The last couple of weeks I've been strangely drawn to Christian Connections again. Last month it underwent a re-design, which has improved it a lot. There was a free trial of the new features which I missed thanks to the previously mentioned Christian gathering in tents, but all of a sudden I had random e-mails telling me that some man had 'waved' at me.
Plus, a colleague at work happened to mention a friend of hers who was doing quite well with the site, in fact, was meeting up with a couple of guys at the next Christian gathering in tents at the end of next week. As she described one of the guys I had a strange sense of deja vu - one happened to work at the Guardian, doing something with their website. Sure enough, it turned out to be the first guy I'd e-mailed on the site, in fact, the guy that pretty much persuaded me to hand over money to join so I could e-mail him. [Incidentally, he never replied - bastard. ;)] In other small world coincidences, it turns out that I have a large number of mutual friends with this girl, so I may have to bump into her some time.
So anyway, revisiting Christian Connections it seems that the questions they ask are better and there are more members - so who knows what might happen? I've also just fired off an e-mail complaint (something about questions that don't match what's on the profile - I can be a pedant at times) and maybe that'll result in some kind of freebie...
My eharmony membership runs out next month and I won't be renewing it, so it's definitely time to try something else - the only question is, do I return to the Christians or head out into the secular world?
Showing posts with label christian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christian. Show all posts
Saturday, 21 August 2010
Friday, 6 August 2010
Christian online dating - in the flesh
Christian festival season has begun. (Actually, I believe it began around Easter...) Last week I subjected myself to a week's camping in Somerset with a few church friends in the name of 'holiday' and spiritual enlightenment.
Large gatherings of Christians are meant to be ideal hunting grounds for potential partners. After all, you're spared the need to filter out the non-Christians and you have ample time to get to know people. I guess this was the reason behind turning one of the socials into a Christian Singles Mingle. [Not the title it was given, incidentally.]
I've not been to one before - though I tried to, the last time one was on at church, but my date stood me up. The idea is that you take a friend of the opposite sex (who you don't want to date, but think others might) along with you and spend the evening mingling with other like-minded single Christians. I can see this working fairly well in my usual London context. Recreated in a marquee in Shepton Mallet seemed to work less well...
Early on in the week, I'd ascertained that I wouldn't be working that particular night [my free ticket to the event was courtesy of being a barista for 7 days) and so had given some thought as to who I'd take with me. Few people came to mind but I thought that perhaps some of my new-found coffee friends might be up for it. Turning up for my early evening shift I discovered that indeed, a few were interested - but mostly at the instigation of my older, female tent-mate.
The level of interest appeared to be veiling a slight whiff of desperation. When the social kicked off a couple of hours later, the atmosphere in the bar was one of heightened anticipation. By this point I'd decided I was better off out of it (choosing instead to spend my night off drinking gin) and sat watching the minglers get down to it.
Before they were directed to an area of the tent far away from the bar, one man approached me to ask if I was participating. I replied in the negative and when asked why simply said that it was my first night off all week and I was rather tired. It struck me that he was asking for one of two possible reasons:
(i) He needed a woman with him in order to gain entry.
(ii) He thought I looked interesting and therefore hoped that he'd have opportunity for a conversation later.
Either way, I wasn't particularly interested. The thought then struck me that looking around, it was effectively the people of Christian Connection in the flesh.
By the end of the evening I had decided that there was no way I was that desperate, and helpfully, new-found friends informed me that I didn't need to be that desperate. Even turning 29 at the end of the week didn't plunge me into a black-hole of singleness depression. Playing this game light-heartedly is definitely the way forward.
Next on the agenda? Speed dating at summer's second Christian festival opportunity. Fun times.
Large gatherings of Christians are meant to be ideal hunting grounds for potential partners. After all, you're spared the need to filter out the non-Christians and you have ample time to get to know people. I guess this was the reason behind turning one of the socials into a Christian Singles Mingle. [Not the title it was given, incidentally.]
I've not been to one before - though I tried to, the last time one was on at church, but my date stood me up. The idea is that you take a friend of the opposite sex (who you don't want to date, but think others might) along with you and spend the evening mingling with other like-minded single Christians. I can see this working fairly well in my usual London context. Recreated in a marquee in Shepton Mallet seemed to work less well...
Early on in the week, I'd ascertained that I wouldn't be working that particular night [my free ticket to the event was courtesy of being a barista for 7 days) and so had given some thought as to who I'd take with me. Few people came to mind but I thought that perhaps some of my new-found coffee friends might be up for it. Turning up for my early evening shift I discovered that indeed, a few were interested - but mostly at the instigation of my older, female tent-mate.
The level of interest appeared to be veiling a slight whiff of desperation. When the social kicked off a couple of hours later, the atmosphere in the bar was one of heightened anticipation. By this point I'd decided I was better off out of it (choosing instead to spend my night off drinking gin) and sat watching the minglers get down to it.
Before they were directed to an area of the tent far away from the bar, one man approached me to ask if I was participating. I replied in the negative and when asked why simply said that it was my first night off all week and I was rather tired. It struck me that he was asking for one of two possible reasons:
(i) He needed a woman with him in order to gain entry.
(ii) He thought I looked interesting and therefore hoped that he'd have opportunity for a conversation later.
Either way, I wasn't particularly interested. The thought then struck me that looking around, it was effectively the people of Christian Connection in the flesh.
By the end of the evening I had decided that there was no way I was that desperate, and helpfully, new-found friends informed me that I didn't need to be that desperate. Even turning 29 at the end of the week didn't plunge me into a black-hole of singleness depression. Playing this game light-heartedly is definitely the way forward.
Next on the agenda? Speed dating at summer's second Christian festival opportunity. Fun times.
Sunday, 9 May 2010
An internet dating whore
Before this project even began, I already belonged to one dating site (for free) that I'd never really bothered with. In the space of the last week, I've joined two more - one Christian, one non-Christian.
Today, I had some new mail on the Christian site (one random, one a reply) and my first message on the non-Christian one (unfortunately I can't reply as I've not paid money yet). Things are progressing...
The form-filling is frustrating though. How are you meant to sell yourself to total strangers? How can you tick a box describing yourself as 'attractive' - isn't that just big headedness? For Guardian Soulmates, I had to come up with a cheesy line that summed me up. After a bit of discussion with another single friend, I went with "Fun-loving girl seeks intellectual guy for witty banter and debate". Nice and simple - and true.
So now I guess I wait and see what happens. Maybe I'll pay up on the Guardian and experiment with both concurrently. Perhaps I'll see what happens after a month with the Christians...
Today, I had some new mail on the Christian site (one random, one a reply) and my first message on the non-Christian one (unfortunately I can't reply as I've not paid money yet). Things are progressing...
The form-filling is frustrating though. How are you meant to sell yourself to total strangers? How can you tick a box describing yourself as 'attractive' - isn't that just big headedness? For Guardian Soulmates, I had to come up with a cheesy line that summed me up. After a bit of discussion with another single friend, I went with "Fun-loving girl seeks intellectual guy for witty banter and debate". Nice and simple - and true.
So now I guess I wait and see what happens. Maybe I'll pay up on the Guardian and experiment with both concurrently. Perhaps I'll see what happens after a month with the Christians...
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