Conversation Partner #4

Today was my last meeting with Sujin. I decided to take her to a classic TCU student tradition: Fuzzys. We both got chicken tacos and chips and queso. Sujin and I are very compatible because we both share a love for eating. If we couldn’t think of something to do we were both like “Hey! Let’s get tacos! Or hey! Feeling Italian today?” Anyway, this was her first time to have chips and queso. I informed her that this was a basic necessity for living and a typical dinner for me at least once a week. I am a simple girl. I can live off just chips and melted cheese. Shaking her head disapprovingly, she tried this delicacy.

Then I think she began to understand why I tend to feast on this weekly. After enjoying some tasty chicken tacos, we exchanged Christmas gifts. I decided to get her a necklace with bright colored beads. She bought me a Godiva chocolate bar and wrote me a beautiful note. Chocolate during finals week is like a piece of happiness in the midst of doom. After reading her card, I realized how much of an impact we had on each other. While it didn’t seem that these weekly meetings were a big deal, they actually meant a lot to Sujin. Living with her Aunt and Uncle, she didn’t get the chance to hang out with many Americans. This friendship was significant to me as well because she had qualities that I wanted to reawaken in myself like passion for life and traveling. She told me how she wanted to travel more and see the world. We like what is comfortable to us; yet, it is imperative that we break through that comfort zone. Talk to someone you don’t know, taste food that you wouldn’t usually try, listen to music you usually don’t listen to, and who knows what will happen. Each experience contributes to the individual as a whole. It is just a matter of taking those chances and developing a sense of passion for life.

Conversation Partner #3

For one of our adventures, Sujin and I went to McKinley’s Bakery for breakfast. She ordered a parfait and I ordered quiche. Nom nom nom! While they came out promptly wit her parfait, I sat there, at first patiently waiting. We talked about our weekends and made small talk, but in the back of my mind was a giant image of a beautiful piece of quiche that I could be enjoying right now. Tired of this nonsense, I went to inquire about the whereabouts of my quiche. Because of my intimidating presence, they got their act together and brought out my lovely quiche. All was perfect besides the strange salad they put on the plate. Sujin and I couldn’t help but laugh at the strange site. The salad wasn’t really a salad at all but some shredded lettuce and a tomato on top. I politely offered it to Sujin, attempting to convince her to try this American experience, but she flat out rejected my salad. That was how I knew we were true friends.

We began talking about Christmas and our families. I couldn’t believe that she was leaving the United States in January. How weird it will be to adjust to that way of life again. I asked her if she was nervous at all. She told me that she was excited to see her old friends, but not excited to go back to school because she will have homework and assignments. That I understood all very well. She was also excited to go back to her own room because she was tired of sharing a room with her younger cousin. And I thought living with a roommate was tough my freshman year! Imagine living with a twelve year old! I know I would lose my mind for sure.

Conversation Partner #2

I decided that my second meeting with Sujin should be a little more exciting than the TCU bookstore. After discovering she had a sweet tooth like yours truly, I decided to take her to a TCU classic, YO! No one can deny the pure awesomeness of frozen yogurt. As creepy as this sounds, I enjoyed watching Sujin trying to figure out what flavor of frozen yogurt to get. Sujin was like a little kid in a candy shop. She excitedly tried each and every flavor before making the epic decision. One of the qualities I truly love about Sujin is her ability to live life so fully, always with a sense of excitement. Sometimes we become so controlled by the norm that we forget about the beauty of the small things like ice cream or listening to music. Sujin lives life passionately and being around her made me appreciate things I usually don’t even think about, like the fact that they have out of this world chocolate sauce at YO or how beautiful the day is.

We sat down and began enjoying our frozen yogurt. Sujin brought me a travel pamphlet about Korea. I’ll tell you straight up that Korea wasn’t exactly my numero uno choice of travel. However, that began to change after she showed me some beautiful pictures of where she lived. She explained to me that she lived by the sea and the mountains. Heck! I just live on a blasted hill in Oklahoma! She told me about the city life of Korea as well and how it’s like New York or Chicago. I realized how typically narrow minded I was. There is a whole world out there to experience. I couldn’t help but wonder what other amazing places existed that I knew little about. Sujin was teaching me way more than I could ever teach her. She greatly inspired me to travel the world and try new things.

Conversation Partner #1

When I first met Sujin, I hardly knew what to expect. I sat down at a table at Barnes and Noble and immediately pulled out our generation’s go to device, the cell phone. I gazed across the café area and saw several possible Sujins. And then I had my answer. Listening ever so slyly, I heard someone’s phone go off in the distance merely seconds after I sent a text to my mysterious conversation partner. Bingo. Money in da bank. Victory. But then I realized a flaw in my logic. I then considered how many text messages are sent daily and realized that perhaps it was just coincidental. I decided to take my chances and approach her. Shamwow. Sigh of relief. It was Sujin.

I must admit I was rather nervous to talk to someone I hardly knew. My worry quickly subsided when we commenced talking. I was amazed by how precise and excellent her English was. I learned that she was from Korea and had been living with her aunt and uncle for the past year and a half in Fort Worth. I tried to imagine being in her shoes. How incredible it must have been to immerse totally and completely within another culture yet immensely terrifying at the same time. She told me how she wanted to be a kindergarten teacher and about her family back home. I couldn’t believe how fast the time went by. I was rather fortunate that Sujin and I were the exact same age. While we grew up with different backgrounds, we never ran out of conversation topics. We explored the bookstore and stumbled upon a personal favorite-Nutella snack packs. Both of us, obsessed with this chocolate hazelnut goodness, rejoiced in this discovery. We feasted upon Nutella and small crackers and eventually went our separate ways for the day. Little did I know that it would be the start of a beautiful friendship.

