j4- cesl experience

I really enjoyed meeting the international students at cesl. I met a guy and girl, both from China. It was pretty interesting to see our similarities and differences. Since I met the girl first and had a longer time with her, she was the one I actually interviewed. The questions that Jenna had given us to ask the cesl students were kind of just core questions to help us get started. The girl and I talked about a lot of other stuff that weren’t on there. One of the questions was, “what is something you wish to get out of your experience of being abroad?” (or something to that nature). Her reply was being away from parents. She explained that her parents are really strict on grades and she didn’t have much freedom when she was at home because she spent all her time on chores and then studying to better herself at school. I felt the exact same way about college. My parents have always been really big on education, then again which parent isn’t. However, it feels nice being only 2 hours away from them. It’s far enough where they can’t just drop by randomly, but close enough for me to visit if I ever get homesick. I think it’s very courageous for the international students to travel so far to a new place where they don’t know anybody. I, myself, don’t think I’d ever be able to do it. The girl and I talked about future aspirations, what we were doing this weekend, what we wished to get out of school (along with what she should expect from English 101). It was really easy talking to her, but at one point, I had to explain the question, “what is something people misunderstand about you?” (something like that). I tried my best to explain, but I guess I did a really poor job, because we ended up just staring at each other with blank expressions, followed by awkward laughter. I tried my best to ask her the question, and she tried her best to answer. I believe she said something on the lines of, “I don’t know what it is, but I always smile. People may think I’m up to no good.” Well, maybe telling of this story in text isn’t as funny as it is if I were to say it out loud, because when she said smile, it sounded like smell. Again with the blank expression and awkward laughter because, yeah.. I sniffed the air and said she smelt fine. :D she had to write the word SMILE on paper for me.

I can relate what I learned today about cultural identity to the reading. The girl I met with had a hard time with grammar, speaking, fitting in, etc. It’s always the same when you go to a new place and don’t know anyone. The narrator of reading talks about how he had to learn a whole new language and interact with the family. He said he and the mother didn’t talk much during dinners and such because the words he knew how to say weren’t anything meaningful enough for conversations. It’s easy to relate, because when you don’t know much about another culture and you’re submerged into that culture, everything’s new. The narrator looks at what the other people are doing and he finds it sort of odd, but goes along with it, because it’s the social norm. I think that’s how to cesl students feel.