Our meeting was cut a little
short by another meeting I needed to go to for my job, so I don’t have as much
to report in my blog. We covered a hodgepodge of different topics briefly
today. Alya told me a little bit about customs in her home country. We had a
good time laughing about the conflicts between American and Saudi Arabian
culture. For example, in Saudi Arabia, it is socially during a meal for the
host to refill a guest’s plate each time it gets close to empty, but in the
United States, it is polite to eat everything that is put on your plate.
Obviously, this creates a catch-22 of sorts. We both shared stories about this
awkward encounter. No one had told her we did not do that in the US, so when
she had a guest over last year, the guest had to explain herself to Alya and
her husband, Muhammad. This happened to my older brother multiple times in
Turkey and Japan. It’s always a funny story afterwards, but man that seems
awkward!
She also mentioned how it is
still socially acceptable to kill a sheep whenever you have a dinner guest in
Saudi Arabia. Although, now a day the host does not have to kill a sheep
specifically, it is expected that he, or she, put out a large spread of food.
This got us talking about Thanksgiving, since the holiday is coming up. I briefly
forgot that it was an American holiday, so I rather made myself look a little
silly. I got the chance to explain to her what Thanksgiving was and the history
of the holiday. This meeting, I found myself doing the majority of the talking,
and Alya asked me questions. It made me realize I had been doing most of the
asking. I need to treat this arrangement as the two way street it was supposed
to be for future meetings. I found out Alya is done taking classes at TCU, and
she is now solely studying and preparing for the TOEFL, which she will take
this Friday.
I was happy when she said
everyone she has encountered so far had been nice and polite. I accredited
to Texas hospitality. I tried to explain how Texans are known for our
hospitality, and that if she ever went up north she would encounter much less
friendly individuals. We spent the remaining time talking about the differences
between northerners and southerners. I had to tell her I am considerably biased
and was born and raised in Texas and that she should take what I said with a
grain of salt. Then I had to explain what it meant to take something with a
grain of salt. Talking to Alya really makes me think about the words and idioms
I use in conversation. After leaving our discussions, I always find myself
choosing my words a little more carefully.
No comments:
Post a Comment