October is nearly gone. How have I not blogged at all this Fall? I’m up late grading journals for my writing class. I have some of the most wonderful students. They make my job so enjoyable. What a blessing to be able to say that! For this particular class, I’ve been giving them as much practice with free writing as possible. Every few days I’ll give them prompts for their journals. Over the weekend I asked them to answer the question, “What makes you happy?” Here are some excerpts from their responses.
“I’m happy when I eat good food with people that I like.”
“Traveling makes me feel happy. I get a energy and learning of life through traveling.”
“It makes me happy to go to sleep when I feel tired.”
“My heart is very happy when I can help another people.”
“When studying for exams and my effort and give my all, when I’m responsible with my stuff.”
“I make happy when I read interesting book and when I cook in my kitchen.”
“I have a dad, mum and a sister. When I study I think about them and it makes me happy.”
“Fall is my favorite season in Korea. I like to watch the leaves fall on the ground and see red and yellow fall foliage in the mountains and fields. This makes me happy.”
“I have a lot of difficulty in learning English. But my family greatly encourage to me. So, my family and I am happy.”
Reading all of these really blessed me tonight. They are so simple, yet each statement resonated in my heart. So many of these things are universal. They speak of human desires for love, belonging, comfort, and relationships. These things transcend country and culture. The more I learn about other cultures, not only do I discover the differences; I discover the connections. In so many ways, we are all very much the same.
