Preaching to the choir

Who's bright idea was it to send me to a conference, alone, a thousand miles away from home? I know no one and I am not exactly the most extroverted person around. For 3 days, I will get up early and shower as quietly as possible to avoid my roommate in the morning. (This helps her as well as me; I am not a morning person!) I will get to meals early so I can pick a table by myself, therefore forcing people to choose to sit at my table so that I don't have to figure out which people won't object to my presence. I will perhaps go to social hour, but undoubtedly will get a drink, sit by myself, and wait a reasonable amount of time before leaving. More than likely, I will skip social hour all together and go running.

It's not that I'm a shy person with no friends. I really am capable of striking up conversations with total strangers. I can certainly approach people in my hometown and talk to them there. But there is something about going to one of these conferences, where all of the other attendees seem to have known each other for years and don't seem particularly interested in embracing the newbies, that just leaves me feeling like a complete outsider with no one to talk to and no common interests. Even though a conference of people opposed to the death penalty ought to be my ultimate happy place.

Well, day one is down. Only 3 more days of total awkwardness and very little personal, human interaction.