By Dale
Conversation Groups are the only International Neighbors groups that meet weekly. Currently there are five groups, three that meet on ZOOM and two that meet in person.
The ZOOM groups started during covid, of course, and are continuing on ZOOM because there are women from nearby cities and women who have returned to their original countries who cannot attend in-person.
In-person groups provide friendship, information and practice with English. This year we have women from Russia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Brazil, Ecuador, Taiwan and Turkey. We have fun comparing different practices: cooking and foods that are different, weddings and funerals which are different in each country. Each Conversation Group is different, but all leaders respond to questions and the interests of members of their group. Some groups discuss idioms, some plan luncheon outings or trips, all have potluck gatherings.
Leaders above, from left: Vesna is no longer leading a group, but she has led several in the past and is now involved in Chat and Chew. Marcy has been a leader in the Monday morning group for many years. Martha helps Carole with her Tuesday afternoon group and has been a Hiking Group leader. Sara leads the Monday ZOOM group with Marcy; Sara taught ESL before joining International Neighbors. Kari leads the Wednesday morning ZOOM group. Carole leads the Tuesday afternoon group and coordinates the Reading Groups, which started off as a part of Conversation Groups. Now Reading Groups are independent and feature five different levels of reading.
Other leaders helped at the recent Open House. From left: Julia leads the Thursday afternoon in-person Conversation Group. She taught ESL on North Campus when U of M was coordinating a program there. Justine helps with the Thursday group. Sara is a Monday morning leader. Barb leads the Wednesday morning ZOOM group with Kari. Dale leads the Tuesday morning in-person group along with Lonni and Rachel; this group welcomes children. Dale is the coordinator of the groups and is on the Board of International Neighbors. Groups are different sizes, and we are always happy to have new leaders so we can have new groups!
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