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!