Meeting new friends in another language is a cool experience. Somewhere on our language journeys we get to go beyond all of the formalities and the hard work of learning a new language and just experience it. It’s not all fun; sometimes we don’t understand what’s going on around us. But little by little we understand enough to enjoy the experience and enter into the lives of a new set of friends. That’s what happened to me. Yesterday, my wife, Tracy, invited me to a BBQ with her friends from the Lutheran Seminary. She took classes there and her classmates were having a BBQ.
At the BBQ
It was my first time to meet most of them. Tracy asked me to take pictures for the event. I understood what was going on most of the time. However, there was a game around idioms that I really didn’t understand. I was glad I had a camera to entertain myself with at that point. I should add here that it is really refreshing to take pictures of people without their masks on. Still, the event went on for 5 plus hours. It was obvious that everyone knew each other really well. They weren’t afraid to share deeply with each other about their struggles or victories. I didn’t understand some of the sharings, but I got enough to stay engaged. I felt privileged to be invited into their lives. After the event was done my wife thanked me for getting to know her friends. Here is a photo-montage with some video I took of the event.
