Laughter in conversations assignment

     Laughter is a major ingredient of everyday life. But when do we let out a chuckle, a guffaw, or a cackle? And why do we let out a giggle, hoot, or chortle? Well, we often laugh during a conversation with someone. Usually, we laugh because the other person tells a joke or a funny story, we agree with their statement, or we laugh for another reason. Well, I’m naturally curious, so I looked back at past conversations with the people in my life to see why we laughed.

     I then remembered a conversation that I had with a friend from my sorority. We had just finished eating at Red Cactus and were walking back to campus. I had a lot to study that week, so I said that I was “driving the struggle bus.” She asked, “what’s a struggle bus?” I explained that it’s a phrase that people say whenever they are having a hard time. For example, they could have a lot to study, could have kept dropping things, falling, could have had a few forgetful or blonde moments, among many other things. In other words, they’re struggling. She started laughing and chuckling as she said that she had never heard the expression before and that it was the funniest thing she had ever heard. The funny thing was that I wasn’t even trying to be funny. This often happens in conversations, especially between people who are close. Sometimes, one person isn’t trying to be funny, but they still manage to make the other person laugh. I actually found her laugh really funny, which then made me laugh. This also happens a lot in conversations, because laughter is contagious. If one person laughs, then the other person has to laugh as well, especially if the first person has a funny laugh.

     I’ve noticed that, once laughter is brought to a conversation, the two people continue to talk about and build on the topic that made them laugh in the first place. And this is what my friend did. She said, “Why does the struggle bus have to be a bus? This is Texas. So it should be a struggle pick-up truck instead!” This made me laugh so hard, because this is one stereotype about Texas that is actually pretty true. A lot of people here drive pick-up trucks. And then, I added, “how about a pick-up horse?” And we both chuckled as we imagined people “riding a struggle horse.” We both found it funny because that is another well-known stereotype about Texas. She said that she believed this stereotype before coming to Texas, and I definitely made jokes about riding my horse to school before I moved here. So we shared a laugh in agreement over the stereotypes of Texas.

     From there, I told her more phrases, and she just thought they were hilarious. Everyone who lives in Texas knows that we have the weirdest weather. It can be sunny, rainy, freezing cold, and warm all in the same day. It’s not unusual to have to change your outfit at least twice throughout the course of the day. For example, it’s been 30 degrees in the morning and 60-70 degrees in the afternoon, so you can go from wearing jeans to shorts within one day. So I commented to my friend how Texas has such bipolar weather, and only in Texas can one experience all four seasons within a week. And then I said “actually, you can experience all four seasons within a day.” She found this extremely funny, and laughed in agreement because she knew that this was often true. Once again, I found her laugh to be so funny and contagious that I could not help but laugh as well. That day, we bonded over shared laughter.

     Once we got back to campus, I headed to the library to study for a test, and reflected on the conversation. We shared so many laughs throughout and after the meal. I think many conversations are like this one. Someone says something funny, the other person laughs, so the first person laughs, and then the joke, story, or comment is added to and the laughter and friendship grows. Or sometimes, laughter just occurs randomly, for no known reason. I love to laugh; it just brings joy into my day. It definitely brought joy to that day, and helped me feel less stress about my upcoming tests. Without laughter, life is missing a key ingredient.

MeetinandEatinwithLeo4

     Leo and I decided to do things differently this time by meeting for dinner on a Tuesday instead of our usual Friday lunches. We went at 5 and beat the dinner rush, so it was pretty easy to get our food. We had an interesting, memorable start to dinner. It’s actually quite funny. I grabbed a table, and showed Leo where it was. He went to grab a smoothie, and I sat down. For some reason, he could not see me, even though he was right by me. I was calling his name, but he did not see or hear me. So he asked a girl at the booth by my table if I was sitting there, because there was stuff on the spot next to her! I called to him louder, and he finally heard and came to the table, feeling really embarrassed. It was so hilarious though!

     We started eating and talking. First, we started talking about our day and what we did. He said that he signed up for housing for next year, and ended up in one of the new residence halls that they’re currently building in the Greek. He said that Tom Brown/Pete Wright and the Commons were already full by the time he signed up. He said that he wanted to live off campus, but he isn’t allowed because TCU requires students to live on campus for 2 years unless they’re living with family and commuting to school.

