Kisses in the wind

Saturday was much of the same. So, fun. Lots of kid fun. It was only a half day of school, I was able to set up some more times with the students who were testing and talk to some of the other classes I wasn't able to see as much the day before.

I set up a lunch with some of my kids, which I will talk about in a separate post.

I had to leave my lunch a little earlier than I would have liked because I was supposed to have a walk with Matt, Allister and the admin from the senior school. It was just a ploy for a dinner and I could smell it. So, I got to the school a little late (after a really painful goodbye) and made it to the office, in the rain just in time for the start of the banquet talk and verbal dance. Finally it ended with an early dinner so we wouldn't miss our students, I said that I would try to make it if I could but I had so many student meetings set up that I couldn't promise that I would make it, and to honest, I had no intention of trying to.

I was able to see my former Junior 3 students, now Senior students. They were a little different, attitude wise, but that mid-teen 'tude quickly melted away and we were back to the joking banter like before.

I was also able to see my former junior 2 students when they had a break between their test and class. They were as sweet as ever. As soon as the test let out they poured into the hallways and wrapped a silk scarf around my neck. I got to see my soccer player and the student who gave me his necklace from last year. It was so good to see all of them, they are such a good spirited group, I feel so lucky that I was able to get to know them in the year that I was there. Our time together this time was just too short. But at least I was able to have one last moment with them as well.

Last was my senior classes. I had made an arrangement with their class monitor to have everyone who wanted to see me wait after their test and I would pop in and see them. I walked in the room to see almost ALL of my students. I was so happy to see them! We were able to blow the rest of my poloroid film and just had a good time together. They hadn't really been able to practice their spoken English, so they had lost some of their speaking ability, but that didn't stop them from trying to tell me all about what has been happening in their lives in the past year. We spent over an hour catching up and laughing with and at each other. It was great!

Near the end we all decided to walk home together. As we split off, we said our goodbyes, some of them tearful all of them sad. When I got to Hong Bao (our hotel) I said goodbye to the last of the group, one of the most difficult goodbyes was with the student who sang me a special song on our last day together last year. He just threw his arms around me and planted a kiss on my cheek and said...well, that's all I wish to share. I couldn't hold back anymore. I cried. They were all holding it back, but I could see the emotion bubbling up in their eyes as well. I crossed the street as they all waved and we exchanged kisses in the wind.