{"id":3163,"date":"2017-07-10T23:10:20","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T23:10:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sometimesraw.com--precise\/?p=3163"},"modified":"2019-01-08T15:35:28","modified_gmt":"2019-01-08T15:35:28","slug":"conversation-starters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sometimesraw.com\/?p=3163","title":{"rendered":"Conversation Starters."},"content":{"rendered":"

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I am in Portugal, alone, attending a conference and spending my birthday week in style. I have to add, that I miss Petit Joel like crazy (did I just type this for real) but I enjoy every second here in Porto. What an amazing, beautiful and charming, laid-back, chaotic city. I am exploring and testing new food which is so much fun and yum. My favourite so far is Pastel de Nata, the famous Portuguese custard tart. Combine with a cup of coffee and a good book= perfection. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Or this traditional Portuguese soup (Caldo Verde):<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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I don’t even mention that the ocean is almost empty due to the amount of fish I eat. So fresh and good. Diet soon. <\/span><\/p>\n

I mentioned that I am here alone. So wherever I go and sit down or wait, there seems to be this commiseration which almost is like a sign of survival for some people. Since I am here, I bonded with many women and men over different weird things that I lost track. For example insane long lines at a Pastel de Nata bakery where I turned around to look at other people in line and then made the head\/eyes upward movement to wait for agreement how terrible it is to wait that long. Waiting for agreement? Maybe. This is communication, too. Why do I have this urge to emotionally connect with other people? Why do other people? Maybe because I am woman? I don’t know why but whenever the right moment comes along I have this urge to interact or connect with strangers. It is just this instinct to bond with a person close to me who is also happy, surprised, lost (like today at the beginning of the conference), upset (also at the beginning of the conference) or confused (see above). I want to share some other propensities of connecting with others and how I break the “we-are-no-longer-strangers-stage” and small talk starts. <\/span><\/p>\n

Waiting in front of a conference room, at a bus\/train station or overall waiting for something that is delayed. <\/strong>Nothing brings people together talking more frequently. Being stuck in an elevator? It takes usually a couple of seconds until the other prisoners start talking to me. Also, anything that is confusing creates conversations. Looking for an entrance (like I did this morning) instantly creates a new family. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Extremely insane slow or long lines in a store. <\/span><\/strong>B<\/span>eing in a store and the person all the way in front pulls out a checkbook or purse full of vouchers and coupons. Great conversation starter right there. <\/span><\/p>\n

A loud, sudden, crazy sound out of nowhere. <\/span><\/strong>I look around where the sound came from or jump in surprise. Many times the source of the sound will never be discovered. <\/span><\/p>\n

Always: Women’s bathroom at bars or clubs. <\/span><\/strong>Especially, when and if drunk. It always surprises me what is exchanged and said in women’s bathrooms but it explains why they always go to the bathroom together. Why? I don’t know. I never did it intentionally. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The weather. <\/span><\/strong>What is the best conversation starter ever if you have nothing else to say? Yep, the weather. Most likely I get a response if I say how disgustingly hot, wet or cold it is. Any mutual discomfort is a great way for strangers to interact. If I sweat like crazy and the stranger is: bonus points. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

On the plane. <\/strong>I have already written about it here<\/a><\/strong> but want to add that the flight to Porto was a mayhem of turbulence. Turbulence on a plane create friendships. Also, great landings (German people usually clap), bad\/good food on the plane or this amazing feeling that the 8-hour flight is finally over. <\/span><\/p>\n

Closed or closing stores. <\/span><\/strong>I immediately bond with the people waiting outside. People share my irritation and everyone who waits unites against the one and only enemy, the closing store. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am in Portugal, alone, attending a conference and spending my birthday week in style. I have to add, that I miss Petit Joel like crazy (did I just type this for real) but I enjoy every second here in Porto. What an amazing, beautiful and charming, laid-back, chaotic city. I am exploring and testing … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Conversation Starters.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ml_titleColor":"#000000","_ml_titleFont":"Roboto","_ml_titleFontSize":1.136,"_ml_titleFontWeight":"400","_ml_titleLineHeight":1.3,"_ml_metaColor":"#708090","_ml_metaFont":"Montserrat","_ml_metaFontSize":0.6785,"_ml_metaFontWeight":"400","_ml_metaLineHeight":0.92,"_ml_bodyColor":"#a9a9a9","_ml_bodyFont":"Open Sans","_ml_bodyFontSize":0.85,"_ml_bodyFontWeight":"400","_ml_bodyLineHeight":1.2,"_ml_wooPriceColor":"#666","_ml_wooPriceFont":"Open Sans","_ml_wooPriceFontSize":0.9,"_ml_wooPriceFontWeight":"400","_ml_wooPriceLineHeight":1.27,"_ml_headingColor":"#000","_ml_headingFont":"Merriweather","_ml_headingFontSize":2.02,"_ml_headingFontWeight":"700","_ml_headingLineHeight":1.47,"_mlglobal_userfontcolors":{"headingColorUser":[],"titleColorUser":[],"metaColorUser":[],"bodyColorUser":[],"wooPriceColorUser":[]},"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-minimalism-lifestyle"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t