Smiling unnecessarily

[InbetweenDreams]

Well that is a good question. In the US people do smile a lot (and make small talk) and people from other countries seem to find that weird. So if you were in the US, that would be considered normal for the most part and would really only come off odd if you gave off a weird vibe, like if people can tell you're uncomfortable, but it wouldn't be a big deal. That being said, I know nothing about the culture and social norms of where you're at, so it might be a bigger deal than it would be in the US, but I doubt it is anything to worry too much about.

When it comes to social anxiety, one way to help with it is through exposure therapy. Yes, that's right, the best way to combat social anxiety is to put yourself out there in more social situations and yes it takes a long time and in my experience it never fully goes away but you learn to deal with it much better. A lot of people are nervous on dates, even straight people are nervous on first dates so don't be surprised if your date seems a bit off as well. It is also easy to misread someone as being uninterested when they're just anxious or it could be something else. The point is to not worry so much. Sometimes dates go well and sometimes they don't, the thing to remember that just because things didn't go well doesn't make you any less of a person. Learning to be comfortable in your own skin, accepting and loving yourself is a big deal and not all too easy to do for many people, same with social anxiety, it can be dealt with but it isn't all that easy but very much worth your time and effort.

Hope that helps some.