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Old 08-11-2008, 04:06 AM   #10 (permalink)
tinycities
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Location: Sheffield, UK
Honestly, I really believe that getting to know someone isn't anything to do with what "facts" you know about them. It's not about asking questions and hearing the answers. People are so much more than the sum of their experiences and opinions about things. Getting to know someone is something that you cannot force through mechanical exchanging of information. It's something that happens over time, sometimes this process happens faster and sometimes it happens very gradually. You can consciously control how much time you spend talking with this girl, but I'm afraid that's about it.

Of course, when you like someone, your mind naturally makes you wonder about them and makes you want to learn more about who they are. It's completely normal to want to know loads of information about someone you're interested in. But, to use your example, finding out this girl's likes and dislikes, her medical history, whether she gets angry, whether she's hooked up with a lot of people, that's not going to tell you anything about who she is. In fact, I think it can be negative to find out this sort of information early on, because it can allow you to make unhelpful judgements about who someone is, without the context of actually knowing them in a meaningful way.

Speaking from the point of view of a female, I would be fairly uncomfortable if a man I was getting to know had a list of questions that they wanted to ask me. I would feel a bit like I was about to be judged, or rated in some way, because often people ask questions when they want to make value judgements (which you've admitted is partially what you would do, for example, when you say you don't want someone who went wild on Spring Break). It's completely normal that people make judgements on others based on the information we have about them, but when this is made into an obvious process through repeated asking of personal questions, it's quite uncomfortable. Also, I wouldn't like to be asked a lot of personal questions because anything that I believe actually matters, I would like to share with someone when I feel ready, I don't need to be asked and have that process accelerated. It's not to say all questions are bad, but there's certainly a limit. I think it's much more relaxing and it feels more natural to get to know someone gradually, over time, through what they choose to share about themselves rather than what you choose to ask them shortly after you've met them. That way you get to know about them as a person and not just as a sum of pieces of information they've shared with you. Finally, as for the "a girl knows within the first five minutes how far they will let you go", speaking as a girl I can say that in my opinion (and probably others too) that is untrue. So don't worry too much about first impressions, because they only count until you start to get to know someone in a more meaningful way.

My advice to you would be to relax and to take things as they come. Primarily, this will be good for your well-being and enjoyment of your time with her, but it's also positive because being relaxed is not going to make her feel uncomfortable. Whilst it's completely fine for you to maintain a healthy curiosity about this girl, don't try and force things or ask things that you don't feel comfortable asking. If it feels hard to bring up really personal stuff then you should heed that discomfort and not do it. Besides, I believe that most things that actually matter tend to come up in natural conversation, rather than being consciously "brought up". You will feel much closer to this girl if she chooses to share things with you because the time feels right, instead of because you've asked her and she feels she ought to respond. At the minute, from what you've described, your relationship with her sounds like it's heading in a positive direction, so relax and enjoy yourself. Good luck, I hope things pan out in a way that makes you happy.

(Cripes, sorry for the long post!)
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