Wednesday was my last day of classes. This was really the big day in my mind because I had to say goodbye to some of my favorite students. The first was a fifth grade class I've been with all year. They are pretty much the most adorable kids I've ever worked with and I had so much fun with them! To put it into perspective - I think they are the only class (you know, of more than 5 students) I've had in the past two years where I knew every student's name. They gave me an awesome class picture that they all signed and some chocolate and individual cards. You better believe that pic will be hanging in my grad office next year!
Then - at the very end of the day - I had to say goodbye to my 10th grade Cambridge Exam prep class. It is a little group of 6 students total who all faithfully waited till the 9th lesson (which is suuuuuuuper late) every Wednesday to have this class. In fact, they took the exam in early May, so for the past month or so they've been coming to that annoyingly last class time just for fun. I was going to bring our favorite game to class for the last lesson, but I accidentally gave it to my teacher before it's last use. But I'm so glad I forgot it. I brought them cookies and they brought me brownies and cake (two delicious cakes that I got to take home and probably won't finish before our big trip tomorrow), and we ended up chatting about everything from the Euro Cup to the weirdest German dialects for the last 45 of my ETA career. It was pretty much the perfect way to end our time.
I'll miss a lot of things about my school and being an ETA in general, but I think I'm really going to miss those students (and some others I didn't get to see on Wednesday) the most. Though, I have promised my 5th graders I'll come to their Abitur party in 7 years!
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| some of the gifts from my students, teachers and school for my last day |
Thursday I returned in the evening to play in the spring concert with my school's band. I'm really glad I got to do that one last time, because playing with my students (however infrequently) and seeing how music classes are done in Germany has been just as interesting to me as learning German (or English) over the past two years. And I got to say goodbye to some of my students again, which was nice.
Finally on Friday, I made the 25 minute journey to and from school for the last time. Again to play with the school orchestra, but this time for the - well, basically the equivalent of Graduation. I forgot to ask people how long they've done something like that, because I've always been told that Germans don't have anything resembling an American graduation - but maybe I just heard wrong. But it was cool to see their take on the process. An interesting comparison - perhaps for another post. In the end, I handed over my keys, gave my final hugs goodbye, and left the school for the last time.
Having been an ETA for 2 years, I've known a lot of other people who've had really bad experiences at their school (not many, but enough). People who either just didn't fit in with the faculty or had problems with the students or didn't ever feel welcome. I still can't believe how incredibly lucky I was not only to have an awesome experience, but to have 2 amazing schools and 2 years of welcoming teachers, friendly and often enthusiastic students, and nothing but good memories.
Ok, I know I don't really post the gushy, heart-felt posts a whole lot, but I felt like it was necessary for a bittersweet goodbye - really the first of many bittersweet goodbyes to come in the next month. Before we get bogged down in those sad things, though, it's off to Italy tomorrow! But more on that later.
1 comment:
ah wow, time flies!
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