it is more than that.

Holidays in another culture are fun.

Over the years I've come to anticipate how each Western holiday will be interpreted and manipulated to fit somehow into Chin.ese society. Valentine's day is a good one - it doesn't spark the sadness that a Jesus-less Easter does. Instead, there are 1$ roses in buckets at the grocery store, teddy bear bouquets in street corner shops, and heart emoticons popping up all over my text message inbox.

I even got pranked by the two American guys on my hall. I opened my dorm door to find street cones lined up on my welcome mat. Silly boys.

I like Valentines Day.

Today when I signed onto my Chin.ese instant messanger site, I found a journal that one of my old students recently posted online. And I did what has been done to me a zillion times - I copy/pasted it. ha.

This poem, written by a master-level computer student in his second language, really spoke to me. I've been re-creating it all day in my head. I started with, "Why I love teaching," and moved onto, "Why I love my kitty cat," and, "Why I love working out." You get the drill.

Here's his poem, stolen from the depths of the interwebs and pasted here just for you...

Why I love basketball so much?

by Chen Cong

It is just a game

You pass

You shoot

You score

It is simple, right?

It is just a game

But sometimes, it is more than that

Much more

Playing basketball makes me feel strong

It gives me more confidences in myself

It makes me want to be something in my life

Basketball makes me feel healthy

When I playing basketball, it helps me makenew friends

And I love being a part of a team

Basketball brings us together

It connects us

And no matter where are you come from

When we are on the court

We all speak the same language

We dream bigger

We dream higher

Sometimes we win

Sometimes we don’t

But no matter what

You always have to work hard

Basketball teaches

It teaches us that even when there is nochance o win

There is still an opportunity to be a hero

It takes effort

You have to practice

Practice is real hard

You have to practice dedication

Teamwork

Sportsmanship

Patience

Unity

And love

And if we can practice all those things tomale our game better

Can we practice all those things to makeour world better?

Basketball is just the game

But sometimes is more than that

Much more

See what I mean? Awesome and deep, right? Whatever we do, there is so much more there. The onion layers of our actions are infinite.

Happy Love Day from a far away place.

If I could send you a bouquet of teddy bears from the street corner, I would.

walk slow. xoxo.