A Merry Christmas and Reason to Live Abroad

I do love Christmas traditions and certainly miss celebrating them with family. Yet celebrating holidays abroad often makes for an unforgettable experience and contributes to the benefits of living in another country.

Tonight I had the opportunity to teach our school's and our provinces best students. They are recruited from impoverished families from around the whole province. The government then sponsors these students to go to the capital city to be taught by the best teachers and work among the best students. I taught them about the holiday season and when I arrived I was showered with presents--poems, fruits, notes, decorations, and even a little tree. Then we had a wonderful class where they read, listened, and spoke (writing exercise as homework--write a letter to Santa), completing what would usually take my normal students three classes to finish.

After a stressful and unsuccessful Christmas concert last night, these students' hard work and presents made me feel so grateful. It's certainly unlike any Christmas before and, thus, such a wonderful experience while living abroad.

Merry Christmas!
Rick