The First Meeting

Meeting #1 with my Conversation Partner

After exchanging several emails, my conversation partner, Essa, and I finally planned to meet. We met outside the library. We both had a break between classes, so meeting at that time was very convenient. I wasn’t nervous about meeting Essa because I had prior experience in working with foreign students at the TCU Writing Center. I understood the patience and clarity that it takes. And depending on the individual, sometimes repeating sentences and speaking in the most basic terms helps the conversation go smoothly. Our conversation lasted for an hour, we discussed basic topics such as background, family, school, and interests. Although the topic of our discussion was very surface-level, I was surprised by how much we actually had in common.

Essa is from Saudi Arabia. Although I didn’t ask him, he looks about 30 years old. His wife is studying at the UNT medical center in Fort Worth, and his daughter is in Saudi Arabia living with her grandmother; Essa said that he missed his daughter dearly. He daughter lived here with his wife and daughter for a while but sending her to daycare got complicated because he and his wife both have very busy schedules. He communicates with his daughter almost every day via skype, FaceTime, or phone calls. He hopes to visit her again during Christmas break. Although he clearly wants to be with his daughter, Essa knows that this is just a temporary situation until he or his wife finishes school.

 Essa is studying mathematics here at TCU. Although he wanted to studying Accounting, his grades kept him from getting in. So, he is focusing on math now. When I asked about his hobbies and interests, he acknowledged that he was not a big fan of sports. Essa’s true interest was firefighting; he was a firefighter in Saudi Arabia for seven years. He never fought an actual fire, rather he worked at the training facility. He was in charge of controlling fire during training and testing equipment for possible malfunctions. Apart from being an experienced firefighter, Essa is also an avid cook. He and his wife cook typical American food and recipes from Saudi Arabia. He showed me a few picture and described step by step how he prepared a several of his favorites. He insisted that I try some of his cooking next time. Since we live so close, I will definitely be able to do so.

Essa and I have more in common than I anticipated. We discussed the most basic topics but discovered several mutual similarities. First, I was able to relate to Essa’s interest in firefighting because my brother is a volunteer firefighter. So, Essa and I had a lot to talk about on that subject. He told me about his experiences and I spoke of my brother’s encounters. Another similarity is where we live. We discovered that we live about 100 yards from each other. Essa seemed surprised that he live in the apartment building adjacent to mine. Because of our close proximity to one another, meeting will be much more convenient. I am also extremely excited to try some of Essa’s cooking. As the semester enfolds, I hope that Essa and I can meeting regularly and develop of conversations. This was only the first meeting, so I expected our conversation to be simple. I think that in future meetings, however, I want to delve into more analytical, deeper conversations. I am very invested in learning from my conversation partner just as he wants to learn from me. We will probably try to meet after fall break.

I think this conversation partner is a great program. I had not even heard of it until this class. I admire how it encourages interaction between American and international students, builds communication between people of different cultures, and promotes understanding of unfamiliar backgrounds and experiences. Many stereotypes exist, and people unknowingly accept them without digging deeper or understanding why. Some generalizations are true and others are false, but individuals should base their opinions on first-hand experience rather than others’ often false assumptions. Falsely labeling people and cultures leads to hostility and misunderstanding.