We all learned something last night, mainly, I'm no Ice Skater.

I'm a firm believer in trying something twice as the first time it might not have been right. A restaurant could be having a bad night. Someone you meet could be in a bad mood. Going somewhere when the sun is shining makes it feel completely different from if it was raining. Having said that, I can't see how ice skating could be anything other than frustrating. Even if you remove the teenagers who can dance whilst on the ice, the terrible music and the flashing lighting that reminded me of a bad, late 90's night club, I still don't think I would enjoy it. For me the only way to improve it would be to remove the metal blades off your feet and remove the ice, but then you would just be walking.

By reading that you may think that I didn't enjoy myself. On the contrary, I had a brilliant night. The 1 1/3 laps of the ring I did confirmed to me that I am not now, nor ever will be, designed to be on ice, the group of five of us that went had a really good laugh and best of all, as all good nights out should, it when completely off piste.

After calling time on Ice Skating early, the idea came up for a game of mini golf followed by ice cream. Yes, it's not your usual Friday night out, but because it was different, it was massively enjoyable. We could have chosen to go and have a few beers, get a bit tipsy and consume a chilli sauce cover kebab waiting for a taxi home. But that would just blend into the other 100's of similar nights we've all been on. Those nights aren't that memorable, not just due to alcohol, but due to the fact they are ‘the done thing' that happens week in week out so no one stands out.

This one random Friday night out really sums up what I've gotten out of my JCI membership. Since I joined a few months ago, I'm mixing with people I would never have met otherwise due to different interests and circles. I'm trying things that my group of friends outside of JCI would never do. And more importantly, I'm building relationships with new friends.
I' like to sum up just by laying out a few thing we all found out.

- Charlie can flirt her way to getting us all Ice Cream.
- Scott needs to play more nine ball pool.
- Gemma is on my team for any future mini / crazy golf competitions.
- Ollie needs to think of a reason to go to the bar and not just make it up on the spot.
- I get far too competitive.

By Ben Hawley