Last Conversation Partner

              For our last meeting, Linda and I went to Union Grounds. I’ve been super stressed out 

with all of my finals this week, so I was looking forward to have a break from rigorous studying 

and trade in organic chemistry jargon for light small talk with a conversation partner. It’s 

overcast and chilly outside, so I decided to get a coffee to warm my spirits. 

              Somehow, we got on the topic of movies. I told Linda about the drive-in movie theatre, 

and Linda was pretty interested. She said that they did not have a drive-in movie theatre in 

Shanghai, and she really wanted to go next semester. I, myself, have not been since last year. 

My friends and I would load up a big SUV with pillows and blankets, and sneak in a bunch of 

candy to bundle up at the drive-in together. 

            As I mentioned earlier, Linda said she wanted to go next semester to the drive-in. I

 suggested that she should go with some of her IEP friends, and I let her know I would totally

 be down to go. In fact, I bet a few of us from Dr. William’s Literature and Civilizations 

class would be open to coming. We could definitely structure a group outing to the drive in 

theatre to take a break from our major classes. 

            The conversation gravitated toward talk about the gloomy weather today. We started 

talking about weather back home. Linda told me the weather in Shanghai was pretty similar

 to here. She said they had not had snow in a while, but within the last week, they’ve actually

 gotten a lot of snow. Linda said she misses Shanghai, but she does not get homesick in the way

 that a lot of other students do. Because she went to a boarding school for high school, she used 

to dormitories and being away from home. Although she’s excited to go home for summer, 

she doesn’t feel an intense longing for China. 

             I began to tell Linda about how I’ve lived all over the United States, and tried my 

best to describe geographically where I’ve lived. She definitely knew where California was, 

but it was a little difficult trying to describe Orlando, Florida, Atlanta, Georgia, and Chicago, 

Illinois. We talked about the differences in each state. Linda was shocked to hear how cold it 

gets in Chicago. Last year during winter break, during the week it was -20 degrees Fahrenheit 

with a windchill of -40 degrees. Not really ideal weather for someone raised in the South. 

             Overall, I’ve really enjoyed my time with Linda. I’m so thankful to have this experience

 to connect with someone I would not ordinarily get to talk with. Learning about her culture has

 been super interesting, and Linda is a very down to Earth girl. I’m definitely going to keep in

 touch with her for the rest of my time at TCU, and I hope she has an awesome experience 

here in Fort Worth. 

Conversation Partner 5

            After having such a positive experience at Union Grounds last night, Linda and I decided to 

go there again. We both did not order anything but went straight into conversation. We talked more 

about our excitement for winter break, and began to talk about our plans. 

             As I said in an earlier reflection, Linda is not going back home to China for the break. 

Because our break is only three weeks long this year, traveling back to China would be too 

expensive of a trip for such a short period of time. Instead, Linda is staying in Texas to take driving

 lessons in order to get a driver’s license. Linda plans on buying a car here in Texas that she can use 

when she is an upperclassman. The last week of break, Linda is going to Cancun with some of 

her international friends at TCU. She plans on going to the beach with her friends and on going sight 

seeing. 

            We started on the topic of “travel.” Linda told me once before that her coming to TCU 

was the first time she had ever left China. She said her grandparents travelled a lot though, and 

she planned to travel when she got the opportunity. Apparently, her grandparents go on many trips, 

both domestic and international.  

              I began to tell Linda about my plans for the break. After I graduated high school, my 

parents moved to Chicago, so I go up there for Christmas. Linda was not quite sure where 

Chicago was, and I tried my best to describe it geographically. We talked about how absurdly 

cold it is in Chicago. Last year, we experienced temperatures of -20 with a windchill of -40. 

              I told Linda that I, too, am going to South America during the later half of winter break. 

It was actually extremely difficult trying to explain that I was going on a medical mission trip 

to Panama. I felt a lot was lost in translation, but eventually, Linda understood what I meant. I 

can’t even imagine what it’s like to speak more than one language. 

               Linda’s English has improved significantly in the short time I have known her. Our 

first meeting was slightly awkward because the language barrier was extremely prominent. 

Now, Linda has a firmer grasp on the language, and seems to be more confident when speaking. 

Although several times this meeting she had to take a minute to think about what she wanted to 

say, her fluency has improved immensely. 

