Date: Saturday, Feb. 13\nTime: 7:00 p.m.\nLocation: Basil
Michelle: When I got the e-mail that I was going to go on the blind date, I was initially really nervous because I've never been on a blind date before ... I'm an RA and live with residents ... I told them and they started getting really excited for me. They were screaming "Oh my God, Oh my God, Valentine's date, so exciting!"
Joe: I was thinking, "I wonder who this person's going to be." I tried to look for her on Facebook using her phone number but I couldn't find her, so I had no idea who it was going to be. So I mean, I guess I was going in there open to a new experience. I told some of my friends and stuff ... They said the most important to think that when I rate them out of 10 I had to rate them lower than they rate me so I look cooler. That's the advice they gave me.
Michelle: We met outside of Bodo's. I was actually a couple minutes late, but he was there on time. We shook hands and started to walk down the Corner to where the better restaurants are and we decided to go to Basil ... I wasn't expecting anything in terms of what he was going to look like in terms of size or hair color or whatever. He looked like a nice guy, a down-to-earth person. I was surprised that he didn't have a jacket on since it was like 28 degrees outside. I think that's the first thing I noticed, that he didn't have a jacket but he seemed fine, not shivering or anything.
Joe: As soon as I saw her, I knew I wasn't really attracted to her but I thought I could have fun and make a new friend ... talk and stuff. By the end I knew she wasn't a girl I'd be interested in dating or something like that, but whatever.
Michelle: There was a wait so we sat at the bar for a little while and exchanged basic info ... We started off with our post-graduation plans since we're both fourth-years. He already has a job lined up, and I said I was definitely not in that situation. I'm still looking for something to do next year. At that point, we finally got our table and sat down.
Joe: The conversation was good. I basically talked about different things. We're both fourth-years so we talked about what we're going to do next year and things like that ... boring things to begin with and then it kind of branched off into other things. ... She's from New York, so I was wondering why she came to U.Va. Then we started talking about random stuff. I mean I don't really remember all that we talked about. She had been to my hometown before ... Annandale ... She likes to go grocery shopping there because there's a lot of Asian grocery stores there. We bonded over the Asian-ness of Annandale.
Michelle: We had a pretty good conversation. There were maybe one or two awkward pauses, but overall, it was a pleasant evening. We talked about traveling. I told him I have a year off after graduation and I might travel. He talked about how he studied aboard in Hong Kong last semester, and I don't know many white systems engineers who go to Hong Kong for a semester. We talked about the food and how Hong Kong food is so drastically different than American food. We talked a lot about food. I asked him if he cooks, and he said he doesn't cook much. His apartment-mates are the one that use the kitchen, not him. But he said he wants someone to teach him to cook later on. He said he wants a girl who can teach him to cook.
Joe: We did have a lot in common. She's a religious studies minor, and pre-med stuff, but also religious studies and that kind of piqued my interest because I'm interested in Western and Eastern religions, so we talked about that a lot. She also volunteers with the music department, and since I'm in the E-School, I feel like the creative portion of my brain has been atrophying for the past four years, so I just started learning to play the guitar and stuff.
Michelle: I'm the music volunteer coordinator and really involved. He said, "Oh, you like music?" and I said, "Yeah, I do." I played violin since I was in kindergarten but stopped when I was in college. I kind of regret quitting but I get involved in music by being in the department. He kind of had the same story ... played clarinet since the second grade and he recorded himself playing the clarinet to send it in as a supplement with his college application, which was really dorky but I had thought about doing it, too. We talked about the free concerts at U.Va. I asked him if he had been to a symphony concert, and he hadn't, even though in high school, he was in band. He hasn't attended any music events, so I told him how to look it up online.
Joe: Not really any dull moments. I mean, I kind of kept the conversation going and stuff, and it just kind of flowed naturally, no dull moments. It was pretty cool. The date ended after dinner. I actually had plans to go to a concert later that night, so I was meeting up with friends, and she said she was going back to her dorm because she's an RA. So she went to her dorm and I went to my concert.
Michelle: I'd probably give it a 6. It was a good date but it doesn't call for a second date. This wasn't a second-date kind of first date. I probably wouldn't see him as a friend, either.
Joe: Can I be really nerdy in my response? Two times pi out of 10. That comes out to like a 6, 6.2 ... But it's an irrational number so the number itself doesn't have an end, so it's not a true ranking, I guess.
Despite Joe's specific rating, his number ended up a little bit higher than hers, to the disappointment of his roommates. He should've just stuck with a 6. Joe and Michelle have no plans to meet again, only in part because they never got each other's last names.
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