Monday, February 22, 2010

Trying Out "Different" Men

After my first couple Match Dates, I decided to put Match.com aside for a bit and see what happened when I went out with guys I met in a more traditional way: at a club. I also decided to see what would happen if I put aside my ideas on my "type" of guy for a minute and tried to push my cultural boundaries...

So, next up was the Indian. I met him at a Club on a crazy Thursday night. I say a crazy Thursday night because I do not recall a single Thursday night since my early 20's when I managed to stay out until 3 am and go to work with a huge hangover the next day... I thought I had left those days looooong behind me. Apparently not. I was "chatted up" - as the British say - by an Indian guy at the bar and after giving him my number and texting with him throughout the week, decided to go on a date with him the following weekend. We met at the bar at the Sanderson Hotel - which by the way, I totally recommend. All in all, a good date. But no chemistry. I'm not sure Indian men (or Asian men as they are called here - apparently in the UK 'Asian' means Indian or Pakistani; I always thought 'Asian' met Chinese or Japanese) are my thing.

After that there was the Muslim. I also met him at a nightclub. I basically just wanted to hang out in the VIP section of a very boring club and he was my girlfriend's and my ticket in. But, he ended up being kind of interesting and managed to convince me to go on several dates with him. Actually, all in all we had a very nice time together having dinner at various expensive restaurants around the city. The best thing about London boys is - they pay! Hooray! None of this Swedish split the bill (or let the girl pay) crap. My problem with the Muslim was that he was Muslim. He didn't drink. Gulp! He didn't seem to mind if I had a glass of wine with dinner. And while he did seem to want some kind of relationship more serious than I was looking for with him... he did make it very clear that if I were ever to become his girlfriend, he would by no means introduce me to his Muslim family as they would not approve of any non-Muslim girl. They were waiting for him to move home and meet a nice Moroccan girl. Unfortunate for him, he seems to have a thing for tall blond girls and instead keeps them secret from his family. His last blond British girlfriend of 3 years didn't seem to mind. He was interested in adding an American blond to the list. Ummm... no thanks.

And then the Man with a Plan. Another Match Date. Nothing too wrong with him. We had a nice evening. But he was one of those men with a "plan." He would meet a girl. They would date. They would get engaged. They would get married. They would move to designated spot in the country (I can't remember the name of the place but it was picked out - he literally described his future house to me). He would continue to earn ridiculous amounts of money and she would quit her job and have babies. And they would live miserably - I mean happily - ever after. So, "the plan" in addition to a seemingly unhealthy fascination for Cheryl Cole and Shakira (I mean, why should his obsession with woman pop stars even come up on the first date - MORE THAN ONCE) made him not the man (with a plan) for me.

So, dating "different" men didn't lead to true love but at least I got some free dinners and drinks. And that's what matters right?

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