First Encounter

So I finally did it! I met Brits. Lots of em.’ And Belgians too! I found out last night that the weekend bar scene here is much different than the mid-week pub crawling. Though I prefer pubs, bars and clubs are actually venues for meeting Brits.

In east London, we met a group of guys studying at Queen Mary’s College who were from different small cities across the country. One was from Luton another from a town starting with “H” somewhat west of here. (I didn’t want to ask him to repeat it). Like me, they were adjusting to life in London. It was a bit strange to hear people speaking with British accents yet talking about not being comfortable within their own country. The same thing would happen to me if I moved to, say, Seattle, but the close-nit feel of this Island made me think most UK residents were familiar with their capital.

In a club in Camden, me and the three guys I was with (Including my high-school friend Pat who was visiting London from his study-abroad home in Germany) approached four British girls. Like the three guys in the other bar, these girls were also struggling with life in London. They were 20 as well and were on their way to a friend’s birthday party. One of the girls was creeped out by Pat because she didn’t believe he was only 20. “You’re 27!” He pulled out his ID and proved her wrong. She was shocked to learn that I was older than him. (Here’s Pat, for those of you who don’t know him). In the course of the conversation I asked them how they were able to identify us as Americans based on only looks. They couldn’t answer that question. I will get back to you when I have it answered (which may be never).

The night continued as such. Pat and I chatted with these guys from Belgium for a while. We talked politics, sports, life. It was fun. It seemed real.

Part of me wishes I could end my story there but, against my better judgment, I am going to continue it. Pat and I, yes Pat and I, found ourselves on a Saturday night in North-central London in a gay bar. Don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t mean we found our selves – as in we discovered something about our true feelings – I just mean ended up sitting in one. But, to be honest, it was an incredibly lively scene. The men were definitely interested in us, probably more than either of us really wanted, and we got into some lively conversations -- probably the best conversation of the night. We sat talking to these two gentlemen and somehow started talking about the elephant in the room. What amazed Dolan and I was that the two men did not believe in a “gay gene.” Dolan and I, the two straight guys, argued adamantly with these two guys, but they maintained that their life choice to be gay was exactly that: a choice. Puzzling.

I’ll try to stay away from posts about nighttime follies in the future. But I thought it important for you to know of some of my first encounters.

Comments welcome,

Andrew