Conversation Number 5!

Last week, Alex and I decided that we would meet on Sunday at 6 for dinner like our previous meeting.  At 6:00 I was standing at Union Grounds when we decided to meet and I found myself standing there by myself for 5 minutes.  I texted Alex asking if we were still meeting, and he replied saying he completely forgot about our meeting and asked if we could move it to Monday.  Immediately following class today (Monday), Alex and I met at Union Grounds for some coffee (or in my case hot chocolate) and conversation; we had a visitor today, too!  One of Alex’s friends, Leo, was with him and joined us for our conversation.

The dynamic of the conversation was different having an extra person, but it was a good change!  It was neat to meet another person and have a conversation as a group.  Our conversation began with the usual introductions for Leo and myself, as any first time meeting on a college campus would begin.  I found myself struggling to understand Leo sometimes, but Alex would translate for me which was pretty cool!  The three of us talked about the weather and how relieved we were that it is no longer so hot outside.  We then talked about music and the types of music we enjoy listening to.  They had some friends going to the Justin Bieber concert tonight, and the three of us agreed that he was definitely not our favorite artist.  Leo then asked who my favorite artist was and I quickly answered Train.  I realized though that the chance of them knowing who Train is was a long shot and was about to start explaining to them when Alex said, “Oh, the band that sings that song Drive By.”  I think my day was made when he knew who Train was. 

Leo and Alex had a lot of questions about classes at TCU and the format and such.  For the remainder of our time this is what we discussed.  We discussed the sorts of classes I take for my major, what they want their major and minor to be, textbooks for classes, and the format of lectures and tests.  It was interesting having to explain these different aspects and concepts of classes to them, as it is just second-nature to me at this point.  It is so common for me that I forget it is a foreign concept to them.  I sure hope I did a good job explaining everything! 

We wrapped up our conversation after 45 minutes as Leo and Alex had grand plans of hitting the gym and working out!  All in all, today’s conversation was awesome and extremely interesting.  It was cool to have a small group type setting for a conversation and to gain perspective from another individual. 

Hokum Readings

I have found Hokum, an anthology of African-American humor, to be an interesting, surprising, and confusing read. 

In regards to the first selection, “When De Co’n Pone’s Hot,” I could for the most part understand the writing but there are a few lines I could not, and therefore am confused on the meaning and context of this story.  In regards to the last story, The Bone of Contention, I enjoyed the story and especially the punch line at the end.

But the reading that affected me the most was the “Assorted Jokes Compiled by Alex Rogers.”  I found these assorted jokes to be fairly humorous, some even evoking slight chuckles and laughter from me while reading.  I believe that this was due to the set-up and the way these jokes were presented, as well as the wit of these jokes.  The perception of the joke and then the punch-line was different than expected, or was witty, which made these jokes humorous.  However, what confused me is that these jokes seem to be making fun of a colored person, or make them seem stupid and ignorant.  If some of us in this class were to say some of these jokes then we would be perceived as racist, or someone who enjoys racial humor.  So the reason I am so surprised is because these jokes, poems, and stories we are reading in Hokum are written by African-Americans, and therefore why do they find this as humorour or why do they portray themselves in humor this way.  I am not sure why I was so curious and wondering so much about these jokes, but I even read some and was discussing the context and humor with some friends.

In general, Hokum has not been my favorite read so far, and mainly I think that is due to the fact that I don’t fully understand the humor.  This could be due to the cultural context and time-period, where I am simply missing the point and the humor. 

Conversation Number 4!

After our wonderful conversation on Wednesday about food, Alex and I decided to meet for dinner at Market Square on Sunday at 6:00pm.  Sometimes food and talking combined can have awkward moments; you know, the whole ask a question right when the other person is stuffing food in their mouth and then can’t talk due to the food in their mouth and the proper rules of etiquette.  Well yes, there were a few of those occurrences, but for the most part our conversation went smoothly!

