Con Los Niños Mayores [With the Older Kids]

Hoy era en la clase con los niños mayores. Today I was in the class with the older students. They were mostly 12 years old. I spent most of my time with Jossie y Jane (pictured above). They asked me to write a few things in Chinese. Luckily, (1 year of weekend Mandarin Chinese School lessons paid off! Thanks Mama! ) I knew a few characters. I wish I knew more... They asked how to write their names in Chinese... I definitely do not know how to do that. I was going to attempt to write it in Japanese Katakana, but I didn't want to mess with that. So I taught them how to write the numbers (one to ten), love 愛, I 找, you 你, star 星, and moon 月. Pretty basic, but fun to learn. I wish I knew MORE! I know I said that already, but I DO. :( 

One of the main reasons why I am passionate about traveling is the opportunity to learn from others...  about their lives/ experiences/ likes/ dislikes/ language/ culture... and in their sharing I learn more about myself as well. There's a correlation... connection... bond... I learned from these two 12-year-old girls that they like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, One Direction, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, SIA, and more. There was one Spanish singer that I learned that they like too! They are called Adexe y Nau. They said they are from Spain, and one boy is 10 years old and the other boy is 17 years old. :) https://m.youtube.com/user/AdexeOficial Check 'em out!!! They played for me the Spanish cover of "Sorry" by Justin Beieber. I also spoke to one of the boys named Cristopher, and I mentioned something about Japan, and he started naming a bunch of Anime that he likes: One Piece, Bleach, Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, etc. He doesn't like Attack on Titan though... Which is the one I like as well as Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon. :) 

I wrote a note in English and translated it in Spanish to give to the teacher that I worked with last week. She asked to add her on Facebook, so I did... BUT I think it would be amazing if she could come to Seattle and come visit my school. Basically, in the letter I said how she is welcome to come visit me,  stay with me, and come to my school. I think it would be wonderful to have this kind of exchange between teachers around the world. There must be some kind of organization already developed that does this... if not... Maybe I should create my own!!

"When you find your path, you must not be afraid. You need to have sufficient courage to make mistakes. Disappointment, defeat, and despair are tools God uses to show us the way."