Conversation 3

Today I met with Brandon again for our third conversation. It’s interesting to see how we have begun to see each other more as friends rather than an assistant in an assignment that we are required to do. The conversations have started to be more casual and connected, as we now know the basic information of each other. We no longer need to ask one another where we are originally from or what year in school we are in. We actually are getting to know one another.

            This time in our conversation, we focused more on our travels and activities during the recently passed Spring Break. Brandon told me that he ended up returning to China because he wanted to see his family and friends. He said it was “nice to be around people again.” I asked him to clarify and he said that at TCU, he feels like it is a ghost town compared to the chaos he experiences on a daily basis. He touched on the fact that it was refreshing to get back to his Chinese roots and seeing some type of normality that doesn’t exist in Fort Worth. But this was not the highlight of his trip by any means. He stated that the most fun part was seeing his girlfriend of nine months. There was the biggest grin on his face, seemed like he really liked the girl. I then made the mistake of asking him when is the next time he will see his significant other. He said he won’t see her for another nine months, which is our next Christmas break... Even with this news that would tear most people in relationships to shreds, he still was optimistic and excited for the next time they see each other (DEDICATION EH?).

I was pretty over that relationship talk as soon as it started so I tried to change the subject quickly. We then started to tap into Brandon’s future plans within the Neeley Business School, as he is hoping to graduate IEP in August with the rest of his classmates, so he may move onto his degree at TCU. I commented saying he should be excited because now he can choose his schedule rather than having it set for him 9am-1pm. I expressed how he could take night classes or even classes that start as early as 8am. He kind of laughed it off and told me that he has always been in night classes in China, and that they are “pretty awful.” Brandon then went on to say he always had night classes in China everyday and they were exhausting. I agreed. They are pretty terrible if you ask me.

The funniest part of the conversation was the very end. After we finished talking about the monotony of school, we had an awkward silence. We kind of just sat there staring at our respective crumbs of the chick-fil-a meals, no words, just silence. What was funny about it was that Brandon broke the silence with a small burst of laughter than flashed the “awkward turtle.” Due to the overall awkwardness of the conversation and what just transpired, it was truly hilarious for both of us.

In conclusion, the conversation went very well and was fun for both of us. We were able to get to know each other more through humor rather than the bland questions we tend to ask when we meet with someone we don’t know well. Overall, it went very well.