That’s it.
I checked their homework and reviewed some of the topics they should expect on the speaking exam tomorrow. Then I asked them to gather in front of the whiteboard for a photo.
When I first landed in Saudi, I didn’t know if the students were okay with photos. I didn’t take any of my first batch, not for a while anyway, not until the end of their term.
It’s been nine months since I first landed. Nine months. That’s not that long in the grand scheme of things, but to me it feels long. It feels like it’s been a long time since I landed here.
After I took the photos – three of them to be exact (a serious one, a smiling one, and a goofy one) – I shook their hands, posed with the ones who wanted a one-on-one photo with me, and wished them well.
I’ll see them tomorrow. Speaking exams are tomorrow. I’ll see them the day after that too. We have exams all week. Some will even come back next week for the retake if they fail the first time. (We’re generous like that, I guess.)
I’ll see them all again, but that was the last I saw them as teacher.
I wrote my email address on the board for them. I wonder how many will email me. I know some will remember me. I don’t know how I’ll be remembered, but I know some will remember. It’s up to them now.
I’m no longer their teacher. I’m no longer a teacher here.
That’s it.
