A working definition of 'strong'

There are a lot of things that often happen to me in China which would almost certainly never happen in the United States. One of those things is being called "strong".

The first time was last December. I was walking across the high school campus in Guangzhou where I teach when a student in a gray scarf and familiar blue-and-white track uniform waved hello with her mittened hands. I smiled and waved back, but then she stopped and called my name.

"Hi, Samantha," I called back, impressed with myself for remembering her name. I made a mental note to work on memorizing more of my students' names.