"I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list"

Okay, so it has been a year since I last wrote...I have spent the last two years teaching at an international language school in downtown Chicago. During those two years I have met some amazing people from all around the world.

So what have I learned? Well, I've learned a ton about English grammar.

I've learned a lot about different cultures...I've learned that Chinese people don't actually eat fortune cookies, nor do they even know what they are. And they like to make hardboiled eggs, marinate them in gravy and preserve them in plastic as a snack. I've learned that Saudi Arabians have licenses that they must carry around declaring whom they are married to. And that in the Middle East, it is unethical to eat with the left hand. I've learned to never write a Korean student's name in red pen, because it indicates that I want something terrible to happen to them. I've learned that in Russia an odd number of flowers is bad luck, and that a nod of the head actually means "no" in Bulgaria.



In addition, I've learned that first impressions are almost always inaccurate. And that different perspectives can be fascinating, and people open to hearing them are the best type of people. I've learned that teaching is one of the most life-consuming, but satisfying jobs there is. I've learned that there is so much more of the world left to see and experience firsthand.

And...I've learned that no matter how many times your brain tells your eye sockets not to cry, tears are not something that you can control.