Last Day of Class

(PICTURE: Group shot of the A, B and C classes)

This past Wednesday was the last day of class. It was sad to say goodbye to my students but at the same time I was pretty elated to finish my tour of teaching duty in Japan. I had some really wonderful students and made some good bonds. Three students bought me a box of chocolate, one student bought me a detailed book of maps for my travels in Japan and another two students invited me to their hometowns (I might be able to swing by one's town near Tokyo. The other lives on an island near Okinawa).

Teaching Japanese students was much different then how I thought it would be compared to teaching Vietnamese students. Truly they are completely different worlds of teaching. The one major difference outside of pronunciation, spelling and writing that I can point out is this: the Vietnamese students I've had really saw English as a way to better their lives. In Japan I often felt like students looked at English as just another subject. At the end of the day in Vietnam I always felt a sense of doing something good. I've always felt that I was making a difference. At the end of the day in Japan, I usually felt like I was just finishing a job. That said, I'm really going to miss my Japanese students but at the same time I can't wait to get back to Hanoi to start teaching!

(PICTURE: A couple of my favorite students -- Ryoto, George Lucas, Yukki and Souichiro.)