Wandering to Nowhere

His companions said to him: “Why are you doing this?” Replied the man: “What concern is it of yours? Am I not drilling under my own place?”

Said they to him: “But you will flood the boat for us all!” (Quoted in Midrash Rabbah, Vayikra 4:6).

A very smol howl [Sound on]

Listen to what the other person has to say about the topic.

Ask a question about what they said. Asking them to clarify or explain something you don’t understand is great, but any question will do. All else fails, ask them to explain what they like about some part of the topic.

Listen to their responses and go back to step 2.

Do this until 5-15 minutes has passed, then change the subject to a topic of your interest, unless you are actually interested in learning more on this subject, in which case, go on for as long as you like.

Sometimes, they will say something like “I’m sorry to blather on about [topic].” This is an attempt at a conversational dismount. You can either say “no, it was fascinating, thanks” and then bring up your own topic, or you can say “no, it’s fascinating, please keep going” if you want to keep hearing about their topic. Note the tense difference (past -> moving on, present -> keep going).

2. No voice but you hear it

3. The handle struggle

4. Hijab & Shoulders

He already knew how to fight with Water Tribe weapons/regalia:

Then, in what’s likely the first Earth Kingdom village he’s ever visited, he learned how to fight with the Warriors of Kyoshi:

When he reached the Northern Air Temple, he was able to tap into the philosophy of the airbenders and realize that the best way to win a battle is to avoid face-to-face confrontation by instead using creative means (and the sky) to take down your opponent:

And finally, when he reached the Fire Nation, Piandao taught him how to forge a unique weapon and hone his swordsmanship:

Sokka learned all four non-bending styles!

Really puts Iroh’s quote into a different context: