A Life in Waiting

As we returned Friday morning from the summer cottage, Maria and I parted ways for the day.  She had to get back to Koiramaja (The Dog hut) to get ready to receive her next guest, a Rottweiler that needed a place to stay for one evening.  So as she went back to work, I headed into the city to prepare for an evening out.  One of the benefits of being a member of a site such as Couchsurfing, is that there is always some happening going on in the city.  This evening it happened to be a game night at one of the member’s new office with his recently purchased flatscreen TV and a Nintendo Wii. 

One of the reasons that I wanted to be in attendance at this meeting, was that I knew a few of the members that would be there and there were a few people that I wanted to meet.  See in the couchsurfing world, as with almost everything else, it’s who you know.  When you begin meeting a lot of the more traveled members of the site, your profile becomes linked to them and thus all the people that they know.  And the more connections you have like this, the more comfortable people will feel having you in their home, or better yet, want you in their home.  It’s a social networking site where you actually meet people, rather than just talk to them on a computer.

The actual game night was not what I was looking for.  It was in a brightly lit room with an almost too diverse of a crowd being too courteous with the game play.  It had an awkward feel to it.  I ended up hanging to the side most of the evening, chatting with the few guys I knew.  After a bit, the party broke up and a few of us strolled down to the local pub and continued the conversations over a few pints.

Now it seems like I am “going to the pub” quite a bit in my travels.  It was mentioned a time or two that it sounds like I’m spending a lot of time doing so quite often.  This is one thing that I feel I should clarify as I have found this to be one of the more common cultural differences.  Back in the states, spending a lot of time in a pub or bar is typically done by college kids or the few older ones that still think they are there.  I would say the majority maybe go out once a weekend or once every two weekends and it’s typically from being out to dinner and not wanting to rush back home. 

But over here, it’s a little different.  Going to the pub is the same as going to the coffee house.  A place to sit down with friends and just talk or a play a game.  That’s right, a game.  For example the one pub we ended up going to this evening, Kaisla, is well known for its large selection of specialty beers and liquors, but also for its relaxed atmosphere.  Dark wood covering the walls, dimly lit lighting and a wall full of board games ranging from Trivial Pursuit to some crazy Finnish games I couldn’t even describe (or pronounce).  So sitting down, sipping on a good stout over a game of Trivial Pursuit is “going to the pub”. 

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