     We then spent some time talking about Spring Break, since this was our first week back after the break. He and his friends ended up not going to Six Flags because they thought it was still too early in the year to go. They ended up going to Oklahoma to visit a friend of a friend who was from Vietnam. He said that they had a good time, and tried curry while they were there. Even though I should be used to Leo’s accent by now, I still had a little bit of a hard time understanding him throughout the meal, especially when he was telling this story.

I learned some more interesting facts about Leo. One fact that stuck out to me was that earlier that day, he tried “American popcorn” for the first time, and he really liked it. However, he did not expect the popcorn to be so salty. I was shocked, because I couldn’t believe that he had been in America since August and had not tried the popcorn here before! I was extremely surprised to learn that China has popcorn too. In fact, Chinese popcorn is sweeter than American popcorn.

     Like every college student, we are excited for summer vacation. I asked him what his plans were, and he said that he found a job on campus. He will work with the incoming freshmen as an R.A. type of person. I think it’s cool that he was able to find an interesting job over the summer that will allow him to help so many people.

     Like every meeting, we discussed China and what it’s like to live there. This time, we discussed how school is in China. First, he told me that they only get 1-2 months of summer vacation, which I found sad and interesting. It is sad because we get so much more time off to enjoy our summers, but I found it interesting because I was reminded that school is different in other countries. But then, Leo said something that really grabbed my attention. He said how when Chinese students come to study at a college in the U.S., they often take summer school, because they aren’t used to the 3-month-long summer. They feel that American summer vacations (at least in college) are too long. He also said how in high school, they have school on Saturdays, in the morning. This made me thankful that I go to school in America.

     We discussed a wider variety of topics over the meal than usual, and our conversation was really intriguing. Unfortunately, I cannot describe every detail of our meeting, or this blog will be extremely long. After we ate, we went our separate ways. He went to the library to study for psychology, and I went back to my room. It was a great meal, and I am definitely looking forward to meeting number 5!

hanging with Leo 3

     Leo and I had an enjoyable lunch one Friday. It’s actually quite funny how we ended up eating lunch that day. We had originally planned to go to Market Square at 1pm, which is when we usually meet. But we ended up running into each other at 11am. Since he had just gotten out of a test, and I was free until 2, we decided to go to Market Square right away. So we went to Market Square, grabbed a table, got our food, and sat down to catch up.

     Like every other student (and faculty member) on this campus, we started talking about how excited we were for Spring Break. He asked me what I was doing, and I said that I was going home then to Ohio with my family to visit our relatives. I asked him the same question and he said that he was going to go to Colorado with friends, but not anymore because it is too expensive. His group is going to go to Six Flags instead. We then discussed our plans for the weekend. He said he wasn’t doing much, and I told him about a movie I would watch and a birthday party I would attend.

     Somehow, we always manage to discuss food during our conversations. He talked about how he likes spicy foods, and explained more about vegetarianism. He said how being a vegetarian is “good for the stomach,” and how meat is not good because it contributes to morning breath, which obviously does not smell good. I was definitely confused by his reasoning here, because any food can technically contribute to morning breath, even if it’s not meat. I admire his willpower though, because it certainly isn’t easy being a vegetarian. It must be pretty hard to eat at the BLUU, because they do not do a good job accommodating for vegetarians.

     Like every conversation so far, we discussed humor. First, he asked me to tell him a knock knock joke. So I told the only one I could think of, which goes, “knock knock. Who’s there? Banana. Banana who? Knock knock. Who’s there? Banana. Banana who? Knock Knock. Who’s there? Orange. Orange Who? Orange you glad I didn’t say banana?” He was confused because he had no idea that he was supposed to say, “who’s there?” and “Orange/Banana who?” and when to say it. He eventually caught on, but I don’t think he found the joke very funny. I can’t blame him, that joke is pretty lame. I then learned how Chinese humor is different from American humor. Chinese humor is actually similar to American puzzles, or riddles. He told me a joke that goes, “Nathan’s father has 3 sons. The first son is named Number 1, the second son is Number 2, what is the third son’s name?” I immediately said “Number 3,” which was wrong. The answer is actually “Nathan.” Once Leo told me, I understood the joke, but did not really see how it is funny. I did appreciate the cleverness of the joke though.

