To be honest, I was expecting his face to be... a bit bigger than when I saw him at first. Something about the camera angle he'd chosen, but he was a lot thinner and slightly older-looking than I was expecting too. But he was also 5 years my senior, and I generally only interact with people up to 3 or so years older than me in my courses, so I'm not generally interacting with.. yeah.

His tinder bio opened with "Needing someone to bake a gingerbread house with", and as he was a non-smoker and sober (practically unheard of in this country), I figured he'd be interesting.

He also texted with very flowery language, which made me laugh a bit. He also held my door for me when I stepped into his car and paid for dinner, so overall it was a pleasant experience. Some people say chivalry is dead and blah blah, but it made me feel good inside and I accepted it happily (free food is free food, after all).

Anyways, recap of the date itself. Funnily enough, I was on a phone call with my ex right before, and I wound up running late to the date itself because of this - although date #2 was a good sport about it since I gave him an update - green flag, given my terrible tendency to run horribly late to everything. I forgot I'd put a fake name to my Tinder (I didn't want anyone looking me up, I'm pretty easy to find online) so when he called me by that name, I nearly turned around before I realized he was talking to me. Then I put my foot in my mouth when I said my actual name before glossing over it - he might've noticed, but he didn't say anything at least.

Venue: Fairly fancy restaurant, I was surprised he went with a first date here instead of some kind of small coffee shop (which also would've been much cheaper). It also meant I would be stuck there for the course of the meal, but it wasn't too difficult to make conversation with him (definitely a few awkward moments, I had a hard time concentrating at times and eventually was able to leave by claiming my bedtime was coming up). I also enjoyed the fresh greenery they grew inside the restaurant, I thought that was a nice touch.

Cuisine: Just standard Italian fare, but I ordered a meat dish after being indecisive for five million years, I definitely wish I'd gone with a calzone or a pizza instead though if I'd known he was paying ahead of time (I did, in fact, try to pay but he didn't let me)

Conversation: It was mostly fine, I think I did a decent job holding conversation with him and we had a few moments where we laughed at jokes and such. He liked the sweater I wore, I couldn't figure out how to say "thanks, I bought it for five bucks yesterday" so I just made a quip about how I'd slept in it earlier because it'd been so comfortable. But other times would get a bit awkward, and it was hard to figure out how to continue the conversation at times. But I'll chalk it up to first date things this time, although his comment about loving America and wanting to move there (hence the swipe on me) makes me think it wouldn't go much more than another date or two. He also really loved his job, something he made sure to repeat several times (He did something in.. fake grass? This is why I stick with engineers generally).

First Impressions/Random Thoughts: I couldn't really see myself sleeping with the guy. And between his age and occupation, I could definitely see how there's a bit of a generational gap already even if the difference was just five years, and in the end I think I figured out that I really am looking for someone who matches the same energy as me - accepting of chaos, willing to... I don't know. But I also hope they'd be studying engineering of some kind, I think I just need someone who understands the kind of mental torture I willingly put myself through every day.

Overall Experience: Overall, I think it was a pleasant time. He paid for my dinner, drove me home (and held the door open for me to get in) and offered a few compliments to my looks. I felt a bit more in touch with my femininity that I hadn't felt in a while and I think it was pleasant to have 0 expectations walking in. It truly felt like a blind date, even though we had chatted a bit previously over Tinder.

Next Steps: We're planning on going on a second date sometime in January, and I offered him my number. I think we'll end up going skiing, which I am actually looking forward too.