Fourth Meeting with Joe

My fourth meeting with Joe proved to be one of the most entertaining ones yet. I think it was a great learning experience for both of us.  We have now gotten to a point where we are comfortable talking to each other without there being as many pauses and language barriers. Joe can get when I don’t understand what he is saying and I am the same way. We both try to re word what we tell each other to make things as easy as possible to understand. I am truly enjoying each of these meetings.  At this particular meeting, Joe had a lot of questions for me regarding American culture. They happened to be really funny and we were both laughing in the middle of Union Grounds. I wonder what the people around us thought.

As we’re sitting at the table Joe puts on a serious face and says, “Danielle, I have a question for you” I responded “yeah what’s up?” in response Joe said “Why do American boys not use Umbrellas?” I sat there staring at him wondering what to say in response. I never really thought about that kind of thing so here he is eager for my answer and I’m having what I like to call “word salad” trying to give my explanation. Before I could continue my confusing answer Joe explained that he was carrying an umbrella around campus the other day and was confused when people were giving him strange looks. He thought everyone was crazy not for having one, “in Japan, guys use umbrellas, we don’t like getting wet.”  I have to say that is a valid point. The conclusion I came to in response to Joe’s question was that I don’t think guys around TCU think too much about carrying and umbrella around with them. I know I have an umbrella and I have it 1. To keep me dry and 2. As a cute accessory to my rain gear (cheesy I know). Guys don’t think too much about the second one and I’m sure they just believe a hooded sweatshirt will suffice. Any guy that has a better explanation please feel free to leave a comment and elaborate, maybe I can give Joe a better answer at our next meeting.

After that whole situation got semi figured out, Joe again asked me another question. “Danielle, do you have a boyfriend?” This question took me a little more by surprise. I answered him yes, and he looked happy with my answer “good, I want to know what Americans do on dates!” I guess I knew that different cultures have different ways of courtship but it never really crossed my mind. I explained to Joe that typical American dates included things like dinners, movies, trips to the zoo, going out downtown, and other similar activities. I asked Joe the same question and he said that in Japan people like to karaoke on dates and watch movies.  Sounds fun to me! He said people didn’t go to dinner and out to eat as much, which I found surprising because that seems to be one of the most popular things to do on a date here in the United States.

I think one of the best questions Joe asked me was “Danielle, do you like pizza?” I wanted to responded with “uhh YESSSS” but I knew that he would probably not understand my obsession with pizza. So I responded with an ecstatic “yes!”  I asked Joe if he liked pizza and he said he loved it but he explained how expensive it was in Japan. I was curious to how expensive it really was so Joe pulled up this picture of a comparison diagram between what you can get in Japan and America for the same price. For the price of about thirty American dollars you can get one pizza in Japan. I was shocked and realized I never could live in Japan. But on a serious note, I was shocked and Joe explained that although he likes pizza a lot its something people don’t eat a lot in Japan because it is so expensive.

This fourth meeting with Joe was by far one of the best. I learned so much more about him and his Japanese culture than I have at any of our other meetings. Likewise, I think that Joe had a lot of his questions answered about American culture. I can’t wait to see what the next meeting has in store!

What I've Learned Thus Far

Well here I am mid November, trying to come to terms with where all the time has gone. Each semester that passes by seems to be going quicker than the last. I have to say though, this semester has taught me a lot.

They say that classes are supposed to get more difficult with each semester. While I do believe there is some truth to this statement, I would have to say that overall it is not this way for me. When I was a freshman at TCU I was taking a plethora of classes that did not pertain to anything that I wanted to do with my life. I merely took these classes to earn core credit. However, I should put a disclaimer here, even though some of the classes I have taken don’t apply to my future career, there have been ones that have been incredibly rewarding. For the most part though, I find it harder to enjoy a class that has little do with my major or natural interests. For example, Spanish. It’s a great class and I wish I had it in me to still have the ability to learn a language, but I am going to go out on a limb and say that ship has sailed. There have been other classes though, such as this class (lit and Civ) that has been surprisingly enjoyable. I never thought that I would take a class that would allow me to study the topic of humor so widely. I know that I am guilty of looking at the world through an ethnocentric point of view, and this class has really allowed me to see humor in a whole new light. Studying how other people perceive humor and how humor has developed over time is such an interesting topic. I feel that this class has allowed me to stop and as they say “smell the roses” and take in everything that this class has to offer. One thing in particular that has stood out for me in this class is the conversational partner project. I really look forward to meeting with my partner, Joe, every week. It has been such a great experience talking with him and learning things I would have never even thought out before. This class has allowed me to become more culturally aware of humor.

