In a little house filled with laughter and love, there was a boy named Charlie who was always struggling with his studies. Because of his low grades, he often came home disheartened.

One day, Charlie’s mother noticed her son’s situation. As Charlie stared sadly at his textbooks, she sat beside him with a warm smile that made the room a little brighter. “Why don’t we turn this into a game?” she suggested, her voice gentle and encouraging.

Together, they created fun quizzes and made colorful flashcards. They turned historical dates into a song and math problems into a treasure hunt Charlie’s mother believed in learning with joy, and she never stopped smiling, even when Charlie felt like giving up. As weeks passed, Charlie began to smile too, his fear of lessons slowly disappearing. He wasn’t the top of his class, but he was climbing, one cheerful step at a time. Then came the day of the big science test. Charlie walked into class with a nervous heart but remembered his mother’s encouraging smiles. When the results came, his name was at the top! In disbelief, he rushed home to find a note on the fridge, “The true test was believing in yourself, and that, you have done extremely well!”

But along with the note was a mysterious envelope, sealed (封口) with a smiley face sticker (贴纸). It wasn’t from his mother, and Charlie couldn’t guess who else knew about their little secret. Who could it be from, and what could be inside? Charlie’s journey of learning was about to get even more interesting.

A story of a man who made the brave journey of love, cycling from India to Sweden to see his sweetheart, has gained the hearts of thousands online. A Facebook post, that has been linked more than 113,000 times, shares the tale of how Dr. Pradyumna Kumar Mahanandia crossed eight countries to be reunited with his wife Charlotte Von Schedvin in her native country.

The story began in 1975 when wealthy 19-year-old Charlotte Von Schedvin, who was a student in London at the time, travelled to India in 1975 to meet the poor but famous artist Mahanandia. The Indian was born in 1949 into a poor family in Odisha, Dhenkanal and was considered an untouchable in the society.

Although his family couldn’t afford his education, he managed to gain a place at the College of Art in New Delhi where word of his talent quickly spread.

In events that wouldn’t be out of place in a romantic movie, when the young Charlotte Von Sledvin met with the painter, the two fell in love with one another. He was greatly impressed by her beauty and she, with his pure simplicity. Despite their contrasting backgrounds, the pair shortly married.

In 1978, the time came for Charlotte to return to her native country, and she requested her husband join her back in Europe. However, Mahanandia was in the middle of his studies and said he would join her after these were completed. The couple stayed in touch through letters and despite Charlotte’s offers to send flight tickets, Mahanandia was determined to meet her in his own way.

Selling his belongings, he managed to get enough money to buy a second-hand bike and set out on the intrepid journey to be reunited. From New Delhi, the brave love-struck adventurer entered Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Germany, Austria and Denmark. It wasn’t all easy sailing. His bike broke down a lot of times along the way and he had to go on without food for days.

In total the trip took four months and three weeks before he finally reached Gothenburg, Sweden. Upon arrival, he was questioned by immigration officers, who were said to be amazed at his story of devotion after he shared photographs of his marriage.

Her parents welcomed him with open arms and 40 years later, the pair are still happily married. Dr PK Mahanandia serves as the Odiya Cultural Ambassador of India to Sweden and lives with his wife and two children in Sweden. He has become well-known in Sweden as an artist and as an adviser of Art and Culture, under the Swedish Government too.

Some Christmas traditions are pretty standard in mainstream（主流）American culture: put up the tree, string up the lights, visit grandma, and so on.

Then there’s the one my Colombian family does every year: the Novena de Aguinaldos. We pray（祈祷）for nine days without a stop, and this Novena counts down the nine days before Christmas. Most Americans have never heard of it, but in Colombia, it’s a big deal.

Like all good traditions, especially around the holidays, this tradition is about community and getting together with friends and family. My family immigrated（移民）from Colombia when I was just two months old. Every year, we gather with a group of Colombian friends for as many of the nine nights as we can.

There are three parts to the Novena de Aguinaldos. The first is the reading: each kid takes turns to read a book. Next comes the gozos, which means “The Joys”. That’s where the music comes in, and everyone gets an instrument, a maraca, a drum, a tin can—whatever you can use to make a sound. And then, the villancicos——Spanish Christmas carols（颂歌）come.

I’ve lived my whole life in the US. There’s not a lot of Colombian culture that we still hang onto. Why do we still carry on with the tradition of celebrating the Novenas, then?

When I asked my parents the other day, the answer was that immigrants didn’t belong anywhere—not where you were, nor where you were from. So my parents helped create a space where we did. Even if the Novenas were nothing like what we might have celebrated if we’d stayed in Colombia, the Novenas became the heart of our community.

But our Novenas are starting to feel a little more breakable. It’s getting harder and harder for everyone to get together each year. Last year, I was studying abroad in Italy and couldn’t make it to any gathering; my brother went off to college and had exams late into December; my sister just moved to a new city, and my parents have taken up jobs in different countries.