Society & Culture Awkward Mates

[Tex_21]

He sees no value in socialising, preferring to concentrate on studying, presumably so he can get a quality job and make serious bank.

Actually, the money to potentially be made is not much of a driver to me. I'm studying economics, and if I wanted to chase the money there, I'd look to private sector (banks, IBs etc) work. I'd prefer to go public sector, and maybe one day academia - the work itself is its own draw.

 

[THRILLHO]

ughhh, a gathering i must attend today...lots of small talk, nobody I know...the thought of it makes me sick to the stomach.

How do i leave within the first hour?

Whenever I have to go to parties like this I always invoke the Seinfeld rule of tapping on the head so as to be rescued from potentially awkward or boring conversations.

Works a treat.

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

Whenever I have to go to parties like this I always invoke the Seinfeld rule of tapping on the head so as to be rescued from potentially awkward or boring conversations.

Works a treat.

Usually i'd hit the free booze and sit in a corner...but i must drive 1hr each way

Might just politely slip out the back

 

[Coledinho]

Id argue that Australia would have more "awkard mates" then any other culture in the world. A pack mentality surrounds us for some reason. Think alot of it has to do with a high amount of country towns to full population ratio along with a pretty stringent education system which has very limited options post high school.

Very rare in Australia someone moves state to attend a new university etc I find. Either way id argue that Australia is the toughest western country in the world to make friends in. In some cases you can live and die by the social life you choose at the age of 13-14 I spose

 

[THRILLHO]

Very rare in Australia someone moves state to attend a new university etc I find. Either way id argue that Australia is the toughest western country in the world to make friends in. In some cases you can live and die by the social life you choose at the age of 13-14 I spose

I grew up in Albury, moved to Sydney for undergraduate, moved to Melbourne for postgraduate. But if I lived in a capital city I definitely would have stayed at home and studied. Why would you move and cost yourself plenty?

 

[power09]

I grew up in a country town with close mates but in yr 8 i started boarding and went to a different high school. I went home every weekend but my parents were pretty strict on going out at night when i was in yr 8 & 9.

As a result i fell out of the loop and became less close to my good friend and irrelivent to former acquaintances from that town. Did not care at the time though, because i had made more friends at my new (much larger) high school than i ever had in my home town.

But after school i took a year off uni to work full time and make some cash, so i lived at home for a year and did not have access to a car that i could use on weekends. That year sucked and it pretty much cost me my social life apart from me close friends.

The next year i moved to adelaide for uni though, and through a lot of effort socially iv made quite a few new friends and managed to re-connect with many old ones.

I'm in a good place now but im currently thinking of having a 21st, its hard because due to the circumstances above i have plenty of people that i would like to invite but they are all from up to 9 or 10 different social groups and it would be located in my home town which would put most people off except locals (and id only invite about 6 of them anyways)

 

[Brad Goodman]

Very rare in Australia someone moves state to attend a new university etc I find. Either way id argue that Australia is the toughest western country in the world to make friends in. In some cases you can live and die by the social life you choose at the age of 13-14 I spose

This is a good point. In Australia it is relatively uncommon to find someone who lives in a major city moving to another for uni or even work (work more common but compared to other countries I'd suggest we stay at home more).

When I was in the USA recently I met a girl who was born and raised in Portland, lived in LA and now lives in Las Vegas. In LA I was introduced to three of her friends - one from Denver, one from Pittsburgh and one from Boston - who all moved there for work (and none of them are actors). Apart from Melbourne to Sydney or vice versa I don't think you see that very often in Australia compared to the USA.

 

[Scotland]

I only know of 3 people who've left WA for uni; one to study rocket science which isn't offered in WA, one to study medicine in Qld because she missed a place here and the other to take up a Rhodes Scholarship. I don't know anyone who has moved from interstate specifically to study here.

Work on the other hand, Perth & WA in general are full of them (sic) outsiders, and its commonplace for people wanting careers in banking/media/marketing etc. to move to Melbourne/Sydney or London.

