friends.

New Year’s Eve Eve

As I was sitting in Judy’s comfortable leather chair typing away, Kasey said, “Are you writing about how hard it is as adults to make friends?”

I wasn’t. But she’s right. It has been hard to make friends, except for the hosts we’ve been staying with. We met Irish Joe and Rob at an Irish Pub by asking if they’d settle a bet for us. Other than that, it seems folks are already in friend groups and it’s hard to be let in.

Until last night. We went into Wanaka to a cabin-like bar called Bullock’s.

A guy soon to be known as Ben: “Excuse me, can you tell us if you think American accents are sexy?”

Kasey: “Well, I am American and yes, of course. I mean, tell me this voice isn’t sexy.”

Ben then introduced us to his American friends, Richard, Tucker, and Drake. They are Patagonia jacket and baseball cap wearing guys who say “y’all” from Alabama. It was surprising how refreshing this was, like a little piece of home. They, too, arrived in September and have a year here. I’m surprised we’re just now running into them. We laughed and chanted “USA, USA, USA!”, exchanged phone numbers, and made plans for the following weeks.

At the end of the night, Kasey, Brittany, and I said things like, “Oh it’s great to have friends!” and “What a delight tonight was!” We couldn’t wait to spend New Year’s Eve together, go trout fishing, and watch movies at the cinema that makes homemade ice cream. Yeah, making friends wasn’t so bad tonight.

New Year’s Eve

They never called.