End of Year One

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 At my old school we had some wonderful last day of school traditions.  We go outside to the bus lot, let the kids run around and sign yearbooks then we go in for our final assembly.  The end of the day is marked by a loud countdown followed by the bell and a huge cheer from both staff and students.  We herd the kids out the door and do the “wave” for buses as they leave.  It’s one of my favorites times of the year.  Not just because it begins my summer vacation, but it is such a happy time.

I have to say, the last day at an international school or at least our school is quite different.  Bittersweet is the word, I think.  More bitter than sweet.

We began the day with our awards assembly.  And I have to say, it was so cool seeing kids get really and truly excited about receiving recognition for their achievements in academics and citizenship.  And to watch the audience really cheer for them!  So often in US schools the kids with good grades and good behavior are considered “nerds” and don’t get the accolades they deserve, except from teachers and parents. It’s exciting to see kids making “good” the new “cool.”

On the other hand, it was sad to see a few of my kids upset when they didn’t get honors or high honors.  One said, “I was so close, if it wasn’t for PE.” So she and I had a discussion about how to improve in PE.  (Really teachers, can you imagine having this conversation! Most kids LOVE PE!)We tried to make it a learning experience.

Then our students had time to mosey the middle school floor and sign yearbooks.  This is when the crying started.  Yes, there was crying at my old school, but that was more like, “Oh, I’m so sad.  What if I don’t see you at the pool this summer? Boo hoo.” This crying was, “Oh my gosh, my best friend is moving to Qatar/Finland/Singapore/The United States and I will probably never see them again. “  Multiply that by all of the students who were leaving (many).  And you can begin to understand the sadness. 

But this is when Third Culture Kids shine the most.  They are so intensely supportive of each other.  I have never seen anything like it.  They say things to each other like, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” and “It’s not good-bye, it’s see you soon.”  I watched as two of my 8^th graders, 14 year old boys, comfort each other like grown men.  There were strong man hugs, pats on the back and “Man, it’s gonna be okay, man.  You’ll do great, man.” It was enough to make me tear up a bit as well. 

When the end of the day came, there was no fanfare. No countdown, no bell, no cheers of joy.  It was more like, “Ms Jarr, can we go?”  I look at my watch, “Uh, yeah.  Have a good summer!” Anti- climax if there ever was one. 

The kids slowly found their way out of the building with much encouragement from teachers.  Except for the high school floor where students could be seen for hours getting yearbooks signed and chatting with teachers. I even found students at the reception desk four hours after school let out to make sure they got Peggy and Coco (our administrative assistants) to sign their yearbooks. So cool. .

I don’t think it was until after lunch (and a celebratory beer) that I really had time to think about the momentous occasion that had occurred. With that fizzling anti-climax came the end of my first year of international teaching.  Whoa. 

I look back to the poor sad sap that was hanging about for most of the year and I almost don’t recognize her.  I feel like next year will be much better. I hopefully won’t be spending every weekend at work.  Hopefully I won’t stay at work every night until dinnertime.  Maybe I might even be able to do a bit more traveling on the weekends (Sadly, I still haven’t been to Macau!) I already feel a bit of a China veteran, so I look forward to being helpful next year to new teachers instead of just constantly asking questions! 

So year one is finished.  It’s packed up.  And it’s on its way home to the US.