Common Ground?

????????????

Going to SFI (Swedish For Immigrants) classes you meet a lot of people you would never meet under normal circumstances. 


I was talking with a Somalian man in the cafeteria in half-English-half-Swedish. He told me he has 7 children and his country has been at war for 20 years. He was struggling to bring his entire family and his mother over to Sweden.


Then came my turn. Not wanting to probe any further into painful memories of the ravages of war I blurted something about my pleasant 3 month holiday in South America. Ridiculous, I know...


But what else could I say? Should we have delved deeper into his wartime experiences over coffee and biscuits? Could we have talked about children? I don't have any, so that would've been difficult.


He's a nice bloke, but it's hard to relate. No common ground. Beers and a Playstation? :->


  
NOTE: For my first impression on SFI click HERE