You're a poet, and you didn't know it. But your feet they show it, they're Longfellows...

So I will admit, at times its difficult to remember that each of my students are educated, intelligent and deeply introspective. When they have troubles expressing themselves in English, my subconscious has the tendency to translate their lingual shortcomings into intellectual ones. Luckily, the Big Guy likes to hit me upside the head and remind me of my own stupidity! So I want to share with you some of the poetry that my students wrote for their final exam. Hopefully it will give you the same glimpse into the Chinese culture and heart that it gave me.
The assignment was to construct an I AM poem, then speak to me about it. I was thrilled with the results, I will definitely be repeating the process for future courses...


I AM - by Mathon (my Hispanic Chinese student)

I am an ambitious boy who likes goat
I wonder why the world is so well-rounded
I hear the wishes of all people
I see all the goats flying up to the sky
I want to travel around China
I am an ambitious boy who likes goat
I pretend that I'm an Angel
I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders
I touch the sky, the stars, the moon and sons of God
I worry about the war of all kinds (including mental wars & real life wars)
I cry for the death and poverty in the world
I am an ambitious boy who likes goat
I understand the difficulties of being able to make all wishes come true
I say that we are all kind hearted
I dream of communism comes true soon
I try to make people around me fortunate
I hope that mankind will be at peace
I am an ambitious boy who likes goat


I Am - by Derek

I am diligent and idle
I wonder why does the sun rise so early every morning
I hear the buzzing bee
I see the Statue of Liberty smiling to me
I want to have wisdom vouchsafed from God
I am diligent and idle
I pretend to be an old tree of a thousand years
I feel the body of the ground
I touch the blue sky, the white clouds and the sunshine
I worry about dying of lacking of water
I cry for staying in the same place all years
I am diligent and idle
I understand the cruelty of animals' survival for living
I say we could relax
I dream of our life having many colors
I try to reach a happy place
I hope it will be reality one day
I am diligent and idle


I AM - by Julie

I am a lovely girl who likes the moon
I hope I can have a pair of wings
I hear seagulls fly across the ocean surface
I see the moon twinkle
I want to fly to the sky
I am a lovely girl who likes the moon
I pretend that I am an Angel
I feel the clouds under my feet
I touch the stars, they are singing
I cheer up for the exciting moment
I am a lovely girl who likes the moon
I am sad when I see the poor children in Africa
I want to offer them food, clothes and useful things
But I know that what they are eager for is warmth
So I want to take the moon there
Let the light shine and warm their hearts
I am a lovely girl who likes the moon


I AM - by Sam

I am a shy boy who likes explore and dream
I wonder what it looks like when people live on the moon
I hear the crazy sound of cheering for the living on the moon
I see people live on the moon and working on their farm
I want traveling to moon and have a week's holiday or more
I am a shy boy who likes explore and dream
I pretend that I can sit on the spaceship and travel across the space
I feel the feeling of lost weight
I touch the stars and any other planet
I cry for the people who died because of the space accident
I am a shy boy who likes explore and dream
I understand human will try the best to achieve the aim
I say I will cheer for our human success
I dream I can do what I should to insist to achieve the aim
I try my best to study
I hope I can travel across the space by the spaceship which was made by myself
I am a shy boy who likes explore and dream