One Last Goodbye
As I walked down the street on Saturday, I thought about a statement one of the sister's in the branch made the Sunday before. She said she knew that God loved all of us....ALL of US! She didn't understand how that is possible but she believes that and that he is very much aware of ALL of US! I thought about the love that I have gained for the students I taught this semester. I thought about the students that I love from last year teaching here in Xi'an. I thought about all the people back home that I truly love and the love I have for my family. There's a lot of love going on in my heart and I know that when I go to Fiji I will gain more love. You'd think there wouldn't be room in my heart for any more. But my heart just keeps growing and I love ALL these people. Even though my love is only a speck compared to the love God has for all his children, I know it's possible to LOVE so many.
This has been another wonderful experience. Kim always says, "What if we hadn't come?" Have we touched the lives of our students? Yes we have. Many have expressed their gratitude and their love and the things they have learned from us--and it's not just English. Here are a few things that I can recall from this last week with my classes. I teach six classes and have about 210 students.
Echo sent me a wechat: I think my spoken English make a significant progress. In the past, I was afraid of to say something in public but now I can express my idea and thinking by myself. In the past, I just read the paper when I had a presentation but now I can say that on my own. So I think I make a progress in this class. Thank u!
Henry: We're gonna miss you so much. Best English class ever! As Mr. Roper said, Be happy with what has happened. I believe we will definitely meet again in Utah Someday. 🤟🏼
Sasha: Teacher, I am Sasha. I am very lucky to meet you. Thank you for teaching me. Because my English is not very good, sometimes I can't express my thoughts completely. I only show my smile to you. Thank you for trying your best to understand what I said. I feel I am very lucky to become your student. You are a very good teacher in my mind. I benefit from every class. You are so beautiful, friendly, responsible and so on. I really learned a positive life attitude from you. I hope you can happy everyday. China welcome you forever. I love you very much. Thank you! I will always remember you. ❤️❤️❤️
Clover: Mrs. Roper. Thank you so much! I learned much from class. I think it will change me a lot! I hope I can go to America, and see you there! This is not end. We gonna meet! Thanks for teaching us! ❤️
Emily: Thank you for your teaching. And you really taught me something that can't learn from book. ❤️🌷
Harlan (who was my student only 1 semester-my first semester here in 2017): Enjoy your life and always be happy and meaningful. You have rally helped me to open my mouth to speak English although now I am still a little shy. Hope you one day we will meet in America.
Anna: I remembered that the first day we saw you. We were actually standing outside the door, and we saw your figure. You were wearing a blue jacket? And had this short hair. We actually said that you looked very young. 😄 During the class, you had that serious look on your face all the time, hardly smiled, and I was kind of frightened. 😂 (Now I figured that you might just be a little bit nervous at that time? Maybe because we were not that close yet. But you covered it pretty well. 😊) And I remembered when there was something like a breakdown in the computer on the first class. Then you were like putting one of your feet on a chair, stepping on it, and the other on the ground while you were dealing with it. And i was like WOW--hahahaha 😂😂
And about English logic, I think I first heard it from you. Then I found that a lot of, like videos or essays about English learning mentioned it. I was just not paying attention before. And thank you-Mrs. Roper, 🥰 for pointing it out for us. I found it really helpful. It means something to me, I think. And I clearly remembered that story you told us, about a student you were talking to, who spoke very fluent English. You asked him, "are you thinking in English?" "I guess I am." And I hope I can do that too someday. 😄 Then now when I was watching a film or something, I started to notice that the native speaker usually did not use some complicated words or sentences when they were talking, but they were able to express themselves very clearly in a simple way. I guess that's the key. And now I'm paying more attention to that than just memorizing some good sentence or something. And thanks for that!
I have many more comments from students that one day I will put on here. But for now, this will have to do. Do I regret going back to China in March? NOT EVEN A LITTLE! It has changed my life. It has expanded my horizon. It has made me a better person.
This has been another wonderful experience. Kim always says, "What if we hadn't come?" Have we touched the lives of our students? Yes we have. Many have expressed their gratitude and their love and the things they have learned from us--and it's not just English. Here are a few things that I can recall from this last week with my classes. I teach six classes and have about 210 students.
Echo sent me a wechat: I think my spoken English make a significant progress. In the past, I was afraid of to say something in public but now I can express my idea and thinking by myself. In the past, I just read the paper when I had a presentation but now I can say that on my own. So I think I make a progress in this class. Thank u!
Henry: We're gonna miss you so much. Best English class ever! As Mr. Roper said, Be happy with what has happened. I believe we will definitely meet again in Utah Someday. 🤟🏼
Sasha: Teacher, I am Sasha. I am very lucky to meet you. Thank you for teaching me. Because my English is not very good, sometimes I can't express my thoughts completely. I only show my smile to you. Thank you for trying your best to understand what I said. I feel I am very lucky to become your student. You are a very good teacher in my mind. I benefit from every class. You are so beautiful, friendly, responsible and so on. I really learned a positive life attitude from you. I hope you can happy everyday. China welcome you forever. I love you very much. Thank you! I will always remember you. ❤️❤️❤️
Clover: Mrs. Roper. Thank you so much! I learned much from class. I think it will change me a lot! I hope I can go to America, and see you there! This is not end. We gonna meet! Thanks for teaching us! ❤️
Emily: Thank you for your teaching. And you really taught me something that can't learn from book. ❤️🌷
Harlan (who was my student only 1 semester-my first semester here in 2017): Enjoy your life and always be happy and meaningful. You have rally helped me to open my mouth to speak English although now I am still a little shy. Hope you one day we will meet in America.
Anna: I remembered that the first day we saw you. We were actually standing outside the door, and we saw your figure. You were wearing a blue jacket? And had this short hair. We actually said that you looked very young. 😄 During the class, you had that serious look on your face all the time, hardly smiled, and I was kind of frightened. 😂 (Now I figured that you might just be a little bit nervous at that time? Maybe because we were not that close yet. But you covered it pretty well. 😊) And I remembered when there was something like a breakdown in the computer on the first class. Then you were like putting one of your feet on a chair, stepping on it, and the other on the ground while you were dealing with it. And i was like WOW--hahahaha 😂😂
And about English logic, I think I first heard it from you. Then I found that a lot of, like videos or essays about English learning mentioned it. I was just not paying attention before. And thank you-Mrs. Roper, 🥰 for pointing it out for us. I found it really helpful. It means something to me, I think. And I clearly remembered that story you told us, about a student you were talking to, who spoke very fluent English. You asked him, "are you thinking in English?" "I guess I am." And I hope I can do that too someday. 😄 Then now when I was watching a film or something, I started to notice that the native speaker usually did not use some complicated words or sentences when they were talking, but they were able to express themselves very clearly in a simple way. I guess that's the key. And now I'm paying more attention to that than just memorizing some good sentence or something. And thanks for that!
I have many more comments from students that one day I will put on here. But for now, this will have to do. Do I regret going back to China in March? NOT EVEN A LITTLE! It has changed my life. It has expanded my horizon. It has made me a better person.
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