Yangyi: The Final Meeting

            This time, he brought a friend. Her name is Coco. It was fun to see how he changed when she was around. When I first arrived, they handed me yogurt they had got me and a spoon. They had gotten all 3 of us some yogurt to celebrate our last meeting, or something like that. This was a bit of my own personal nightmare because I could not eat the particular yogurt they had gotten due to a food allergy. I started to just eat it anyway, but I decided that the torment afterwards was simply not worth it. So, I said thank you and started talking to hopefully distract from the fact that I wasn’t eating. Normally, I would just tell them I couldn’t have it, but it was such a sweet gesture I just couldn’t bring myself to ruin it and hurt their feelings.

            I asked how class was, and Coco started laughing. Apparently Yangyi had stopped going for three weeks. He looked embarrassed that she told me. When I asked him why, he made up some nonsense about his body not letting him because he was sick and needed rest. I countered with reminding him we met during that time and he laughed and didn’t seem sick at all, and that he had been going out with friends almost every night when he could have been resting. I told him that if he was well enough to hang out with friends, he was well enough to go to class. He changed his tactics at this point to say that our friendship was so important to him that it surpasses his class responsibilities. He said that he still came to our meetings because he feels that you make sacrifices for friends because they need you. After I called his bluff, I thanked him for such high compliments.

            Then, I think due to our guest, he began trying to tell me about my future boyfriend. He described his looks, his social demographic, and how we would meet. According to Yangyi we will meet in a coffee shop and I will spill coffee on him as I walk by. Then, we’ll look at each other and “he’ll say this is the best second degree burn I’ve ever received,” I finished. They both laughed.

We joked around about this for a little bit, then we started discussing dream vacations. Yangyi’s were grand world travels involving multiple continents and multiple countries. Mine is a trip down Route 66. I want to start in Chicago and travel the 2,451 miles down America’s Main Street getting to experience every quirky mile. I think they both thought I was a little crazy for wanting to do it, but that’s ok. I think they’re a little crazy for wanting to fly around so much.

We told her my new Chinese name and Coco laughed. I asked her why she thought he gave it to me, and she said because I was so white. I laughed and told him that that’s what I had thought too, as well as other people who knew it. He said, “No, I chose it because I think it is very beautiful.”  The jury is still out on whether Coco and I believe him.

All in all, it was a great final meeting and a great semester of friendship. Apparently he has only written about three of our meetings, but he said he has enjoyed them anyway. I asked him if he plans to pass his listening tests this week, and he said he doesn’t think he will. I asked why, and Coco jumped in and said, “Because he doesn’t go to class!” Hopefully he’ll learn his lesson for next semester. I had told him if he needed any help, he could ask. Maybe he will next semester.