ConversationPartner #3

Tien and I met again in the library today to talk about our spring break trips and various other topics. We had trouble finding a time to meet until today, so I was pleased when she finally told me she had time. She showed up a little late and seemed pretty stressed. She has a big debate tomorrow for school. The topic is gay marriage. It was interesting to hear her perspective on this topic and I found it strange for that topic to be chosen for debate in a classroom setting. She said she had to practice a ton more for it and only wanted to sleep. Tien had a fun spring break while visiting Los Angeles with her brother. She loved seeing the beach and enjoyed the nice weather. She said she wasn't allowed to swim because of the green stuff in the water. I discussed my adventures in New York and she asked a ton of questions. It was fun exchanging stories and talking about our experiences. I'm sure she loved getting to see the west coast. We talked about how busy our semesters are getting and how badly we want summer to come. The school work for both of us is starting to pile up. She talked about how she and her friends are trying to find a house to live in for next year. She is applying for a desk assistant job as well, so she was wondering how the interview process will go. I think she will do a great job and I gave her a few pointers that I have learned in the business school about interviews. I truly hope she gets the job. We began discussing food because of how hungry we both were. She said her home is now getting their first McDonalds. I was excited to hear that because I have always loved McDonalds. She said how it is such a huge deal when her home gets big chains like McDonalds and Starbucks. That was funny to me because here in America, you cannot drive 2 minutes without seeing one of those chains. No matter how stressed Tien is, she always makes our conversations welcoming and fluent. Our conversations drift to strange topics, but that's what makes it so interesting to me. She had forgot her TCU ID back in her room, so she had to go back and get it when we were finished. She doesn't like being on campus without any documentation. Tien is getting excited to graduate from IP and begin taking courses for her major. She said she sat in on a foundations in business class and she really enjoyed it. She is ready to start taking these classes that interest her instead of the IP classes. Tien said she has 27 transfer credit hours, which I was amazed by. I came in with only a few. She seems like she will be able to advance quickly into her new role at TCU. I am happy for her. She had to cut the meeting off to go prepare for the debate that she has tomorrow. I wished her luck. I then thought about what it would be like for me to debate in a different language than my first known language. I have participated in a formal debate and thought it was extremely challenging. I cannot imagine doing it in a foreign language. She impresses me every time I meet with her. We decided to set up our next meeting through text, so I will wait to hear from her regarding this. I would say it was another successful meeting.