No goodbyes, just See ya laters
Everyone asks, "Jean, Did you have fun in China?" Sometimes you want to just say "Oh China was great, I had so much fun," but that doesn't even begin to describe this summer. You want to tell them that the summer wasn't really about "having fun," that you went to teach English for 8 hours a day. But you also want to tell them how much fun you DID have and about all our students, but you don't know where to start. I show my family and friends pictures of Jishou, and I don't even come close to adequately describing our students and friends, but I try.
-He's the one who stumbles into desks and smokes a lot, even though I told him he should quit. And once we had a conversation about nicotine patches, and I don't know if he didn't understand me, or they just don't have those in China.
-And she's the cute 12 year-old who plays the sax, and throws her head back and laughs silently with her hand over her mouth, and if I ever have a daughter, I'd want her to be just like her.
-She's the one who's adopted, and cried in my drill class when I asked her if she had met her biological parents. She had, and they abandoned her when she was a baby because she was not a boy. And she always pronounces "maybe" with the emphasis on the BE, and it's so cute that I never had the heart to correct her.
-She's the one who told me that sometimes my laugh is so sweet, and sometimes it is not so gentle, but she still likes it. And once I thought she told me that Betty said she was sexy, until a few seconds later, when I realized she meant sassy. And sassy she was...
-She's the one who stood up in class everyday and screamed "I HAVE A JOKE" and proceeded to tell a story that was not a joke at all.
-He's the one who caught crabs for me and promised me they would not die. They did, but mostly because I didn't unscrew the cap to the water bottle. He then took me to Sun Island during our individual session to catch more crabs to fulfill his promise, but Sun Island has not had crabs for years. So, he caught me frogs instead, and then insisted that we catch crabs next weekend. "It's ok, I don't need crabs," I said. "NO it is NOT ok. I am not a person who does not keep his promise!"
I could go on and on (maybe it seems like I have already) and try to describe every student, but it is getting harder and harder, but not because I do not remember them. I remember them so vividly; I keep writing a little about a student, some characteristic story that I remember, but I find I cannot express myself well. The students that touched me the most, I did not write about here--it is too difficult. It is their little quirks, the slightest inflection of their voice, their funny habits, that is what I will always remember.
When I miss my students and friends, I have their photos and letters to remember them by. And they have already set up a QQ (the Chinese equivalent of AOL Instant Messenger) group for our class. By the time I joined a few days ago, there were already almost 30 members. Despite the time difference and everyone's busy schedules, I've chatted with around 10 students and with the help of webcams, have even seen and talked to a few of them.
I remember in the closing ceremony, one of the students said in her speeches, for many of them, this will be the best summer of their lives. You could say that that's because they rarely have so many foreign teachers, that the teaching style is so passionate and different from Chinese teachers, and so on. But all that aside, we realized that for many of us, this could also be the best summer of our lives. But it is not so sad, and it is not farewell by any means. My friend in Jishou said to me, "Jean, I will not say goodbye to you. I will say, see ya later!" So I am incredibly grateful to have such an opportunity, and this has truly been an unforgettable summer.