Kim CP #1

I had my first meeting with my new conversation partner during the CIES lunch hour on Thursday March 30. I met Abdulrhman at the Starbucks across Tennessee St for coffee. Abdulrhman is from Saudi Arabia and has been living in Tallahassee and attending CIES for just one month. He came to CIES to better his English because he wants to follow his father's footsteps and study law. We talked about the differences between Tallahassee and his hometown in Saudi Arabia. He thinks Tallahassee is boring and misses spending time with his family back home. Abdulrhman's English isn't very good so I made corrections for him while we were speaking, he appreciated the help. He told me he lives with two American roommates so he is forced to speak English at home. He said it's been helping him with his speaking skills. We talked about the differences between American and Arabic culture, about traditional gender roles, and how he is very close with his family of six brothers and sisters. He told me that his family is considered small in Saudi Arabia and considered very large in the US. He remarked how American families don't seem very close but in Saudi Arabia family is everything. He told me he calls his mom every day after class even if that means he is calling her at midnight due to the time difference. It was a bit difficult for me to find out what he was really interested in. I asked him what his hobbies were and he was unsure how to answer so I asked him what he liked to do and he just shrugged. I asked him if he played any instruments and he said no. I asked him if he liked watching television or movies, whether he liked to read or play sports, and to every question he just answered with "sometimes." So I asked him what his typical day looks like, or what he would like to do on his day off and he told me "I don't ever make plans." So I'm not actually sure what he likes to do in his free time so I guess I will have to figure that out in our next meeting.