She's NOT Chinese!

My niece, Nicole, is visiting from Shanghai, to complete an internship assignment for her high school graduation. We had to chuckle all week as we introduced her to various people. On Thursday, Nicole had to accompany us to a meeting with our financial planner. After our meeting, our financial planner said to us, "For someone visiting from Shanghai, her English is perfect!" We had to explain she's really a typical American suburban teenager who just happens to live in Shanghai, and she's not Chinese.

Nicole is the oldest grandchild on the Bang side of the family; Emma is the youngest, for just a few more weeks. Since she is interested in studying nursing, I set her up to complete an observership at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center where I work. Two of my former managers offered to be her preceptors and coordinate her learning experience. I was a little worried that she would be bored, or would not enjoy the experience - it is informal and I'm not even there to help - but she is having a wonderful time! She spent 3 days this past week with the Family Medicine practice, and every day she returned home excited. This coming week, she'll spend 3 days with the OB/GYN practice, including the MOMobile, before she returns to Shanghai for her graduation.

We are happy Nicole has become so enthusiastic about the health care field as a career choice. We're very proud of her. With her high school graduation next week, we can't believe she's 18 and going off to college. We made her promise to wait to (get married and) start having children until we were done....