The Worrisome Stage

Conversation Two:

For this second meeting I was very excited until the moment I got an email from Frances saying, I lie not, “How are you going?” I later found out that she was ultimately if our plans were still on for that evening. When we first met, she did not talk all that much out of the four of us, and I thought that was just because she was reserved. The email I received proved otherwise. It was actually because her English was not the strongest which worried me because I did not know how dinner would go. The first time we met, we mostly talked about the basic question about school, family, friends, etc. However, this second time I had no idea what we would talk about. On top of that, I extremely awkward when it comes to making new friends. I am not sure Frances even considered me as a friend at that point.

As dinner approached, it was pouring rain outside. I thought to myself, this is a great start, considering my worries already coming into this. Elle and I got there on time and ordered our food and decided to eat because they did not show up until twenty-five minutes past what we had agreed on. Something that I noticed was strange was that they both decided to not eat their food even though we sat there and conversed for a bit. I do not know if they did that because Elle and I had already eaten and that, in their culture, they did not eat in front of people if not everyone was eating at the same time. Not to worry, the awkward night continued.

At the last dinner we went to, Frances had mentioned that she had a boyfriend and we talked about him for a little bit. Naturally, the second time we met I asked how they were doing. Cindy and Frances both, simultaneously, burst out in laughter. Elle and I looked at each other completely confused as to why they were laughing; we had found it a normal question to ask, especially as girls. Finally, after they could manage to speak in between laughs, Frances asked, “Why would you ask that?” Now, I felt like a complete idiot wondering if I had said something disrespectful. Needless to say, I did not contribute much to the conversation after that. It was strange to observe that they found that instance so hilarious and Elle and I were sitting there in a state of awkward confusion.