Saying Goodbye :-(

I can't believe that 10 months has already gone by. I feel like I have lived here for years and I also feel like it has just flown.  The past week has been full of goodbyes, tears and presents! Everyone else finished teaching on Tuesday, but I haven't taught in two weeks because the 6th graders have had special testing.  I have been going with Kate and Leah to see my old students from last semester and say goodbye.  I also have been taking pictures for the other teachers and planning Kate's and my trip around Vietnam and Laos! My co-teacher Kru Yui set up special times for me to come say goodbye and take pictures with my classes.  "They have a break 2nd period from 10:00am until 10:20am, can you come then?"
 The students were all so sweet and gave me lots of good hugs.  The 6th graders all got "friendship books" (year books) and I signed about a million of them.

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Pratom 6 had a graduation ceremony at school last Friday that was very touching. They sang a lot of goodbye songs, some students got special awards and the Director made a speech. Then the Director, sub-directors, and the eldest teachers at the school got on stage and the students went up wai-ed them, gave them gifts, and thanked them for helping them. It was really sweet and I was really glad to be a part of it and watch them go through this special ceremony.

On Thursday night the teachers threw us a huge going away dinner.  Nonglak made a beautiful tearful speech in English and Kru Pui was the MC of the night. We all went up and thanked the teachers and Director for everything they had done for us, of course Mel and I did our speech together.  Then they had the 6 teachers who are leaving, Mel, Me, Kate, Soddy, Amanda, and Mimi, line up and the teachers gave us so many gifts.  It was so sweet!

 Arms full of presents!

Amanda, Kate, Me, Soddy, Mel and Mimi

 Nonglak and Nongnoot!

The next day at school, they had a goodbye assembly for us :-( We sang a song to them, then they had us spread out on the stage and the students got in line to give us hugs goodbye and gifts! It was so fun! At one point, the 6/3-6/7 classes shouted "WE LOVE YOU TEACHA CHELSEA!" It was just a great time.  I was crying throughout... So many students gave us flowers, snow globes, pictures, cards, stuffed animals, anything and everything! It was great. Then, 6th grade stayed and the rest of the students went back to their classes.  The other teachers gave good luck in high school speeches and have fun next year speeches! Then it was my turn...Mel and Mimi started chanting "Chelsea! Chelsea!" and the kids did too, needless to say my face was bright red! I thanked them all for a great year, told them I would miss them and that I loved them all and of course, blubbered my way through it. Then the Thai teachers wanted us to sing and dance for them, again.  So, Mel, Mimi, Kate, Soddy, and Amanda started singing and I jumped down and started hugging them and crying with them! They cried too, it made me feel a lot better... 

I keep having moments where I am so surprised how far I have come in a year.  I can't believe how close I have gotten to my students who don't even speak the same language as me! It is a really cool thing that I will treasure forever.  I have already added some of them on Facebook and I get a million notifications from them everyday, it's pretty silly. 

My fave, Golf!

 Nuey!

My grown up little 6th graders!

A lot of love from my students!

One of the hardest goodbyes was saying goodbye to Poom. He found me on Thursday and told me he was leaving right after school to go take a test in Lampang and so this was basically it :-( I was in shock! I just started saying random stuff to him, "You are so smart! You can be whatever you want to be! I love you so much!" All the while he was crying and saying, "Teacha don't cry!" It was so hard. I will miss him so much and I can't wait to see where he ends up!

Before Poom told me this was our goodbye, hence while I am smiling!

Then he told me...

 So much crying! 

Now we are all preparing to go our separate ways. Some are going straight home, some are traveling around and some are staying in Phrae! It is so weird! I say bye to Mimi on Saturday, Amanda on Monday, Soddy on Tuesday, and then I meet back up with Mel, Leah and Brandon in April for Songkran festival in Chiang Mai.  It will be so hard to say goodbye to these wonderful people who have become my family. We eat, work, sleep and play together and I don't know what I will do without  the seven of them being a bike ride away from me at all times! They all, in each of their ways, have made my life here so special and I can't wait to run into them down the road somewhere :-)

Brandon, Mel, Leah, Kate, Me, Soddy, Mimi and Amanda!

This is mostly for my mom but here is a rough outline of my schedule for the next two months!

March 16: Night bus to Bangkok

March 19: Kate and I fly to Vietnam at 5pm

March 19-April 3- Travel around Vietnam!

April 3- Fly to Luang Prabang, Laos at 12:55pm

April 3-April 11- Travel around Laos!

April 10-April 12- Slow boat to Chiang Mai! 

April 13-15- Songkran Festival in CM

April 12-April 20- CM!

Kate leaves on the 17th for Spain! :-(

April 21-Train/Bus to Bkk

April 22- Fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

April 22-April 28- Travel around Malaysia!

April 28- Fly back to Bkk, island in the South???

May 3- Go to airport at 10pm....May 4 fly home!

Excited/ Nervous! Love you and see you in two months!