I decided to sit in the Academic Forum to do my “people-watching”.
I saw a guy and two girls sitting together at in an open space. The guy was sitting on the left, and a girl, who seems to be his girlfriend, was on his right, and to her right was the other girl, who seemed to be her friend. At first glance, they all seemed to be good friends, but then I seen that the girl who was sitting next to guy was in very intimate space (about 2-6 fists away). This girl showed a lot of nonverbal communication that indicated she and the guy were dating. The girl and the guy also showed that they were comfortable sitting as close as they were. When the guy would say something she would laugh, take her hand and cover her mouth a little to hide how much she was smiling, straighten her posture so that her back was arched and her left shoulder was toward him. When there was no talking they would periodically touch each other on the shoulder or arm, just because. For instance, the girl would say something and she’d take her hand and tap the guys shoulder like “aha, stop it” or “yeah, I know”. And he would put his arms around her and rub her shoulder as to say “this is my girlfriend” or to show that they liked each other.
As for the other girl, she was very casual. She sat about a handshake away from the girl, which was about 2 arm lengths away from the guy. That let me know that she may not have been as close with the guy as she was the girl, so she was trying to sit in the appropriate amount of space to even them out and show the difference in the relationship. The girl did not talk as much, which definitely let me know that she had more rapport with the girl and did not know the guy as well. Her posture was not the same as the other girl. Her posture was more so hunched, and her expressions were not as enthusiastic as the guy or the other girl that she was sitting with. It seemed as if this girl did not feel as comfortable sitting with her friend and the guy, who seemed to have been her boyfriend. By her facial expressions the girl seemed as if she was just trying to be a good friend, but would have felt more comfortable if the guy was not there.
Sasha -- nice work. Remember to try to provide your reader with little introductions and conclusions (i.e. how kinesics can tell us a lot about the people we see). There's one grammar note. "but then I seen that the girl who" should use the word "saw." Overall, this is well done.
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