Unexpected Group Dinner in Geneva

I went for a run through the parks and lakeside chateaus of Geneva after a day of meetings at the WMO. It was late when I got back to the hotel, so I headed out for a quick dinner by myself. I was exploring a side street about a km from the hotel when I found a small Indian restaurant that looked good. I stuck my head inside and soon realized there was a group party going on - all the tables were lined up and people were sitting talking, without any food in front of them. I turned to leave but someone came to the door and said "come, join us." I responded "no, I don't want to crash your party." The Swiss woman, speaking English, kept encouraging me. I still hesitated, figuring that everyone worked for some company and I'd feel awkward not having anything in common with them. When she said, no, it's not a company party I asked what everyone had in common. She said "we're all runners!"

Now I couldn't say "no," so I came in and was guided to a remaining seat. It was a great mix of people (expats mostly) doing all sorts of different work - humanitarian, IT, market research. And they didn't all know each other. They came together through a Facebook group. So, not only did I avoid eating alone, I had some great interactions with the locals.