My final meeting with Sangmin
took place in the library. I met him in the loud section, where he was using
the computer to book a trip to…start spreading
the news…
New York! New York!
Sangmin was
quite excited to go to New York as his last trip before returning to Korea in
December. The website he was booking his flight on was in both English and
Korean. For some parts of the site, Sangmin asked for my help in understanding
certain terms, such as “frequent flyer.” After a few minutes, he finalized his
purchase and got his ticket to the city that never sleeps.
We
continued talking about the types of things he would be doing in New York. He
said he wanted to watch “The Lion King” on Broadway and travel to Washington,
D.C., for a day. Since he’s not currently working, his parents are paying for
his entire trip. I asked him if his parents gave him a budget.
“Budget?
What’s a budget?” he asked.
I explained
to him what a budget was, to which he replied with a laugh, “No, it’s unlimited!”
After he
booked his flight, we went to a table in Bistro Burnett for our last conversation.
The conversation that followed was perhaps the deepest conversation we had in
our six meetings.
We got
into a conversation talking about God. He said his aunt in Grandbury takes him
to church whenever he visits her, but he has difficulty believing in God because
he needs concrete evidence. I then told him my story about how I experienced
God when changing my major last year—how, in the midst of crisis and nearly
becoming a music major, God led me to journalism, because
He knew what would truly make me happy (see my previous post, “Adventurous”). I
told him that God is like the wind: we don’t see Him, but we can experience
Him. He smiled and nodded, but still had difficulty believing. Despite our
differing views, we both remained respectful to one another and continued with
the rest of our conversation.
“I think my
English is getting worse!” Sangmin said as we were walking out of the library.
He said he
spent time having fun rather than studying for IEP. I laughed and told him that
his English was fine, and he’ll get a good workout practicing English in New
York. We finally reached University Drive, said "goodbye," and parted ways.
Meeting
with Sangmin was an overall great experience. We shared some fun times,
laughed, and went crazy together. I learned how to speak more simply and open my
eyes to cultures not my own. One of the biggest things Sangmin said in our last
conversation was, “America is not much different from Korea.”
I think he might be right.
Samantha,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this blog about you and your conversation partner. I can't imagine how excited he must be to go to New York City during the Christmas season. Even though he says there is no budget right now, it would be interesting to hear if he ends up running short on cash, simply because things are so expensive in the city. Despite this, I am sure he will have an amazing time!
I went to New York City for my first time with my grandmother when I was in elementary school. I remember it was this same time of year, and it was absolutely freezing. Even though it was a day trip, my grandmother watched over me like a hawk, and never let me stray too far from her. One of my favorite memories was when she refused to let me go into the men's restroom by myself in the Plaza hotel (as if somebody was really going to kidnap me). Instead, I had to go into the women's restroom which was incredibly embarrassing for the coolest second grader in town.
Also, I can't think of a better way to leave off your time with Sangmin than a deep conversation like that. I am sure that both of you will look back and remember it forever, which is truly special. Hopefully you hear from him sometime down the road!
- Chris
Thank you for sharing the meaning you got out of all your conversation partner meetings. Sangmin sounds like a great partner, and I really enjoyed hearing about his trip to NY. I think it’s really cool that he’s experiencing as much of America as he can, and where better to go than NY and Washington DC. Also I think it’s awesome that you got to share your faith with Sangmin, especially in a way that you both could respect each other’s thoughts and beliefs. Lastly, your conclusion about what he said really reflects much of what I’ve seen in my meetings with Sinan, my conversation partner. Her experiences with humor and people in China are similar in many ways to what she experiences in America, and I see the similarities for myself as well.
ReplyDelete