Journal #4 - CESL

Enlightening would definitely be the word to describe meeting a couple of students from CESL. It is amazing to take yourself out of your own world and emerge yourself in someone else's.

First, I met Liu Yu from China. Right off the bat, he explained to me that the first of his two names is actually his family's name, and the latter is his name. Backwards from what we are accustomed to here in America. We talked a bit about school, a bit about Tucson, and a bit about China. My favorite thing that he told me was the differences in people in China. He said there were two kinds of guys in China--the veggie bowl man, or the meat bowl man. Yu explained to me that the veggie bowl man stays inside most of the time and plays video games. The meat bowl man likes to go out and spend time with friends. It was pretty funny, but a great analogy nonetheless. He was a meat bowl guy, I could tell. When we got to the question about which drink he would be, he said Vodka. His reasons for the choice were far more mature than I was stupidly assuming they would be. His father is Russian (his mother is Chinese), and in China, they drink to keep warm.

The second person I met was from South Korea. He told me to call him MJ--"not Michael Jordan" he says. I didn't have much time to talk to MJ, but it turned out he was doing computer science. We eventually exchanged emails in case I needed any help with computer language since I am doing electrical engineering. After hearing I played guitar and liked rock/metal music, he also wanted my email for good suggestions for American rock bands.

I can someone agree with "Letter to Mexico" that Americans reap the benefits of poorer countries. In the story, Mexicans hated Eula Biss for being an American. I'm glad to say that I don't believe there were any sort of stereotypical assumptions/hatred between Yu and me or MJ and me. Each of the two students were very friendly. They were extremely understanding of the fact that we were from two separate cultures. We were very much like Biss and Rosa, the other receptionist at the chemical plant in San Diego. Coincidentally, I feel like I may end up doing a similar sort of trade with MJ. He will help me with computer language while I help him with guitar and music.

Like I said in the first sentence. I feel very enlightened by the experience I had at CESL.