Thursday, September 23, 2010

International Students

At first I wasn't really sure what to expect, or what we would be doing, I thought we would just fill out the question sheet and that would be it but after we were paired up and started talking it wasn't as plain and structured I thought it would be. It was interesting  and fun once May and I started talking time just seemed to fly by, before I knew it class was almost over. I was impressed by how independent she was and how she had come so far from home yet she was more happy to be here than she was home sick which was strange to me because I'm from Washington and I'm home sick and can't wait to go back. I was also surprised by how interesting America was to her, when she was telling me how she thought Americans were it was different because she thought we were outgoing and told no I'm really shy but then when I thought about it from her point of view I realized we do seem that way compared to people from other countries. I told her that I think I would like China because the schools are so structured and you learn so much and everything there is business but then she pointed out that kids get so focused on studies they don't go interact with other kids, that many become very isolated. Once I heard that I was kind of surprised because all the kids that I have met from other countries always seem so nice and I would never take them as the isolated type. May was really friendly and easy to talk to, it wasn't awkward and the conversation wasn't dull, there wasn't weird moments of silence or anything. She's adapted really well, her english was good and she had lots of questions about the classes and people here. You could tell she really liked it and was interested in our culture and being excepted into it. May told me about how everyone she has met so far has been really nice and welcoming which I thought was great but I was a little shocked because there are people in this world who are rude.  I've heard people from other countries say Americans aren't very friendly, especially when they come from small towns and are use to people knowing who they are or even if they don't they will talk to you but in America typically people don't just talk to a random stranger they do not know. So it was nice to hear that she is being excepted into our society with open arms. May was really cool and I'm glad I got the chance to meet her we had a lot in common and we even exchanged emails so we could keep in touch. So over all I was excited I went to class the other day cause I was able to meet some really cool people and at first I thought it was going to be some boring activity but I ended up enjoying myself and cant wait to keep in touch with May. The story Letter to Mexico, was really intriguing it made me want to keep reading because it was about issues that are relevant in today's society and had so much emotion in the story. When the narrator talks about how she feels hatred and how she hates her own people and how that is really hate of herself, it made me think about how there are times I hate my own people because of how they act or portray themselves to others which creates them to think negatively on all of us. The story also makes me think about how the international students might feel about Americans who go to there countries, do they have resentment or hate us for going into there countries and taking jobs and living there?

1 comment:

  1. Reading your experience with the international student was really interesting and it was cool to see how May compared to some of the other students I talked to. It was also nice to see how you managed to have an easy conversation despite being shy even with the language barrier. One thing I was curious about though is what specific senarios from the conversation you had related to the text as opposed to the general relations, and how, with the question you asked at the end,do you think they might feel based on the conversation you had with May

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