Bringing Bingo to Kazakhstan

A few weeks ago my English club decided they wanted to do something fun for the residents of a local retirement home.  We were hoping to have Tuesday to plan more details, but the retirement home decided Tuesday (the 25th) would be the best day to visit.  As a result, I ended up coming up with the plan for our time.  Back in high school our Key Club would go to a retirement home each month and play Bingo.  We all had such a great time that I wanted to try it here, but wasn't sure how it would be received.  I had nothing to fear.

Ten of us arrived at the retirement home for about an hour of Bingo.  People began trickling in and were very confused by the cards we gave them.  We also caused a little bit of a problem by asking them to come closer to the front instead of sit in their normally assigned seats in the cafeteria.  However, it wasn't long before everyone was playing and having a great time.  New people continued to come through the doors as they heard the laughter taking place.  Many of the staff even asked to play.  So many people played, that we ran out of cards (having only brought 45).  We had small prizes for the winners of each game.

It was fun to watch my English club members as they interacted.  They were nervous at first and didn't really know how to begin conversations with the people they met.  However, towards the end, they all seemed really comfortable.  When we left we had several people asking if we would come back again.

When I asked my English club how they felt it went, they thought it was great.  They thought everyone enjoyed their time.  They asked if we could come back again.  When I suggested we try to do this on a monthly basis, all but one was excited about the opportunity.  Looks like I will need to print off some more Bingo cards.  :)

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