On the Outs on the Outing

After all the effort and planning, I arrive at the designated venue for the "grand" Beijinoy reunion, only to find...nobody. Okay, so I'm "early." Go browse a bit in Fully Booked first. In and outta the bookstore I went. Still nobody. Man, is everybody late? Knew I should've RSVPd more thoroughly. About 45 minutes later Tina texted to say they moved to another place to eat. Oy. When I finally reached Oyster Boy (after a wrong turn, w/c makes me grateful that I'm used to walking), my worst fear came true: most of the people who showed up came from the new (i.e. who the heck...?) batch of Beijinoys.


About a third of the crowd that I recognized.

Granted, this meeting was actually coincidental. Tina said Mela and New Guys &Girls were taking their Korean classmates out to dinner and planned to stop by Bizu (the original venue) afterwards. When they didn't see me (or anybody else, for that matter) there they moved to Oyster Boy. In short: they were gonna meet up with or without my planning. Good thing I managed to tell the remaining few I expected to come that we moved the venue. They showed up (except Rad) and left just as quickly. I, on the other hand, just wanted to leave. Is it from resentment that my "guests" were "hijacked?" Well, I just felt like I was at the "wrong" party.

Tonight confirmed 2 things for me. One: I'm really more for quiet, smaller gatherings. Two: my socializing skills really depend on other people making the introductions. I rarely introduce myself to new people (Hell, the last time I did it was Nov. 2001), even if I wanna meet 'em. Nerves, I guess. Nervous, more like it.

In hindsight: if I knew the 'rents were gonna be outta town for the weekend, I would've hosted the reunion at my house. Maybe sans New Guys & Girls, though.