Giovanna CP #4

For my July 24, 3:30 PM-4:30 PM, conversation partner meeting with Abdulaziz, we started off by discussing critical incidents that both of us have experienced. Abdulaziz could not think of any critical incident that has happened in the United States but did have an experience on a layover in Paris. In this instance, an older American woman offered him some candy and he politely refused and she gave him a bad face. The only explanation I could think of for this was that the woman was probably from the South where hospitality and generosity are big cultural attributes and her age probably contributed to her reaction. However, I told him that offering things to strangers was not a universal cultural practice in the United States. I told him about some critical incidents I have had while moving from Miami (an overwhelmingly Hispanic city) to Tallahassee and  during my last summer in Europe. After this conversation, we also talked about restaurant culture in our respective countries and found a lot of similarities between the two. Overall, I had a great conversation with Abdulaziz and look forward to meeting with him again next week!