Sean and Grace met at the Rotunda at 7 p.m. and went to Lemongrass on the Corner.
Sean: My friend and I enjoyed reading all the old Love Connections and we decided to fill out an application. It sounded like a fun idea, a fun way to meet somebody whether it ended up romantic or not.
Grace: My friend signed me up [for Love Connection] last semester in retaliation for me signing him up.
Sean: [When I was picked] I was very surprised. I submitted my application last spring, so I had basically forgotten about it.
Grace: Said friend got picked first and told everyone I wasn't datable because I hadn't been chosen, so I was happy to prove that I am, in fact, datable.
Sean: I [hadn’t] been on [a blind date] before, so I didn’t have any expectations. Earlier this week, I was talking to my friend and this other guy came up who happened to be the [Love Connection] guy last week. He was like, “Be prepared for the worst,” so that made me a little bit nervous. But, I was excited and didn’t think it could go that poorly.
Grace: [I had no expectations], my mom just told me I [had] to be nice.
Sean: I got to the Rotunda first, so I was just sitting on the bench and she came up. [She] obviously knew it was me because it was raining so no one else was sitting outside. We hugged and immediately started talking about the football game and dived into talking about the fact that I’m learning Arabic and she’s learning Farsi.
Grace: I saw him and we chatted and started walking down the Corner.
Sean: She asked me if I had any preference [for restaurants] and I said not really. I asked her and she said she was in the mood for thai food, so we ended up going to Lemongrass.
Grace: I wanted thai food and I get what I want. Also he hadn't been there and was down to try it.
Sean: [Upon first impression] she seemed really nice [and] bubbly which was good. We never, throughout the entire date, ran out of conversation topics — the conversation flowed very naturally.
Grace: My first impression was that he was nice and easy to talk to. [The conversation was] super easy, never awkward. I'm chatty, but I think it was balanced.
Sean: We flowed in and out of topics pretty easily. I didn’t find out what she was studying until more than halfway through dinner because after she asked me and I said something about Arabic. We started talking about Farsi and traveling [which] led to a whole bunch of other things.
Grace: He takes Arabic, I take Farsi and we both are super interested in the Middle East. We both like to travel and we have mutual friends.
Sean: We both have had cool travel experiences where our parents just didn’t quite want to let go. She told a funny story about her parents having an FBI agent come in and talk to her friends before they went to Europe. We also bonded over our mutual hate for the housing process here in Charlottesville. There wasn’t any spilled food or anything awkward at all.
Grace: [To hear about the date] you had to be there.
Sean: Almost from the get-go [the date had] a friend vibe, which was fine. I really enjoyed myself and it was a lot of fun. She was really cool and we do have a lot in common. But I do feel like it was just a friend vibe going on.
Grace: Overall, I got more of a friend vibe. I probably would not [go out with him again], but I know we'll see each other around Alderman and will be friends.
Sean: I would be totally up for hanging out with her again, but in a friend-type setting, not a date-type setting.
Grace: [At the end of the date] I went to go see friends and he went home. He paid, but I offered to split it — very gentlemanly.
Sean: The date lasted a little over an hour and she had to go back. We left the restaurant and parted ways because she had to go right and I had to go left from the restaurant.
Grace: I would rate the date a 7. It was super fun, but there was no romantic connection.
Sean: I would give it an 8. The date itself was a lot of fun. I think the reason [the rating] isn’t higher is just because there wasn’t a romantic spark and that’s really the only thing that was missing. The date itself was a lot of fun and very enjoyable.
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