Jeffrey was a little nervous talking to new people. Every kid he talked to about his science project was nerve wracking, the worst part was it was almost as if he started from scratch again. Every new kid he talked to he was introducing them to Oobleck and slime for the first time.
Although he introduced Oobleck to boys and perfume slime to girls, he tried his best to introduce both equally. Sometimes the other kids would buy them as gifts, for their girlfriends, sisters or parents.
Jeffrey was staring at a group of French kids, he didn't interact with them much. They were huddled over in their own area eating desserts and food.
Jeffrey felt a little uncomfortable since he didn't know them or their culture that well, but Jeffrey still forced himself to walk over toward them.
"Um hi", Jeffrey jumped in their conversation.
The French kids stop talking and looked at him. Jeffrey for a few brief seconds had their attention.
Gathering the confidence and not wasting time Jeffrey once again started to talk about Oobleck. Although his usual English explanation didn't work quite as well.
Pulling out a jar of Oobleck Jeffrey talked about it's scientific applications and fibbed about certain qualities of it.
"Oobleck is a new iteration of silly putty. The astronauts used it on the space station to hold their tools in space!", Jeffrey said excitedly.
Jeffrey could see the French kids getting bored unable to understand his excitement. Jeffrey didn't know a lot of French and though it might be a little offensive and insensitive if he wasn't careful.
The language barrier made him really uncomfortable as they wouldn't completely understand what he was saying nor would they take away the similar information he had given others.
Some of the French kids started muttering and whispering to each other
"Qu'est-ce que c'est que ça? Qu'est-ce que ce gars fait?"
Jeffrey knew he was going to have to either learn a little French or find someone to translate for him. Jeffrey felt awkward at the thought of doing so, but he had a science project to promote.
So Jeffrey spent a good 5 minutes waving his hands and pointing at the sky looking a little unhinged. He had a jar in his hands and basically played a game of charades, telephone, and a little performance art of miming in between.
Jeffrey knew that they could vaguely understand him, they weren't stupid. However they weren't impressed with an outsider coming in and approaching them. Jeffrey could feel a little hostility since they knew he had certain intentions beyond just making friends.
Jeffrey, not one to give up, had a new goal. Make the French kids buy his Oobleck and in doing so invest in phase 2 of his science project.
Phase 1: Promotion and scientific testing
Phase 2: Create something and get people invested
Phase 3: Change the world
Phase 4: Profit?
Honestly Jeffrey maybe had a better chance at collecting gnomes than talking to the French community, but he was determined to find his way into their community.
So Jeffrey walked away from the experience a little miffed and the French kids continued on their day.
Looking around, he saw other similar groups, the goth kids, the 8th graders, the band geeks, the orchestra dorks, and many many more.
"Freaking hell", Jeffrey thought to himself. His science project just got a whole lot more difficult. Jeffrey could almost feel a series of quest logs pop up.
"New mission acquired: Approach the Goth kids"
"New mission acquired: Talk with the band geeks"
Jeffrey did notice one thing though, a tall lanky Asian kid talking to a celloist with a jar of perfume slime in his hands. In another area of the courtyard a dark haired girl confidently explaining a jar of glow-in-the-dark Oobleck with a cloth covered shoebox.
Seeing the other project members so engaged, he felt that he could continue on. He wasn't doing this alone and there was more to do.
Jeffrey pulled out a notebook and started planning again.
"Need to release a new style of Oobleck art projects. Maybe create a set of collectable slimes later", Jeffrey vented his frustrations onto a piece of paper.