Anonymous wrote:This city is such a cold place. I moved here for work 4 months ago and haven't really made any friends. I mean, I'm friends with my work colleagues but those are superficial friendships. I work incredibly long hours and come home just exhausted, often at like 10:30-11 PM (I'm a lawyer). I have friends in DC from college/high school/law school but these are people I have either superficial connections with or who have just sort of faded out, so re-connecting with them feels like all the effort is on my end. And they're busy with their own lives and we find it hard to schedule regular evenings to hang out. And people here are just cold compared to Atlanta.
I'm envious of friends in my home state who have full, busy and exciting social lives. I wish I had that. I was very lonely during law school too and moving to DC is giving me flashbacks.
guessing you're in your late 20s/early 30s. are you looking for girlfriends to hang out and to do things with or are you kinda hoping that through friends you might find a relationship perhaps?
there are tons of things to do in DC - so whatever hobbies/interests, just find a class or a group (e.g., meetup.com is a start). if you like wine, go wine tasting a nice wine bar - plenty of places in DC and across the river in Arlington. you like hiking - hit the trails in RCP or Great Falls on the weekend. painting and cooking classes are offered every weekend. museums - so easy to strike up a conversation.
you work long hours and sounds like you might be a K st type but somewhat introverted - but if you finish at a more reasonable hour, why not grab a bite to eat in that area - tons of folks from the IMF/World Bank/OAS/etc. with fascinating stories and backgrounds that you might just find someone you click with. bottom line, just get out there, be open to meeting people and you'll be amazed and the kind of real people you'll meet. you need to create the business in your own life, it won't just magically happen.