DJ CP#2

Yesterday I met with my conversation partner, Hwa-yong. The first thing we talked about was named, and I asked her what her first name is. She explained it was Hwa, and that Son was her family name. I explained to her that we usually don't use our last names in America, unless you have a weird last name and people use it as a nickname. She told me that she had a friend from Poland who called her "my yellow friend", and I told her how inappropriate that would be in America. She told me her Polish friend called her Wayo, so that's what I'll be calling her. We met up and went to Dirac library. We talked a lot about race in America, and I explained the Trayvon Martin case to her. At the end of it, she asked "so he was not guilty even though he shot that unarmed boy?" which I think perfectly sums up the trial. I also explained the NSA scandal and Edward Snowden. She said the fact that the NSA was spying on us was "creepy". Then she asked me about some questions she had. She told me that she had met a teacher and was told he was leaving to go on a trip soon. She asked him "where are you going?" and her teacher later told her "that was a very direct question." I explained to her that it was not an offensive or direct question, and that her teacher probably just told her that because he is also from Korea. She told me that she likes how comfortable she can be with older people in America, and told me while she was talking to another one of my students, Kwang, she told him "Come on, Kwang!", which she would never do in Korea. I explained things like the difference between ma'am, miss, mrs. and ms. And i explained that she doesn't have to call anyone Sir, but that some people will like it, and others will say "Please, call me [name]." Afterwards, she said she had a lot of fun at our meeting. The hour certainly flew by. We will be meeting on wednesday at the same time, which means if we keep this schedule, I will complete my conversation partner requirement, which is great news for me, because I was worried I was too far behind.