Blog Post #2!

Blog Post #2, and the only one that will ever be late! I caught a cold/flu/the Michigan plague (?) on Friday and have been basically sleeping ever since. HOWEVER, I am extremely glad that I got to experience two Chat Cafe group meetings before it set in!

Meeting #1: Bubble Island (6/6 attended)
Yay! As I shared in class, I was beyond ecstatic about how well my first meeting went! A lot of the participants found common ground with each other. I guess I'd say 4 of my members are quite extroverted and the other two are a bit quieter, which is totally cool. I think it leads to a good group dynamic! Two members are from Malaysia, two are from China (Shanghai and Hong Kong), and two are from Europe (someone doing a semester exchange here from Italy and someone from France). I'm actually so thrilled that they love talking about where they are from because I'm extremely curious to know about the differences from our cultures.
Anyway, for the duration of our hour together, I used the strategy of pair-conversations before sharing with the full group. I found that once the members had a chance to talk to someone else (a very low intimidation environment), they were less afraid of speaking in the larger group. We talked about the basics (year, major/s, where they're living, how college is different here) and a little more about what they wanted out of our sessions. They were pretty unanimously decided: they just wanted to talk. And, I am totally down for that. We ended up wrapping up our time together with the intent of getting lunch together next week at Chipotle, which is heavenly.
Also, I think the addition of having a photographer at our first meeting was funny, weird, and helpful, in a way. We, a mix-match of random people, were meeting for the very first time, and our interactions were getting captured! Thank goodness everyone was receptive of new things-- like, the bubble tea, too! A few people had bubble tea for the first time, and I'm glad I got to share that passion of mine with them.
Pros: Fluid conversations, good bonding
Future Concerns: WHAT DO WE TALK ABOUT NEXT TIME...

Meeting #2: Chipotle/Diag (5/6 attended)
So, overall, I think this was a little more hectic of a meeting... We met outside of Chipotle a little earlier than 1:30 and got in line together to get lunch. HOWEVER, Chipotle at 1:30 is LOUD, and the line is LONG. It was a little awkward trying to talk to everyone in a group conversation was being pushed along in the line, but that's okay, lesson learned: Chipotle will not give a quiet setting good for conversations. A few people never ordered from Chipotle before, so I tried to give them a good run through on what to expect. So, after we finally all got our food, we trekked on over to the diag to eat and play "Never Have I Ever" (per Jessica's suggestion! good idea, Jessica). I asked who knew how to play it, and one of my members asked if it was a drinking game! Thus, we got into a little of how alcohol plays into all of our cultures and how society receives drinking. Always an interesting subject to compare the U.S. with.
A meal and quite a few rounds of "Never Have I Ever", we then pulled out a picture of our family or our dorm room (which I did ask them to bring, but totally forgot about as we just talked and played games). It was great to see how animated my members got when they talked about something they really cared about-- like their family or their personal rooms.
We also decided that getting food at each of our meetings would be a good idea because we all basically have class right before or right after the meeting-- so, we are meeting in the basement of the Union next!
Pros: Got to know each other more, shared yummy food
Future Concerns: I'm going to bring cards and homemade "easier" Taboo cards for our next meeting! I hope it's well received and that my awesome attendance keeps up!