If your heart is unemployed....

On the first day of class I asked my students what they wanted our class name to be.

SILENCE.

As I gave examples I received several suggestions- Super Kids, The Losers, The Sweet Melodies, The Champions…however not a single student would agree with any of the suggestions. After having the students write their suggestions I came upon the perfect name for our class: Team Sweet Heat. Yes, I know it makes no sense. However my students like it and so we are team Sweet Heat, and they truly sweet. They are not always so sweet but it is more than just actions. I have one student who curls himself in the curtains while I teach and who constantly talks while I teach. Though he grows my patience daily I have found him to be one of my sweetest and funniest students.

Yesterday I had my students answer the journal questions: What do I (Miss Natalie) need to know about Vietnam? I asked my students to write to me and tell me what to see, eat, and do while I am here in Vietnam. Some of my students wrote to me about Uncle Ho and others suggested I eat pho. As I read through the journals last night one of my students had written:

                                “You will love VN because VN is forever in your heart”

She is one of my quietest students and always sits near the back and to the side.  I sat back in disbelief.

 I can feel my heart softening and breaking as I continue to get to know these students and to meet these people. Ever since I began my journey I have encountered countless numbers of affirmations that this is where I am supposed to be. In Cheung Chau words I read were repeatedly spoken to me. Actions quelled my fears and here in Hanoi I have encountered the greatest affirmation yet. My students break me heart every day and I can feel my spirit transforming and my love growing beyond the boundaries I had expected.  Last Sunday after spending the morning in fellowship we went to a café. As I walked into the cool building I looked at a fellow foreigner standing inline in front of me. As he turned to ask our group a question I found myself staring into the face of a professor from my University! From Redding, CA to Hanoi, Vietnam, the odds of seeing a familiar face are next to nothing.

I know I am where I am supposed to be.

                            I love Vietnam because Vietnam is forever in my heart.