Conversation Topics

Was at a good-by gathering for friend Jennifer last night, and it occurred to me how different conversation topics are here than in the U.S. We met at this restaurant and sat at a big table. And the women were on one side and the men on the other. According to Skip, the men talked work and sports--much the same as they do in the states. The women talk about the two things we all have in common: kids/ISD and travelling.

We can't talk about movies because we there's only occasionally a movie in English at the theater. We can't talk tv. One woman tried to describe her passion for Project Runway which she gets via her satellite or something--and apparently it's last season's eipsodes. But no one had seen it. We can't talk books, since the only time any of us are reading the "latest" is if our husbands pick it up for us at the airport. Politics is not a topic since we're not all from the same country, and we Americans aren't getting bombarded with all the info. The only reason I knew Oprah was stumping for Obama was by logging on to Cnn.com. We don't know what's happening in Germany because even those who speak pretty good German aren't quite to the reading German newspapers or watching German news level.

However, it's not unusual at all to be comparing hotel stays in Paris, hearing about the pros and cons of a Greek cruise and tips for how to drive without getting killed in Italy.

Had a funny exchange on the travel front. Was talking the other day to a woman who's family is going to Egypt for Christmas and I said, "How Biblical!" She thought I was being sarcastic, and I had to let her know that rumor has it that Mary and Joseph actually took the baby Jesus to Egypt after he was born to escape the wrath of Herod. It was the first she'd heard of it.