When I started this blog 5 years ago, I wouldn’t have thought that sharing things online could actually bring me to the perfect strangers, who later would become my friends. Some friends stay online, and a few made it offline, aka the real life.

I first got to know Amanda through her blog. I think it was her who commented on my blog first, and since then we’ve been commenting on each other’s blog. We made plans to meet when she got back to Indonesia (she was doing a master’s degree in the UK at that time), and today it finally happened.

We met up for lunch, and as usual, I was a bit nervous about meeting someone for the first time. Being friends online is so much easier for me, I could think about what I want to say for no matter how long, type it carefully and re-read it to make sure I don’t sound stupid. I’m not a great conversationalist, and that’s why written communication works best for me. I’ve always been that awkward person in the corner in a room full of new people.

But meeting Amanda was different. As soon as we said hello, there was no trace of nervousness in me, and we started chatting like an old friend. There were a lot of things discussed and stories shared, and by this point I came to realize that we had so many things in common. By the time we said goodbye, we made a promise to meet again another time, and I went home feeling a lot better for the first time in the past few weeks.

It was such a lovely afternoon, thanks to Amanda, and this little blog that has introduced me to kind people out there. 🙂