Class dismissed

On Wednesday I taught my last class ever in the Marshall Islands. It was actually severely anti-climactic because at the time I didn’t even know it would be my last class. The last day of finals were supposed to be on Friday, but since we switched to half-day schedules for finals my last day was supposed to be on Thursday, for I did not teach during the periods that took their finals on Friday. I didn’t have anything special planned, but for sentimentality purposes I had planned to “soak in” that final class a little bit more than the others, maybe remember some faces and the little things that I’ve really enjoyed about being in a Marshallese classroom for three years.
However, it was not meant to be because I was put on emergency assembly duty on Thursday due to the absence of a two teachers, forcing me to take my classes to the assembly as opposed to teaching them. I was a little bummed that I didn’t get to relish my last teaching responsibilities here, almost like watching a good movie with a sudden and abbreviated ending. Nevertheless, the rest of the movie was pretty good, so in the end I guess I didn’t lose much.

Upward Bound also ended this week. I taught there for two years, but the commitment was obviously nothing like the commitment to Marshall Islands High School. Still, working at Upward Bound gave me the opportunity to teach students not at Marshall Islands High School, primarily private high school students. In addition, because it’s an after school program, the students who put forth the effort every day to attend and work hard really inspired me. In any situation, regardless of how bleak it may seem, there are always dedicated individuals who want to make things better. Upward Bound’s graduation is tonight, and one of the private schools that my Upward Bound students attend has its graduation tomorrow. I’ll be attending both.

I’m starting to believe that the Taiwan Embassy simply hasn’t selected all of its scholarship recipients yet. Why it’s deciding to select at different times is unknown to me, but it seems like the only two people who have been selected period are the two I mentioned previously. I guess this means that nobody has officially been rejected yet. In fact, I’m hearing rumors that Henry is actually on the cusp of being accepted. If he is, that would create an infusion of mixed emotions for me the likes of which I cannot even fathom right now.

Oh, I turned 25 recently, a full quarter century of living. It was my third and last birthday celebrated in the Marshall Islands. Some friends and I went to my favorite Chinese restaurant and ate the place clean while singing some karaoke. I kicked it off with “Ice Ice Baby” which was, unfortunately, a few steps slower on the karaoke machine than it’s supposed to be. However, utilizing my formidable rap skills and knowledge of lame early 90s music, I managed to sing it blind and then waited for the machine to catch up. That’s just how I roll.

I’m out in 28 days. Know what I’m looking forward to most? Late night fast food and, for the first time in four years, following my fantasy football team on Sundays instead of Mondays.

I also hear there’s some crazy thing called TIVO that I’m really going to like.