Conversation Partner: Meeting 1

         The other day, I met with my conversation partner. She is from Saudi Arabia, a country that is exponentially different than ours. Although the United States and Saudi Arabia have major differences, there are also some similarities within the modern day cultures of both places.
         We met at Union Grounds on the TCU campus; she had just come from the Friday workshop that the Intensive English Language students go through. We had previously communicated through text message so we would be able to recognize each other in a crowd; she described her outfit and I described mine. I arrived at Union Grounds first, so I was sitting at a tall table going through my TCU email. Shortly after I sat down, she walked in to Union wearing the purple scarf she described. Apart from the scarf she wore covering her head, her outfit matched that of a nicely dressed TCU student. Her outfit was conservative, but not to a point where it was obvious. From the second she introduced herself, I could already tell she was polite and friendly.
          At first, I didn't know what to talk about; we didn't get a say in having to meet with each other, so the conversation seemed a little forced at first. Personally, I am a tad bit awkward when I first meet people, no matter where their hometown is. Having her be from Saudi Arabia added to my awkwardness, however; I was worried about offending her somehow without realizing it. After our brief introduction, we started talking about how our day had gone. Shortly after we started talking, she asked if I wanted anything to drink. I politely declined, and asked if she was going to get something. She explained a drink that she apparently gets often: Red bull with strawberries in it. Sounded strange to me, especially since I'm not a fan of Red Bull, but she seemed excited for me to try it. She ended up paying for mine for me, and waited for me to try the caffeine infused concoction. Turns out, Red Bull on an empty stomach is bad, but the drink itself was surprisingly delicious.
          Once we broke the ice with the Red Bull, conversation started to flow easier. We started talking about our families, since she pointed out a girl two tables earlier wearing a gray scarf, noting that she was her aunt. I was surprised that someone so similar in age could be her aunt, but she explained how her family tree worked. Although she was the oldest of few children, her father had over twelve brothers and sisters. I made a joke about how small my family is, since I only have two aunts and one uncle total on both sides of my family. It was really interesting to see how different our families and our lives back home were. She said she did not work back home, but she was actively looking for a job on campus, which I was as well. We also talked about holidays in the United States and in Saudi Arabia. The topic of Lent came up, so I explained to her how it works in Catholic communities. This included explaining no meat on Fridays and giving something up. She explained to me that back home they have Ramadan, where they fast for certain hours of the day. I had previous knowledge on this because of the World Religion course I took last semester.
          We didn't talk for a long time, but it was nice to have the initial meeting with her. I learned a little bit about families in Saudi Arabia in addition to certain traditions that are often tied into religion. She explained a little about her courses here at TCU to help improve her English. To me, her English seemed good for being in the United States for a short time; this may be because of the time she previously spent in Australia. She voiced to me how students in the program often speak in their native language to others from their home country instead of using English. She was firm in her beliefs that in order to improve your English, it is necessary to use it. After our conversation was done, we parted ways with a polite goodbye. I look forward to my next meeting with her.