Final meeting

Janaina and I's last meeting of the semester was short and sweet. She was gearing up for her first Texan (and American) Christmas with her family, and I was counting down the days until my last final, so we met just briefly to chat.

This semester has gone by in a whirlwind, and our first conversation seems like just yesterday. We both have grown the last few months, Janaina in her English me in my appreciation for other cultures and languages. Never did I think I would ever have a chance to participate in something like this here at TCU. These "required" conversations have been a welcome break from my science labs.

We talked about school and my upcoming finals, as well as her family, an always popular topic of conversation for Janaina. Her kids are finishing up with school also, and excited to spend their first Christmas here, even though they still often miss Brazil. I cannot imagine picking up and moving to a whole other country and culture as a teenager. Growing up is hard enough, but doing so in a foreign place with a foreign language must be a crazy experience. Just moving from California to Texas was difficult for me.

While I hope to see Janaina again next semester, with our different lifestyles and busy schedules I am not certain it will be easy to do. Even if I do not get to sit down for coffee or lunch ever again with Janaina, I will always remember this experience. We participate in this program to gain global awareness credit, and while I already have this credit from studying abroad this summer, I still learned so much through this portion of the class. I learned to appreciate those who work to learn our language so much more, because it is not easy. I learned about Janaina's Brazilian culture and the differences between it and our American culture. Overall this semester in Literature and Civilization II has been a memorable one, largely because of the conversation partner program. If it were possible, I think all global awareness credit courses at TCU should do this.

This final conversation blog is also my last blog for this course, and I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Blogging has been a great way to write about what we're learning in and out of class, and it has been so fascinating to see what everyone has learned this semester. Merry Christmas everyone, and thanks for a great semester!