Blog Post #4

I'm really starting to feel more comfortable with my position as a Chat Cafe facilitator and I am starting to sense that my group members are better able to converse with each other, and me, with more ease. Going to the natural history museum was a good way to appreciate science and nature but emphasized to me that, oftentimes, actual back-and-forth conversation is the best way to truly appreciate different cultural backgrounds. After a very constructive conversation with my fellow Chat Cafe facilitators, I became a lot more inclined to foster imaginative discussions among my group members, in order to engage them more in conversation. Now that we have had the chance to share some very unique visual experiences, I wish to ask them to reflect on these museum visits and ask them about their personal interests and future goals. I've noticed that artwork can express personal identities and inner passions quite accurately when the artists attempts to explain what their artwork means to them, so I am eager to introduce some creative activities that involve such personal reflection. Although we have discussed some cultural and linguistic differences among us, I think that encouraging the use of inner artistic abilities will help to actually illustrate these differences to each other.