Thanksgiving in '07

It's Thanksgiving today, and also my last day at the university this year. I was all set to describe the origins and joys of Thanksgiving to my Chinese students but they beat me to it, wishing me a happy Thanksgiving (not that any of us is going to be wolfing down turkey and cranberries). We did have some sharing though - I baked brownies for them (a last-class tradition that I observe) and they presented me with a journal in which each of them had written a note for me. Although they were thrilled with the brownies, I think it's safe to say that I was the more surprised one. Their notes were incredibly moving and made all my slogging and grading over the past months suddenly seem like the best thing I did all year.

I haven't been this touched since my first class of students at Changkat Changi - secondary 4 normal-technical students - presented me with a huge brown bear on my last day. I knew that money didn't come easy for many (if any) of them, so even though the cynic in me was (and still is) averse to beribboned over-sized bears, I thought it was one of the finest bears I'd ever seen. It's been over ten years and I've lost touch with all of them. However, the day after my wedding four years ago, when LK and I were banking in our gift money, I recognized the bank teller as Sarina, a girl from that Changkat Changi class, the prettiest one of the lot who often wore gray contact lenses to school. She once threatened to press charges against a classmate - statutory rape - and I imagined she would be a tough student to handle. But we got past her reputation and I admired her for her fierce intelligence, passion, and resilience. She seemed happy working at the bank, and I was proud of her. She had lost some of her youthful beauty though; she was now a little heavier and wearier, but still, I didn't miss the old spark in her when we started conversing after she recognized and asked me if I was who I was. I hope she's still happy, wherever she is now.

My Chinese students, I imagine, come from more comfortable backgrounds, though by no means are they terribly well-off either. They were cheering the tray of brownies before I had even uncovered it and shown them what food they were getting. It's been a long time since I've met students or young people so easy to please. They're a quieter group, compared to my previous one this year, but they sure know how to make an impression. I can't put the journal down. I think it's something I'll be reading whenever I feel like grading is a level of hell the scribes had forgotten to include in their accounts.

Happy Thanksgiving to whoever is celebrating it.

I'm thankful for many things this year.

Posted by Monoceros at November 23, 2007 5:59 PM