Don_M_CP-#10

Tuesday December 3, 2013, 7pm:

Saud and Ahmed showed up.   Ahmed has only come twice before, so I was surprised.  Both had skipped my Culture Class to study for a grammar test tomorrow.  I showed them a video that I had played in my culture class of NASCAR, and I asked Saud how fast they were going.  His answer was pretty close.  Previously, Saud had bragged about how fast he can drive, and tonight was no different.  So I suggested that he drive in NASCAR.  Big laughs.

Ahmed had visited San Diego California the previous weekend.  He showed us pictures and a video he had taken while there.   Ahmed asked if CIES is better in San Diego.  He said that CIES in San Diego places its students in homes with English-speaking families.  I said that you get out of any program only as much as you put into it.  Then, as this is our last session together, I suggested that they start teaching themselves by practicing talking to Americans.

Ahmed wanted to talk with two co-eds that were studying nearby, but it took him a while to get his courage up.  When he did walk over and start talking to them, he stayed for about ten minutes.   I was impressed.  So, Saud asked what would I give him if he talked to a coed.  I agreed to buy him Chic-fil-A if he talked with five coeds.  I only counted encounters not individuals.  So, two coed's walking together only count as one conversation.  After three encounters with two coeds each, Saud finally mustered the courage to talk to a single coed.  I would like to point out that, after they realized that Saud and Ahmed are CIES students, all of the FSU students graciously paused to let them practice their English.  On the fifth encounter, Saud approached two coeds and introduced himself.  He was so nervous that he forgot Ahmed’s name when he tried to introduce him.  I realized that Kuwaiti men, especially 17 year olds, never have the opportunity to talk to girls their age.    I told Saud that American girls would find his bashfulness to be “charming”.  He looked up the word and seemed pleased.

Now they were unstoppable.  We ended up in front of a water fountain with the Prizm Concert playing in the background.  I told them that Daree, who has skipped all but on session, would never believe that they had spent the evening talking with coeds, and I suggested they take a picture of their next encounter.  After many pictures with coeds and a half-beef & half-chicken pizza at Pizza Hut, they had introduced themselves and practiced English with 19 coeds?  Oh, to be 17 again.   Saud said, “I won our bet and you lost, because I talked to so many coeds”.  I replied, “We both won because you talked to so many new people”.

After four hours of meeting people, they turned down my offer to drive them to their dorm.  With all of the coed's walking down Tennessee Avenue, they decided to walk back to their rooms and meet more people.  With my mission accomplished, I started the two hour drive back to P