Humor at the Zoo

Today, Sam, Alex, and I decided to take on the Fort Worth Zoo and observe the humor scene.  Sadly, there wasn't as much laughing as there was yelling and pointing. It was more of a chaotic scene of children screaming at the animals and parents looking super stressed out. Sam and Alex made the zoo even more fun by breaking obvious zoo laws, especially when the laughs were at a minimum.  Near the end of an afternoon without a laughter video, we went to the Texas section of the zoo to see the horned frogs, but instead came across a swinging bridge.  We observed a group of Muslim kids enjoying playing on a bridge that coincidentally, we have just played on.

Throughout this assignment, I definitely felt creepy filming all the people that I could. It was weird to think that I'm hitting the age where filming children isn't maybe the best idea. Overall, when we witnessed laughter, it was pure and innocent - the type of laugher we used to have as kids when witnessing new, out of the ordinary, things.

Conversation Partner #6

Today, I met with Tracy for the last time. Looking back on our time together over the past semester, she's grown leaps and bounds with her knowledge of the English language and he confidence speaking it. When we couldn't figure out a word, she would look it up and we would pronounce it together until she got it just right, and most of the time, she got it on the first try.  Her sister wasn't able to make it to the last meeting, but it was nice to have very quick exchanges with Tracy on her own. She told me that there was a possibility she was going to transfer to the second half of the IES program to a school in New York. She didn't like the idea of being at TCU when school was out into the summer, because she thought the town would be empty and the stores would be closed, which I denied. I totally understood her and her sister's reasoning for wanting to transfer. They wanted to be in a city where they could take the subway places and explore the city. I'm truly appreciative that I had the opportunity to meet Tracy and her sister this semester and learn about their experience in a whole new place while comparing it back to their home in Taiwan.

Conversation Partner #5

Today, Tracy and I met outside the TCU bookstore like we usually do. This was the first time she came without her sister, who was filming a project with an advertisement theme. At first, I couldn't figure out what Tracy was saying, but after awhile she googled the word on her phone and I finally realized she was trying to say "advertisement," which I would have never guessed if she hadn't showed me the word. For a few minutes we went over the pronunciation of the word slowly a broke it down into singular syllables for her to work with. After much improvement in her pronunciation, she thanked me like three times for teaching her a new word. It's incredible to think back to when we met and could barely talk to the large vocabulary she has today. Then, she invited me to the IES social and said it may be boring and we both laughed. She often talks about how much homework she has all the time and how often she naps, which I'm envious of. Tracy has been a truly great conversation partner. I'll be sad when I have my last meeting with her on Wednesday.

Conversation Partner #4

Today I met with Tracy and her sister for the fourth time. What I noticed immediately was that both of their English skills had improved greatly as compared to meeting them in January. They used to be shy and reply to my questions in short sentences, but now they ask me questions about my daily routine and where I’m free while replying without hesitancy. When I tell them they’ve been improving, they’re almost embarrassed to receive such a complement. Today, we talked about food, per usual. I know they like Potbelly’s and want to try SweetFrog, but they’re disappointed there are no restaurants in walking distance from campus with Asian cuisine.  This has never occurred to me since I usually don’t eat Chinese food, but it must be difficult going from Taiwanese food for their entire life to coming to TCU and barely being unable to get their nationality’s food unless they cook it. They said they almost always make race for their meals, while adding variance in different add-ons. Tracy says sometimes she makes a stir-fry with difference vegetables.  Before I left, I made sure to tell them about what I thought about the candy they gave me last week.  I was honest in saying I was surprisingly pleased with the candy, but it was just weird that it they were in plastic packaging – especially since it was chocolate and berry pie.  We plan to meet again a week from today.