My other classes this semester have been positive experiences as well. I am pleased to say that I do not have any classes or teachers that make me dread going to class. One class that I was worried about this semester was Biology, because it had been a long time since I have last taken a biology class. To my surprise it hasn’t been a problem at all and I actually enjoy going to the class. I did not forget as much as I thought I would have from high school. The classes I am taking for my Speech-Language Pathology major are also going quite well this semester. I have been able to work directly with a client, which is beyond rewarding. This past weekend I went home to Chicago to go to a convention for my major. The American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) was having their annual convention in the city, and I thought that it would be great opportunity to be able to learn more about my major and look at graduate school programs. After going to the convention I realized that this decision was one of the best I have made my entire time at TCU. I now feel like I am for sure in the right place with what I want to do. I know that I have a lot ahead of me in the next two semesters before I graduate but it will be a positive journey. I have a lot of preparation for grad school and it makes me nervous to think about all the aspects involved with getting accepted into a school. After talking with many different universities and admission staff I now know the tasks I need to accomplish to get these things done. I have learned so much this semester about what I need to do to get myself where I want to be in the future and I am truly looking forward to seeing how all of it will play out. I know that along the way there are still going to be challenges but I keep telling myself that the outcomes will far outweigh all the stress and work that is involved with the process.

Unexpected Visitors (uncontrollable laughter)

My favorite part of fall semester by far is football season. Even though the Frogs are not doing so hot this year, I still love going out to the games. However, I really do believe that the early morning games (yes 11am is early for me) do crazy things to people. Don’t believe me? Please continue to read the following story. It was an eleven o’clock morning game and I was not thrilled to wake up early, but I knew that it would be fine once I got up and went to tailgate. After decking out in purple my friends and I headed over to a few different tailgates before the game. I have to say that tailgating is such a great idea. I don’t know whom to thank for inventing the concept but I am grateful for it. After stuffing my friends and I were done eating a socializing with friends we decided to head over to the game. Again I love my frogs but it has not been easy to watch them play this season.

            About half way through the game I could tell that my roommates were getting tired and we all decided that it was time to leave. Of course we were hungry so we ordered a pizza and headed back to our apartment. When we got back we feasted and all passed out on the couch (with the game on of course). After about a few hours we all kind of woke up but still were sprawled out in various locations of the living room. I decided it would be the decent thing to do to get up and possibly get ready for going out later in the evening, so I got up and walked towards my room. After walking to my room I realized I left my phone on the couch so I went to walk back into the living room when I hear the front door open. I knew that everyone was home so I walked over to see who could be walking in. To my surprise they were not familiar faces.

            The people who walked in looked like they were a couple, a confused couple. I looked at my friend Cat and asked her if they were her friends. She looked at me with confusion and said no who are they. Then, it happened. They started speaking and we had no idea what they were saying. It was clear that they were in the wrong place but we didn’t know what to say. Finally one of them muttered a room number and I explained to them that they were looking for a room that was down the hall. In my head I thought that they would head on their way but they just stood there (rather intoxicated looking) and starred at me. I started showing them to the door when the guy turned around and asked, “How did I get here?” I remember thinking “How am I supposed to tell you that? You just walked in my apartment and awkwardly starred at me for two minutes and now you decide to ask me a question?” I told him that I had no idea how he got here and he asked me again how he had gotten here, and followed that up with I’m so sorry, I’m so lost. I told him that room 204 was down the hallway. They set off down the hall and I shut the door behind them. I turned to my roommates and we all busted out laughing. This had to be the strangest encounter we had ever had in our apartment. But wait… there’s more!