Mind you, if you ever want to write a character out of Neighbours/Home and Away then having them move to Perth is still a favourite of the writers.

 

[Caesar]

I don't know anyone who has moved from interstate specifically to study here.

I know a couple of aspiring Rhodes scholars who have moved to WA and SA from NSW and Victoria to pursue their undergraduate studies, because with the one-per-state allocation it's far less competitive over there.

 

[J_Moore]

Haha. Jesus christ. Do they have anything in particular they want to study, or do they just want a Rhodes that badly at 18?

 

[Caesar]

They are/were... Ahem... A bit 'special'.

They had very high TERs and could choose to do their courses anywhere they liked. So they opted for UWA.

Personally at 17 I was more concerned with staying closeish to home and mates. But then, I was never Rhodes material.

 

[J_Moore]

I knew a guy at uni for whom one of his major motivations for wanting a Rhodes was, apparently, so he could emulate his teenage hero, Bob Hawke.

He got one.

But I don't think even he contemplated moving across the country to increase his chances from small to slightly-less-small.

 

[Neville Bartos]

True dat
Remember going on an overnighter with 3 of my good mates when I was 12, we decided to treck down the railway line because we'd heard there was a dead kids body or something a few miles out of town.
The antics we got up to, paddling through swamps and peeling leeches off our body, I even had a leech on my wang
We had to outrun a train, run from huge monster dogs that threatened to "sick balls" and steer clear of some cheap dimestore hoods that hung around our town threatening to beat us up.
We eventually found Ray Brauer's body, not far from the railway line, we decided to make sure the authorities knew about it but had an altercation with the aforementioned hoods. My mate Gordie, pulled a gun from his backpack and chased them off though
I remember we made the long hike back to town, over summer we went our separate ways and eventually we all just became faces in the school halls.
Was driving last week when I heard on the radio that my best mate, who had a rough upbringing but became a lawyer, was stabbed and killed after intervening and attempting to break up a fight.
You're right, I never had friends like that again

Haha, winning the Internet was never so easy.


I actually kind of envy some of the awkward people here. I'm one of those people that is probably too extraverted. I talk too loudly (might be due to average hearing inherited from the old man), I love socialising, I hate being excluded from conversations no matter what the topic, I have no problems talking to women (been in a relationship for a while so doesn't count) and generally enjoy hitting the p155 and getting loose whenever possible.

And although I really enjoy living life that I do, I find it sometimes hard to make new mates or becomes respected professionally because of that intense extroversion. I might come across as a bit too full-on for some people or other people just see me as a larrikin who likes to get drunk and is only good for a beer. That's ok when you're a Uni student but isn't doing me any favours as a young professional

 

[Gus]

I grew up in a country town with close mates but in yr 8 i started boarding and went to a different high school. I went home every weekend but my parents were pretty strict on going out at night when i was in yr 8 & 9.

As a result i fell out of the loop and became less close to my good friend and irrelivent to former acquaintances from that town. Did not care at the time though, because i had made more friends at my new (much larger) high school than i ever had in my home town.

But after school i took a year off uni to work full time and make some cash, so i lived at home for a year and did not have access to a car that i could use on weekends. That year sucked and it pretty much cost me my social life apart from me close friends.

The next year i moved to adelaide for uni though, and through a lot of effort socially iv made quite a few new friends and managed to re-connect with many old ones.

To the point where you just rock up at their houses unannounced and let yourself in No more awkward power09.

I'm in a good place now but im currently thinking of having a 21st, its hard because due to the circumstances above i have plenty of people that i would like to invite but they are all from up to 9 or 10 different social groups and it would be located in my home town which would put most people off except locals (and id only invite about 6 of them anyways)

That's a tough situation re: your 21st. I had the same thing (as you know). Was hard to get people there when you have so many different crowds.

 

[Caesar]

I knew a guy at uni for whom one of his major motivations for wanting a Rhodes was, apparently, so he could emulate his teenage hero, Bob Hawke.

He got one.

But I don't think even he contemplated moving across the country to increase his chances from small to slightly-less-small.

