I love to travel and meet new people! One of the coolest experiences I had was on a plane traveling from Germany to a France. I met a banker named Nick who was from West Africa. He works as a liaison between a German bank and the people of Africa. My very first thought as I sat with him was, “Isn’t that where the West Nile Virus originated?” He said, “Yes.” I have always been very curious minded, so we began a conversation on how they do business there etc. I asked him if they shake hands with each other. He said they do, but he people of Africa don’t want the virus to spread so after they shake hands everyone washes their hands. I was intrigued by everything we talked about. He shared that his position was about teaching the executives from the different companies the cultural differences between them. He fascinated me in telling me that he came from a family with 11 children. Everyone of his siblings had advanced degrees and live all over the world. I was brought up to value education, so I was very impressed. I shared with him about my job as a teacher. Our philosophies on education were aligned closely. It was a real pleasure to meet someone and learn about his culture. He thanked me for our discussion when we arrived in France. I love meeting new people!!!