I met with my conversation partner, Tien, for the first time today. First time meetings can always be a little awkward, regardless of who you are meeting with, so I was a little nervous to first meet Tien. We met in the library computer area and I had trouble finding her at first. She texted me saying, "I'm in a white sweater." Finally, I was able to find her. She offered a handshake immediately and introduced herself. I immediately felt comfortable and the anxiousness left my mind. She was so engaged, and greeted me with a big smile. We clicked instantly talking about where we were from, what we are studying, and talking about the snow. She had never seen snow before. I laughed as she told me before coming to Texas from Vietnam she had always wanted to play in the snow, yet days like today made her curse her previous fantasy. "Too cold and not worth the frost bite." She has a wonderful personality and speaks so well for having english as a second language. She has also studied spanish and chinese. I sadly only know english. Tien came to TCU as a foreign exchange student following in her brother's footsteps. He also studied here at TCU. I was taken back by how curious she was and how she asked so many questions. She wants to visit New York in the future, but not during winter. She said Vietnam has 2 seasons. Sun and rain. I laughed. She had me cracking up quite a bit during our time together. When I met with her, she was reading a fiction story for her homework in english class. She was bored and suggested it wasn't her favorite thing she has ever read. Tien wants to study physics, but her brother said there are no jobs for vietnamese physicists in America. That is not going to stop her though. She asked questions that varied from sports, all the way to class schedule and classes. I found out early on she has learned the American way of, "Facebook Creeping," because she knew all about me before I had told her. I immediately added her on Facebook and did a little "creeping" myself. She thought it was funny. She knew I was a fan of the OKC Thunder and Dallas Cowboys, as well as the name of my girlfriend. I was amazed how she took the time to do some background on me. Overall, our first meeting was a huge success. She is so fun to talk to and I just know I will be able to learn so much from this experience. I thought about how it must feel to pack up your things and ship off to a foreign country, where you only know your brother. I wouldn't be able to do it, no way. I have a large amount of respect for students such as Tien. These foreign exchange students truly are remarkable people. This friendship will be great as we already exchange text and email daily leading up to our meeting. We have already planned our next meeting for after her midterms, as she will be very busy next week. I can tell the language barrier depended on the amount of "slang" words I used. However, she was never confused by anything I said, nor was I when she spoke. I think this assignment will be a rewarding and a great learning experience. I look forward to our next meeting.
