Wednesday, December 7, 2011

ESL Class: SittieCates Teaches Koreans (Part 2)

How do you say goodbye?

The clock is ticking. But it seems like my mind is as dry as the Sahara desert - completely devoid of ideas on how to simplify the manner of saying goodbye. 

Perhaps, to some of you, saying farewell to someone would be extremely simple. But I guess it is because you are sure that you will be able to see that person again some other time, in the same place or in a different location.

I wish it would be easy for me, too. 

But as the clock continues to tick, I feel a raw and gripping sadness within as I try to think of the best way to show my students that they have truly touched my life and, soon, it will be time for me to say my parting words to them.

In a sheer attempt to find helpful pointers on how to lessen the pain when I say my farewells, I checked out my past recordings of classes. I couldn't help but smile while watching them. 

Why? 

Because I realized that my students weren't merely students participating in class. They were leaders. I've noticed that as soon as the class starts and until it ends, they were teaching me a lot. 
* They reminded me of the joy and humor in things. Most of them always lightened a situation with laughter.
* They taught me that past experiences can be relived and relished, and can also be a springboard of ideas related to whatever topic we were going to discuss on that day. 
* And they also showed me that it's just so easy to care for people whom you merely get to talk to on the web for a few minutes. It's like I've known them for years!
The clock continues to tick. I think I can relate to the famous quote, "Parting is such sweet sorrow" in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Yes, parting is indeed such sweet sorrow. :(


Here are some of my students 
from my 1on1 classes:
My dearest students (of my hapcheon and 1on1 classes),

I'm still having a hard time trying to think of ways
 to say goodbye to you. 
I guess it would be better to say, thank you.

So, thank you so much! 

Thank you for trusting me to teach and guide you. 
I will forever appreciate your efforts to attend class 
and spend a few minutes with me. 
I shall always admire you for your eagerness to learn more 
and your ability to make each moment in class 
so much fun.

You call me your teacher. But I want you to realize that
 you have taught me much, too.

That is why, once again, 
I would like to thank you for everything! 
It was such a pleasure to meet you 
and be with you for a few months.
Thank you, students! Take care. 


* * *
You may want to see Part 1 of this topic at:

4 comments:

Brewed Coffee said...

There are really no goodbyes....only "see you later" or "until we meet again." :-)

SittieCates said...

Hi, Brewed! Yup, I agree. However, I still find if rather difficult even to say those words you've mentioned because I know, for most of my students, there wouldn't be a "see-you-later" moment. That's why it is just so hard. :(

mtrguanlao said...

It's really hard to say goodbye sis.
But at least you found friends in that school and learned many things from them.

SittieCates said...

Mtrguanlao: Hi there, sis! Thank you so much for visiting my blog. Yeah, I have learned much. And I will forever treasure those moments spent with these students.

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The Musings of a Hopeful Pecunious Wordsmith by SittieCates is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.