I've been maybe two or three times. I remember I watched A Beautiful Mind by myself in Edinburgh.
I also watched The Dictator by myself in my hometown in New Zealand. I remember laughing at some jokes, one about Silvio Berlusconi comes to mind although the young(er) people around me didn't get it.
Anyway, as an introvert I'm invariably by myself. As I write this, I am in the library that I come to on a regular basis. There are many people around me but I am basically on my own.
I don't work at an office so I'm walking around Tokyo by myself and I live by myself too.
The weird thing is though, when I want to go to the movies or want to do something like travelling, I prefer to go with someone else. I can go to a small cheap restaurant or go to a family restaurant by myself but a decent restaurant I would prefer someone else there with me.
Why is this? You would think that because I spend most of my time by myself and you would think because I live by myself that I would have no problem sitting in a fancy restaurant or travelling around Europe by myself. It's strange isn't it? Lets try to figure this one out.
Lets start with the fancy restaurant. In this kind of establishment 99.9% of the time, you will see couples or groups there. Maybe a man or a woman are on a date and what do they do on a date? They talk. Maybe there is group of couples or a group of business people celebrating their latest deal. The thing is that they all have someone to talk to and being there by yourself, you don't have that luxury.
Lets say you want to travel around Eastern Europe by yourself. As a young person you know that you will probably stay in youth hostels or the like. you may even have to share a room with a complete stranger. You might go on an occasional group excursion but basically you are going to be by yourself navigating the wonderful countries of that area.
I can only go by my experience. I'm not the most gregarious person to ever walk the face of this planet so just striking up conversations with complete strangers are not my forte. Some people, I'm looking at you extroverts out there can go up to a complete stranger and suddenly be their best friend. For me, it is safety in numbers
I think with the restaurant example, the idea of sitting by myself is ok but everyone else is sitting talking while I'm sitting there doing nothing. In those kind of establishments pulling out a smart phone or reading a newspaper may not be the classiest thing to do.
Remember even though you might classify yourself as an introvert, sometimes you need people around you and they need you as well. It is not just a one way street. They really do need you. REMEMBER THAT!