     There actually weren’t too many instances of miscommunication between Leo and I this week. There are still a few words that he has a hard time with. For example, he could not understand what the word “brain” means. He also had a hard time thinking of and understanding American slang. For example, when he was talking about how meat makes your breath smell bad in the morning, he was trying to think of how to say and understand “morning breath,” but he could not. The word “Twitter” also proved an obstacle. But what really intrigued me was that he did not know what a “smoothie” was, even though he was drinking one at the moment. While talking, I noticed that he was drinking a smoothie so I said “is the smoothie good?” And he was confused because he had never heard the word “smoothie” before. I totally understand though, there are so many words in the English language that it is extremely difficult for someone who is not a native speaker to be able to translate, speak, and understand every word.

     I eventually had to leave and finish some homework before class. I had a great time! Each meeting has been a blast, and I will miss these meetings when they end. I’ll definitely keep in touch with after our meetings and the semester ends.

blog5,earlyblog3-Slaughterhouse 5

     What can I say about Slaughterhouse Five? Reading this book was definitely an interesting experience. The last third of the book was just as scattered and random as the other parts of the book. It is definitely an odd book. I have never seen a style of writing like Vonnegut’s and have never read about topics the way they are addressed in his book. This book is definitely the hardest to find humor in, especially “ha-ha” humor, but I did find some throughout the story. There was more black humor and satire, which looked at one of the most awful events in history, the Dresden bombing.

     One humorous part of the story was when the soldiers put on a performance of Cinderella. The thought of male, military men acting in the parts of Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother brought a smile to my face. I was glad that they were trying to find ways to keep themselves busy and sane in captivity, so that they do not waste away and give up. And what really intrigued me was that Billy wanted to try on the silver combat boots, which were the glass slippers in the Cinderella play. I laughed when Billy tried on the boots, which fit him perfectly. This is because he was then compared to Cinderella. It’s funny because he does not look anything like Cinderella. When he tried on the “slippers,” he’s scruffy, dirty, and s missing a heel. But when Cinderella tried on the real glass slippers, she was very beautiful. I think this scene provides a bit of relief from all of the disturbing and odd events that occur in the book, especially from the events that occur in the final third of the book (Vonnegut 184-185).

     While reading, I couldn’t help but notice a peculiar pattern. Whenever the book mentioned the death of a person or animal, or just mentioned death in general, the narrator would say “so it goes.” I thought this was a very odd thing to say. It almost sounds as if he is saying that since death is just a natural part of life, it isn’t a big deal whenever death occurs. While it’s true that everyone dies at some point, saying “so it goes,” sounds blunt, hard, and insensitive. I felt confused and saddened by the insensitivity shown in this one simple phrase. I’m not sure what point the author was trying to make when he said that, but it must be important, because he often mentions death and that phrase (Vonnegut 185).

     And finally, Kilgore Trout was an amusing distraction from the dreadful topics of war, bombings and death. He said sarcastic or just hilarious moments that definitely put a smile on my face. I particularly like when he tells the newspaper boys to “get off their dead butts.” I also laughed whenever he cursed, because I can just imagine a grumpy older man cursing, and I find this hilarious. He then says how the boys should try to convince their customers to subscribe to the “****!@$ Sunday edition too!” He then tells them that whoever sells the most Sunday editions for the next 2 months would win an all expenses paid trip for himself and his parents to “Martha’s ****!@$ Vineyard” for a week. I found this line as another humorous comic moment, even though I think he’s lying to the children. There was definitely a side of me that was like “shame on you for lying to children!” And I also found it humorous when the girl asks if she could take her sister if she wins, and Trout’s like “Heck no! You think money grows on trees?” This was a moment of cognitive shift that I definitely found hilarious. You would normally expect him to say that she could take her sister, but instead, he says no in the funniest way possible (Vonnegut 212).

     I am now finished reading Slaughterhouse Five, and although it was not my favorite book, there were definitely some humorous parts that I appreciated. Some of these parts I described in this blog today. This book taught me more and more about humor and to appreciate other kinds of humor. I learned that using black humor is a good way to look at one of the most dreadful and overlooked events of World War II, the Dresden bombing. I definitely had an interesting experience reading this book, but I wouldn’t read it again.