Bye-Bye Bangplama

As I sat on the overnight double decker bus almost a week ago with Katie headed towards Krabi I thought about the farewells that I had to make along with all the great relationships I had formed by teaching in Thailand. We left Bangplama a few hours ago for the last time together. It was a very strange feeling. We said our good-byes to Gan and Ji. Ji is the girl we have been tutoring from the Market. She is so sweet and was in tears as we were saying our good-byes. She was ecstatic when I told her she could have my old lap top. She brought Katie and I a good-bye gift with a card saying the sweetest message. She did not want us to leave. I really hope I can see her again; maybe I will come back to Thailand but I hope someday she can fulfill her dream of visiting America. Ji is definitely a person that I would say I made an impact on and helped her in some way. I feel so grateful to have done that in someone’s life. Saying good-bye to Gan was also really sad. She also wrote a good luck message to me on picture of me from the Suphanburi games and gave Katie and I a Chinese shirt to remember her by. I don’t think I could ever forget her. It’s sad because we can’t keep in touch via Facebook because China restricts the website, but there’s always e-mail.

My last day of teaching was February 25^th. It was a bittersweet moment. Really that last week of February wasn’t much teaching at all rather saying my good-byes to students. It was time for taking pictures with all of my classes and telling them I would be going back to America. I made sure I thanked them all for the wonderful experience I had teaching them and wished them good luck. I also expressed to them that if and/or when they travel to America to please not to hesitate to contact me. Unfortunately, I highly doubt majority of my students will be able to have that experience. It wasn’t only Katie and I’s last day teaching at Soongsumarn but also Gan and Aon’s last day as well. The English Department organized a really special lunch for the four of us that included some delicious Thai dishes.

The Vice-Director was also there to give us his farewell blessings. Toon surprised us by asking each one of us to give an impromptu speech.  I made sure to thank the whole department, especially Toon, for all that they did for me while I was here. They made me really feel like I was part of their family. I think it was hardest for everyone to hear Gan’s speech. She was very emotional. She had been teaching at the school for two years and had made long lasting relationships with all the teachers and students at the school. I could tell it would be very hard for her to leave. The most humbling moment was when Katie and I were leaving the flat and Jiranee, my co-teacher, ran after us to give us a hug and say in broken English, “I will always think of you girls” along with walking by a bunch of our students waving us good-bye.  I realized even though I’m not positive how big of an impact I made on my students, saying my good-byes that last week and watching them wave me good-bye Friday afternoon made me realize I probably did have some type of impact in their lives as a teacher and hopefully they will always remember that they had a farang teacher Chelsea.