Conversational Partner #4

My fourth encounter with my conversational partner was an unplanned one. In our previous meetings, the topic of TCU football had arisen a couple of times because of my interest in it. He said he had never been to a game and that he didn't understand the rules of the game at all. The reason I mention this is because during the Texas-TCU game I saw Hussain prior to kickoff. He was about twenty feet away in the row in front of me. I was surprised to see him there, but I didn't think much of it because of what was at stake in the game at hand. The student section was probably the best that I had experienced, so I was happy that Hussain was able to get a feel for what a Texas football rivalry means to those in the South. Much like previous games this season, TCU couldn't get any offense going. An early turnover prompted Pachall to make his long-awaited return, but even that couldn't cure the woeful offense. The rain came, which sent a lot of the TCU fans to the concourse. This is where I was able to catch up with Hussain. He looked surprised to see me, but, because of the rain, we were able to talk for a while. He was there with a few of his friends from the IEP and they convinced him to come to the game. I tried to explain to him that a rain delay at a football game was an uncommon event, and typically only happened a few times throughout college football every year. He was asking about particular parts of the game, so I began to describe as much as I could in the given time. I described the concept of a turnover, and the difference between interceptions and fumbles. I referenced Treyvon's early fumble as an example. I explained the concept of scoring a touchdown, the point after and field goals. In previous meetings, Hussain had explained to me how soccer was a big sport in Saudi Arabia. I was able to use this common ground to facilitate my explanation of how football was scored. He seemed confused why some kicks were worth three points while others were worth one, which caused me to laugh and think about football scoring as a whole. This was interesting to think about, and I communicated that to him.

Hussain and I chatted for about 15 minutes, and I'm glad we were able to meet in a different setting. Being able to chat in a situation when we hadn't planned on meeting showed that we had become more of friends than just somebody to talk to accomplish an assignment. I was grateful for his curiosity towards football, and glad that I was able to explain more of it to him. Trying to explain football to him in any other setting would be very difficult. Having some knowledge in this topic could be helpful for him while trying to transition living in a different country. I hope that he finds people to go to games with throughout the rest of the season. Although they may not be wins, it is still a great social experience and football games are definitely an important facet of American culture.