They reckoned the difference in the candidate pool is pretty significant. Not that I'd know.

One of them was the WA scholar one year, so I guess it worked out for him anyway.

 

[jo172]

Personally at 17 I was more concerned with staying closeish to home and mates. But then, I was never Rhodes material.

Shocked people are thinking about Rhodes Scholarships at 17! First considered it after a couple of years at Uni, learned more and never felt more inadequate!

Thinking about that just as you leave high school is pretty mindblowing to me!

 

[FootyJunkie]

This is a good point. In Australia it is relatively uncommon to find someone who lives in a major city moving to another for uni or even work (work more common but compared to other countries I'd suggest we stay at home more).

So many universities/colleges here in the States with the big population and the heavy encouragement of people to do tertiary education here. As a result, many schools will have more to offer in terms of their programs, let alone the prestige that comes with it than just going to a uni near home. Many people move across the whole country to go to uni. Whether they are able to handle their new found independence at 18 and not screw it up is another issue.

 

[Gibbsy]

Gibbsy.

/thread.


He posts on BF and will more than likely read this post. He knows exactly who I am.

Took me this long to find it.... **** you

 

[arkie]

So many universities/colleges here in the States with the big population and the heavy encouragement of people to do tertiary education here. As a result, many schools will have more to offer in terms of their programs, let alone the prestige that comes with it than just going to a uni near home. Many people move across the whole country to go to uni. Whether they are able to handle their new found independence at 18 and not screw it up is another issue.

I'd love to go to university in the States. It always sounds so much more fun than here. I mean, I'm not saying I don't enjoy it but it seems that we're so much less involved apart from the hippy union people. I guess that's what college sports like NCAAF and NCAAB do. There's just so much more pride in universities in America.

I also like the fact that many young people will travel and live on campus to go to university in another city. Doesn't happen often enough here.

 

[WALL-e]

College sports are amaxing. Wish we had that stuff on that level here, but there just isn't a market. After parties FTW.

 

[blueboy25]

One of my mates was very awkward when we were growing up, he was very quiet and did some very strange/random things when he was drunk. We had never seen him hooking up girls either.

Confidence was his main problem as he was 6'7 but skinny as a rake so would always be self conscious and would rarely take his shirt off at the beach etc.

Once we hit out early 20's he started to fill out his body and his confidence grew rapidly. We are now in our early 30's and he is still making up for lost time. He currently has 3 chicks on the go and is loving life.

 

[poweredup]

I knew a guy at uni for whom one of his major motivations for wanting a Rhodes was, apparently, so he could emulate his teenage hero, Bob Hawke.

He got one.

But I don't think even he contemplated moving across the country to increase his chances from small to slightly-less-small.

Bob Hawke also held the world record for downing a yard glass of beer in the quickest time, did your mate emulate that feat too??

 

[Xtreme]

One of my mates was very awkward when we were growing up, he was very quiet and did some very strange/random things when he was drunk. We had never seen him hooking up girls either.

Confidence was his main problem as he was 6'7 but skinny as a rake so would always be self conscious and would rarely take his shirt off at the beach etc.

Once we hit out early 20's he started to fill out his body and his confidence grew rapidly. We are now in our early 30's and he is still making up for lost time. He currently has 3 chicks on the go and is loving life.

Have a mate just like that, made up for lost time and became a man-whore.

However consequently his actions have meant that he has since knocked up a girl.... thus the wind has been knocked out of his sails.

 

[blueboy25]

Have a mate just like that, made up for lost time and became a man-whore.

However consequently his actions have meant that he has since knocked up a girl.... thus the wind has been knocked out of his sails.

One of our other mates asked him when he was going to settle down and he said 'when 21yo chicks stop offering to shag him at every opportunity he might look into it'.

Seems fair to me

 

[Xtreme]

One of our other mates asked him when he was going to settle down and he said 'when 21yo chicks stop offering to shag him at every opportunity he might look into it'.

Seems fair to me

Totally, while i'm not awkward.... i have had a bit of a dry spell in regards to women. Have been making the most of my opportunities that have fallen my way lately .