Date/Time: September 17, 2016/2:00 pm - 3:15 pm
Location: Cascade Park
Topic(s)
discussed: Traditional Greetings, Politics, History, Food and other aspects of culture
Cultural and/or
linguistic topics you and your partner learned:
I chose for us to meet at Cascade Park, so we could switch the scenery up a bit. It was a nice day today. Ahmad and I first talked about how are weekends are going. He told me him and his friends just had a social where they played games and talked. Him and his friends don't really drink or smoke, but it's no problem for them. For this meet-up, we followed Ms. Jennifer's Activity #2. I learned some interesting things from our conversation:
1. Ahmad had a traumatic experience with dogs as a kid, and now he is afraid of dogs. He says they are like people, you can't trust them (lol).
2. It is custom that if you are having a visitor, one must keep them for at least three days. This also means providing food. This custom reminding me of a saying my mom taught me, "Fish starts to stink after three days." I explained the meaning of this to him, and that was the first time he heard of that saying. I guess most American's can only take a maximum of three days so visitors don't prolong their visit and impose on their selves.
3. In his region of the world, people kind of hope for a republican president. Why? When a republican is in office, there is more peace than when a democrat is in office. That was my first time hearing that. We didn't talk about who we supported, but I asked him was it peaceful in his region when George W. Bush was president. He said it was more peaceful then than it is now. I was really blown by that.
4. When we talked about each of our country's food, he said that a hamburger from Kuwait is better than an American hamburger. I don't believe it (lol). The restaurants there have a way more vast menu than the ones in America.
5. He recently watched "Free State of Jones" directed by Gary Ross. He doesn't really know too much about that part of America's history, but he was shocked to know that things similar to that happened in the past. I told him about Nat Turner's Rebellion.
We talked about other topics, but those five things were the main things that stuck out to me. Also, we stopped by The Edison, and he paid for my scone. I wasn't expecting that as I had my card out ready to pay, but I really appreciated that.
He has been in America for over six months, so he is not brand spanking new to America, but there are some things that he still has to learn. I noticed that Ahmad is a very easy-going guy. He's pretty cool.
I chose for us to meet at Cascade Park, so we could switch the scenery up a bit. It was a nice day today. Ahmad and I first talked about how are weekends are going. He told me him and his friends just had a social where they played games and talked. Him and his friends don't really drink or smoke, but it's no problem for them. For this meet-up, we followed Ms. Jennifer's Activity #2. I learned some interesting things from our conversation:
1. Ahmad had a traumatic experience with dogs as a kid, and now he is afraid of dogs. He says they are like people, you can't trust them (lol).
2. It is custom that if you are having a visitor, one must keep them for at least three days. This also means providing food. This custom reminding me of a saying my mom taught me, "Fish starts to stink after three days." I explained the meaning of this to him, and that was the first time he heard of that saying. I guess most American's can only take a maximum of three days so visitors don't prolong their visit and impose on their selves.
3. In his region of the world, people kind of hope for a republican president. Why? When a republican is in office, there is more peace than when a democrat is in office. That was my first time hearing that. We didn't talk about who we supported, but I asked him was it peaceful in his region when George W. Bush was president. He said it was more peaceful then than it is now. I was really blown by that.
4. When we talked about each of our country's food, he said that a hamburger from Kuwait is better than an American hamburger. I don't believe it (lol). The restaurants there have a way more vast menu than the ones in America.
5. He recently watched "Free State of Jones" directed by Gary Ross. He doesn't really know too much about that part of America's history, but he was shocked to know that things similar to that happened in the past. I told him about Nat Turner's Rebellion.
We talked about other topics, but those five things were the main things that stuck out to me. Also, we stopped by The Edison, and he paid for my scone. I wasn't expecting that as I had my card out ready to pay, but I really appreciated that.
He has been in America for over six months, so he is not brand spanking new to America, but there are some things that he still has to learn. I noticed that Ahmad is a very easy-going guy. He's pretty cool.
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