DiningwithLeo5

     Today was my 5^th meeting with Leo. We met today (Monday) at the BLUU for dinner. This time, in order to avoid the situation that occurred at our last meeting, in which Leo sat down at the wrong table, we looked for a table together. So we put our stuff down, went to get our food, and then sat down.

     When I sat down, I immediately noticed something very unusual and different about his plate. I looked at his plate, and sitting on his plate was a giant piece of chicken. I knew that he was a vegetarian, so I asked him if he decided to eat meat again and why he changed his mind. He reminded me that vegetarianism is good for the digestive system. He then told me that he needed to eat meat again so he can get more protein in his diet since he works out at least every other day. It’s interesting to see the different reasons people give for why they do what they do.

     I then asked him about his weekend and what he did. He said that he went to the International Student Banquet, and that it was a lot of fun. Over 200 people attended, so the line to get food was extremely long! He said it was so long that the “sushi was over.” He meant to say that the sushi "ran out." I empathized with him, I have definitely been in long lines before, and it’s not fun. He told me about the musical acts. He said that one group performed a Vietnamese pop song called “Mirror Mirror.” He said that this was the most interesting act. But he didn’t like one of the acts because the 2 guys were singing a weird song. He did however, thought they looked cool in their tuxedos and sunglasses. He could not think of the word tuxedo, so I had to help him find that word. He also talked about how the last act was a fashion show, and that the models wore fashions from all over the world. I was fascinated by what he told me about the banquet, and I really want to go next year.

     We spent a good part of the meal discussing jokes. This part was interesting because the cultural aspect is definitely apparent in jokes, meaning that because of our different cultures, it was hard to understand each other’s jokes. Leo started this conversation by talking about a video of a guy telling jokes. Leo said that he was telling the same kind of joke that I told a few weeks earlier; the “dum-dum. Who’s there?” jokes. I was so confused until I realized that he meant to say, “knock-knock” jokes. Then, he told me a joke that he had heard from the video. As he was telling me the joke, I realized that I still have a hard time understanding his accent, and I felt so bad! So it took me a long time to understand the joke. But anyway here is the joke: “What dessert do ghosts like? Ice Scream!” Once I understood the joke, I actually found it quite funny. I then told him a lame joke from my childhood that everyone knows. It goes “Why is 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 ate 9!” He didn’t understand it, so I had to explain it to him, which was difficult for me to do. I was reminded of how our logic doffers from Chinese logic. Leo asked me if I remembered the joke he told me about Nathan’s father and 3 sons. I, being unintelligent and illogical, go “yea I remember! The answer’s number 3!” And I then proceed to choke on my pasta. He laughed and laughed, either at my answer, or my choking, I’m not sure which. So he retold this joke: “ Nathan’s father had 3 sons. The first son is number 1, the second son is number 2, so what’s the third son’s name?” This time, I managed to remember and say the correct answer, “Nathan.”

     We also talked about a lot of random topics, but I unfortunately don’t have the room to discuss every interesting tidbit of conversation here. Leo and I shared a lot of laughs during the meal. After a good conversation, we put up our plates and walked out of Market Square. I can’t believe that there are only 2 official meetings left; the semester has sure passed by too quickly! I’ve learned so much this semester about humor and different cultures, and I think conversation partners should definitely be continued next semester.