We Are Going to Ibiza - Assignment Example

of the English of the Concerned 9 June We Are Going to Ibiza There is no denying the fact that James, Steven, Lillian, Susan and me knew each other since childhood and the group really enjoyed doing things together. The five of us really loved to travel together as a group and had visited many places, which had immensely added to our fellow feeling and sense of camaraderie. Since the start of the new academic session, we have been talking about going to some new destination in the summers. Each one of us was expectantly looking forward to this trip and we had really worked hard around the year to save and set aside ample funds for this trip. Finally the summers were here and after taking a count of our savings, we realized that we had sufficient money to finance a trip to any destination around the world. The only thing left to do was to decide as to which place we intended to go. So, to resolve this issue, a late afternoon meeting was planned at my place, on the coming Sunday. Come Sunday, and as expected, James, Steven, Lillian and Susan were there at my place, all chirpy and quiet confident that the group would find their ideas really interesting. As all of us settled in my room, each taking a chair around the medium sized white round table near the window in our study, the meeting was formally initiated. Personally speaking, I had no particular destination in mind and being an introvert, I decided to sit quiet and watch and listen to the suggestions being made by others. As expected, Lillian being the ultimate extrovert in the group with her sociable and expressive way of communication took the initiative to extend the first suggestion. Lillian suggested that as we had sufficient money with us, why not all of us take a trip to Europe? As I was avidly observing all of them, I noticed James and Susan evince a slight frown at Lillian’s suggestion. It was enough to convey to me that both of them had already decided about the place they wanted to go and were not in agreement with Lillian’s suggestion. However, I was still unsure about what Steven had in mind. I felt that either he had no special place in mind or was yet keeping his cards closed. As goes well with the agreeable nature of James, and his way of being courteous and flexible while negotiating things, he welcomed Lillian’s suggestion, yet asked her that what marked Europe as her first choice? What followed was a three minute speech by Lillian, which, considering her lucidness was certainly prepared well in advance, elaborating on Europe being the hub and bedrock of culture and art, and how a trip to the continent will immensely add to our sense of culture and appreciation for art, food, fashion, and other fine things in life. By the time Lillian ended, Susan broke into a big and discernible yawn, which made all of us laugh, expect for Lillian. James in his patent cooperative and genial manner, approved of Lillian’s views, yet taking the role of the self appointed group leader, suggested that a trip to Europe was something too serious and what the rest of us were looking forward to was visiting a place that was more about fun and enjoyment. Susan vociferously supported the views of James, though I was still not sure as to whether James and she had the same place in mind, or whether both of them were agreeing to scuttle Lillian’s suggestion. James made the next move and tried to convince Lillian that Europe was not a viable destination owing to many reasons. He placed his hand on Lillian’s shoulder and told her that the money the group had, though being ample may fall short of supporting an extensive trip to Europe. Continuing with his good natured manner, perhaps aimed at soliciting maximal cooperation from Lillian, he said that the group had been thinking about this trip more in terms of a chance to have unrestrained fun in the lap of nature. Susan not only strongly backed each and every suggestion made by James, but even went ahead to claim that a trip to Europe would be too far away from home and perhaps the parents of some of us may not allow for such a distant excursion. The good thing was that Lillian being an emotionally stable person was quietly listening to James and Susan in a calm, poised and collected manner. Being an astute girl, she had well calculated that given James’ and Susan’s opposition to her idea, and Steven and me being quiet, her trip to Europe stood no chance. Once Lillian’s Europe idea got grounded, James and Susan elaborately started to paint a mirthful picture of a trip to Hawaii. Their suggestions were elaborate and it appeared that they had really done their homework well. Suddenly, Steven entered the discussion with a sense of immediacy inherent in his verbal and non verbal communication. Steven proposed a trip to his grandfather’s farmhouse in Tennessee. Knowing well that Susan had already agreed to be James sidekick, he focused all his efforts on James. He made an intense eye contact with James, with a smile in his eyes and his posture slightly leaning over him and said that this trip to the South will not only be real fun, but considering the fact that his grandfather was going to take care of our boarding and lodging, it will also save us a lot of money, which we could spend well on more important things. James was least prepared for this aroused suggestion from Steven and by the time Susan tried to barge in with ifs and buts, James dealt with her a little aggressively, immaculately raising and lowering his tone, with his eye contact getting more tense, backed by ample body movements and a more than average leaning over Susan. Susan quietly acquiesced. With an immediate backing from Lillian, James also agreed to the idea of visiting Tennessee. Steven’s conscientious and energetic approach made the group unanimously decide in favor of Tennessee. Having been closely observing this discussion, I realized that sticking to preconceived ideas, as was done by Lillian, James and Susan and having no second best options could make an individual end up being walled and dumbstruck in group communications. I also realized that resorting to a strong non verbal communication, with commensurate verbal inputs as was evinced by Steven could turn out to be really influential. It imparts an aura of confidence to the speaker and makes the rivals give up easily. I made it a point to remember that while engaging in such group discussions in future, I will keep an open and flexible mind, not aimed at sticking to a single idea or approach. Read More