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The Deaf event I attended was held at Expressive Hand on May 1st

(today), and it included a number of

arts and crafts. The shop was quite quaint, which added to the intimate setting of the event. Moreover,

the atmosphere made me far more comfortable because I was able to sign informally. There were a few

who identified themselves as Deaf, but the majority of the participants were students who came to

better their signing abilities; overall, I would estimate that there were about ten people at the event.

The conversations that took place were quite broadtopics ranged from our family members, to ourcolleges, to where I had acquired my outfit. This was the second time that I had gone to this event and in

both instances I found everyone to be quite welcoming and personable during the conversations that

took place.

Oddly enough, the first sign that I had learned at this event was HAMBURGER. Upon entering the

shop, I began a conversation with an elderly man named Dominic whom I had met at the last Deaf

event. It was quite comical because Dominic had to repeatedly sign the same word and I was staring at

him stupefied the entire time. However, after I asked him to fingerspell the word, I was able to add the

sign to my vocabulary. We had been discussing the dorm food and the meals we had prior to the event

and, while the sign was connected to our conversation, it was difficult for me to without having been

exposed to it in the past. Needless to say, this interaction was definitely cause for much confusion on mypart. The second sign came about while signing with another ASL student named Courtney who attends

Burlington County College in New Jersey. During our conversation, we had complained to each other

about the stress of our upcoming finals and our future goals. While speaking with Courtney, I learned

the sign for DISSERTATION because she had communicated that she wanted to pursue a graduate

degree in the future. Moreover, Courtney signed that she hoped to attend Penn in the future because its

graduate schools are extremely reputable. I found our conversation to be very relaxed and informative.

The first topic that I found was reiterated in class was the use of LCLs and DCLs to give directions. The

shop owner began the event by signing that we had the ability to pick our own pottery and choose

whichever colors that suited our fancy. I found that I was able to interpret the signs that he chose at a

much quicker pace than when I had attended the event in the past. However, after I was seated, I foundthat I could not find a particular piece of pottery that I had wanted to paint at the last event. Therefore, I

asked one of the workers to assist me, but since she had a number of customers to ring up, she

described the location of the pottery using methods similar to those taught in class. I was quite happy

with my ability to locate the pottery in a quick mannerit would have definitely been more difficult had

I been given the same directions last semester.

Another theme that we had covered in class occurred during the conversation I had with Dominic. As I

have already mentioned, Dominic and I had met at the Deaf event I had attended last semester, so

much of our conversation covered the things I had been doing since then. Moreover, he utilized the

same signing sequence (SEE-NONE-LONG-TIME) that I had in the second dialogue for this semester,

therefore it was easier for me to continue the flow of the conversation. After telling him about my pastendeavors, I then asked him if he had done anything out of the ordinary since we last metthe lesson

covering this topic was very useful in that it provided a great means for transitioning into other

conversations. Dominic communicated that he had not, but was hoping to retire soon to escape his

boring daily work schedule.

While the number of participants for this event were few, the tables used were cluttered together,

which drastically reduced our signing space. In fact, I was thoroughly impressed with various signers

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ability to use their constricted areas to the fullest extent. During my conversation with Dominic, I found

that he placed a greater emphasis on his facial expressions due to my inability to glean the meaning of

most of his signs. For instance, because my clueless expression showed my unfamiliarity with the word

HAMBURGER, he kept on repeating the sign, with eyebrows raised, to insure that I had finally came to

an understanding. Due to the cramped space, he could not use any big, gestural signs. Conversely,

another conversation took place between Courtney and her friend while they were both standing andbrowsing potential pottery to paint. Because of the increase of space, they were able to rely on

gesturing more than if we had decided to sit at the tables. Moreover, even while they were browsing,

they both made an active effort to turn their bodies towards each other so that their signs were clearly

visible. I found both of these methods to be effective given the space allotted for each signer.

Because there were so few people at this event, it was fairly easy to get the attention of others. When I

entered the shop, I immediately greeted Dominic because he was a familiar face. However, he was

initially signing with Becca so I had to wait until their conversation had died to down so that I would not

be interrupting them. While I was waiting, I got the attention of Courtney by tapping her on the

shoulder and introducing myself. I found that this method was effective because it is pretty difficult for

someone to ignore such an act without being construed as rude.

There was one instance during my conversation with Courtney in which I had thought I was stating that

my father attended University of Chicago, when in fact I had signed that my grandmother had. However,

I amended this statement when she began questioning me about whether my grandmother is on my

fathers side or my mothers side. Nonetheless, I am sure that my reaction to her questions seemed

weird because her line of questioning threw me off. After she communicated that I had signed

GRANDMA instead of FATHER, I was able to steer the conversation in the correct path in an effort to

avoid any more confusion. Other than this instance, I found that our conversation did not have any

glaringly obvious errors (I hope).

While conversing with Dominic, I found that both of us relied heavily on fingerspelling to make sure that

our meaning was understood. For instance, Dominic stated he had worked at ShopRite for a number of

years and, since there is no direct translation of the word, he resorted to fingerspelling. However, many

of the letters that he signed seemed to be a variation of the letters taught in class; it slowed down my

interpretation drastically. He repeatedly used the signs for M and N, but instead of simply placing his

thumb in their respective positions, he would tilt his hand downward, too. It took me a while to adapt to

this sort of fingerspelling, but I quickly became more comfortable. Furthermore, his fingerspelling speed

was slightly faster than that of the speed I am used to. Much of our conversation was spent reiterating

what was signed, therefore we did not cover as much ground as we could. However, it was great

catching up with Dominic and using the new material that was taught.

This experience definitely enhanced my understanding of Deaf culture and those who are a part of it. I

am truly proud of the strides that I have made in my signing abilities and it was great putting them to

use outside of the classroom. Deaf culture is such a rich culture and it was interesting learning the

nuances of each individual person I communicated with at the event. I feel that these interactions are

what fuels the thirst for more knowledge and I am grateful that I had an opportunity to expand my

signing abilities in such a fun atmosphere.