Conversation Partner: meeting #1

Yesterday, I met with a foreign exchange student named WeiRan Feng. We met in the TCU bookstore. He brought two of his friends along as well because they had a big English speaking exam the next day. Conversing went well with the three of them and interesting topics were discussed.

To start the conversation, I kept to the basics. I asked each of them where they were from, what they wanted to study, and how they decided upon it. They said they were all from the middle of China close to Shanghai. One of them (I forgot his name, but I think he went by the American name of Jason) wanted to study economics or film at TCU. He is eighteen and has lived here for four months. Right now he is in the English program, which upon completion allows him to study at TCU. Simon, the other friend of WeiRan, wants to study business, but he is still undecided. He is twenty-one or two. He said both were his age. I think he mixed up his numbers a bit, but he is one of those ages. He has lived here for a full year and has a German Shepard dog. Once he completes the English program, he will be able to begin studying at TCU. WeiRan had a different story. His father is making him come to TCU and study engineering. He never had a choice. He sounded very disappointed about it. At the age of nineteen he has no freedom and is living under his father's authoritarian rule. The other two boys raved about how TCU became their top pick in secondary school for college, but WeiRan said he heard about TCU because his father said he had to go here. My heart went out to him. Having to grow up with no choices is sad and stifling.

Soon after covering the basics, we began to discuss food. Sadly, I must admit, I started this conversation as well. I learned that in China they rarely eat cheese, unlike Americans. My mouth dropped. They looked at me like I had two heads. They giggled some at my astonishment and obsession with cheese. Yes, I love cheese: blue cheese, cheddar, provolone, brie, parmesan, etc. They said that in China you sometimes have cheese on meals at restaurants, but rarely at "home dinner." I asked them what were the typical dishes they ate at home. Since they all live by a sea, they ate a lot of seafood, such as different kinds of fish. After looking at a map of China, I think we had a miscommunication about where they live. There are no seas in the middle of China and If they are from Shanghai, they are from the western part of China.

Annie, the cutest dog alive! Still beautiful at 14-years old!

Next, I asked them if they ate dogs. I know, probably a bad idea, but I HAD to know. They laughed at me once more and said that some people do, but they haven't. I can't decide if they made up this answer because they saw the sad look on my expressive face or if they really don't eat dogs. I then proceeded to whip out my phone and show them a picture of my dog back home. I said "could you ever think of eating that cute face?" They caught on to my jest and laughed again. I think my enthusiasm made them nervous at first, but they soon warmed up to me. I'm sure in their heads they were thinking "crazy American."

We continued with the wonderful topic of food. They began to tell me of the Asian Buffet, a restaurant off of W Berry that they love to eat at. They offered even to take me to eat there sometime with them. I asked them if they ever ate sushi, but they said that is predominantly Japanese and they do not eat it often.

Once the topic of food became exhausted, we moved on to the topic of family. I asked if each of them had a sibling. WeiRan is an only child, Simon has one brother, and Jason (the unknown) is an only child. I asked if they were homesick, but they acted like they were well adjusted and only missed their families sometimes. I told them I got homesick often even though my family lived in Texas. They all got a good chuckle out of that. WeiRan said "you can go home any weekend you want! Your family is not far." Compared to the thousands of miles they must travel home, my 200 odd miles seems measly.

With a lull in the conversation, Jason started to say something to the other two in Chinese. I sat there a little confused. Jason said something else to WeiRan. WeiRan replied, "would you like me to tell her?" Then WeiRan looked at me and said, "he thinks you are pretty." Jason became quite flustered at this and felt awkward. Obviously, Jason did not intend for WeiRan to let the cat out of the bag. I just said thank you and tried to move on with the conversation to stop the awkwardness.

Next, we began to discuss adjusting to Fort Worth and how they liked the city. They all found Fort Worth boring and liked Dallas better! I mentioned Billy Bob's as a joke, but they did not catch on. They really enjoyed Dallas because of the big city and Chinatown. This made complete sense. If an "Americantown" existed in China when I lived there, you could bet big money that every weekend I would be haunting the place. We then discussed different Chinatowns around the country, such as in New York City and San Francisco. They all found California, especially San Francisco, cool and interesting, but came to Texas for diversity.

Somehow, we soon got on the topic of ethnicity, probably from talking about how diverse America is. Each one of them is pure Chinese. I started to list off all of my heritage: "I am British, French, German, Irish--" Jason interjected "Spanish" This gave me a chuckle. I replied, "no, but I am part Native American." Poor Jason stood 2 for 0 on the embarrassed scale. They seemed intrigued at how many ethnicities I had combined in my genealogy. Jason thought that I spoke some of the languages since they were all a part of my history. I sadly replied, "no." I then jested about how the American school system failed me. They nodded emphatically in assent.

The American school system brought us to our next topic: the Chinese school system. I found out that school in China is very competitive. They have five weeks off for summer and no weekends during the school year. If you do poorly on the college entrance exam, you can only go into drawing, music, or medicine. The latter shocked me. In America, the medical field is held in high-esteem and full of prestige. Again, they began to giggle at our blatant cultural differences. Simon mentioned that if he had his way, he would draw all the time. He loves drawing, but his family does not view it as a viable career. For this reason, he will study business.

After exhausting most of these topics, our conversation came to a close. I had an appointment to go to soon. We agreed to meet again next Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. in the same place. I greatly enjoyed my first visit with all of them and look forward to meeting them again.