🍨 Me and Blake

✅ “Going for icecream”

Going for ice cream is a great way to test the waters. Everyone likes ice cream, and it melts fast. If something goes wrong, you can say goodbye in 20 minutes without a twinge of conscience. If the mood is good, you will figure out what to do next, whether it's going for a walk or dinner.

I only had an hour for this date because I had to go to Winston Surfshirt's gig after and didn't want to be late. Blake was leaving for Australia in a couple of days, so we didn't see each other again.

Online dating is tiring at times

I sometimes feel exhausted from texting. I might stop responding to messages. It is rude, I know. I am sorry.

At times, I feel like it would be better to stay at home with my cat instead of going on a date. (If I don't feel like being social, I just stay at home. It's fine).

Sometimes I'm not in the mood for a high energy date. The internet says that women on a date should be funny, give good energy, and listen carefully. But no one can be funny and give "good vibes only" every day, right? After a long and stressful day at work, it can be difficult to be funny, bright, and optimistic about everything that the men on a date are saying. And I don't want to.

Sometimes I feel like I'm too lazy to wash my hair, choose a charming outfit, and put on lipstick for all the preparation that goes into a date.

Sometimes I feel like I am tired of speaking English.

Sometimes I feel bored of having to explain myself from scratch all over again.


Hey! I am Elena. Nice meeting you. Oh yes. I do live here. .... 5 years! Yes, time flies here. .... I do work online, yes! It's nice! .... Of course, I do surf, and you? My cat... His name is Coco. .. I am a single child... From Yaroslavl, 4 hours’ drive from Moscow. I did study journalism.... Love it! You should go to Black Sand on Friday.... Mmm, no, I don’t like yoga.... the best sushi? Go for... I know! So easy to get a sunburn here, the sun is so strong, right?

Sometimes I am tired of listening carefully. It does take a lot of energy.

Sometimes I get drained when everyone keeps coming to Bali and then leaving Bali. I seem to be running in circles.

Sometimes I wonder how much time I spent chatting on dating apps. It must be thousands of hours. Wouldn’t it be better to invest this amount of time into learning something new? Or reading books? Or working?

Sometimes I am just tired and I take a break from dating.

With online dating, you never know what to expect.
 

Once, a guy brought his female friend to our date because she was having a bad day and was sad, and he decided to take her to dinner with me.

On another first date, 10 minutes after we met, a man told me: “I know you came here just to eat for free. You Russians always do this''. By the way, we were having food at a local cafe where it's hard to spend more than $15.

Another time I went on a date, it was sunset time. And the guy was already wasted. It turned out that he had been sitting in this beach bar since morning and drinking all day long.

Once, I went on a date and was so surprised by what I saw. The guy had a tattoo of Batman on his cheek. I have nothing against tattoos, but I would like to know about them beforehand. He said that the tattoo was new (he got it the day before yesterday) and he hadn't had time to update his Tinder profile yet.

Dating apps just pretend to wish me happiness in my love life. In fact, the app will only be happy if I spend hours on it for the rest of my life.