc. And these lessons of local community and connection, Husband and I applied to our move to Melbourne, Australia, population 4 million.

We investigated, and intentionally looked for suburbs of Melbourne that have the features of a village -- local library, local athletic center, local coffee shops, walkable shopping, etc. We explicitly did NOT want to live in an an area where all the children's, family, and adult activities are a car drive to another suburb or into the city. We sought a suburb that feels and has the characteristics of a village. Taylors Lakes looks like it has met all our criteria. We'll see.

The thing we did our second day here was go into the library to get a card and have a chat with a librarian about the programs and activities offered at the library. For children, they have Lego Club and Game Zone (board games) which Daughter is excited to start going to. And for me there is a chat club, a yarn club, and a book discussion club. I'm really looking forward to getting out around other adults and joining these groups. These will be starting points for us in meeting folks we share interests with and building our circles of friends.

Cheers!
Ann

In other news:  Day 5 of no internet, no TV. We are surviving by tapping our creativity when home, and walking our neighborhood as the weather allows. I am seeing a whole different side of Daughter emerge -- a happier, more creative, more content side. Technology is a 2-sided sword to be wielded with intent and skill. Will we be able to keep this up once internet is installed or will we allow ourselves to be sucked in despite our best intentions? Time will tell.

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