As you can see, I wrote this blog a while ago (Thursday 3/10), only I’m just now posting it. My Internet was not working at the moment, and I forgot to post it! Oops!
I met with Young again today, and it was fun, but there were some awkward moments. She is so sweet, and very energetic, but the language barrier certainly makes our conversations rather difficult.
We started out talking about our weekends and the first part of our weeks. She always talks about this one Korean drama television show that she really enjoys watching. Most days, her brother-in-law drops her off at TCU early in the morning, around 6:00 a.m. or so. She said she mainly hangs out in the library until her classes, and then comes back to the library to do homework until her brother-in-law comes back and picks her up to go back his house. That’s when she usually indulges in her Korean drama.
We also talked about our spring break plans. I told her my plans to drive to Louisiana with a few of my friends and just have a relaxing break. She said that she was planning to go to Houston with her sister and her brother-in-law to see NASA. This surprised me, only because I have been to Houston multiple times, and not once has it crossed my mind to go see NASA! It’s interesting how, when we get comfortable with where we live, we tend to not take advantage of the things available to us. Just like a mentioned in my Modern blog, I have never been the to Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art, nor have I ever thought about going until recently when I was told to go. However, I have lived in Dallas, TX my entire life! There are so many experiences that I almost miss out on only because I am comfortable with my own routine. It was funny how this small comment about Young’s Spring Break plans sparked this thought.
After that short conversation came to an end, Young reached into her yellow folder sitting on the table in front of her and pulled out a sheet of paper. After a few failed attempts, she finally explained to me that her teacher had given it to her for conversation ideas.
On the sheet of paper were about twenty-five questions about money. I thought it was an odd topic for a conversation, but I went along with it. Young sounded out the words in each question and our conversation sluggishly moved along. The questions were along the lines of, “What is your favorite thing to buy?” and “What is the most expensive thing you have ever bought?” … Certainly nothing very exciting.
I answered them as best I could, though, and I tried to ask Young what her responses were. Unfortunately, she didn’t know how to answer many of them. She understood the questions, which was good, and she understood my answers. However, when it was her turn to answer, she wasn’t sure of the English words to use in order to convey her thoughts. This seems to be a recurring problem in our meetings.
As I stated before, Young is so sweet, and when we are having trouble communicating, she is certainly the first one to laugh it off! I don’t mind it either, but if we are going to be meeting at least six more times, I’m not exactly sure how our conversations are going to go!
Does anyone have any suggestions or advice??
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