Meetup.com

This weekend we went to a dinner at TGI Friday's in Yokohama to meet some friends we met through the Meetup.com website. This is a great way to meet people who are interested in the same things you are. It's a worldwide service and covers every imaginable topic. If you are in Tokyo for example you can get together with people interested in everything from photography, to vegetarian restaurants to world travel. Just about any hobby or interest you can have. Well almost - I haven't found one that specializes in airline barf bag collectors yet.

If one lives in a compound with other people from your workplace - like I do - this is a great way to branch out beyond the insular bubble. It's important to talk to people about something other than work - which invariably happens with friends from the office. At the dinner in Yokohama we met a Microsoft engineer from India, a military contractor from my home state, his wife from the Ukraine, a lady journalist from Tokyo, and a couple that own a shop in Yokohama. An interesting bunch of people. And the food was good!