Date Lab

If you're athletic but don't look it, does it count?

7:30 p.m., McCormick & Schmick's, K Street NW

Ed: I got to the restaurant first. I went up to the reception and told them that I was registered, or whatever, and went to the bar, where I could watch for her.

Tatiana: He came to me [at the host stand] and said hello. He looked like a foreigner. He's traveled a lot, so it's kind of true.

Ed: Often, people think I'm French; I don't know why. She did look Eastern European to me. I didn't have an immediate sensation of I'm very attracted to her, or I'm not attracted. I like athletic women, not exclusively, but generally. She is athletic, but she doesn't look it. The host sat us down.

Tatiana: He worked in Africa and just came back. We talked about this for a while. He [first went] with the Peace Corps and after worked with a lot of organizations and in a lot of countries.

Ed: She's from Belarus and had won a green card lottery [to come to the United States], showing up with $500 and two suitcases and not knowing a single person. I mean, that's very brave. There was lots of talking, not focusing on the menu. Finally, we ordered. I just spent six weeks eating street food in Africa, so I was ready for something more sophisticated.

Tatiana: He told me he collects masks from Africa, and stones. We also talked about coffee because I like coffee, and he told me in Africa coffee is very good. And I do running and hiking and other stuff, and he told of his biking.

Ed: It turns out she's very outdoorsy and very active. So we share all those things and that high energy level and curiosity about the world.

Tatiana: It feels like he can understand me, because I am the same way -- I like to travel. He told me he feels like a foreigner over here a little bit. And I said that if he needs some help, I can show him around.

Ed: I've either been living abroad or based here and going off to different countries to do jobs, so I don't really have a social network here. But I've taken a proper desk job, so I will be a D.C. resident. We stayed at the restaurant a long time. Part of it was due to the fact that she eats really slowly. It was funny. I'm a vacuum cleaner.

Tatiana: I wasn't in a hurry; the conversation was interesting. Probably, we left around 11.

Ed: She said, "I'd like to try that Ethiopian place you mentioned." Maybe we'll do that; I wouldn't be surprised if she contacted me. I think we shook hands. I'd rate the date a 3 [out of 5]. I don't think that there's a huge romance factor there. It could evolve, but it's not the first thing that bounced off my head when I saw her.

Tatiana: I would rate it 4. I found his personality, the type of work he did and all the unusual stuff interesting. I would like to see him again.

UPDATE: Whatever the reason -- out-of-town travel and an unanswered e-mail (Tatiana) or a new job and "the perennial fog of work life and social life!" (Ed) -- these two haven't gotten together again.

Interviews by Elizabeth Chang