When going to the largest Jewish youth group convention in the world with over 3,000 people, you can expect without a doubt that you're going to make hundreds of new friends. Whether it be during Chofesh, LEADS, Limmuds, or more, you have the perfect opportunity to connect with other Jewish teens with similar interests. From my experience at prior conventions, I discovered that my favorite place to socialize with new people was in the dining halls. These three meals a day are the perfect opportunity to discuss anything imaginable with people from anywhere imaginable. So, I decided that I wanted to go around and catalog some of the conversations that were happening- you never know what you're going to talk about when you combine people from around the world at one table. I wanted to ask four specific things to truly understand the unity and collaboration coming from these tables- the interviewee’s name, their region, what their table was talking about, and what language they all spoke. This way, I could find out what all the different conversations were about as people meshed from around the world and integrated themselves with each other. So let's get right into it. 

Starting off with Stella from Mountain Region, she told me that her table was talking about Hair Tinsel, and everyone at her table spoke English. 

Next, Jillian and Eden from Atlanta and her table were discussing snap chats and sharing them all with each other, and they all spoke English.

Logan from CVR and his table were talking about how the food for the first night was impossible burgers and not real burgers, and they spoke English and Spanish.

Jason of GJHRR  told me his table was talking about lettuce (the KEY BBYO APPETIZER), and they all spoke English.

Emir from Gold Coast was talking about his upcoming leads, and he and his table spoke English and Turkish.

Anika from Israel and her table were talking about everyone coming to IC, and how she was overwhelmed by the number of Americans, and her table spoke Hebrew, and English.

Ellie from New York City and Sage from Mid America were talking about guys that they had met and both knew, and her table spoke English.

And finally, Zachary from Lonestar and his table were talking about their camps that they all go outside of BBYO, and their table spoke English, Spanish, and Hebrew.

These few conversations that I was able to have were just a glimpse of the full effect of IC. When you combine 3,000 Jewish teens into one room, you're going to get a vast variety of different discussions as people meet others from all around the world. These 5 days of convention are one of the most incredible experiences I, along with thousands of others, share, and I am forever grateful to be given this opportunity through the most fantastic organization to exist.