Pardon my French: Part 2

Yesterday, I met with my conversation partner for the second time. It was interesting meeting him again with a pre-established knowledge of each other. Because of that fact, we were able to bypass small talk and get more in depth in our conservation. I feel like I know JP on a deeper level, and my knowledge of his country increased.

JP and I started talking about his week in general. Through that I learned that he has a big test coming up that will determine if he is able to stay at TCU and become a full fledge student. I offered my help with any studying that he may need, and we agreed that we can devote some of our next meeting time to studying. Our conservation then moved onto his spring break plans. JP explained to me that he was going back to France to compete in swimming nationals. Apparently, JP didn't just swim for fun; JP swam to win! Back in New Caledonia, JP went to a high school completely devoted to improving one's athletic abilities. He was boarded there with fellow committed swimmers, wrestlers, soccer players, and horseback riders. I also learned that JP had competed to be apart of the French Olympic swimming team and made it to semifinals.

I was fascinated with JP's life. Not only did he live in a different country than I did, but he lived a completely different lifestyle. While his life was consumed with school, swim, and sleep, I was allowed to pursue a more relaxing lifestyle, filled with family and friends. It is so interesting how many different backgrounds people come from, yet we all ended up at TCU. On the outside, it may seem like JP and I have nothing in common. However, we both have a similar appreciation of football, heart-break story, and enjoyment of the university we attend. It really is amazing how everyone in TCU has at least one thing in common; we are all horned frogs.

After JP told me about his life, we were able to discuss some overarching themes of New Caledonia. While Texas is emerged in the Bible Belt and many students attend church, this is not the case in New Caledonia. JP informed me that many people claim Catholicism as their religion, yet Mass is not an important part of their schedules. We were able to discuss religion, thoughts on family, and thoughts on love. I appreciated how open JP was with me in all that we shared. In all, I really enjoyed my time with JP, and feel like I can learn so much more from him. I still want to see his opinion on humor, and possibly see examples.

P.S. We were able to narrow his dream girl down to a certain sorority. While the search still remains, we are making progress.

Pardon my French: Part 1

Last week, I was finally able to meet up with my conversation partner for the first time.  I was a little nervous prior to him showing up and even had thoughts running through my head about him standing me up.  Luckily, Julien-Pierre, or as he introduced himself JP, showed up right on time. To my surprise, JP spoke decent English which made our conversation easy. With it being our first meeting, JP and I were both a tad awkward at first; however, we both became comfortable quickly.

Our conversation start with JP telling me all about where exactly he is from. JP was born and raised in New Caledonia, an island right off of France. He explained to me that while New Caledonians speak French, they are more educated in speaking English than your average person from France. I was quite fascinated by his homeland. JP was able to tell me all about where he grew up, what the weather was like there, and even showed me many of his favorite pictures. Here are a few....

JP showed me this naturally made spot of vegetation which resembles a heart.  He explained that people from New Caledonia are quite proud of their geography, and landmarks.

JP called this mass of rocks, the Big Hen. If you look at it closely you can see the outline of a hen.

This picture of the beaches in New Caledonia was my favorite. JP explained that he visited the beach often with friends.

After we discussed his homeland and some of the differences between the French and people from New Caledonia, he began telling me about his journey to TCU.  JP had to go to several different countries to prepare for the SAT, but he finally made it to Texas this January. He is currently swimming on the TCU club team and is trying to earn a spot on the TCU swim team.  One of JP's favorite things about TCU is the uplifting and encouraging environment.  He really appreciated how "everyone wanted everyone else to succeed, like teachers and coaches." We ended our conversation with him telling me about a girl he has never met and has a crush on. However, he has high hopes for finding out her name and even narrowed down his search. He thinks she is on the Equestrian team because she wears riding boots with tights most days. I didn't have the heart to tell him that most girls, horseback riders or not, wear riding boots to class. I couldn't crush his optimism that quickly so I agreed to help him find this girl! 

I really enjoyed talking to JP. He was easy to understand and pretty funny. He had my laughing a few times during some of the stories he told. I am interested to talk to him about humor next time we meet and see what makes him laugh. I am also excited to share American culture with him, including our current trends in fashion. In all, I left my conversation with JP with a renewed sense of pride and appreciation for my own country and school. JP showed me how lucky I am to be involved in such a great community where people are welcoming and want the best for one another.  I loved getting to find out his perspective on certain areas and can't wait to learn more from him.