Conversation Partner 4

         For our meeting this time, Linda and I decided to mix it up a little bit and meet at Union 

Grounds. Linda had just come from the BLUU, so she did not care to order anything, but I was 

inspired to order a gingerbread latte. I’m a sucker for holiday drinks. 

           Linda excitedly told me all about her Thanksgiving. One of her friends, whom coincidentally 

is also from China, has a house just off campus. Over the break, Linda and her friends went to 

Kroger and bought a turkey and other traditional American Thanksgiving foods. Linda informed me 

that she had never had turkey before, and she liked it, although it was strange. 

            Linda went to the Christmas tree lighting and really enjoyed it. She showed me pictures of

 her and her friends in front of TCU’s massive tree, and shared her pictures of the entire event with 

me. She said she was confused at why we had a bull at the event instead of a reindeer, but other

than that, I think she got a lot out of the whole experience. 

            During our meeting, many of my friends happened to pass by. In fact, my room mate from 

last year, Ashley, came by and chatted with us a little bit. Ashley, too, had just come from the BLUU 

and shared her woes about what she ate with us. She had experimented with a smoothie, and it did 

not work out in her favor. 

            After Ashley left, we began to discuss our living situations. I told her more about living with 

Ashley last year and how she’s one of my best friends now. Linda wanted to know all about my 

current dorm, Tom Brown, because she is interested in possibly living there next year. Linda and 

her friends are also strongly considering living in Grand Marc because all of the apartments have a 

kitchen. 

           As the conversation continued, we ended up talking about her friends from back home. 

According to Linda, all of her friends stayed in China for college. What was interesting to me was 

that her friends are actually going through midterms as we’re about to start finals. Because the 

Chinese New Year is in February, Chinese students still have half of their semester left. I thought 

that was really interesting how different our schedules are. Linda said that was one of the main 

reasons she did not want to go home for the holiday break, because all of her friends would be in 

school still. 

           We decided to break up for the night because we both had finals to study for. While the 

majority of my finals are next week, all of Linda’s IEP finals are this week. We decided to meet up 

tomorrow night, too. 

Conversation Partner 3

         The weekend before Thanksgiving break, Linda and I went to go have dinner at Market Square. 

Linda brought one of her friends, a new student from China, Andrew. Initially, I planned for us to eat 

dinner with Mary Lauren and our friend Megan, but Market Square was pretty busy, and we could 

not find a table to fit all of us. Linda, Andrew, and I finally found a table, marked our territory with 

our school ID’s and backpacks, and went to get food. 

          Honestly, whenever I go to the BLUU, I pretty much always resort to pizza. Unlike the 

“Cookhouse” section of the BLUU that is consistently busy and has a quality range of mildly edible 

to “Are they honestly serving this,” the pizza section of the BLUU never has a line, and the quality 

of the pizza is consistently tolerable. I don’t like surprises. Linda and Andrew both had rice and 

chicken, which is the most similar dish to something they’d have back home, they reported. 

          As we sat down and began to eat our meals, we began to talk about the residence halls we live 

in. Both Linda and Andrew live in Waits hall. I told them I knew Terrul, who is an RA in Waits and 

coincidentally in Literature and Civilizations II. We began discussing room mate situations. Linda 

explained that she adores her American room mate. Inclusive and sweet, Linda’s room mate has 

made Linda’s year at TCU enjoyable. Her room mate often invites her to go out to eat with her 

friends. I told them both about my living situation from my freshman year. 

           I was in Moncrief hall in a forced triple: our room was intended for two people, but because 

TCU was beginning the Great Housing Crisis, three freshmen were crammed into one room. Ashley 

and Connie were lovely room mates. Connie is actually an international student from Taiwan, and so 

I related to Andrew and Linda about how I am somewhat familiar with some struggles faced by 

international students. Although I was skeptical at first about living with not one, but two girls, I 

enjoyed my time in our forced triple, and am extremely thankful I got to know Connie and Ashley. 

          Andrew, on the other hand, is apparently having a pretty rough time with his room mate. 

Although he did not get too specific, Andrew said his room mate is not courteous at all. I suggested 

to Andrew that he talk with a resident assistant about it, and he said that he hadn’t even met his RA 

yet. 

          We were finishing up our meals, and all three of us cohesively sighed as we noted the busy 

couple of days we had before us before Thanksgiving. We decided it was time to be productive, and 

began to pack our things up. We all wished each other a happy Thanksgiving, and decided that we 

should get frozen yogurt soon at Sweet Frog.