I finally met up with Harrison for our second meeting.
Tests, projects and various social events had gotten in the way of another meeting. But it was good to see him again. One of his first comments was how I looked so much better than when we last met up and he was glad that I wasn't sick anymore. Well, last meeting I was hacking up my lungs and probably looked pretty rough. I thought that it was sweet of him to make sure that I knew he remembered our last conversation.
We started with the usual small talk: how each other was doing, the weather, and roommates. Then we started to talk about yesterday's Oklahoma game. Harrison was so passionate! He came up with a theory about the alternating wins and losses, and how the wins get bigger and the losses get smaller. His conclusion is that the gap will close on the losses and become big wins. I like the way he thinks.
Harrison also surprised me with his passion for the NBA. He knew all of the statistics from the last championship game. I felt like I was the one who needed a lesson after he talked strategy. Harrison kept comparing football to basketball, making connections he could readily understand.
Harrison said something really profound during our meeting. He noticed that other Chinese students weren't really into the game. In fact, he said that he thought he was the only Chinese student who was interested in football at all. He just didn't get it. He thought that while they were in America, they should try to appreciate the culture. Watch football. Eat burgers.
I think the same thing when I go to foreign countries. Try the crazy fish. Don't go to McDonald's in Italy (I personally think that should be a criminal offense).
The first time Harrison and I met, we had to struggle to find common talking points. But, I think that Harrison's open mind to his experiences here in America have really facilitated the conversation. I think that I'm learning, and still have yet to learn a lot about my conversation partner. We may be a third finished with our required meetings, but there's still some major talking points to cover. I couldn't be more excited.
PS: Harrison tried my suggestion from last time and went to Chick-fil-a. He proudly told me that he only had 70 Campus Cash left because he eats it at least four times a week. Mission accomplished!
I enjoyed reading your post Justine! Now that I think about it, international students aren't usually very involved in our sports school spirit scene. I think Harrison's attitude to "watch football", and "eat burgers", is great. I have never studied abroad, but I know if I did I would want to experience the unique social life of the place I am in. And good for you for not eating McDonald's in Italy. I agree, that would be a criminal offense!
ReplyDeleteI found this funny as the first part tends to be me meeting anybody. Hey, hows your week, cool. Its nice that you found some common ground with your new buddy. I find it funny what certain people latch onto in American culture. The one thing I recommend however is trying McDonalds in another country. In sociology we learned how crazy of an experience it is considering you are in a country so different from your own and it is the EXACT SAME THING. But that is cool that you have Americanized him into eating at Chick-fil-a and wasting his campus cash. It seems like you are very lucky in your partners openness to you. most people post on and on how much they learned about the other persons country i find it interesting that your posts are more focused on what he has learned about our country.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your great post on your conversation with Harrison. He sounds like a really interesting person. I appreciate your good conversations with him.
ReplyDelete