Laughter and Leftovers

So… dinner times at residence sometimes turns out to be incredibly fun times for unplanned reasons. While it is not always easy to make conversation in a language one is learning we’ve discovered that laughter is a fantastic way to communicate regardless of where you’re from or what language you’re most comfortable in. Around our dinner table some of us have started laughing so hard that we end up with tears in our eyes. What is making us giggle, chortle and howl?
1) The staring contest in which one person asks “Are you ok?” and the other must answer “I’m fine.” with a straight face. Sounds easy? Try playing against Can – he’s the master.
2) Listening to (and attempting) tongue twisters in other languages: learning a new language is challenging at the best of times but when you’re trying out a phrase that even native speakers have difficulty with, the results are hilarious!
Dinner times bring laughter, but they also result in leftovers. We’ve begun making an effort to package up the extra food we cannot eat into servings that we are enjoying giving away to people in need. We feed ourselves around our table but we are beginning to nourish a different part of ourselves by feeding others.