Sunday, February 18, 2007

Our final class

At the high school, the graduating students take their final exams really early so that if anyone fails, they still have time to do make-up reports and stuff in time to graduate. It's kind of a weird system because we still have classes after final exams. What are we supposed to do for those last two weeks? The Foreign Language Department decided to have a goodbye party in the Home Economics kitchen.Asep (the Indonesian teacher) and his wife guided the students with the dishes - Nashi Goren (spicy rice with egg and vegetables) and Pisan Goren (batter-fried bananas). The Chinese teacher (in the background) had her students make boiled dumplings.A few years ago I tried organizing a cooking class and it was such a pain getting ingredients together and making sure all the dishes went smoothly. I learned my lesson - this time I volunteered to be in charge of organizing the clean-up.
These students have been studying together in this class for the last three years and were taking photos while saying things like, "I can't believe this is our last class! We'll never be together like this again!" It made me realize how numb I've become to goodbyes. Over the past 7 years I've seen so many students come and go that I no longer feel anything when seeing them for the last time. I simply smile and say goodbye. It's kind of a good thing because I don't particularly like feeling sad, but at the same time it's kind of disturbing to think that I now have a heart of stone.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Boy, this totally made me think of that song we had to sing at graduation.

People come and go in life. Most of the time they leave by surprise. When they're around, be the best friend you can, cuz you may never get the chance to see them again. Just make the time you have left well worth the while. Because someday, even you will have to say goodbye.

Speck said...

Just wait till you see a student you had years ago and you realize how old they are now....and how old you are! Heh.

inertbat said...

Wow, I know I've forgotten a lot of things, but I must have really suffered some serious brain damage since leaving high school. What's the song title? The first line sounds vaguely familiar but it's like I'm reading the rest for the first time. You've got quite the memory!

Oh boy, I actually did meet a student that graduated 7 years ago. A friend of mine brought her new manager along with us to a bar one night, and it took over an hour to figure out why she looked so familiar. To think she's a manager now... yup, I felt old.

Anonymous said...

Wow, you really don't remember that song? I think it was just called, "People come and go." It felt like we rehearsed that song at least 500 times. Then there was "Hand in Hand and Heart to Heart" and the "Queen's Prayer." Unfortunately, you can't download these songs on iTunes. I wonder why...

inertbat said...

I remember the Queen's Prayer! The tune is clear in my head and the words are something like

O- ko- alo-ha no-,
a-i a-i kala-ni
a-o-ko-ia-i-o-
he he mo le le hoi
a-mene

I kind of remember the slow tune of the "People come and go" one... but not being able to remember the whole thing is bugging me! It's somewhere in the dusty shelves of my brain. Just gotta find it!

Anonymous said...

Hey, that's pretty awesome you could remember a song written completely in Hawaiian. I remember the first few words right up until the insanely high note which I think most people had to fake - at least those of us who weren't tenors!