Hi everyone,

My name is Tim, I am 28 years old. I am a south European, currently doing my PhD at the US. I am not Brad Pit, I consider myself average looking guy (if that is of any relevance to this issue). The following is a classic situation in which I don't know what's the right thing to do with a girl.

The story is very short: She was handling my visa application at the university and sent me an email (I hadn't even seen her at the time), asking me to drop by her office to sign some documents that were needed to be signed. I dropped by and I saw her: I immediately liked her style, her looks, and I found her very attractive.

I was very polite, smiling, and simple, and I felt that we had good eye contact and that there was something in the air, but the conversation ended pretty quickly and sticked to formalities.

Next day, she sent me a confirmation email that the papers had been sent to their destination, to which I simply replied: "Thanks for saving the day! /Tim"

She replied with a smiley, almost immediately. I didn't continue, cause I didn't know what is the right way to proceed.

What would be the best way of approaching this girl? I thought about answering something direct, like, "I owe you a lunch" or something like that, but I feel that I would be offering too much value at this early point. I don't even know if she is single or not (essentially I know nothing about her).

What would be the best way of getting her to go out with me? Any ideas?

Thanks in advance guys,
Tim