Last Meeting with Bandar - a great end to the semester

Wow, it's crazy how time flies by.  It feels like just yesterday I was walking into class and finding out who my conversation partner is. Now the semester is only a week from being over for me and I had my final meeting with Bandar. We had our usual greeting, catching up on our stress levels and class work.  Apparently as of today Bandar is completely done for this semester.  I told him how jealous I was and he told me the only thing left is a party on Friday. However, he isn't going because he would rather sleep.  

Then we talked about our latest plans for the break.  Some close friends of Bandar's invited him to join them in New York.  If he goes he will stay close to 2 weeks, which he plans on doing. He told me that he likes the city and the night life of New York, but that he prefers Seattle. This is because he prefers the vibe and weather of the city.  He also mentioned that the people of Seattle are much nicer and less fast paced than New York, which I agree with.  He asked when I thought the weather would finally cool down here.  I told him January and February would probably be most cold.  "How about Christmas?" he asked me.  I told him it would start cooling down again next week.

He then asked me what I do with my personal life.  I didn't understand what he meant but then I figured out he was asking about my hobbies and free time outside of school. I told him that I do photography and draw things.  Despite my emphasis on the photographs he was more interested in the drawing, asking if I drew by hand or on the computer. When I told him by hand he said good and asked to see one of my drawings, so I showed him the picture above. When I asked him the same he told me about a game on the computer he plays called Kaiser.  Apparently he has put a lot of time and money into this game, and he does not like loosing.  "If I were to loose I would be like a samurai and commit suicide," he joked with me.  Apparently this game started in America but it was translated and now it is a big deal in Saudi Arabia, with millions of players of all ages.  He was very excited to talk about it and we had some good laughs..

The meeting was a bit bittersweet, this semester has treated me well.  At the end of our hour, Bandar and I talked about possibly meeting up again next year just as friends to catch up and talk to each other. When I first heard about our conversation partners I was so nervous about how I could possibly fill an hour of time with a complete stranger.  I have found that the experience was quite enjoyable though and I am so glad that I got to be a part of the program.