MEMO Note from the "I am Expat" fair, in the Hague, 5/11/2016

My second time participating as an exhibitor at the IamExpat Fair was -again- an exciting and memorable experience. Not to mention that the whole coordination but also the communication with the organizers was reaching extremely high standards. 

Comparing with the first time that people heard about The Anti-Loneliness Project, this time visitors were more open and less "defensive" to the idea of Loneliness being discussed among them. 

"I'm so glad that this exists", said to me a woman after stopping for a few minutes and talking with me at my stand. 
Some time later, after discussing about Loneliness with a man, he turned to me and admitted that it's so nice when we are allowed to embrace loneliness, before we proceed to any other step in order to defeat it. 

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Of course, there were also people that made a step towards me/my stand, hesitated for a few moments, and in the end, left without looking back. 
I also remember watching a couple (very discreetly, of course) passing by; woman stopping for a few seconds in front of the stand looking at the AntiLoneliness poster; man looking at her and observing her reactions; then whispering something in her ear, hugging her around her shoulders and gently moving her away from the area. 
No comment. 

However, I was glad that people were more open to discuss about Loneliness, they filled me with joy when they said that "If you are connected with others, you can find your meaning in life", and everything felt more in place than before. 

Finally, I also met a bunch of interesting people, people looking for more information on my services (workshops, support groups, private counseling), people already knowing about the AntiLoneliness Project ("I saw it on the website!"), people that knew a lot of lonely people, people.... 

Thank you IamExpat Fair, for that mind-blowing moments I can experience every time I participate in your Fair. 
Till next time! 

Vassia Sarantopoulou 
Counselor-Psychologist 
The Anti-Loneliness Project ​