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Are you excited for IC, but don’t know how to approach people? Sometimes making new friends can be a bit tough if you don’t know what to talk about. I’ve listed several topics of the conversation below, some of which pertain to BBYO and some of which do not.

Where you are from and how is Judaism practiced there?

  • Are there any Jewish schools?
  • Can you be openly Jewish?

Discuss BBYO experiences.

  • Is this your first year in BBYO?
  • Is this your first IC?
  • Are you on chapter/regional/council board or would you ever like to run?

How did you find out about BBYO?

  • Was it through a friend who was already in BBYO?
  • Was it through a program held by your school or your local JCC?
  • Was it through social media?

How does BBYO play a role in your community?

BBYO doesn’t work the same way in every country. For example, Argentina has chapter meetings once a week and regional meetings every other month. However, some countries tend to have more regional meetings than chapter meetings.

If you don’t want to talk about BBYO, here are some other conversation topics:

What kind of music are you into?

  • Do you like rock, pop, or country?
  • Do you play an instrument?

What languages do you speak?

If you meet an international delegate, you can ask them to teach you a tongue twister or another phrase in their language.

Above are just a few conversation topics I came up with. Don’t be afraid to talk to people at IC or at any BBYO event. Just remember everyone is there to make new friendships and create fun memories!

All views expressed on content written for The Shofar represent the opinions and thoughts of the individual authors. The author biography represents the author at the time in which they were in BBYO.

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