"So long" sixth graders...

Before I left for my trip, it was time to say goodbye to the students in my sixth grade classes. I was particularly upset to see *some of* these children go as they'd been my students since the beginning so I'd taught them for eighteen months in total. The whole time I'd been in Korea from when they were in the fifth grade. Many of them had changed a lot over this time and become the typical horrid, moody, miserable sixth graders that we all love to hate but I did manage to maintain good, strong relationships with some of the nicer kids right up until the end! And those are the kids that I will miss very much.

Although I don't feel I have the same effect on the lives of these children as I did the children in my classes at home, (because I'm 'just' the English teacher, we don't speak the same language and I only see them twice a week) I do hope that I achieved the things I set out to achieve:

• Made English fun for them and free of pressure in their already very pressured lives
• Made English a happy time relaxed time with a teacher they knew cared about them and their education
• Changed their opinions about English and foreigners being scary and something that they should stay away from

...and above all else...

• Encouraged them to have belief in themselves and inspired hope and dreams for their future