On Tuesday, November 6th Sina and I had our last meeting (although we're definitely still going to hang out)! While eating dinner at the BLUU, I noticed that Harry Potter was playing on TV. I asked Sina who her favorite character was, to which she replied, "Draco Malfoy." After thinking a little more, she said, "Maybe Bellatrix...or Hermione." Gotta love the Harry Potter characters. :)
Since it was Election Day, we obviously had to talk about politics. She asked, "How old do you have to be to vote in America?" I told her and then she informed me about the voting process in Germany. Apparently you can vote 4 times-one for all of Europe,one for your town (16), one for your 'state', and one for your country! They aren't all on the same ballot, but I thought that was really cool. She couldn't remember exactly how old you had to be to vote for each one, but it fell within the 16-18 age range.
Sina plans to take the SAT in January, just to see where she is because she hopes to be accepted at a community collge next semester. She told me about when she moved here (July 31st) and how ever since she started school (August 17th), she's wanted to actually attend TCU. Students in the IEP program aren't considered to be even freshman! They have to graduate from the program to enter the university, so she's trying to do that. She's upset because her parents don't understand that she wants to go to college, since her aunt (from Arlington) is the only family member who completed college. I was upset when she said she wanted to go to a community college-although I was happy at the same time-because I would never get to see her! However, she said she would come back to see her friend, play on the polo team, and go to parties...she does that a lot because she has free time.
As we were getting ready to leave, she told me that she was going to see the new James Bond movie that night, Skyfall. She was quite excited.
Well, I don't really know howto end my blog series. So...I have thoroughly enjoyed having a conversation partner. I think Sina and I were a wonderful match and I'm glad we got to have this experience.
Rebecca, I think it is so great that you and your conversation partner get along so well and plan on maintaining a friendship! Also, I think it’s really neat to see conversation overlap between other partners. Hashim and I have talked about politics several times. I think it’s great that our conversation partners care enough about the country they are studying in to learn more about it. Inversely, I have asked Hashim about politics in Saudi Arabia. I think it’s interesting to see a different spectrum of politics. Did anyone else talk politics with their partners?
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that you had such a good connection with Sina. I think it is wonderful that she is going to try and pursue a college education. I have to agree with Annaliese that it is cool to see how conversations overlap each other; my conversation partner and I talked about politics briefly, but he just wanted to know the voting age.
ReplyDeleteFantastic to see you and your Sina got along so well! Strange that her parents are supportive of her coming to college, most parents would be thrilled to see their child is taking such an initiative. I'm a little confused about one part of this post though... Is she going to community college or is she sticking with the program?
ReplyDeleteI hope she stick with it because from the videos and your posts, it seems like she's adjusting well to TCU and America.
Michael,
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can understand, Sina wants to enroll in 1 class at a community college and has almost graduated from the IEP program. If she scores high enough on the SAT to get a scholarship, she hopes to enroll here at TCU as a 'freshman'.
Thanks for asking!