The place that opens my life’s journey A lot of things fade from memory as one's life experiences accumulate. But some memory will withstand the wear and tear of time. I can still recall the class which opens a new world for me. Last year, I worked in a Children’s Palace as a teaching assistant of an American teacher named Shelly. My job was to interpret what she had said to the children who were still very young. I thought it was as easy as pie since my knowledge of English can’t be that lacking to fail to explain kids’ stuff. Apparently, it’s more than enough, as least I believed so. But the first class embarrassed me. In the middle of the class, Shelly described animals with gestures and let the children guess. She said, “It looks like a large cat and runs very fast. What’s it? ” A little boy broke in, “It’s a cheetah.” I faked a smile so as to hide my confusion. I thought he could say “lion”, a word of his level. I didn’t know that word he meant. Shelly nodded with satisfaction, “yeah, very good, you are correct.” She sensed my hesitation for I didn’t say anything for quite a long time. And then she moved on to the next topic. At that moment, a sense of guilty took hold of me for my previous bias that the children were no better than me. The class finally came to an end. I quietly went to the desk of that boy and asked him in such a low voice that can be barely heard, my face blushed. He told me immediately the Chinese translation. I then searched on my cellphone. Yes, a new word for me. Indeed, it’s a new world. True to say, that’s a lesson for them as well as for me. Age can be a disguise of one’s ignorance, not something to be proud of. By no means is it an indicative of one’s knowledge. In the class, I learn a word which opens a world for me, a world awaiting me to start my life journey with an open mind.