Board games. Either just standard board games and chat while you play, or something like wavelength, that’s a question, or herd mentality to actually get to know people through the game.
I’ll second this. For some folks just hanging out with people can be exhausting if you’re not naturally chatty. Personally, I run out of meaningful things to talk about in focused conversation pretty quickly and need a chance for my brain to “reload” or I’m stuck talking about the weather to keep a conversation going. This goes double with people I don’t particularly know well.
If you’re playing a game with folks, most of the time everyone’s focus is on the game or talking about things related to the game which is easy enough to do since it is a shared experience. I often find I have a whole bandolier of semi-related ideas to discuss or funny quips that build up as we play ready to be deployed at any available opportunity. That feeling of plenty in terms of conversation makes socializing over board games so much easier for me.
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And you geht cool bonding experience for the next 5-20 years!
Rock climbing, go to your local climbing gym (if you have one) and take an intro class and then go hang out once you understand the basics. It’s such a welcoming community and people are really friendly and helpful towards beginners. Gyms also have new climber nights depending on the gym and those are great chances to meet people.
I second this. Bouldering especially since the climbs are quicker.
Join a choir?
Board Games!
You could try DND open play events at hobby shops.
Larping works great for me.
Go to meetup.com, look for subjects you’re interested in, and find a local meetup to join. Can be almost anything - wine tasting, board games, gardening, whatever. Pretty much any hobby or professional interest. I met my D&D game group that way before COVID and we’re still playing weekly. There are even meetups just to hang out in a group.
Chess, book clubs, group running.
Libraries tend to have bulletin boards filled with upcoming community events. Plus then you’re already at the library so you can grab a book or a movie or something too
Dancing. There could be many different styles - see what seems interesting for you.
Boardgame events.
Sporty/exercise events (like, walk with others from X to Y).
You’re on Lemmy, so I’m assuming you’re of a geeky mentality. If so, a local hackspace/hackerspace/makerspace would be a good bet.
On paper, my local one is a communal collection of tools we can all use. In practice however, it’s an excellent social group for fellow weirdos. We just also have some really fun toys to use, when we need them.
https://wiki.hackerspaces.org/List_of_Hacker_Spaces
It’s not fully inclusive of all of them, but a good starting point.
I’ve never gone to one but I have a friend that highly recommends fuck up nights (https://en.fuckupnights.com/).
Apparently it’s a group that like meets up and like tells each other how they fucked up at work/in life/whatever. Kind of works like a support group but also helps to develop public speaking in a super judgement free environment.
Not totally my cup of tea but it sounds super interesting.
War (crimes) you’ll be bonded for live threw trauma
