First Meeting with Yusuke "Joe"

After a lot of confusion and trouble shooting I finally had the opportunity to be assigned a partner for the conversational partner project! My partner’s name is Yusuke but he told me to call him “Joe” for convenience. Joe just arrived in Fort Worth about two weeks ago from Japan and started taking IEP classes at TCU shortly after. I can’t even imagine what it must be like switching gears and coming all the way to Texas! I learned a lot about Joe and his background from our first meeting and I can already tell that this will be an enriching experience.

During our meeting Joe explained to me how beneficial this partnering project is to him in order to help him gain experience talking with a native English speaker. I came into this assignment thinking that I was the only one getting educational benefits from it, but it turns out that this is not the case at all. Joe was enthusiastic and open when he was talking with me and it made our conversations flow easily. I found it funny how little both of us knew about where each is from. I thought I had a better idea about Japan, but I was sadly mistaken. I think the only thing I could relate to was the location of Tokyo and a love of sushi. At the same time though, Joe did not know as much about the United States as I would have thought. In reality it all makes sense but as humans we are very self-driven and it sometimes is a challenge to think about how other people experience life. Joe and I talked for a while on what we find funny. He showed me a few videos from a Japanese television show, which I obviously did not understand in terms of language. I still found some humor in the video because it was apparent through the actions of the different characters. It kind of reminded me of we discussed silent films in class, and how the physical actions of the characters create humor. While I couldn’t understand what was being said, I could pick up on the humor based on what I saw.      

Joe and I talked a lot about classes and school and how different both of our experiences are here at TCU. Even though we share similar surroundings the things we do here at TCU are completely different. There is more structure to the IEP classes and they go from 9- 1pm. I feel like with my classes I’m all over campus at all hours of the day doing so many different things. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to learn a new language and all of its components while being simultaneously immersed in the culture. Even though its challenging Joe said he really is enjoying himself at TCU so far, I mean who wouldn’t?!

One thing that Joe and I had in common that I found particularly interesting is that we both have the experience of coming to TCU from a place that’s not like Texas at all. I know Chicago doesn’t seem far but it is a completely different world up there than it is down here (at least from my experiences). I can say that I love both Chicago and Fort Worth in their own ways and I’ve been so lucky to have the opportunity to expand my education away from where I grew up. I think that is how Joe feels and I’m sure a lot of the IEP students. It is such a wonderful and enriching opportunity to learn about a new place, and even more so a new language and culture. I am really looking forward to getting to know more about Joe within our next meetings. I can already tell this is going to be a great experience!