Happy 2016!
My kids are fretting about going back to school in a few days. We’ve had a great winter break and have spent half of it in Chinatown, where we’ve volunteered at a social service agency where I’ve been teaching English and craft classes.
In this photo, we joined a group of seniors to view the holiday windows at Macy’s. Jake, ie number one son, was a huge hit amongst the seniors. They were so intrigued by his background and his height.
I’ll be upping my volunteer days at the center from two to four days a week in the new year. I not only love hanging out with the seniors, but the other day I realized I held a conversation in Mandarin and for the first time in 15 years could understand everything. I’m even getting the hang of more Cantonese. I’ll never be fluent, but using Mandarin and Cantonese on an almost-daily basis has been a great bonus of my volunteer job.
新年快樂！
Great to hear that you will be volunteering more! Volunteering not only helps you to feel more fulfilled, it also gives those you are volunteering with a chance to meet new people and learn from those individuals. Do many of them speak Cantonese?
Thank you! I just love it! Most of the seniors and staff members speak Cantonese because they’re from Guangzhou, Taishan, and Hong Kong. I can understand more and more, which is such an added plus. A smaller group speaks Mandarin, so I’ve been practicing that, too. I had a Mandarin conversation last week for over an hour and understand almost everything. That hasn’t happened in a very long time!
So glad to hear that Susan, what an honour to work with such kind individuals!
Thank you! I’m so lucky!