Jennifer_ITA1

Today everyone met with their International Teaching Assistant, who will also double as a conversation partner. My partner is Fengrui Hu, but she goes by the American name Serena since her Chinese name is difficult to pronounce. She is from China and has been in America for almost one year. She is currently a PhD student at Florida State University studying Biological Science. I told her my major and how I really like different cultures, especially Asian cultures. I also told her I’m very passionate about music, and how I am in the African Drum and Dance Ensemble at FSU. She thought that was great, and talked about how much she enjoys music. She talked about how she plays piano and enjoys it very much. She also talked a little about her life in China and how she has a boyfriend. While she was very fluent with her speaking, she seemed slightly shy and kept saying her English was not very good. I am hoping that having a conversation partner will help her realize just how well she is doing with English! We did not get to talk very long, but I can tell she is a very committed student. She talked about how she is always in the Biological Science labs before class and is usually busy in the evening. This made it rather difficult to figure out a time to meet, but we found a time! If anyone has any suggestions as to what would be a good hour-long activity besides meeting for coffee in Tallahassee, I would greatly appreciate it. Unfortunately it seems both Serena and I are on a tight time schedule! However, she seems to be a very sweet-natured person and a hard worker. I very much look forward to getting to know her better.