an excerpt from an email from my greatest friend in aisa

My Dearest Joy,
I am really glad that received your email. How is you and your great family doing. I am doing just fine. I am in Hong Kong right now and doing the part time job for HP as saving enough money then I will go back to Taiwan on December...(selected text deleted)...How about you, any handsome guys crazy about you, dun tell me that you broke alot of hearts, you should give them some chance and space to chase you, at least let them to treat you a great free dinner, then say bye..........ahahha. Once again I do feel really happy you sent me an email, cause you are the only my best friend who from oklahoma still contact to me.
Best Regards
Your best friend forever
Dave
p.s. Btw if u have any plan to come to asia pls let me know. I will arrange the time for you.

If you have any doubt after reading this email excerpt why Dave is my best friend in Aisa (not to mention one of my best friends from anywhere), I'll be glad to tell you many, many, many Dave stories.
Imagine, if you will, a person with limited English in a canoe with a huge antsy dog on an extremely cold day...

Home Visits

Tonight was an absolutely amazing night for me. For the first time I am making organized home visits to every student's home in my class (except for those parents who do not want me to come). Usually the first grade teachers make home visits around Christmas time and bring presents to their students. However, since I have several JW students this year, I decided to make my home visits coincide with P/T conferences. Tonight was the first of four nights for me to have conferences (three nights of which are full of home visits).

I made it to four homes tonight. At the first home I just kept thinking, "It cannot possibly get any better than this!" At the second home I thought, "Wow, this may even be better than the first one. It can't possibly get any better than this." I had the same thought at the third and fourth homes as well.

The parents were so welcoming! I was a bit concerned that some of them might feel like this was an invasion of their privacy, but they appeared to feel ecstatic to have me in their home. I guess those who felt like it might have been intrusive were the ones who opted out. When I arrived, most of the kids were waiting for me at the front door. When they spotted me, they screeched at the top of their lungs and came running out to greet me in the street. Once at their homes I got to see dogs, siblings, princess-clad bedrooms, and even a spinning Captain America action figure.

It is amazing to see how parents will open up even more than usual when you are on "their turf." It is also very special to see the pride children have in showing someone they care about and who cares about them their home. One little girl kept saying things like, "That's the one I was telling you about." It was exciting for her that I was making visual connections with the stories she's been telling me now for 40 school days. If I could bottle up the expressions on their faces and the joy in their hearts from tonight world peace would be possible. It was all so moving I was nearly in tears on more than one occasion. To see the love that a mother has for her children despite the odds that may be stacked against her and to see her rising above it all is inspirational to say the least.

As I read over this I can see that words cannot do this experience justice. Partially because it is not this sole experience that is so moving, but rather years of cultivating relationships with the same families and growing to love each member in that family - especially the single moms who are overcoming so many odds. It is knowing a child's first cousins, grandparents, aunties, likes and dislikes, favorite superheroes and cartoons, hurdles and successes, etc. etc. When you know families so well and the bonds you develop have permanently transcended all racial, cultural, and financial barriers it is a good feeling indeed. I LOVE my life's work!