It can be hard to make friends as an adult.

Unlike in university when you’re surrounded by hundreds of people who are the same age as you, things get a little trickier in the real world.

Basically, if you don’t get along with your coworkers or your roommates, you’re doomed to live a joyless life of solitude.

Okay, maybe it’s not that bad, but the working adult’s life is definitely not like the friendship free-for-all that we had during our school years.

Fortunately, a new program is launching in Toronto that might just help you meet your next BFF.

Tea with Strangers is exactly what it sounds like – an opportunity for people to meet locals for a hot beverage, and maybe make a new friend.

If it sounds totally awkward, well, that’s because it is. Apparently, that’s part of the fun.

“Everyone at tea time is stepping a little out of their comfort zone. This makes it so much easier to actually learn something unexpected about the people around you,” the website reads.

Founder Ankit Shah says participants can expect to join a group of five or six people who, prior to meeting up, only know each other’s names. He came up with the idea three years ago as a way to meet students on campus. It was a huge hit, which eventually turned into what it is today.

The U.S.-based program now exists in 15 locations, including Nairobi, New York, Chicago and Boston.

Toronto will be the first foray into the Canadian market.

Shah says he chose to centre the program around tea specifically because it lacks the romantic connotations of grabbing a drink or getting dinner, as well as the networking associations of meeting up for coffee.

He says he’s met up with roughly 2,000 people through his program, and even became friends with a few of them.

While the idea is definitely a little bit out there, I think it would be fun to try out for the novelty factor alone. Even if you don’t come out of it with a new pal, at least you’ll have a fun story to share.

[ninja_form id=104]

[ad_bb1]