Talking with Omar (Meeting with Omar Part 4)

Today I met up with Omar for the fourth time. As usual, I had a great time talking to him and am enjoying seeing his year here at TCU unfold. It had been around two weeks since I had last seen Omar, so we had a lot to catch up on. When I first saw Omar, I could immediately tell he was stress-free and relieved. He told me that it was partly because it was a Friday afternoon, but also because he had just made it through a week with a bunch of tests. The tests went well and he is now looking forward to being able to focus on other things. For one, Omar has been searching for graduate schools to apply to once he is done with the Intensive English Program here. He is looking at graduate programs at TCU as well as universities in Liverpool, England, and Edinburgh, Scotland. Omar told me that he would be able to complete his master’s degree for free at TCU through a program that TCU offers. Under this program, Omar just has to work for a professor in the department he would study and his tuition would be paid for. He said that this is especially appealing to him, since the work would be in something of interest to him. However, he is excited about in the universities in Liverpool and Edinburgh. I have a ton of respect for Omar for expanding his horizons literally all over the world. He is not afraid to drop everything about his life and go somewhere completely new. After meeting Omar, this is a characteristic I admire and am hoping to adopt in my life.

Today, Omar and I talked a lot about the people he has met in his Intensive English classes. One of his favorite parts about the program is being able to interact and become friends with people from all over the world. He is learning about all different kinds of cultures. Omar told me about one person in his program who is from Korea. One day in class, they were talking about going to the movie theater. Apparently in Korea, instead of eating popcorn as a tasty movie snack, people in Korea eat fried Octopus. Being a vegetarian, naturally the concept of munching on some fried Octopus while watching a movie grossed me out. However, Omar and I both agreed that it is interesting how the type of food people eat vary drastically from culture to culture. Casually in our conversation today, I mentioned a “grilled cheese sandwich,” assuming that Omar would know what I was talking about. However, as soon as I started talking about it, Omar’s face was puzzled and he had no idea what a grilled cheese was. When I explained it to Omar, he was surprised that people just ate bread and melted cheese. It is fascinating how the type of food people eat varies so much depending on the culture.

Omar and I also talked about sororities and fraternities today. Not having any type of Greek life in Mexico, Omar is curious about the whole Greek system. I tried my best to explain to him sorority recruitment, “bigs” and “littles,” and basically how a sorority works. Omar said that nothing like this exists in Mexico, so all he had to rely on about sororities were how they were portrayed in movies. I told him that sororities, at least at TCU, are nothing like how they are in movies. He seemed to understand a little better about Greek life once we finished talking about it, although we both decided the whole concept of it is kind of strange.
 
Omar has become a great friend to me during this semester and I have loved getting to know him. It is great seeing him become accustomed to TCU and the American culture. I admire Omar for his drive and passion in his career, and his un-faltering bravery to follow his dreams. He has inspired me to grow as a person and expand my horizons. I am looking forward to my next meeting with Omar to see how else he has succeeded in his journey in America.