28 | Summer 2018 “Sometimes a stranger can bring great meaning to your life,” the caption read on my fortune cookie. Even though fortune cookies originated in the US, not China, I took it as a sign. And before long, Crystal (Yujing) Zhou ’17, an international student from Urumqi, China came to live with us. Crystal recalls, “It was the third year being away from my hometown. The sense of being far away from home completely dissipated after moving in with the Baldwin family. The Baldwin’s truly took me in as part of the family.” Crystal entertained us with stories about China and her family, and before long my husband, Gary, and I were talking about taking a trip to China. What better way could we increase our knowledge and understanding of our Chinese daughter’s culture? Both Crystal and our other daughter, Ellie ’18 were ecstatic about the idea. We established that our trip would include travel to the major cities of Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing, with Crystal and her family as tour guides. We felt our experiences in China would be enhanced by the expertise and authenticity of our guides as they took us into the heart of the culture itself. Around this same time, the opportunity to apply for the Brook’s Sabbatical Award presented itself. I was fortunate to receive the grant, which made the trip become a reality. We spent the first couple of days in Hong Kong. After checking in to the hotel, we took a walk and found a local restaurant. Gary compared our first restaurant experience to that of going to Herbie’s or Your House but with no clue what to order. After helping us with our orders, Crystal began the arduous task of teaching us to eat with chopsticks. It was then that we realized Making Connections Across Cultures By Karen Baldwin, 2017 Brooks Sabbatical Recipient Middle School English teacher