I don't know why you say goodbye I say hello

It seems like just yesterday I was standing in front of a class on my first day of English teaching absolutely terrifying, playing this very song trying desperately to teach a class of thirty-eight 7^thgraders the exciting subject of English greetings. It didn’t end well. Haha Now, 3 months later, I’ve almost gotten the hang of it, which generally means it’s time to move on. Funny how that works. Thursday was my last day of school which also meant saying goodbye to my kids. So I’ve moved a lot and have always been a little bit of a robot when it comes to goodbyes. They’ve always been pretty chill for me, but it was sad saying goodbye to my students. I’ve really come to love them, even the 7^th graders. J They’re such a good bunch of kids. I got completely showered with handmade cards that are all pretty much the cutest things ever. I had a few students give me flowers, a couple kids give me stuffed animals, and about fifty 13 year olds profess their love for me. Haha So great. Now I feel like I really understand a lot more about what it means to be a teacher now. It’s crazy how attached you become. I just want so much for all of these kids. I’m going to miss them.

After school we had my school’s signature goodbye party, karaoke!!! Awesome. Since this was my party, they tried to sing mostly English songs. This also meant they expected me to sing to every song because of course I knew all of them. False. They were absolutely shocked when they found out I’d never heard hits like “Shalalala” and “Love me, love my dog.” I guess I’ve just been living under a rock, a rock called 21^st century America. I mean don’t get me wrong, I actually know and love a lot of oldies but these songs were crazy obscure. They did play a few I knew that were very much appreciated. I’ve never been so excited to hear Perry Como and Barbara Streisand in my life. As much as I loved singing “Your Cheatin’ Heart” in front of a room full of Thai teachers, I feel like as far as karaoke goes those 3 hours were enough to last me a lifetime.

I'm about to leave for my train to Bagkok. Really mixed feelings. I'm going to write a little bit of a reflection post while I'm traveling. Man am I going to have time for reflecting. With the train ride and layovers it's going to take me over 50 hours to get home. Dang. Wish me luck guys! I'll post again when I return to the wonderful world of wifi.

Peace!

A few of the students hanging out with me on my last day.

Turbo decided he was coming with me to America and jumped up already to go.

Me and all the teachers at my going away party. I'm kind of hard to spot in this picture but just look really hard.

KARAOKE!!!!

My bed covered in the cards and presents students and teachers gave me. They're such wonderful people. I'm going to miss them.