Kurtis and Kelsey Hoff have dreamed aboutmovingbacktotheMiddleEast,and in October, it will become a reality. They each have spent time there separately before they were married, but now the couple will be returning together, new degrees in hand, with hopes of investing deeply into cross-cultural relationships and bridging the gap between Arabs and westerners. Kurtis and Kelsey initially plan to move to Jordan and enrol in language school to study Arabic. “We want to become proficient in the language to enable us to engage the culture more deeply. We feel that it’s really important to equip ourselves with that in order to be able to engage society at a deeper level,” Kurtis explained. Both Kurtis and Kelsey have previously studied Arabic and are able to converse on a practical level. “[But] we want to be able to go deeper— talk about concepts, ideas, and faith; overall, inter-religious dialogue is really a big passion for both us,” Kelsey said. “A language is the mouthpiece of a culture,” Kurtis added. “We want to know how the values add up, and why things are done this way. The syntax and idioms of a language all point to ‘that’s why they behave this way.’” Intercultural communication is a passion that Kurtis and Kelsey share and was something that connected over. The two met in grade 12 at Caronport High School and became friends. Even though they were often in different parts of the world after high school, their paths crossed every summer while on the same tree planting crew, and they would keep in touch during the time in between. “Usually one of us was either studying, or one of us was overseas doing something. So we would always swap a lot of stories,” Kelsey said. “We had been talking while I was in Jordan. Kurtis was [at Briercrest] and he was doing a lot of Islamic studies and intercultural communications. So I was someone who was doing what he was studying,” Kelsey explained. “Through those conversations, I told Kurtis about a semester abroad program I had done in Jerusalem in my undergrad and how great it was.” Excited about Kelsey’s experiences, Kurtis went to Jerusalem to study for a semester. “Briercrest prepared me really well for that,” Kurtis explained. “The classes I took with Alan Guenther, and Cross-cultural Communications with Dr. Catterick prepared me really well to engage that program wholly; it was an enriching experience.” Many people are surprised when they hear about the Hoffs’ plans to move to Jordan, but Kelsey recalls many instances throughout her life that have brought her to this point.