I want my students to read this because. . .

I JUST FOUND OUT SOMETHING I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE and I am so excited to tell you about it. The tenth largest city in China is called Harbin. I didn't know this until yesterday when my wife emailed me with a message saying that Harbin is a city in Russia where they have this magical ice palace with snow sculptures (like the one above) and an ice version of the Great Wall of China.

I was sort of disappointed when I found out that Harbin is in China instead of Russia. I wanted to believe that my wife cared, even though she's Irish. But Harbin cares where it is, doesn't it? I never heard of Harbin before. Would never have looked it up if my wife hadn't sent me these pictures like the one above. But Harbin is in China, not Russia. The Internet was wrong. At least the first voice you heard about Harbin was wrong. And the internet made it easy to find out the truth.

Point is, I'm glad I know this. This gives me pleasure. I have learned something today I didn't know yesterday. It is a small fact that opens up an enormous anything. What if I really like Chinese geography? What if I'm fascinated by the other? What if Harbin was the capital city of Alaska while Hong Kong was Miami?

I must be trippin'. I'm thinking like a student.