Quote:
Originally Posted by The_little_didgee
When I joined, I felt a part of the community and could easily spend hours on this website. I made some online friends and enjoyed "conversing" with them via the keyboard. Now it is very different. The friends I made here are long gone. They no longer post or log in very often (at least when I am logged in).
Whenever I log in I feel like a foreigner walking through the tourist district of a major city. I've been feeling like this for a few years now. I go through periods of not logging in for weeks at a time to every 2 or 3 days. Now I rarely post. There isn't much that I can relate to. I'm not sure why, even though I have a lot to say. Maybe I'm more protective of my privacy or have found other more effective outlets. Perhaps I no longer find this website very helpful.
I have noticed one thing. This website mirrors my present life. I'm a foreigner in a foreign land.
Right now I'm in a small city somewhere in southwestern Ontario where I don't know many people. I'm not from here. I only came here to take a college program that wasn't offered in the city I left two years ago. Unfortunately I haven't been able to develop a sense of community here like I did in eastern Ontario, where I lived for 27 years. Life is very different in this part of the province. It's more rural.
The 1 million plus denizens that lived around me kept me company. I miss them.
I miss my friends, especially seeing them in person. Sitting in coffee shops drinking Americanos, visiting, going for walks by the Ottawa River, working on clocks, attending club meetings, working on machine shop projects and hanging out at the airport to watch planes. I long for community beyond video conferencing, text messaging and email.
Southwestern Ontario is no longer helpful to me. I've completed my program, so there is no reason to stay here much longer.
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I long for somewhere that is not ''here'' too
I will not repeat what others have said (both here and elsewhere........