Internationalmatt's Blog

Birthday Fun with Friends

Yesterday was my birthday and normally having a birthday in the middle of the week means not as much fun because we are busy with work, school etc. I was busy yesterday with the end of the quarter at the college with advising appointments with students and grading final exams. During the day however I enjoyed receiving over 200 birthday wishes on facebook in various languages and from several countries. I received greetings in English, French, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, and Vietnamese. I also had an appointment to study with some friends from Vietnam who are preparing for the ACT test. They are in high school and want to go to the University of Nebraska in 2012. They came yesterday with a few more friends from Vietnam and brought a surprise cake for me.

my birthday chocolate ice cream cake

They brought a chocolate ice cream cake from Coldstone. It was perfect for me since it combined the two things I love in a dessert which are chocolate and ice cream. They closed the door and did not let me in the room until they finished writing a greeting on the white board. When I came in, they sang Happy Birthday to me and showed me the cake.

me with Tai, Tram, Linh and Lan

They are a group of successful students. Lan is a student at UNL and is in summer school. Tai graduated from high school and will start classes at UNL this fall. He also received scholarships for his first year. Tram and Linh will be seniors this fall and are doing very well. I felt blessed that they surprised me with the cake. We took time off from studying yesterday to relax and have fun.For a teacher one of the best things is when students succeed but when they take time in small ways to show appreciation it means a lot.

me with Tram. Lan and Linh

me with Tai

It was the only time that would have worked for me to take time to celebrate. Yesterday afternoon I was busy with advising appointments and then had my final Level 5 class in which I gave a final exam. Thank you Lan, Linh, Tai and Tram for bringing me the cake and celebrating with me

June 9, 2011 Posted by internationalmatt | Experiences of international friends, food, International Friendships, international students, Internationals, Vietnamese friends | Leave a Comment