Danielle has a few signs in her apartment that say My Heart Is Full.
And that is how my heart feels right now.
It has been great to be back in Xiamen, where I spent a semester studying, to revisit streets and see some old friends, to eat some of the same foods, and to have time to hang out and catch up and keep up on relationships. Also, it is fun to share these things with my mom.
My heart is also full with all the conversations that are still happening and that I've been a part of in these past few weeks, conversations that sometimes take very different turns from what I was expecting.
The class monitor -- who is one of the best class monitors I know -- who talks about stress and how he gets his ear pierced every time there is too much stress to handle.
The student at EC who tells us he is halfway. He still has a lot of questions and wants to be sure before he commits his life to something.
Another student who is very shy at the beginning of English Corner. He just finished his freshman year of university and came home for the summer and his mom told him to go practice his English, but he said he had never talked with a foreigner before. And then we found a connection: he goes to school across the street from where I've been teaching all year, yet we meet here in Xiamen. Instant friends.
Brothers and sisters... everywhere...
And I am so blessed to have been here. To have gotten to become friends with so many students, to have loved and to have been loved, to have learned about teaching and about talking and how to cross space to communicate what I care about most.
Yep... my heart is full.
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