Boyz II Men sure did know what they were talking about when they sang this song. That is precisely how I'm feeling at this moment in time. I am sitting at my desk struggling to put pen to paper in an attempt to write a farewell speech to those who have grown near and dear to my heart. How do you say farewell when you don't want to leave? This is really difficult. A couple weeks ago, the thought of having to leave brought tears to my eyes, but in the last week I thought I would be ok. Now as I sit here, every time I pick up the pencil and think about what I want to say, tears well and I feel a huge knot in my throat.
It's been 3 months since I've been working with the students and teachers of Futaba Junior High School. I must say these 3 months have become some of the most memorable times in my life. Everyone here made me feel like I was part of their family, differences and all, they have accepted me and I feel blessed...Oh gosh, there it is again, that lump in my throat. I tell you the staff and students at the next school have big shoes to fill.
I'll still be living in the same city and I will probably see some of my students here and there, but it won't be quite the same. I will miss speaking to Kocho-sensei(principal) in English because he is verse in the language, I will miss Miss Inoue-san always feeding me or giving me some new type of food to try at lunch, I will miss Kyouto-sensei's(VP) day-to-day Japanese lessons as we compared what was equivalent to what in eachother's language, I will miss the way I laughed at the teacher's jokes in the staffroom even though most of the time I only understood them purely through body language, I will miss certain students yelling 'Amanda-sensei!' or 'Hello!' down the hall, I will miss the quirks of each of my team teachers, especially Suzuki-sensei's humour...I will miss it all.
How do you say farewell when you don't want to leave? I think that is how I will start my speech.
No comments:
Post a Comment