Alex was interested in learning more about my major and future job.  To someone who has no idea what physical therapy is, it is doubtful he would know about the even more obscure field of occupational therapy, which was the case with Alex.  Luckily, I am pretty used to having to simplify this topic in order to explain the field of occupational therapy because even most Americans do not know about the field; they are only familiar with physical therapy.  So explaining the field of occupational therapy was challenging and Alex did not quite understand it at first.  He didn’t understand the rehabilitation aspect and that I would be helping people in a clinic type setting.  Eventually though, he did understand (or at least pretended to understand) what I was explaining to him.

Our other topic of discussion on Sunday was about some cultural and development differences between China and America.  Our first subcategory was in regards to TV shows and movies.  Alex told me about two shows he is really invested in watching since he came to America – Lost and Walking Dead.  I have not seen either of these shows which he was surprised about!  But honestly, I haven’t seen many shows or movies; it is definitely an area where I lack knowledge.  We did discuss superhero movies and how they are so big in America, but in China the comic is not.  After that, we talked about movies that were huge successes in America that were also popular in China such as Star Wars and Harry Potter.  The other subcategory we discussed, this one in regards to the development of the countries, was transportation.  It is amazing how dependent we Americans are on automobiles to get from place to place, where in China people walk, bike, or heavily rely on the public transportation system.  My one experience abroad was to London where we rode the public transportation system basically everywhere.  And honestly, I loved it!  Everything went smoothly, and all I needed was a map to guide me!  Here though, the roads can be confusing and after traveling this weekend realized how dependent I am on Google and the internet maps to get anywhere new or unfamiliar.  We also talked about the cycle we have experienced in regards to transportation.  When America wasn’t as “developed” we relied on trains to transport us places.  And then the car was invented and we saw that as an important invention that every family should utilize and sure enough became the mode of transportation with railway a dying way of traveling except in regards to products and goods.  However, now we are pushing public transportation on people due to our nonrenewable energy sources depleting.  Now the “old-fashioned way” of mass transportation is actually the best mode in order to save fuel and be eco-friendly.  It is amazing to see how our country has come full circle, and the fact that an outsider from the U.S. has noticed this.  This, in part, is due to the fact that he is unable to travel easily or get to places he wants to since he doesn’t have a car and the public transportation cannot get him everywhere he desires. 

I especially enjoyed our conversation on Sunday, and loved learning about some cultural and lifestyle similarities and differences in American and China!

Conversation Number 3!

Well, a month later the third conversation finally occurred!  I had attempted to contact Alex for 3 weeks with no response.  I thought I had scared him off or that I was just a really boring person to have to meet with.  Last Friday I randomly ran into him in the BLUU and so we talked!  He explained his phone wasn’t working so was unable to contact me.  He gave me his email address and we decided to meet as usual, Wednesday afternoon at 2pm at Union Grounds.

Being ignored for three weeks really worried me!  I was just hoping that I hadn’t actually scared Alex off and that he would show up for our meeting.  2:00 hit and he hadn’t arrived; 2:02 and he still wasn’t there.  But at 2:03 he came strolling into Union Grounds and boy was I relieved!  We began our conversation with the student favorite topic of Fall Break.  Alex stayed at TCU of course, but said his favorite event of the long weekend was going to Six Flags.  He really enjoyed the rollercoasters, which apparently scared his friends a little.  I asked him what his favorites were, but he did not know the names of the rides; he was only able to describe them based on the color.  Luckily, I am a Six Flags, rollercoaster loving person and knew exactly which rides he was referring to.  Alex is used to rollercoasters, as there are many amusement parks in China which he would frequent.

Also over Fall Break, Alex made some authentic Chinese food.  He made his favorite dish from home that his Grandma would always make.  I learned that his grandparents are actually farmers and all that they grow and raise, which was very interesting.  Alex told me that he wishes there was farm land around here, as that is something he thinks of when he thinks of America, but has yet to see;also, seeing farmland would make him feel more at home.  His grandmother cooks with wine a lot, so he said the dish he made this weekend wasn’t quite the same without the wine; darn American 21-and-over drinking laws.  This discussion of food he made led to us talking about food in general for the duration of our time together.  We talked mainly about vegetables and the food that is available in the BLUU.  Needless to say, I left our conversation extremely hungry for food and excited for our next conversation.