A small flower sharing fragrance with the world

When I first arrived in Minnesota, it was the coldest time here, with temperatures around minus 40 or 50 degrees. As a girl coming from warm south of China, I really could not adapt, but soon I felt very happy as I have never seen such thick snow before.

I was assigned to teach at the Lakes International Language Academy in Forest Lake. Upon arrival at the school. I met the gracious principal and the homestay mom who had come to take me home. Along the way, my homestay mom chatted with me and introduced me about her family. After arriving at home, I found that my homestay mom had prepared all the necessities for me and I felt so comfortable.

The next morning, I came to the school, one teacher showed me around, and then I came to my fifth-grade class. These children have been learning Chinese since kindergarten and their listening and speaking are good. As soon as I entered the classroom, I saw the headteacher Zhao, the teaching assistant Zhu, and 20 curious kids.

While the two teachers were teaching, I took out my notebook, made notes of my classroom observations, and memorized the students' Chinese and English names as quickly as I could. At the end of this lesson, Zhao asked me to introduce myself to the students. At first, I was a little anxious, but when I stepped on the podium, I was empowered by my status as a volunteer Chinese language teacher. Meeting the curious eyes, I understood the responsibility I carried and knew that they were eager to learn from me and looked forward to a new learning life in the future.

In American classes, teachers tend to adopt group study according to tasks. For example, all students are divided into four groups. One group of students reads stories with the headteacher, one group practices writing Chinese characters, one group plays games with the teaching assistant to review the vocabulary, and one group works on their own on the computer to do exercise. Each task is about 12 minutes, so each group can complete tasks. When students are playing games, they are also divided into groups, but the teacher will break up the groups for each round of game so that all students can work with different partners. In addition to group practice, teachers often have students of different Chinese levels do different exercises.

The process of teaching is also a process of learning for me. In the process, I have not only passed on my knowledge of Chinese culture to my students, but also learned different teaching methods and ways of thinking, and I have experienced a different classroom atmosphere.

Apart from work, I have a colorful life in my host family. They are very friendly to me and I treat them with sincerity, and we are really a family. During the period I lived in the United States, I understood the connotation of cultural diversity, and it was the different lifestyles and cultural backgrounds that had shaped this beautiful world. It is for this reason that we, generation after generation, shall carry on the mission of communication and exchange to share cultures with each other. As we share, we can also gain, learn and experience more different cultures through what we see and feel.

During this time, my life is constantly enriched, with me like a small flower constantly watered by the rainfall and growing up to share the fragrance with the whole world.

I believe that nothing can stop us from moving forward and nothing can block the exchange between cultures. In the future, there will be more small flowers like me going to the world, and we will eventually grow into a sea of flowers, scattering fragrance all over the world and sharing Chinese culture with more people. We will continue endeavoring to promote the mutual learning of civilizations and people-to-people contact!