Part 3b (coz it's too long for a single reply)
So to sum up: Oh what an anti-climax...

The meeting went OK, but not spectacularly well. It did sort of feel a bit anti-climatic thanks to us not doing anything apart from watch TV, but I was glad to have finally met Lisa. Overall, we got on but there was one major distraction - the TV. By American standards, the hospitality wasn't too great; but for LA standards, it was reasonable.

It was nice to have chilled out, but I was a bit disappointed in the lack of excitement considering I had travelled from half way round the world. I might even go as far as to say that I think it was our e-mail correspondence that might have sparked off me thinking about the trip which started off as a two week trip round the corners of the USA by plane and over time blossomed into an epic two month trip by train. I did appreciate the chance to recharge my batteries instead of exhausting myself sightseeing and travelling around.

I was very laid back throughout meeting. Had she met me at Union Station, I would have been very excitable and she would have seen a very different side to me. I was disappointed in that I had hoped to have been shown round LA. I did manage to show myself around the week before but felt it should have been a shared experience between the both of us.

I decided to try and fit in another meeting with her to give her another chance and also so she wouldn’t feel so bad about me having travelled all this way and not done much when I got there. This would also give me an excuse to travel further along the Californian coast and see San Diego and possibly Tijuana as well.

Of all the things we talked about whenever we did say things to each other, never once was the conversation about the web site on the Internet where we first met. In fact, the Internet rarely featured in our conversations at all.

Perhaps I should have given her my usual warning by e-mail that I usually give out in such situations - saying that I'm shy and that once we feel more comfortable, we'll find it easier to talk. Considering the e-mail problems we had been experiencing, I decided not to send it off just in case it didn't get through.

I also realised she wasn't worth falling apart over, but thought there was still some good potential. At least now that we'd at last met, keeping in touch should have been easier if she were ever to visit the UK.


To be continued...
( mistaspakkaman and the inedible shifting caterpillars, Mon 30 Jun 2008, 16:33, Reply)