Making Friends...

The view on a hike up Knox mountain with a friend from class. 

As so many people have expressed, making new friends as an adult can be very hard! From my move, I have really reflected on what it means to be a friend and the many different kinds of friends we keep for different purposes. Kelowna is known as having a ‘unwelcoming’ nature, cliques and a difficult place to meet people. I decided to challenge that stereotype and have, for the most part found quite the opposite. Have I met unfriendly people- of course. Do I want them to be my friend? Of course not!

Being in school has definitely helped me socially, as I have met many people with similar interests and passions. It also provides a place for casual conversation, such as ‘What are you doing after class?’ ‘Oh, a few of us are just heading out for a boat ride, want to come?’ ‘ YES!’.

My first jump in the lake,
off the boat I got invited to after class! 

Meeting new people involves a lot of yes’s. Even if I don’t feel like it. My first mantra when I moved was ‘say yes’. This got me into some uncomfortable situations... Like the time I agreed to play in a baseball tournament. Me + Baseball = butterfly watching. I reaffirmed that I actually don’t like baseball, and don’t need to say yes to EVERYTHING. But, I did meet some great people, and I got to spend the day with some friends from school, outside of class time. Luckily, I think they still liked me enough after all the butterfly watching in the outfield and we can still be friends....I hope!

Maik and I on a wine tour. 

In addition to ‘say yes’, I also had to just put myself out there. Like the time I FINALLY said to my ‘balcony neighbour’ “Hi, I’m Kendra, I always see you out here, so I figure I might as well introduce myself.” It only took me about a month (or more) to get the courage to say Hi. Now, Maik is probably one of my best friends in Kelowna!

I have also joined events and groups, no matter how scared I was, unfit I thought I might be (there are some incredible athletes here!), how awkward I thought it might be, or any other excuse I could conjure up in my head, I went anyways. No matter what...and so began the adventures of open water swimming and biking… a test of both my physical and mental abilities...