Salut, les amis!

"I have 61 wieners between my legs"

Good news, avid readers! There will be a post this week afterall. I found an english keyboard, and you know what that means -- being able to type properly! So usually every once in a while I sit down and write down ideas for what I might want to put in my blog or just rant to my self in a kind of a girly way kind of like a journal or whatever, but for the past week and a bit, something has gotten in the way. But in fact, this is the kind of distraction that you really makes traveling worth while. This week's cultural experience is:

Making Friends

Last time I wrote, I wrote about how crappy the weather was. What this means is that when the weather is crap, people are in bad moods, no one just hangs out around the campsite and pretty much everyone just keeps to themselves and does their own thing. Then, something magical happened, and I suppose it wasn't really magical in the sense of magic tricks or something, it was more just a figure of speach I used to describe the fact that having the weather do a complete 180 was pretty much sweet. So probably by now you can assume that yes, the magic was a change in weather. The only real way to meet people is when you pass them in the toilet area everyday and maybe say hi and then maybe go into town and drink at a bar, but that's expensive and as budget travelers, that's not really how to roll.

But then, nice weather puts all those grim people back into good moods and they all come out of their shells. The timing of our rain stoppage also conveniently coincided with the weekend, where more people come and when my good friend came down for a visit, and so graciously bought us a BBQ. Alright, anecdotes aside, this is the how to do.

Buy ping pong paddles. This is an easy opener for anyone, because no matter how little or much experience someone has at ping pong, they probably love it. And then they get better. That's what happens with practice. Then, they teach their friends and then everyone is better off knowing kind of how to play ping pong. Then Swedish people challenge you to a playoff, but are too drunk too early in the day, so they end up never showing up.

BBQs attract people. You if you have a hot smoking grill, people will join you. That's pretty much it. Obviously, you also have to let them know that they're welcome. So remember how once upon a time I wrote a lame post about BBQs? Well, if you wanted to know what the best kind is for making a cheap little one, then charcoal is the way to go. Artificial fire-assister starter tablets are also good too. (though I still prefer the ease of a good propane grill) A little grill can be pruchased for (let's say hypothetically) 16€ and will bring hours of joy and tons of cooked items. Also, buy a little one, because that way you can pretty much take it anywhere. Steaks are nice, but hot dogs will do...anywhere from 60-110 should feed 5-10 hungry people. BBQs at your neighbours' place are good, but you can also do it on your own campsite. You can also do it on the beach, though not legally.

Buy beer. Maybe a huge case. This is probably one of the best conversation starters there are. 'Hey, I'm Kai. Would you like to come drink beer with us and be friends?' Because even if they don't actually want a beer, they'll at least come over and be friends...unless they're boring. But you don't need boring friends anyway. This works even better if you already have a BBQ going. Beer and hot dogs...mmmm.


Also, being bilingual is also good, but it's not always necessary. Yesterday, we had a nearly fully french day, that was nice. French people are nice. One nice thing is just smiling at people, because when you smile, then they realize that you brush your teeth everyday and people like other clean people. But one really nice thing to do is to make friends with someone who has a car, like we did yesterday. Driving is always a luxury when you're on a walking holiday!

So that's how you do it, folks. To make friends, all you have to do (mostly) is talk to people. Any other suggestions I'd be more than happy to hear, because a single guy on the run could always use more friends!