Nothing states freedom more than the pleasant feeling of late night midsummer air caressing the outer sunbleached tips of your hair.
Giving you the feeling of utterly aliveness combined with the all-time surrounding possible sudden end of mentioned quirlyness taking a look to your left side watching the second taxi in a row just merely adjusting to the narrowness of Chinese traffic.
Being freshmeat in a city yet to explore and fully declare your home one surely can feel lonely if friends who certainly are a part of making home home are in a lacking state.
Let's face the facts
Although acquiring 101 WeChat contacts in barely 2 weeks, which up to this moment of writing reached 114, the number I'd call true local Changde friends would not even reach a two digited number.
The disperency between digital numbers and real-life friends can be explained by similar reasons as it can be for someone with 3658 facebook friends, yet spending the evening lonely, not alone.
Still there are ways to turn digital to analog making your time abroad not just a time passed but a time truly lived.
1. Explore the local Nightlife
Being an exot often the newly emerged desire of locals scanning your QR-Toast diminishes after the first lines of 'What's your name?' 'Can you speak Chinese?' and 'Do you have a girlfriend?'
Spending enough nights at the local nightclub you end up getting to know the party people already affected by Tinnitus, let the bartender know who prefer your burning shot of spirit without additional Baileys, and become an expert at Chinese rock, paper, scissors which happens to be a well established late night game which either ends in physical pain or the sudden vanishing of a recently yet full glass of brown coloured liquid.
Although most friends made at Moks stay at Moks sometimes friendships emerging from blasting sounds and whisky infused black tea can be everlasting!
Especially if you've been playing daddy the night before at Moks, the local night club.
2. Late to bed, early to rise
Besides roaming the city at late night one should not neglect the opportunities offered by the other time spectrum of the day. Early morning.
Who knows? Maybe you end up becoming a well known local musician/ singer and shuttlecocker.
Or impress Ladies with your Baby stroller squats!
Maybe you even find like minded people by letting out who you really are.
Free your inner monkey!
3. Join a club - not the nighty one
In this case an English club to be precise.
A fixed space reserved for humans meeting up having the same interests offers higher chances of discovering people you not totally reject.
Especially if English corner turns into food corner and you enter the other corner-people's heart with your steaming tasty Baozi
Just like Sunshine-Sunny did the other day!
But watch out for overly attached want to be girlfriends!!
Taking Sunny's advise let's head to the last point on how to make friends in Changde!
4. Food is love - Street-food is lover
The best way to make friends besides having little skills in your charasmatic scale is by making their tummy fall in love with you first. As we all know brain and gut being interconnected their mind will soon follow if he didn't do so already!
What food is more predestined to achieve bonding (besides Baozi) than tastebuds-kicking Streetfood accompanied by the danger which may be lie in the once quite yellow now to black turned frying oil.
Going to meet up with my friends later that day!
What are your best ways to make friends either back in your home country or while hitting the road? Share your tips in the comments!
Read what else happened being a Barista in Changde:
I joined the local Sports club
I improved my WeChat game by creating QR-Toast
Barista at day | Party Lion at Night
