The First Lady

Michelle Obama came to visit Peking University and I got to attend her speech. It was neat to hear her talking about the very things we are doing. She had visited a Mandarin immersion program at a public school in the US before the trip to China to talk about the importance of learning other languages and cultures and then was promoting student and faculty exchanges between universities in China and the US.

Roland and I joke that the Obamas are always following us around. We seem to go on vacation in the same places they do around the same time that they do (albeit the lower rent version). I guess it’s because we have kids and want to expose them to things?

I think one thing that’s neat about Michelle Obama as first lady is that she is not like the generations of coiffed, talking-heads-in-a-St.John-suit first ladies I’ve grown up with that didn’t seem like real people. I really can’t imagine any of them being in a room with me and being made of flesh and blood.

At this event, they gave students the best seats. Mrs. Obama exuded more shininess than photos I’ve seen usually do. And it was great to see how glowing the students were, inspired by her presence and her optimism about them. Here are two of my students in the front taking a selfie with Michelle – she doesn’t look too excited…