            There is a famous saying, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Well shame on me for not locking the door after the first encounter because 20 minutes later we heard the door open, and once again there they were. Standing starring at us. This time the guy was quick to say, “I’m so sorry, can you tell me where I am?” Getting a little freaked out my roommates and I pointed to 204 (which is the room they walked into when they left) and explained to them again, that they were in the wrong room. After telling them all of this, they still stood there and starred. My roommates and I all looked and each other and I guess I got voted to be the brave one because I again had to escort them out of our apartment. This time I locked the door behind me. Here is the part that would seemingly be the conclusion to my story, but unfortunately there’s more. My roommate and I went to go grab some food to eat and as we opened the door we see the couple standing there as if they were trying to get in. They quickly walked away an as we headed toward the elevator I ran back to the door and locked it. When we got back to our apartment we told our other roommates and could not stop laughing. This had to be the weirdest but most entertaining encounter we had ever had.

Third Meeting With Joe. An English Learning Experience!

My third meeting with Joe proved to be quite interesting. We started off our conversation by catching up on what had happened to both of us during the last week or so. Joe was very intrigued by all the people he saw in Halloween costumes over the weekend. I asked him if he was familiar with Halloween and while he did know what it was, he said it was not something celebrated in Japan like we do here. He told me how he was at a friend’s house during Halloween and found it interesting and funny to see all the kids dressed in costumes come to the door and ask for candy. I guess I kind of figured everyone one participated in Halloween, but obviously that is kind of a narrow-minded thought. I do believe that one of the best things about this conversational partner project is being able to think outside of my American bubble and really see how someone else lives, and also how they experience our country. Life in Japan seems far different than life in the United States but it seems like Joe is doing a great job adjusting to American culture!

At this meeting in particular Joe and I discussed in depth about academics and classes. I went through what a normal week is like for me and how I feel about my classes and Joe did the same.  While both of us are at TCU taking classes, our lives could not be more different. For instance, our schedules during the day are quite the opposite. Because Joe is in IEP he has all of his classes during a blocked schedule time, whereas I feel like I am bouncing all over campus each say of the week. Joe starts around nine and ends at about one, which is when we meet every week. Not only are the times between our classes different but also his classes are all based around learning English. Joe explained to me that after this meeting he had to go take a test over English grammar. I was fascinated to see what he was learning so I asked him to show me what his quiz was going to be over. Joe pulled out his English grammar workbook and flipped to the topic that he was learning about. Since I am so used to looking at Spanish workbooks when it comes to learning a language, it was quite interesting to see what it looks like to learn English. I guess from flipping through Joe’s workbook I came to the conclusion that English cannot be an easy language to learn. Even though I knew everything that was being taught in the book, trying to explain why certain aspects of language are the way they are is a hard concept to grasp. Joe was working on the use of the English “to be” When I was looking at the exercises in his book I could fill in the blanks with the correct answer but when trying to explain it to Joe I found myself stumbling at my words. It is a very difficult task to try and explain how to learn language when you acquired the language so long ago. I found myself coming the realization that what Joe and all the other IEP students are doing is extremely difficult, but it must be so rewarding to accomplish learning a new language. I wish I could say the same about my Spanish speaking and writing abilities.

            A particularly funny event occurred when Joe and I were discussing aspects of language during our meeting. We were talking about the concept of using “good” vs. “well” You would think that by now I would have this part of language mastered but I’m sad to say that I do not. However, I do see a lot of other people my age and older struggle with the same thing. The other day in one of my classes I made an error in using good instead of well and I felt so silly for making the mistake aloud. It baffles me how everything sounds good in my head but when I go to speak it all falls apart. I was explaining to Joe how I had this dilemma in one of my classes and then I tried to explain the idea between the two words. It was really funny trying to explain and come up with examples for Joe, I’m sure people passing by us at Union Grounds thought we were crazy.

            This Third meeting with Joe proved to be quite the learning experience for both of us in terms of understanding the English language. I guess the idea that we never stop learning is fairly accurate, especially after today!