Okay, so the guy actually wasn't creepy. But in the five to ten minutes that I was trying to figure out where to meet the guy and walked through an unlit park three times, followed some random poor dude I thought might have been him, texted him as such only to look up from my phone and notice he'd disappeared from my view - it was exactly the starting point of any horror movie - even I know that, and I don't watch horror movies for too many reasons. He even appeared from the darkness, something which definitely didn't help how freaked out I was at the whole situation (sorry mom, I know I'd just called you earlier about how you didn't need to worry since this was Norway, and here I am meeting strangers for the first time in unlit parks now).

Lead Up: Ship dude started the message thread with "Hey ****, love the shark" and a heart-eyed emoji, alongside with a question wondering where in the States I hailed from. We chatted a bit about my home state, I asked him about the troll picture in his own profile and general niceties about what we were studying/working. I learned he preferred snowboarding over skiing (unfortunate), and then the conversation really started to kick off when we started talking about christmas decorations. I opened up about how my family would generally argue over keeping the music on or off, he sent a funny gif and I shared some more about how sometimes we'd (really just me haha) even invite family friends over just to make sure we're all on our best behavior. Then I talked about my parents' epic romance story (seriously, stuff should be made into a movie of some kind - it's insane and that's why my own standards are so high), and after discussing that he asked to meet up. In a park. At night. I of course said yes and didn't even glance twice at the location, it seemed perfectly in order. Except for the fact that it was pitch black at 7pm here (sunset is literally at 2:30pm nowadays).

Venue: A park (we ended up avoiding the park and finding a better-lit sidewalk to wander down, before we entered another park (I figured that if I was still alive by then, he probably could be trusted a bit) and wandered by the coast (the sound of the ocean was immeasurably more relaxing than I'd imagined).

Cuisine: None (I thanked him for this in person again, and we laughed about how awkward dates could get when you had to sit in front of them for a few hours and trying to both eat and get to know them during a first date as first dates are always super awkward. I liked the openness we both had about our previous dating experiences, it felt refreshing).

Conversation: It flowed pretty well, it didn't feel too awkward for many moments and I actually had a couple moments where I almost wanted to give him a quick peck, I felt that relaxed.

First Impressions/Random Thoughts: He even had the cutest two-seater car with a batmobile sticker - it was adorable on top of how good I'd felt the entire date. I didn't feel like I was really forcing much of my personality, it just felt relaxing overall hanging out even though it was a first date.

Overall Experience: 10/10, I think it ties with spanish guy for best date. Maybe I just like the outdoors that much, I'm not sure. Or I wonder if it says something about the guy as well? I have a sneaking suspicion that guys who opt to pay for the first date at a fairly nice restaurant are maybe not the greatest in the dating scene (not that I'm saying I'm great either, but I think I'm comfortable) or maybe don't end up seeing too many girls match on them (but also I've got no clue, this is only guy #4).

Next Steps: He asked if we could maybe meet up again sometime before I left for the States, and I hedged at this since my week was already so packed, but I'll send him a message after this. The goodbyes with the car are always so weird, it feels like a wall literally goes between us as I'm leaving. Maybe I just avoid the car later on.