Alrighty, in contrast to what my response on this thread may suggest, I’m not per se reluctant to meeting people I’ve got to know through the internet. BUT I do start wondering when somebody pops up out of nowhere and offers to buy me coffee. I can understand people’s need to know a native when they travel abroad, afterall I’ve lived in foreign countries myself, but is it really desirable to meet somebody you know next to nothing about? Let alone, safe? I’ve met my share of weirdoes myself…
There, however, are bloggers and commentators I’d gladly meet as there has been some level of communication between them and me. For all those that consider meeting a blogger, here are a few key facts on this particular one:
a) I’m located in Germany, not far from Cologne, but go to NYC more often than I go to Cologne;
b) Hamburg, Munich, and Berlin are considerably far away from my place in European standards;
c) flat heels are for emergiences only. Broken toes do not necessarily qualify as emergencies. If you’re one to get complexes meeting someone who stands 6’1″ tall in most of her shoes, don’t even bother. I use the heels to boost my ego, and won’t wear flats to boost yours;
d) I prefer buying my own stuff. Even if they’re smaller things like coffee, I feel uncomfortable with others spending money on me. There are lots of people, organizations, and festivals 😉 in this world who could really use a donation;
e) if you smell of two-week old cold sweat, patchouli, and tallowy hair and smile in approval when somebody calls you a “hippie”, forget about it. I’m smell-sensitive;
[Update: I forgot point f) in the initial post. I won’t claim I’d just been trying to see whether you’d notice. If you did, your mum’s certainly proud of you.]
g) I write a lot, but I don’t talk much. Small talk is not one of my virtues, and I’m not curious enough to find out what your mother thinks of you.
Still fancy meeting this blogger? Then drop a line..

About the author

froylein

12 Comments

  • Poor Joe…! Is that the way to reply to a gentleman who wants to buy you a coffee?
    What about you buy me a coffee…huh?
    And you hate “small talk”! And you’re 6’1”…! And you don’t want to know what my mother thinks of me (Hey…I’m Italian! I must talk about my Mamma)!
    C’mon…!!!
    We are MEN! We need all THAT!
    OK…deal: when you come to London I buy you a pizza!
    DON’T SAY “no”!
    Ciao

  • My experience meeting folks in the J-blogosphere has been entirely positive (at least from my end). I met CK, Michael (formerly of the site?), and Laya (ditto?) in Jerusalem and actually bumped into Laya at a local JCC event in a Californian city. All nice peeps!

    That being said, I’d never go near Koeln Froylein….und warum, wenn es Berlin und Hamburg gibt 😉 Actually, the last time i was in Koeln i got a bloody traffic ticket heading over the bridge thanks to the traffic camera.

  • I too will meet up with complete strangers; all I require is a copy of your passport and detailed vaccination records. I am 5 ft 4 1/2 in. barefoot, but often wear shoes to conform to societal norms. I laugh at odd moments and smile vacantly. I will let you buy me coffee, and perhaps even a bit of cake if I’m feeling peckish. Like froylein, I am smell-sensitive, so I will provide sachets of baking soda and cat litter for the pockets of the more pungent among you.
    And the best part of all– I can’t wait to hear what your mother thinks of you! Hit me up on IM at: [email protected]
    Let’s meet soon!! 🙂
    Giyoret

  • Hey, I’d love to meet a fellow Kölner/ wannabe Kölner! I grew up there (Köln-Sülz), but live now in NY and am there more often than in Cologne. Would love to find out how an almost Kölner got to blog about German-Jewish topics for Jewlicious, the site i always wanted to write for since i know how to spell blogs… well, because of you i had to open my own blog, and there is so much to write about and, sadly, no time to do it! would love to shmooze! (even tho you said you arent a schmusekatze… but hey lets meet when you are in town!

  • Or why don’t you just come to Los Angeles on Feb 29th? I heard there might be something fun going on down there by Long Beach…

  • Bennauro, if I may not say “no”, I’ll just claim my religion forbids me to do this. 🙂

    ck, haha, as if you hadn’t known that beforehand. And don’t say I didn’t warn you. 😉

    Elon, dann fahr doch nach Preußen 😛 Part of who I met has included aspiring rapists, so that ruined that for me.

    Giyoret 😀

    Raphael, I’m flattered. 😉

    And indeed, you should all go to the Festival. You can meet personified hotness and personified yidishkeit there. Alas, I’ve got to work till my break starts in mid-March, so you’ll be save from me there, but there’ll be lots of other meet-worthy folks.

  • I actually have been on something of a “meeting-the-blogosphere” kick recently, though trying to avoid the hippies, crazed left wingers and crazed right wingers. (Not really smell aversion–just have a really low tolerance level for nonsense).

    Not planning on being in Germany in the near future, but would be happy to meet up in T”A next time you are in town. I even know the first stanza of Die Elfkoenig AND a silly German poem–both of which I learned in high school and which represent the sum total of what I remember from 4 years of high school German. But whatever, you will feel right at home.

    Gila

  • Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?
    Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind.
    Er hält den Knaben wohl im Arm.
    Er hält ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm.

    Thus far? 🙂

    ck’s also trying to convince me to go to Jerusalem again..