Of course, for a teacher, an obvious place to make connections is his/her students. And colleagues. The gang of ex-student friends keeps expanding, in my case, as I have more years under my belt (sometimes, it shows).
But generally speaking, a sport can get you friends, or hobbies can. If you are online, or a blogger, you get invited into communities. I have made quite a few friends from a music group I joined a few years ago. If you write books, you have many readers, some of whom pop up unexpectedly. Ditto, if you write columns etc. Makes you feel like a celebrity at times! I have actually given autographs on my books- not as many as I would like to, though.😀
Travel is another way you get to meet people. I have met friends who are friends of friends, or spouses of friends. Sometimes had long conversations with them too. I also have parents of students who are friends online, though I haven't met all of them. Similarly, daughters/sons of friends too. All of these connections are enriching. I have met New Zealanders, Bangladeshis and Vietnamese in conference travel, and Cambodians, Japanese, and Koreans too, among others-Thais and Britishers, Indonesians for example.
Some friends are also global (USA, France, China, Sri Lanka, Austria, Australia...) and we have connected on fb regularly, and I have a window into their world. I know exactly what they think of Biden., Trump, or Trudeau, for example, and what their kids are up to (if they have kids).
Amazing!
No comments:
Post a Comment