...and also surprised by how EARLY the school-year starts here.
Last Thursday was Tucson's back-to-school date.
(It was July 31st. JULY!?!)
A few years ago, the number of countries-of-origin was remarkable: two dozen!
Last year, when I switched to the school where I'm currently teaching, I definitely noted the absence of international refugee students, but the diversity of languages spoken in the students' homes (15) was still noteworthy.
This year, I thought I'd consider where my students have lived and/or visited.
Here's the result; a pretty well-traveled group, having lived in or been to every continent except Antarctica:
Argentina
Aruba
Australia
Bangladesh
Belgium
Belize
Bolivia
Brazil
Canada
Chile
China
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
England
Ethiopia
France
Germany
Greece
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Kenya
Korea
Mexico
Netherlands
Peru
Philippines
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Romania
Russia
Scotland
Singapore
Spain
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Togo
Turkey
United States
Forty-four countries!
(Yes, I do know that Puerto Rico is part of the U.S.,
but for this list's geo-cultural purposes,
I let it stand alone...)
I did ask, as I do every year, what languages are spoken at home, and this year, for the first time, I saw "Maltese"...
...and "Klingon."
Hmm...
