My New Home

July 27, 2012 - 11 years ago

Jenn writes about her initial year arriving in Sydney fresh from the shores of Vancouver. A little bit about her experience, and how she found it hard to meet, and make new friends in this big bad city.

Travelling to a new city is daunting enough, and do to it alone is whole other ball game. Even if there is no language barrier, we sadly live in an age where you don't get to know thy neighbour. For anyone who has traveled  we know how important, and rewarding, and most of all exciting it is to meet new friends, and be welcomed in with open arms.

I moved to Sydney, from Vancouver, in October 2005. I was young and bright eyed on the plane anticipating beach volleyball, BBQs and the exciting life that awaited me. My reality was spot-on in some elements. No doubt Sydney is an amazing city and living minutes from Coogee beach I was definitely fulfilling many of my day dreams. The thing that hit me the hardest was one I hadn't anticipated; I was lonely. I had slotted groups of laughing smiling friends into my fantasies without putting much thought into how to meet them.

It’s difficult to get social when you’re a party of one. Don’t get me wrong, everyone I met was very friendly. At work and even at the pub I met lovely people with kind words but I wished there was something I could be apart of, with like-minded people. I looked into local sports leagues but they seemed to be after ‘athletes,’ something I’m not really. I was a fun, averagely athletic, single 24 year old, new in town and looking for people to invite to my hypothetical BBQ.

My story in Sydney has a happy ending. After three months alone reading on the beach I made some amazing friends and had those BBQs and beach volleyball games I had been dreaming of. But with a program like this geared for fun, getting active, and hanging out, I could of accomplished my friendship goals faster while getting one step closer to ‘athlete” status.  When I found out about Urban Rec it was like a light bulb went off. What a perfect outlet for young people looking to get out and meet new people. Social. Active. Fun. I couldn't have said it better.

Urban Rec isn't only a great outlet for those new to town.It’s a great league to join with a group of friends as a team, or with a friend or two, joining a singles team. But guaranteed whether you start out knowing people or not, by the end of the season you’ll have a few new numbers in your phone and maybe a date or two… another thing I came to Sydney looking for, but that’s a different story.