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

Barry's describe of women and men in Tips for Women: How to have a Relationship with a Guy was embarrassingly true and hilarious at the same time.  In this comic read, Barry compared how men and women act in a relationship and gave tips for women at the end to ensure success in the future. To illustrate his point, Barry narrated the story of Elaine and Roger, a couple that had been dating six months until an awkward car ride. When Elaine brings up the fact that her and Roger had been dating that long, she begins to completely over analyze Roger's response of silence. While Elaine starts thinking of everything that could have gone, along with everything that Roger could be thinking, Roger is simply thinking about his car. 

I found this reading extremely relatable and somewhat accurate. As a young women, I can recall several instances in which I overanalyzed a situation. Like Elaine, I too take comfort in spending six hours straight talking with my closest friends about every little detail of a date and what exactly the guy meant by "Hope to see you around." Looking back at the reading, I feel like I may have laughed more just thinking of my own dating experiences, than I did at the readings itself. I wonder how much time I have wasted thinking about what my crush is thinking, when in reality, he is probably just thinking about what he is going to eat for lunch. While Barry used much exaggeration to depict men and women, I feel he achieved his goal of showing the difference between the complexity of women's thoughts with the simplicity of men's.

In addition, I appreciate how familiar and relatable this topic is. All of us have dated, had a crush, or had to deal with a breakup at some time. I enjoyed how Barry poked fun at relationships, a seemingly serious subject. I also enjoyed the great juxtaposition he created between men and women. While it was a little extreme, it gave me a little more insight into how the male brain works. While it is hard for me to completely comprehend the male mind, I can at least appreciate the difference between theirs and mine. In all, I enjoyed this reading and its description of how different that female and male mind work. Its like they all say, men are from Mars, women are venus!

Funny until someone gets hurt?

     First off, I just want to say how much I look forward to coming to class on Monday and Wednesday. I can always guarantee that I will laugh at least once, if not several times. I came to this realization during the class time we completely devoted to funny videos and jokes. I laughed more, and found too many jokes to reuse and videos to share for my own good. Thanks to the class, I got a healthy dose of laughter and cardio (laughing can be a workout) for that day. 

     

One video that I found particularly funny was the babies eating lemon video. How funny, and cute is it to watch little children make the funniest faces? Their naive expectations were suddenly ruined when they took the first tiny bite of the lemon. While it may have been painful for them at the time, it was funny for us watching their reactions. The way these children contorted, then went back for more was just so amusing. On the other hand, watching the Water Fails video just made me cringe, but why?

Looking back at both the videos, the seem to represent the same theory, superiority theory. We are laughing at the unfortunate circumstances of others, secretly glad that we are not experiencing them. Instead we are standing safely at a distance where we can enjoy their uncomfortable situation, yet not involve ourselves in it. We can laugh and giggle without feeling any of the consequences of the funny act. If both these videos thrive on the superiority theory, why did I find one more funny than the other and seemingly less guilty at laughing at? In searching for an answer, I came to two conclusions. 

My first conclusion is in degree of pain experienced during the funny episode. In the baby eating lemons video, the children may have experienced some pain, but it is no where compared to the pain experienced by the guy sliding into the frozen pond. While the baby makes you giggle, the swimmer makes you cringe. Maybe it is just the psychology major in me coming out, but I feel great sympathy for that man. Watching the Water Fails video made me hurt at the same time as those actually experiencing the pain. While I do admit, I let out a few chuckles, I am honestly worried for the people in the video. In all, the babies experienced much less pain which can lend itself to more laughter than some of the fails on the second video.

Secondly, we can know the babies will be okay in the end. We have all tasted a lemon before and came out just fine afterward. Yes, it may sting your mouth at that instant, but you completely forget about that lemon after 30 seconds. We can relate and predict the outcome of the video. We know they will be okay; however, we can not say the same for the water fail video. I honestly don't know what happened to each of the people shown. Some of the incidents shown could have resulted in major, life altering injuries. We can not know for sure what happens in the end, nor can we relate with many of the peoples pain. That draws me to a new question, would the the water fails video still be considered funny if they extended to video to show the people's reaction? If we got to see the man who slide into the frozen pool calling for help afterward, would he still be considered a water fail funny? I am interested to see the last 15 seconds of each of the clips. I wonder if my awkward chuckles, would turn into an heartfelt "awww"? 

In the end, I do still find some of America's Funniest Home Videos and Water Fail clips funny, yet I would love to be rest assured that each of the people involved continued to live a healthy life afterward. Is that too much to ask?