Convo with Chris: Part 4

To celebrate my last meeting with Chris, we decided to meet at Sweet Frog for some froyo.  Because of my poor eating earlier that day, I decided not to get my own frozen yogurt.  When Chris came back to the table with his yogurt, he informed me that he got enough to share.  The precious boy even put an extra spoon in his cup.  I was pleasantly surprised by Chris sweet gesture and took it as a sign of our friendship.  Earlier in the semester, I voiced my disappointment in Chris’s lack of disclosure.  However, through the rest of our visits our friendship has gradually increased.  This meeting time we talked some more about his family, as well as the family dynamics in China.  Chris explained that he was an only child, mostly due to the one-child policy in China.  His mother is a homemaker, while his father is a businessman.  He is equally close to his parents, but sometimes wishes he had siblings. 

Later in the conversation, we talked about our favorite desserts.  Chris shared that one of his favorite sweets is a cake eaten during the Chinese Moon Festival.  Apparently, the Chinese hold a festival in the middle of autumn in celebration of the full moon.  During this festival, fully lit lanterns are used to decorate the streets, traditional games are played, and sacrifices are made to the moon god.  The Chinese, as well as some neighboring countries, use this festival to celebrate unity among the family and close friends.  The moon cakes, as shown below, are split up between each member of the family and eaten in celebration.  Chris described the cakes as having different fillings, and being quite delicious.   I enjoyed hearing about this Chinese holiday and the significance it has in Chris’s life.

Typical mooncake

The Moon Festival

Later, Chris and I discussed our living plans for next year.  For the past two years, Chris has been living on campus, first in Waits then in the TCU section of the Grand Marc. He shared his excitement to finally move off campus with an international friend.  They will living to a local apartment complex that is within walking distance to campus. He was most eager about getting a new roommate.  Although Chris and his current roommate don't fight, they aren't necessarily friends either. After about 45 minutes, we ended our conversation so that both of us could get some much needed studying done. Chris and I gave each other warm wishes and a hug as we walked off in our separate ways. 

Reflecting back on my time with Chris and JP,  I am grateful I got to meet such great guys. Although they come from different cultures and backgrounds, I appreciate the time they both spent with me.  They were patient with all my questions and were eager to explain their cultures. It was cool to see the progress, in the english language and American culture, that each of them made as well. Through this service learning process, I feel that my knowledge of other cultures have been broadened. I sincerely hope that I am able to see Chris and JP again next semester and catch up on their lives!


 

Convo with Chris: Part 3

I met with Chris twice last week to finish off our meetings.  For the first meeting we met at our normal spot, the bookstore.  There we got our free drinks to keep us quenched for our conversation. We began talking about our week and how we were doing that day. Chris revealed he was a little stressed about his psychology final and IEP exam.  He explained his desire to graduate from IEP so that he could begin taking more classes for his major, business.  To accelerate the schooling process, he is taking two classes during the summer. It is encouraging to see someone so eager to learn.  So many times college students complain about classes, especially summer school, yet Chris was excited.  Chris went on to explain that after he finished a month of summer school, he would return to China for some much needed family and friend time.  Although we were both exhausted from the week, Chris and I agreed that it is necessary to cherish each moment we have left of this semester.     Our conversation then progressed to the topic of music.  Chris explained that he enjoyed all types of music, and has even attended a few concerts in Texas.  Although he prefers Chinese musicians, he still enjoys American music.  Some of his favorite artists include Mariah Carey, Taylor Swift, and the Lumineers.  I chuckled when Chris confidently stated who the greatest American artist of all time was, Michael Jackson! It is amazing how much Chris knows about the American culture and language.  Even prior to coming to TCU, he could almost speak fluent English because of the classes he took in school. I began to feel slightly embarrassed that he knew so much English, whereas I could not speak a lick of Mandarin.  From my experience, it seems like other countries are more aware of their surrounding cultures.   For example, both my conversation partners were taught English throughout all their years in school, whereas I started learning a foreign language in high school.  Even though Chris is so fluent in English, he still stumbles on a few words.  We found that our Iphones were a valuable asset to our conversations.  Chris has a Chinese to English word translator on his phone, as well Google to show pictures of certain items.  This resource was especially helpful when we were talking about our drink choices.  Chris was disappointed in the drink he got because it was not what he pictured in his mind.  Instead of a vanilla bean frappiccuno, he ordered a vanilla cappuccino.  We solved this problem by using our phones to look up pictures of his desired drink, as well as how to pronounce it.  Our conversation finally ended with planning our last meeting time, and wishing each other luck on the rest of the week.  In all, I enjoyed my time with Chris, and the chuckles we shared.  It seems like Chris is opening up more, which I appreciate. My last blog about my conversation partner is coming later today, so get ready!