Simple conversation starters

What topics are common "conversation starters"? In many cultures it is the weather. Which of these "weather" words do you know? If you are not sure of a word's meaning you can ask "What does ~~~ mean?" Use it for some of these:

It's freezing / cold / chilly / wet / miserable / windy / cool / warm / pleasant / beautiful / hot / humid / steamy / boiling

How does the person in this conversation start? Do you know others? Here is one example:
Beautiful day isn’t it!
Yes it is.
Are you from around here?
No, I'm from a place called Muroran in Japan. Do you know Muroran?
No, I've never heard of it. Where is it?
It’s in the southern part of the north island of Japan. What about you?
I’m from Rionegro. It’s a small city in central Colombia. You know, I’m really interested in Japanese names. What does your name mean?
Well, my name is Kazuya Suzuki. My family name has two Chinese characters. The first is “Suzu”. It means bell. The second is ”ki” and it means tree. My parents called me Kazuya. That name also has two characters. The first means ”peace” or ”harmony” and the second doesn't really have a meaning. It is like ”to be” or ”is”, so I suppose my given name means ”is harmony”.
Wow! That is cool Kazuya. Looks like our bus is coming. My name is Juan Otero by the way. Nice to meet you.
And you Juan.

2.1

Did you notice how they explained where they are from? Here are some examples explaining where a town is:

"I'm from Wakanai. It's in the north of Hokkaido."

"I'm from Wakanai. It's in northern Hokkaido."

Where are you from? Explain it.

2.2

Finding out about people's names is interesting. Ask a partner what their name means? Do they know what it means? Try to explain yours - maybe this site will help you.

2.3

There are other things people might ask you when you meet them for the first time. If you are a college student, they may ask "What is your major?" If you are a high school student they might ask "Do you want to go to college?" or "What do you want to major in at college?"

What are other "introduction" type questions?