Meeting 3

            For our third meeting, Jinn and I met at Union Grounds and got some coffee. We caught up on what had been going on with each other and she told me that she didn’t really get much of a spring break because she had to work and finish moving into her apartment. However, she is leaving in a few weeks to go to LA and San Francisco with a friend. Since I’m from California, this was exciting news, so naturally we got to talking about our favorite touristy spots (this is now her second time going to LA).

            I was yet again surprised by how well adjusted Jinn is here. We talked a lot about movies and books, and I was so shocked by how familiar she as with all the latest new releases. She asked me if I had seen the movie Warm Bodies (which I hadn’t), which then sparked a long conversation about movies and book series that have been turned into movies (like Harry Potter and Twilight). We both agreed the books are typically always better, and both agreed that Twilight is just downright awful.

            Then Jinn told me a little about her boyfriend; he is Italian and half Greek. They’ve been dating for almost three years and just moved into an apartment together, although they are leaving in a couple months for Europe. She said they were going to meet his parents in Greece, although she didn’t really want to (this cracked me up a bit). Jinn is very open about her relationships and her feelings, which makes talking to her easy and enjoyable. It already feels like I’ve known her for a lot longer than just a semester.

            There was one subject we talked about that was very disheartening. She told me a bit about how sometimes she is treated poorly here, by both students and professors. She often feels that teachers look down on her compared to the other students, and sometimes other students will say things about her or make snide remarks, thinking she can’t hear. She said most of the time it doesn’t bother her, but there are moments when she does feel discriminated against. She brought up her boyfriend again, telling me how people treat her differently than him. This was very upsetting to hear and I felt absolutely awful for her. It is so wrong that students like Jinn should be treated this way when they have done absolutely nothing wrong. Even just the time I’ve spent with Jinn has broadened my horizons and given me much more appreciation for the students who travel abroad. I can’t even imagine how hard it would be to come to school from a different country, and on top of that have people treat you as if you are inferior.

She did say that she has met many nice people here though. I asked her if she thought that people in general in China were nicer than here and she said no. She said there are many similarities between people in China and people in New York which I thought was interesting. Jinn’s quite the traveler, so I love hearing her comparisons not just involving china but other countries as well. She’s only 26 and has seen so much more of the world than I have, so I love hearing about all these different places from her perspective.