Friday Night Drinks - Ljubljana
So you’ve just moved to a new country. Time to make some new friends! We all remember first day of school dread; not knowing anybody, worrying if you’ll fit in, making friends is scary! However, we all need friends.
Your reasons for deciding to live in Ljubljana may vary. Perhaps like many Expats you fell in love (I know I did). Although you’ve come to live your life with the one you love, you need to create your own life here as well. The romance can dissipate quite quickly if you’re living in each others pockets. (Not if you have the super guide book In Your Pocket!)
Perhaps you’ve come to Ljubljana for work. You’ll make friends at work I’m sure, but do you really want to only have friends from work? Making friends with your colleagues can be tricky as well, it might help you make your way up the ladder but there’s always a danger that after three merlots you tell “magically” gain confidence to tell your boss what you really think. Disaster!
So allow me the honor of introducing you to Friday Night Drinks (FND). FND originally began back in 2003 by a Canadian named Nick Rytel who had lived in Ljubljana for many years. FND began small but like all good things the word spread and as such the events gained in size and notoriety. FND is now run by William Wagner. William or his preferred name Gerry is a really open and kind bloke. He personally took the time to tell me a bit about FND and answer any of my questions. I am sure he will be happy to do the same for you also.
FND has a social networking website much like Facebook . To sign up to the “Facebook” style network, head to http://fridaynightdrinks.ning.com . Like Facebook here you can add photos, create a profile and add friends to your profile. Of course it’s free and even if you can’t go to the events this could still help you meet a few people, perhaps who have been in the same situation in which you find yourself. Once you’ve got your Profile sorted you can check out the next FND event, they’re usually monthly and are “not for profit”.
I headed to one of these monthly events to check it out. The event was being held at a French restaurant “Bon Appetite”. As I headed there honestly I got butterflies. I didn’t know anybody and now I was going walk in to somewhere and attempt to start talking. AHHH!!
After finding the event and smoking two cigarettes consecutively due to nerves I headed down the stairs into the cellar style restaurant. As I entered I was greeted by friendly restaurant staff who offered to take my coat. Thinking I may need to make a quick exit if it all went wrong I kept my jacket on. Entering the restaurant I was greeted by a table of free wine. If I hadn’t been driving I would have taken full advantage of this, to loosen the old tongue. Sadly I passed the table and headed further in to the depths, heading towards what I thought was my social doom and my first day at school had come again!
As I entered and saw the crowd my thought was ok what do I do? Luckily before I had chance to retreat an open hand was offered to me. “Hi I’m Mike, are you new to Ljubljana?” The gods had come to my rescue and so had Mike.
After that it was plain sailing. I talked with Mike who turned out to be a carpenter and had faced the same fears I had when he original came to FND. Mike
then introduced me to his friends and that was it, I was away. I met a writer, a photographer and an English teacher, all of whom offered their friendship and advice freely and easily.
The evening’s atmosphere was delightful. The setting and canapés gave a lovely touch to the evening as did the resident photographer who snapped away at some of the memorable moments.
After my experience of FND I would certainly go again. I think next time I wont be so afraid with the knowledge that I know somebody. If I was to re-do the first time again and perhaps this may be some advice for you, take a friend the first time around. This may make you feel a bit less alone and initially scared, but also you may help each other to meet new people and make a new FrieND (see what I did there ?) I hope your new life in Ljubljana brings you all your expectations and more.
As always I would like to end by thanking everyone involved in helping me create this article. Special thanks goes to Ian Middleton who supplied all the photographs, as you can see he is extremely talented and if you would like to have him take photos at your event do check out his website and get in touch at www.yournaturalportraits.com . Thank you to all the people at FND, the members who were very welcoming to me; especially Mike. Finally a thank you to Gerry for inviting me and answering all the questions I could possibly ask.
To hear more from me and from Local travel writers who live and work in Slovenia please visit www.inyourpocket.com/slovenia . All articles are written locally and therefore we get to the very underbelly of Slovenia.
Peace and sLOVEnia
Patrick Byrne
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