What are some activities which are free or inexpensive that I can do to entertain myself / keep good mental health while searching for a better paid job?
I recently moved to a new city and don’t know anybody here yet.
I want to try out some things and meet new people and avoid sitting at home all day (but sometimes is ok)
My ideas are hiking, volunteering and reading.
What would you recommend? Any good ideas?
Yeah, I’m already helping on a local farm. But i don’t think I’ll find any leads for a job from the people there (i mostly do tutoring and software engineering)
I’m not sure what would be good other places to volunteer. A museum maybe?
I tend to be kinda superficial with people i don’t know though. I would love to be better at getting to know people and making friends.
I don't know if anything like this exists near you, but I've heard of community centres/churches that organise something like a skills library/drop in, where people who have skills they can use to help others - people who can mend/fix/repair/adjust things (electronics, woodwork, clothing, cooking, software) and or also teach the basics to others so they can do more themselves, volunteer for a few hours a week and do just that for the community.
I found this example (E: their FAQ) of a London "Repair café" where they do this kind of thing to give you an idea, and if there is nothing like that that exists near you, it would be a great project to try and start with your local community!
You might be right there. And likely you will be put in a more social position. Lots of practice. I’ve definitely become more reclusive since COVID and should heed my own advice. 🧐
Yeah. Even before COVID I was not really a talkative person. But with everybody quarantining, even I felt like I needed more social contact.
Normally I wouldn’t even post that much to reddit or Lemmy. But now I try to do it a bit more. I would like to become better at expressing myself and talking my mind
This surprised me about lemmy actually.
When posting something to reddit, it would usually get lost in other posts. And I'd have to try and posting it at another time or with a better title.
Here people always seems to reply, and with very helpful suggestions most of the time.
I had this experience with all my posts.
It seems like the quality and amount of useful replies is much better on lemmy compared to reddit.
Websearch "your city" plus refugee services. There will be government and NGO listings; try the NGO people first, just a phone call and tell whoever answers "I am a tutor who teaches XYZ and I am new to town. Looking to volunteer my time and tutor skills. Who do I contact?"
They'll set you up. In Canada, you might need a criminal record check first.