So my mom tells this “hilarious” anecdote about how I came home from kindergarten one day very upset because I didn’t have any friends. Yes, I had played with other kids, finger painted and the like with em, but no one had asked me, “Will you be my friend?” An adorable anecdote, for my mother, who then had to explain to me that just because you don’t verbalize a relationship doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Well, mom, I don’t know, I think I may have finally gotten my first friend today. One of my students asked if he could talk to me outside of class and seeing as how my office hour as been void of students, I assured him that I would like nothing more. So he came in and I asked if he wanted to practice his English and he said he didn’t care he just wanted to get to know me. Now, I understand that as a young female teacher, I need to be cautious about setting boundaries, especially with male students, but the hard part is that I do want to get to know them better and be friend-ly if not friends. So I told him a little more about myself, white lied and sped up my relationship a few years to say no I wasn’t married, but definitely engaged, waving a kind of pathetic excuse for a fake engagement ring.  After this he told me he thought I had a very nice character and he hoped we’d stay in touch. (I don’t see how we wouldn’t considering he can’t graduate from university if he doesn’t come to my class twice a week, but who knows how or where people pick up little English catch phrases) Then, he struggled to remember the words so he got out a piece of paper and pen and wrote out the question “Can we be friends?” Now, as I have no experience with this question, MOM, I wasn’t sure what to do! Can we be friends? Is that allowed? I was friend-ly with my professors… So I said, well, I’m your teacher, but yes we can also be friends. Then he looked at what he had written and asked me if I understood him. At this point I was very nervous that the word “friend” had a much different connotation for him than it did for me so I creaked out a nervous, “I think…” He was very relieved and very happy; it really was like a kid being nervous to ask someone else to play. He was also very polite and proper the whole time. He never said anything about getting coffee or sitting in a shop, and he left my rather ambiguous marital status alone. The only thing he pushed was for me to tell him my age, which I now refuse to tell anyone, and even after explaining my reasoning he seemed very disappointed by this. He invited me to Jerash, where he lives, and promised me he would show me around. He also informed me that he would add me on facebook and wanted to make sure I would respond with a confirmation of our friendship. So, I think, I hope, he was just a nice student who likes to meet foreigners… hopefully, I can also help him with English. Mom, I still don’t know how to make friends, but at least now I know I’m not the only person who thinks it’s polite to ask.