First Meeting with Harry / Sept. 17

Meeting with Harry for the first time was definitely an interesting experience to say the least. After numerous emails sent between us and scheduling conflicts we finally decided to meet in front of the Barnes and Noble at an outside table. I grabbed my lunch and headed on over and sat playing around on my laptop waiting for him.

After 20 minutes of sitting at an outdoor table by myself, I looked left and right to see that there were only a few others sitting outside. After 5 minutes of contemplating whether or not to impose on someone's thought, I decided to timidly ask the person looking as if they were waiting for someone, "Hey, are you Harry?" Thankfully, it was Harry, but I couldn't have felt anymore mortified.

He sat down across from me and we laughed about our awkward introduction. He shared with me numerous stories about his home life, and how excited he was to get away from China and be independent from his parents. Harry doesn't plan on leaving for home anytime soon, unless it is for a long break. He enjoys the freedom and different pace of life that he has here in Fort Worth. He currently isn't enrolled as a TCU student, but is in the midst of taking a variety of English speaking classes. He's very fluent, but he and I both realize there are some lapses in his interpretation of some American slang and phrases.

I asked Harry why he chose to go by his English name, when his real name is Rui. He explained to me that as students in China begin to prepare to leave for an international university they are given an English name that would help them better "fit in" with American culture. During one of his classes in China, they had watched Harry Potter and his teacher had claimed that because Harry wore glasses and so did Rui, that his Americanized name should be "Harry". We both laughed at how deep the meaning of his name was, a lot of history and thought behind it.

Conversation was surprisingly very easy for having been assigned this new friendship, instead of allowing it develop on its own. I really enjoyed getting to know Harry for the first time and our next few encounters are just as enjoyable!