Meeting Ailin Part 4

Ailin and I met for the fourth time at our usual meeting spot. This was the first time we had met since before Thanksgiving break, so I was excited to hear about all of her new adventures. Ailin does not have the chance to fly home for any breaks, so she has been spending her time off in the dorm room or with her friends and their families in Dallas or around campus.

It was a few minutes into our conversation when one of Ailin’s friends came up to our table. She was also Chinese and was one of the people Ailin has been spending her breaks with. Ailin and her friend conversed for about a minute or two in Chinese, as I watched in the background. One thing that I noticed that was different than my conversations with Ailin was the louder voice she used and more confidence she spoke with. Chinese is her native language, so this was expected. However, it gave me the chance to see Ailin in more of a comfortable setting and interacting with someone who she clearly looked up to.

Once they had finished talking, Ailin introduced me to her friend. Her friend seemed excited to meet me, as she began to explain how she had also been a member of the Intensive English Program and had three conversation partners. Shortly after her friend left, Ailin apologized for the interruption. She explained how this friend is a junior and lives in Grand Marc. Ailin likes to cook Chinese food in this friend’s kitchen. I also learned that this is who Ailin spent fall break and part of Thanksgiving break with. As it turns out, Ailin was ill over Thanksgiving break. She had the flu, but this friend took care of her. I can’t imagine being miserably sick in a foreign country, but if I was I would want to have a friend as caring and genuine as the girl I just met.

When I began to describe my Thanksgiving break I mentioned that I went to the Baylor vs. TCU football game. Ailin quickly responded by saying she was also planning on going to this, but after she got sick she wasn’t able to. I reassured her that she didn’t miss too much with the exception of standing in torrential rain for eight hours and chilly forty degree weather. Ailin said she was used to the rain because back home in Shanghai it rained often. In Colorado it doesn’t rain much except for in the summer, so I wasn’t able to relate much to this or particularly enjoy the rainy days we had been having this fall. Furthermore, I was unprepared for the large amount of tornados and tornado warnings that occur. Ailin agreed with me that tornados are scary, but are nothing compared to the typhoons she has in Shanghai.

(As someone not experienced in natural disasters, I had to research what a typhoon was, and found out that it is a tropical cyclone or hurricane of the western pacific area and the China seas.)

Bonding over our fear of natural disasters and Thanksgiving breaks gone awry (see learning experience 2), Ailin and I had a conversation filled with both laughter and sympathy. Sharing our common experiences and fears led to a deeper understanding of each other and how, despite our different upbringings, we are not so different after all.