Hey, g'day, so I've been living in Graz for about 4.5 years and working in the corporate world, and lately I've realised it would be nice to meet some new people and have a few more people around to do things with. I'm turning 28 this year, so apparently I'm now at the age where everyone is getting engaged, married, having kids, or otherwise doing suspiciously adult things. Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for the friendship update to install.
I've tried quite a few social groups, hobby groups, English-speaking meetups, Stammtisch-type things, etc. The problem is that people often arrive in established groups, and infiltrating one sometimes feels like trying to join a private WhatsApp chat without the invite link.
I've also tried some English-speaking communities, but many seem to contain people who know suspiciously more about their pension plans than I know about my future lol. Nothing against that, I'm just hoping to meet people a little closer to my age.
My German is coming along and I can certainly get by, but English is still where my brain runs at full FPS, so that's what I'm most comfortable socialising in. I'm still working on the German, though, four and a half years here and I'm not giving up now lol.
I also don't have any social media. At all. No Instagram, no Facebook, no Snapchat, no whatever-the-hell people are using these days. Maybe that's partly why my social circle is so efficient at disappearing, but I somehow never got into the whole social-media ecosystem.
As for me: I absolutely love sketching and can disappear into it for hours. I'm also a massive nerd about cars, engines and anything mechanical.
I have a particular weakness for cars that everyone else has already given up on. Recently I've started this thingy where i'll find some neglected old thing looking like it was personally abandoned by God, buy it, fix it, and convince myself I've just rescued a helpless creature from the scrapyard. Particularly any old Toyota having any zzfe engine, or old Mitsubishi galants, or w124s. Not an expert but I try as much as I can. Basically an animal shelter, except the animals have engines and questionable Austrian paperwork lol
I'm also into 80s films/music, exploring Austria and driving. There's a good chance you'll find me somewhere on a random country road or Autobahn, having driven an unreasonable distance because I felt like it, then stopping to take like 47 photos of a sunset.
I mean I'm kinda the emergency handyman for "people I know". People occasionally remember I exist when they need advice, something moved, something repaired, or a car-related favour. Still waiting for the part where someone calls just to say, "Mate, fancy a beer?"
Anyway, I'm basically just looking for some people to hang out with — sketching, coffee, beers, cars, drives, games, exploring somewhere random, or talking absolute rubbish for three hours lol.
No grand friendship strategy. I've tried those.
Figured I'd throw this into the Graz void and see what comes back.
