First Meeting: Reese's PB Cups & More!

I don't think I can start this post off with anything other than the following points:

• I loved meeting my conversation circle participants,
• I loved how amazingly engaged they were,
• And, I loved our conversation!

I have to admit that after reading the blog posts from last semester's facilitators and hearing from fellow classmates on how their first meetings went, I was SUPER nervous on my way to meet with my group. But, all of my nerves went away once all six of my group members showed up! We met outside of the UGLi and then found a place on the lawn of the Diag to sit and talk. We did a quick round of "meet and greets" - name, year, major, hometown - and then I had a small icebreaker prepared. Everyone randomly picked a question, such as "What is your favorite food? How do you make it?" and then we paired up and talked for a few minutes about the question we selected with our partner. Afterwards, we shared out to the group. I was afraid it would seem too "teacher-like," but it actually went over very well! Some of our main topics that we talked about included the Mid-Autumn Festival (which was celebrated this past weekend), how nobody except me has had the glory that is a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup (it's in my plan to bring them one week for everyone to try), and everyone's highs/lows of the day.

After this long discussion (thankfully, I have a very chatty group), I then asked them how they wanted Chat Cafe to go each week. We talked about a lot of things here, but two of the major things I took away from this part of the conversation was that they wanted a relaxed atmosphere (i.e., an environment that they feel comfortable enough to talk about anything in - not a classroom) and a potluck at some point during the semester! I was especially excited about the potluck idea, because this hadn't even crossed my mind as a possibility. We closed out our conversation with an activity called "Wishes". I learned it from my theatre troupe, and it sounds a little cheesy, but basically, everyone in the circle goes around and says a wish they have for themselves and/or the group (e.g., I wish everyone has a great weekend). Like I said, it sounds cheesy, but it leaves everyone with a nice feeling at the end.

People stayed back to exchange phone numbers, and I offered to compile a contact list for everyone with talks of a potential GroupMe to be made. I left in disbelief that the hour had gone so quickly, and I wished we had more time. Good thing we meet once a week! My only small, little, itty bitty concern is that I have a postdoc fellow in my group, so she is considerably older than the other participants. I talked with her about it at the end of the circle, and she said she really wants to improve her English and was happy to be there. I hope she, as well as everyone else, continues to come each week. 

I know there will likely be challenges down the road once the semester gets busier, but for now, I'm taking the time to be overjoyed. Here's to the continuation of a terrific conversation circle!