People need to spread love toward strangers. We all bleed the same blood and we are all part of a global community now. – Aloe Blacc
As some of you know, this year has been the year of international travel for me. As of the end of June, I’ve spent time in 5 countries, not including Japan. It’s been hectic and exciting, full of learning and seeing, but also exhausting and a bit overwhelming. Travel can be hard physically but also emotionally. Often, it leaves my mind and heart crowded with thoughts and feelings in all the best ways.
But it’s hard to know what to do with those thoughts. My routine’s interrupted and I have a hard time writing when I travel. I’m great at taking notes and recording whatever I’ve seen and done in a day. But those notes contain very little information about how I feel about the experience. I need time to process my feelings and opinions, which is why I haven’t written about my trip to Cambodia in February. Or any of the trips I’ve taken since then. But have no fear – things are coming!
To get me back in the creative groove this week, I was re-reading some older writing. I came across an old piece from 2014, written for a magazine’s blog I freelanced with for a brief time. I wrote this during my first spring working at a small non-profit after-school program. This program’s students were very diverse and represented multiple countries. Although challenging, that job was one of the most enjoyable and formative positions I’ve ever held. I think about the students often, and I’m eternally grateful for them and all they helped teach me. This short piece of writing caught my eye and it seems like a good way to kick off all the upcoming travel reflections and recommendations.
As expected, I’ve done a little editing, but the sentiment and heart of the piece remain the same. Traveling is the best way to notice that the world is small. Community is everywhere and we are all more the same than we realize, a lesson I started learning in 2014, with a group of elementary school girls.
Table of Nations
We lose our ability to live fully if we neglect or ignore our responsibility to the other people who share this planet with us. […] We cannot feel whole until we are helping other people to reach for their potential and to grow as strong as they can grow. – Tom Walsh
Working with international students often brings the idea of community to the forefront of my mind. Currently, out of 30 students, one third are from outside the borders of the US. This is, by far, my favorite job-related statistic. This group of international students represents five countries – Vietnam, Nepal, Burma, Tanzania, and Mexico.
This week, my students spent some much needed time running around outside. Independent play gives me ample time to sit back and observe. Watching them, I am aware of how little weight our cultural differences hold. Culture and its effect on our identity are not to be ignored; they are an important part of what makes each of us unique. But too often we allow these factors to put a rift in our communities and separate us. Thankfully, my students are often quick to see past those things that others use as a barrier.
It’s an unseasonably warm day for this time of year, in the 70s. The weather begs you to kick off your shoes and soak up the sun. Students, released from buses, run down the hill full speed ahead. There’s the unmistakable sound of sandals slapping against pavement. A group of five girls comes together, as they do nearly every day. On the playground, one finds a shady spot within a crawling tube; others sit on the landing or the stairs. Each is given a spot. From backpacks, various items appear – a plastic grocery bag, packages of dried noodles, drinks, and other treats from home. The noodles are crushed and dumped atop the plastic bag and, once thanks is prayed [loudly but so sweetly], fingers dig in. Laughter and snacks are easily and expectantly shared.
It’s these moments where I get a glimpse of the world as it should be. Each of these girls is from a different country. No one speaks the same first language. No one shares the same memories of a country left behind. Despite differences, sharing comes more naturally to these students than it does to many others who share a backyard. No one thinks of withholding – good things are always for sharing. Even money, hard-earned and always in short supply, is readily given to support others.
These students, in particular, seem to have a way of connecting through their similarities yet still celebrating their differences. It’s a balance many adults I know have not perfected. That’s not to say that my students are perfect. Like all of us, they still have moments when life isn’t so peachy and sharing isn’t so easy. But more often than not, they come together and participate in the community in a way that makes me stop and take notice. Seeing these girls together is a reminder of the best way to live – sharing food and sharing life, celebrating and honoring who we were created to be.
And I [the LORD], because of what they have planned and done, am about to come and gather the people of all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory. – Isaiah 66:18
