Hi,

 I am a 29 yr. old female living in Ottawa, Canada. I am feeling
disconnected from the city and looking for a way to meet new people.
Mainly other professional women my age, looking for any type of
suggestions - volunteering, clubs. I already belong to a health club
and a yoga center but I find it hard to strike up a conversation there
- i tend to be a bit shy. Thanks!

---

Clarification of Question by lucinda2006-ga on 19 Jan 2006 10:59 PST

Btw, I want to meet new friends not a "relationship" - I should have
posted it under a different category but wasn't sure what to use...:P

Dear Lucinda, 

Well, meeting new people - friends - is also "relationships". Not
every relationship is a romantic one.

Many people turn nowadays to CraigsList to find likeminded, also for
non-romantic relationships:
Craigs List strictly platonic
<http://ottawa.craigslist.org/stp/> 

Similarly to Craig's List, Meetin.org is also all about platonic meetings: 
Meetin in Ottawa
<http://www.meetin.org/city/MEETinOTTAWA/index.cfm> 

Volunteering sounds like a great idea, and yes - this is exactly the
place where even the shiest get a chance:

Craig's List Volunteers Needed
<http://ottawa.craigslist.org/vol/> 

Volunteer Ottawa
<http://www.volunteerottawa.ca/English/Default.asp> 

The City of Ottawa Volunteer Opportunities
<http://www.ottawa.ca/city_services/volunteerservices/volunteer_ottawa_en.shtml> 

Ottawa Police
<http://www.ottawapolice.ca/en/about_ops/join_us/volun_index.cfm> 

VOLUNTEER SERVICES, OTTAWA
<http://www.relocatecanada.com/ottawa/vol.html> 

And there are also clubs/sites with this purpose in mind: 

Ottawa Newcomers Club
http://www.ottawanewcomers.ca/ 

O-ttawa
<http://groups.msn.com/O-ttawa> 

New Friends 4 U 
<http://www.newfriends4u.com/friends.shtml> (not only Ottawa, also online). 

I hope this answers your question. Please contact me if you need any
clarification on this answer before you rate it.

Most postings on the "friends" sites and newcomers sites are old.  I
was looking for different ideas like the response from mredwards-ga,
which looks like it had more research associated with it.

I have a few friends (female and male, 25-30) who joined the Ottawa
Sport and Social Club (http://www.ottawassc.com/home.htm) when they
first moved to Ottawa.  They found it was a great way to meet people
their own age.  There are quite a few sports teams you can join, and
most of them also have social activities (going out after games,
etc.).

Another good way to meet people is through night classes at university
or community colleges, particularly hands-on courses like carpentry or
cooking or languages.  Try either university (www.uottawa.ca or
www.carleton.ca > look for their continuing education section) or
Algonquin College (http://extraweb.algonquincollege.com/ce_programs/).
 If you like art, there's the Ottawa School of Art
(http://www.artottawa.ca/classes/winter06/winter06general.html).

If you're employed in the sciences/engineering, WISE
(http://www.wise-ottawa.ca/) is a great group for meeting other
professional women.  If not, try to find a group or association for
your area of work.  There are lots of conferences in Ottawa.

For volunteering, try to find a way to use something you like to do to
help others.  There are plenty of museums, libraries, art galleries,
etc., in Ottawa that would be happy to have help.  There's also
Habitat for Humanity (http://www.habitatncr.com/en/), and most
hospitals accept volunteers.

For recreation, there's the Ottawa Field Naturalist's Club
(http://www.ofnc.ca/) and the Ottawa Rambling Club
(http://www.geocities.com/orchike/).

I've been in the same position - I know it's hard, but joining some
clubs or taking a class is definitely the way to get started.  Good
luck!

Thank you for your message. It is exactly what I was looking for...