Being social

Just got back from my second tandem Deutsch-English conversation partner meeting. It was good, again. This time I met with an unemployed sociologist, who had grown up in East Germany. I got in perhaps 45 minutes of German practice, and then we spent the rest of the time in English. Different than my last partner - less correction and more causal lapses into English. But just as interesting.

I'm not sure yet how to categorize these meetings. In some ways, they're a lot like internet dates: you exchange a few emails with a stranger that establish that you're willing to enter into some sort of implicit contract, then you meet at a cafe or something, then after two or three hours awkwardly bring up when next to meet and who's going to email who.

The thing that makes them much nicer than most internet dates is that the conversation isn't just a means to an end. You're not trying to figure out whether the person is crazy or not, or whether they're into you or whether you'd feel safe being alone in a room with them or whatever. And, even better, if all I can think of are completely inane topics to talk about, I've got vocabulary limitation as an excuse.