LAN October 2013 - new and in the minority

[Soon Jung]

We left for the airport around 6:15 am. Picture, if you can, a shy girl traveling about 700 miles with 6 guys, to go to a LAN. I have to admit, it's not the most 'normal' thing to do for a girl. I did have to face the fact, I am not an ordinary one, I am one of the odd ones. Seen from a different perspective, I understand how people think me weird when I am going to meet people I have met on the internet.
What made me decide to go? I haven't the slightest idea.

Expectations.
I gotta admit, I was crazy nervous. As any new attendees I had no idea what lay ahead. I had no idea what would greet me behind the bar doors when I first opened them. And as if that isn't enough, I didn't know what to expect as a girl.

I will be using the term 'girl' a lot. And let me just clarify now, sooner than later; I am not, nor shall I ever regard myself as a lady nor a woman. Both of these expressions will require some certain degree of interest for fashion, make-up, maturity and interior decorating, which to me, is not in the slightest bit interesting. I digress.

I had a few chats with Toby and TL before the LAN and I shared my concerns. Would I fit in? Would people like me for who I am? Will I like the people I meet? Will I be accepted and is my outfit and looks ok enough? I must admit, the last question is typical girls to think. I was reassured that if I was just myself, I would be fine. Easy for you to say, I thought. Here I am, a very shy girl. Self conscious of myself and was just about embark into something I never thought I would.

I said to Oth the day we left, that he was not to leave my side when we were at the LAN, and I had to have him close to me at all times. He smiled at me and said I should not worry, it would be fine. I could tell he thought me a little foolish for being so worried. Now, Oth is a man that follows through (well, mostly) with my requests when I worry, so he stuck by my side ever since we came to the LAN. For 30 minutes.

I also thought to myself, that this might be boring. I mean, I was going to a geekfest and I didn’t even bring a pc! Also, I pictured it to be more people looking at screens and less talking and bantering.  Picture this: rows and rows of pcs and heads with headphones, low whisperings and a lot of clicking noises and fans. That was what I pictured. Why was I even interested in going to a LAN?

My Story:
I could write pages up and down about what we did, but seeing as everyone who attended will know, and other members will told about it, I shall focus on my experience of the LAN.

We got picked up by the airport, and drove with Fee and Gortex in a convoy with two other cars. We wanted fish and chips on the way (like the convoy was going for) and we stopped en route to pick some up. And boy was the food great! And HUGE! Like ridiculously huge. But that is a different kind of fish-story, the-one-that-got-away-half-eaten-story.

When I first came into the bar at the Oliver Cromwell Hotel, I was insecure and didn't know what to say or how to introduce myself. Thanks to Spiritus, that was easily done with as the first thing he did when I opened the door was point at me and say: 'Hey, look! I found a girl!’

And that was it. Followed by handshakes, hugs and kisses I got introduced to the people there. A friendly bunch, I thought to myself, and sat down.  I was overwhelmed by all the new faces, but to my surprise, many of them were familiar in some way. Also, it was fun to hear their voices and thinking that I knew them. This went easier than first expected.

Like I stated earlier, Oth stayed by my side for 30 minutes. Now you might have giggled a little and thought ‘Typical guy, doing his own thing’, but to be fair, I was the one who left him. It was really weird, because I felt comfortable enough to leave him and do other things! When he and some other people left for curry, me and some other fellas was back eating at the hotel. Now, the reason for me staying would be a certain someone, which name shall not be uttered (Yes, you know who you are!), had popped by to say hi. Oh, and also, crisps with roast beef and mustard flavour is great! Again, I digress.

My point is, the people at the LAN had made me feel so at home, that I went outside my comfort zone.
The people are friendly and I felt like one of you since day one. I even ended up with a computer I borrowed from a wannabe-yankee engineer with a cowboy hat and a camera, and joined in with the competitions! Now, let it be known that I utterly sucked at it, and was served my ass on a silver platter, but man was it fun!   And even if I sat next to a certain someone who could not do math, I think it was alright. I did laugh a lot at him though, which was good, considering he called me an annoying Norwegian woman.

Some people I had my thoughts made up about, and I was wrong at some times. And sometimes I was right. I still look back and giggle when I think about all the people I met, and how wrong I was to be worried.

My Conclusion:
I must be honest here. As most of you must have figured out, I did enjoy myself at the LAN. Which is to me very strange.  It felt like home and I was welcomed as one of you right away. Nothing more, nothing less. Just, belonging. To me that is very special, to feel that way. I didn’t do anything to get there, just being myself as advised.

Now, we all know I am a minority. Not just am I a small Asian, I am also a girl. That’s like double minorities!  
All I can say is that I am glad I went to this LAN, I enjoyed myself very much, and think you all are a lovely bunch of people. I was glad to see other female enthusiasts like me, and I am happy I got to know you all.
I would like to tell you all a great thank you for being accommodating, and welcoming. I know I enjoyed getting to know you all, and I would love to see you all again. No exceptions. Not even the Canadian bald guy, nor a tiny rude Scottish man managed to scare me off.



And what more can I say than to my other fellow girls in the community: Get your asses down to the location of the LAN, it will be a blast! This girl is doing an ‘Arnold’ and will be back!


All my love to you!
xoxo
SJ

[TeaLeaf]

Great story about the LAN from the point of view of a first timer SJ, thank you! :thumbsup:

[BrotherTobious]

Agreed thanks for posting matie

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[DrunkenZombiee]

a wannabe-yankee engineer with a cowboy hat and a camera

LOL.

Is should be "A wanabee-Yanikie engineer pimp with a cowboy hat, pink shirt and a camera"

You want some Pics for this? Might be worth putting on the front page if we can find some ones to match.

DZ

[Sn00ks]

They all come under the classification 'Mostly Harmless'
Sorry to have missed you SJ. I hope to make a LAN soon and to catch you at that one.

[Blunt]

Great post SJ

[OldBloke]

Great post SJ

Wot 'e said :thumb:

[Michelanio]

Have to agree with what everyone els have said. Great post SJ!

[Whitey]

Yes, great post and was really good to meet you and Oth in person

[Penfold]

Hah nice one Smellie.

[Tutonic]

Glad your first LAN experience was a positive one, it's always fun to put faces to those Teamspeak voices!

Hopefully we'll see you again next year

[Benny]

I couldn't bring myself to say the same as everyone else, so I'll say it was lovely to meet all of you Scandanavian, live in the dark, drink minty alcohol, better than me at CS people, who would have thought you'd be such a nice bunch! Hopefully see you at another LAN, although perhaps with the global footprint we now have, perhaps we should call it a WAN.....see what I did there? Heh? Networking joke?

I had an ethernet joke, but someone else told it at the same time, so I'll back off and try to tell it again later.

:getmecoat:































I'm only getting my coat so I can do this!

:flasher:

[T-Bag]

I felt pretty much the same before going to my first lan (except the girl bit, and the asian part...and the husband). Even with a PC I wasn't sure what I'd do for the whole weekend (fortunately drinking took care of a lot of that), and who with, fortunately the CS contingent is very friendly. Well worth going to and I might try and attend another one at some point..especially if I get a more portable system.

[TheDvEight]

Great post I'm sure you had a great time as I'm sure everyone else did.


Sorry to have missed it.

[Tutonic]

see what I did there? Heh? Networking joke?

Your networking jokes aren't a patch on mine. Maybe we should switch places. Something something Cisco.

Boom.


:tumbleweed: