When I walk simply, open my eyes and ears to those around me, and let myself be humbled it's shocking what all I can be taught in a day, an hour, a minute...
Here is an inexhaustive list of everything that I learned today, just your average, ordinary day...
- Dinosaur egg instant oatmeal from America is still the best flavor on earth... no rivals.
- Students are way more creative when it comes to sneaking a cell phone out of class to a friend in the hall than they are in regards to any assignment you could possibly give them.
- The best tool for assessing English improvement in students is when they start laughing at your jokes.
- It is possible for even a cold to be evidence of a Savior's mercy.
- When they say "let's have lunch" what they really mean is "let me order more dumplings than you've ever seen in your life along with two huge vegetable dishes."
- If they don't throw the book of random advice at you when you're sick, they don't love you.
- It's totally okay to order food in one restaurant, walk next door, order food in the next restaurant, and then have them deliver to the first one. The only one who feels uncomfortable is you, everyone else in the first restaurant thinks it's brilliant.
- Colds give you a super human capacity for dumplings.
- Someone, somewhere thinks you're beautiful. If you're in Lhasa: everyone, everywhere does.
- College grad work, even in the best of all possible circumstances, will not ever write itself. Making patience the least enviable virtue in this situation.
- A bag of pineapple fruit snacks is only one yuan. Why not get two?
- Few things are more culturally shocking than babysitting korean kids in Lhasa, and few things more rewarding.
- Some songs transfer to any language.
- The best dinner conversations consist of maybe three words: juice, soup, good. That's just about everything you could ever want to say.
- Goodnight kisses and hug jumps from behind are two of the most endearing characteristics of children, and surely at least part of what He meant when He instructed us to become like them.
- Being one of three white residents on the bus route never fails to be awesome.
- The only thing better than giving random grandfathers lotion is giving them lollipops... and don't you forget it.
