My "Double Date" with Jae Hoon

Jae Hoon and I recently had a "double date" you could say with Kara and her conversation partner. We went to the BLUU and hung out in the Union Grounds area and got to talk with each other. I was informed that Kara's partner was from China while Jae Hoon is from South Korea. I never really realized how many different international students there are that come here and unlike Latin America (where everyone speaks Spanish of some form), everyone from Asia has their own dialects according to their country. It is so interesting how you can live so close to each other (like that in Europe) and have completely different languages surrounding you no matter where you go.

Our activities in Union Grounds included a failed attempt at playing Apples to Apples (the conversation partners aren't really familiar with American culture, which is completely expected yet necessary in order to play Apples to Apples) and a crazy game of Jenga in which Kara lost. I had a very interesting conversation with Jae Hoon during this time because he told me that he had recently gone out to Dallas the past weekend and had stayed at a friends Korean bar until 4 in the morning. I had no idea that Jae Hoon even was interested in going to bars! This whole conversation with him about this trip to Dallas really informed me that even if your from a different country, you still want to do that same things that I would do (such as take a trip to Dallas to go out and drink with friends).

I also recently saw some pictures that Jae Hoon put up on Facebook of he and his friends going to downtown Fort Worth and just walking the streets. I thought it was so cool to see him going out and doing stuff with his friends because I know he had told me before that he had wanted to do more things than just sit in his house alone all the time. I hope that he can continue to make lots of new friends in the coming months and get to truly experience all that TCU has to offer.

Fathers and Sons

Fathers and Sons examined one of the most important themes of the Nick Adams stories; the theme of the father and son relationship. This short story meant a lot to me personally as well because I know that my relationship with my father has been so important in my life.

Nick Adams' father is a very harsh and stoic man. During the story it seems as if Nick wishes to have a relationship with his father and to have a meaningful relationship with him, but his father solely wishes to educate his son in how to be a man. His father instructs him about how to be a moral man (not to masterbate, have sex with prostitutes, etc.) and how to hunt. However, Nick's father doesn't even follow his own instruction about morality (because he frequently has other affairs) and Nick knows this because of his clear eyes and good health. This hypocrisy carries over into Nick's own life when he begins an affair with Trudy (an Indian woman). 

Ultimately the relationship between Nick and his father is a poor one that doesn't create any kind of love or compassion between the two. The relationship between Nick and his son is completely different however. Nick's son wishes to pray at his grandfathers grave and has a deep love for Nick and Nick's father. Nick reciprocates this love for his son by granting him his wishes and telling him that they will visit Nick's father someday. This story serves to compare the two father-son relationships and how one is filled with love while the other is just a formality. 

I think this story meant so much to me because if I had a father-son relationship like the one between Nick and his father I would be miserable. I can relate to the hurt that Nick felt and the difficult adolescence he experienced because of his relationship with his father. I thought this story was an excellent representation of the importance of a father-son relationship and the effect it has on one's personality and one's actions.

JaeHoon's first Tex-Mex Experience

The other day I decided to take my conversation partner to Fuzzy's Taco Shop. JaeHoon not only didn't know what a taco was, but he had no idea what the Tex-Mex cuisine was all about. I tried to describe it to him to the best of my ability, but I kept on saying, "You just gotta try the food."

I helped him order two Tempura shrimp tacos with everything on it and I got us a side of queso and chips. After his first bite into the taco I asked him, "Is it good?", and he replied, "Very good." My work was completed in exposing him to possibly one of the biggest cultural identities of Texas. I take my Tex-Mex very seriously and it made me proud to give JaeHoon only a sample of the wide variety of Tex-Mex.

We are already planning to watch the Utah vs. TCU game together in which there will be a lot of yelling and screaming from me and a lot of "What's going on here?" from him. I promised to teach him the rules of the game and I can't wait for him to get excited about TCU football.

God Bless Texas and Go Frogs!!