Saying Goodbye to M's

The cough has not been going away for the longest time. It elevated to its maximum energy last night, trying immensely to burst through the prickly oesophagus. I absolutely couldn't sleep for a good half hour, trying to calm the cough down.

It strangely subsides in the day, especially when yesterday was 修了式(Closing Ceremony). All parents of departing students, and departing teachers were made to stand in front of the crowd to address them. The mothers went on and on in (to me) incomprehensible Japanese, and so did my fellow colleagues. 'Thank you', was all I had to say. Short, concise, no chance to cough. What more could say it better?

In the tinier confined space of the Mouse room where I spent most of my time in M's, I expressed deeper heartfelt thoughts to my kids' mothers who had somewhat entrusted their children in me and my co-teacher's L-sensei's care. Despite not being able to understand their children at times because of my limited Japanese, I thanked them for their trust and support these past 7 months.

What will leave the greatest imprint in my whirlwind career at M's would be seeing the most difficult child (remember The Great Pretender?) grow, mature and show the greatest improvement in attitude. And at the end of it all, receiving a note from his mum thanking me for teaching him and that 'he talked about you and M's everyday'. What greater reward than such words?