The Charming 3rd Time

Yesterday, I met up with Keith for our third conversation of the semester.  He met me at Union Grounds…ice cream cone in hand.

Now, I remember Keith telling me that he liked ice cream, but I also remember telling me that he does not like to eat at Market Square.  However, he decided to venture onto the second floor of the BLUU to enjoy one of his favorite treats before meeting me.

When Keith sat down, I noticed that he was wearing a Houston Rockets shirt.  He then informed me that a couple of weekends ago, we went with some of his friends to Houston for the NBA All-Star game festivities.  Although they watched a minor league game (the actual All-Star game was extremely pricey), he ended up seeing Kobe Bryant, who he casually showed me a picture of on his iPhone.  Respect, Keith.  Major respect.

Talking about the All-Star game, led to talking about sports in general, which led to talking about TCU sports, which led to talking about TCU football.  Keith said that one of his favorite things about being in America is the feeling he gets from the crowd at a football game.  He feeds off the crowd’s energy, and – to him – there is nothing quite like it.  This made me incredibly happy and proud (I’ll throw in a shameless, “Go Frogs!”).

As our conversation progressed, I started asking him about Chinese humor and its comparison to American humor.  He said that in China, innuendos are very popular.  Moreover, the idea of schadenfreude is popular; he brought this up as we were watching the TV show Wipeout.  Although he did not give me many examples, I think the most interesting part of our conversation was hearing about his perceptions toward American humor.

First, Keith told me that Americans tend to laugh out loud at a lot of things when they are watching a movie.  Keith conceded that although certain parts of a movie are funny, they usually are not funny enough to make someone burst into hysterics.  Secondly, he acknowledged the fact that we have a lot of “stupid” humor; we laugh at dumb things. 

Nevertheless, one thing that both of our cultures have in common is that it is funny to make people uncomfortable/put them in awkward situations.  For instance, Keith and I were talking about Valentine’s Day, and he was telling me about his roommate.  He said that his roommate has been hanging out with a girl lately.  His roommate, who is outgoing with his friends, is normally shy around others, especially those he does not know well.  Keith said that one day, when his roommate’s “friend” came over, Keith and his friends began telling her how he writes love songs about her (which is NOT true)…GOODNESS, KEITH!  Not sly at all!  Although his roommate was slightly embarrassed, he said they all laughed.

In continuing to talk about Valentine’s Day, Keith told me about how he gave a friend of his a basket filled with a teddy bear, chocolates, and a card.  Unfortunately, according to Keith, it did not turn out so well; they are “just friends”.   He then asked if I had a boyfriend, to which I replied, “Yes.”

This was another answer that Keith did not want to hear.

He shook his head, put his hands in the air, and asked me, “How will I ever find a girl?!”

I awkwardly replied with a laugh – typical Mackie.  I then reassured him that all will be well; he will find the right girl I due time.

The last thing we talked about was his upcoming ESL test.  He told me that he took a practice test, and he did poorly because he did not follow instructions…whoops.  However, he said that his test is tomorrow, and he plans on studying tonight.  Keith gets the results back Monday, and boy, do I hope he passes!