Oh man, I totally empathize with you. I'm pretty lucky in that I'm in a long-distance but also long-term
relationship and my boyfriend and I see each other most weekends, and I have a close friend who lives relatively near my
place. Outside of that I generally like to spend alone time with my PS2, book, TV or Photoshop/Illustrator (geek) but
otherwise I totally understand. A lot of my college friends went through the same thing you did after graduation, and
definitely it's a tough situation. Apart from what's already been mentioned, the best thing I would suggest is
to check out your college alumni chapter in the area, if there is one. My school has a really active young alumni (and
regular alumni) chapter where I live, and they're SUPER active with all kinds of activities ranging from happy
hours to pot lucks to visiting lectures from professors. I haven't gone to that many events, but the few I went to
are fun and the people are really friendly. Plus the college bond just brings people together too ;D I know our alumni
club also does joint activities with alumni clubs from other schools, so even if your school doesn't have an alumni
club it might be worth checking out some other alumni groups from other schools, see if they have any open events that
you can join.
The good thing about being in a big city is that there really is a lot going on all the time. Through the alumni
listserv (and checking around the place for different email listservs esp ones that feature events is another thing
I'd suggest), I also hear about random things like embassy nights where you can have dinner and chat with
ambassadors/other people of importance for a relatively small entrance fee. Some nonprofit organizations might also be a
nice thing to check out if that's up your alley, whether it's through volunteering (another good way to meet
people) or attending panels/workshop type events.
Anyhow, it can definitely be tough but the only way to break out of the shell it seems is to really be proactive about
putting yourself out there and adding some "extracurricular activities" to your schedule. Good luck!