"Get a Seeing-Eyed Dog" Reflection

It was the beginning of Thanksgiving break and I finally had made it on board my flight to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Beforehand, I spent a good hour creeping on people from behind my magazine.  I find the airport a prime place for people watching, and let’s be honest, we all do it. Carrying a giant black backpack and pushing my luggage down the suffocating aisle, I felt rather embarrassed for causing such a nuisance. About to topple over while attempting to shove my giant suitcase in the petit compartment, several hands hurried to prevent a catastrophe about to ensue. After crawling to my window seat and stepping on a woman’s foot, I made it to my seat thankfully with no causalities. Usually I try to sleep because flights are quality snoozing time, but excitement of family, friends, and the beautiful smorgasbord of turkey and pie overtook me. Instead, I reached for my literature book and commenced reading, “Get a Seeing-Eyed Dog.” Reading this on the airplane was an interesting experience due to the bumps and the rather annoying, talkative bunch behind me. Despite this, I really enjoyed the short story. I was so perplexed with the relationship between the couple. The man seemed to be in love with his wife, yet he was conspiring a plan for her to leave because he didn’t want to destroy her life. I couldn’t help but wonder was it because he wanted her to be free or was there a deeper meaning, perhaps because she couldn’t take care of him incredibly well? Because I am a romantic at heart, I went with the former thought, and took it as the ultimate form of sacrifice. I looked around the plane and gazed at the couples surrounding me. And then I thought more about Hemingway and his ambiguous writing style. While I would like to think this of the injured man, I realized there is more to the story, like any relationship. As much as she would probably want to be with him, they both know that patience will ware thin. Both of the people in this relationship are living a life full of lies, pretending that everything is ok. The man, trying his best not to hurt her while the woman plays the role of a nurse.  The image of a seeing eyed dog is fascinating because a dog would be able to help the man without the burdens of a relationship.

Hills Like White Elephants

The first time I read this story was in my AP Literature class in high school. Honestly, I hardly remember what I first thought about the story, so it was refreshing to reread this infamous Hemingway piece.  I am always intrigued with the settings of Hemingway’s stories. Africa, Spain…each place seeming so exotic and intriguing mimicking the secrecy of each character. Despite each adventurous location, the characters seem stagnant almost, dwelling in emotional ambiguity. While the reader is attempting to melt the iceberg and discover the character’s background, the characters themselves are trying to discover the same thing, figuring out each other. Hemingway captures the emotions and the struggles in relationships, especially in miscommunication. 

Jig is truly a fascinating character. She is innocent but certainly not stupid. The way she snaps back by pleading, “please please please please please please please stop talking,” was quite revolutionary, especially in comparison to the female character in the “Snows of Kilimanjaro.” Hemingway is the essence of modernism by writing about taboo topics such as abortion. Although not clearly said, the discrete messages such as “it’s really an awfully simple operation” and the white elephants themselves mimicking pregnancy therefore hint at the subject. I enjoyed reading this story because of Hemingway’s clever writing techniques by not revealing what the character is thinking. By doing so, one attempts to dive into the character’s mind and tries to comprehend each inner emotional struggle in relation to what the character actually say. 

Reflection on The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber

Yesterday evening, I decided to leave my home at the GrandMarc and go to Starbucks for a prime study environment. Usually I sit on my couch in the living room of my apartment but that simply would not be the case that evening because of the fowl stench of salmon looming in the atmosphere after my roommate decided to take a sudden interest in cooking.  We have now revoked her cooking rights after last evening’s disaster. I walked into Starbucks and I automatically felt warm and fuzzy, partially from the smell of coffee rather than salmon, and also from the jazzy music playing and the enticing study foods calling my name. Coffee and parfait in my hand, I sat down in a comfy chair and began reading Hemingway’s “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.” The title itself was intriguing because, automatically we know that Francis Macomber will in fact die. The question taunting my mind was how, and knowing Hemingway, it will be what we least expect. Naturally, Hemingway commenced his short story with the iceberg effect. Well played. I was completely confused with the conflicting emotions concerning the lion: Margaret, obviously rooted in frustration over the lion predicament, Macomber slightly paranoid with his cowardly behavior and attempts to play it off, and Wilson, obviously embarrassed to be in Macomber’s presence.  In this short story, it seemed that Hemingway described in detail the appearances of the characters not to mention the mixture of emotions Macomber was experiencing throughout the story. This was rather refreshing because Hemingway typically uses brief, yet powerful sentences, with not much emphasis on description. My favorite line was on page 11, “the fear was still there like a cold slimy hollow in all the emptiness…” The motif of fear was prominent throughout the story, especially at the end. Macomber lived a fearful life, relying on his money, constantly struggling to break free from his fear by attempting to be something that he could never be such as wearing the uniform of a man on a Safari. It wasn’t until he actually did break free from his fearful life that we realize Margot’s fear, forcing her to kill her own husband. Knowing that her husband would leave her and unwilling to cope with that fact, Margot’s fear for the future consumes her and thus, transforms her husband into becoming the prey, the victim of the hunt. However the title still lingers, more specifically the word “Happy” to describe Macomber’s life. It was in his final moments that he was truly a man, and most likely the most comfortable he was with himself. His wife, all knowing that she could no longer take advantage of his money or rely on her beauty forces her to become the huntress.