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The choice is entirely yours of course, but maybe a few simple reminders might be appropriate. When you read a novel, you form various images in your mind that represent the environment, and more specifically, the characters. The interesting observation here though, is that different people may read the same novel but have totally different impressions of the characters that they read about. For example, I love the "Garfield" cartoon paperback books, but when the videos started coming out on TV, it was a totally different image and voice to that in my mind. It just did not fit with what I perceived the character to be and sound like. In a similar way, be prepared that the mental image you have of your new friend, their physical appearance, their voice, their way of life, etc., could be a long way off that image in your mind. So what can you do to improve your chances? Perhaps, with the risk of having to change the mental image, the starting point is to be absolutely certain you do want to actually meet each other. If you have reached the point of wanting to meet, then you must have got pretty close in your friendship, so perhaps it would be in order to ask if they would mind exchanging telephone numbers and photographs (more than one shot in different surroundings), if this has not already been done. This could be taken further by sending videos of each other, but remember that if your friend is in a different country, the video format may be different eg NTSC or PAL with a different videoplayer to view it! Of course, you could always resort to the good old fashioned "snail.mail" (personally I think I might have problems remembering how to hold a pen!). Again though, you need to be absolutely sure about handing out your address to this other person before you would do such a thing. One thing is for sure, if you do decide to meet, choose a public place initially, and when you finally get spend time together, don't be anyone else but yourself. No airs or graces, no false impressions to hand out. Just relax and be the you they have come to know. |
