Internationalmatt's Blog

Mongolian Grille with Friends on Memorial Day

On Memorial Day after going to the cemetery to remember my father, I joined some of my friends for lunch at Mongolian Grille. It was a belated lunch to celebrate TIngting graduating from the University of Nebraska Lincoln. It may also have been the last opportunity for me to have lunch with the group since Tingting will move to Buffalo New York for her MBA program. Summer travels will happen too as my friends return to China at different times this summer to visit family.

Next fall our group will be minus Tingting who has been a spark among us. However I look forward to having my friends Alex, Huiyuan, Johnny, Kevin and Nancy around. It is great to be a small part of their lives while they are here working on their degrees. Mongolian Grille has become a spot for us to enjoy some food together while we celebrate for various reasons such as the beginning of a new semester, the end of a semester, birthdays etc., so it was fitting to go there yesterday.

They had a lively conversation in Chinese, so for a while I sat back and enjoyed listening to them speak in a language I don’t know. While they did so, I also took some fun pictures.

One picture that captured the reason for the lunch and reminds me of why my work is so rewarding is one I took of Tingting. In the group she was the first one I met that night in the Lincoln Airport in January 2009. She has come a long way since then and thrived at UNL. I am confident she will continue to thrive everywhere she goes.

Tingting

May 31, 2011 - Posted by internationalmatt | Chinese friends, Cross Cultural, Cultural Ambassdors, Experiences of international friends, food, International Friendships, international students, Internationals