Countdown to Goodbye: Haiku 6

Goodbye to students
Hugs, Kisses and I love You
Emotional times

I am not sure if it is because they have watched so much western TV or listened to so many English songs or if it just the Chinese way, but for some reason my students as a goodbye would say, "I love you," followed by hugs and kisses and tears in the eyes.

The students hosted a 2 hour goodbye party with entertaining dances, songs, and games.  Without prior notification, I had to do a performance on the spot.  Thank goodness for my kungfu.  There were eating contests both oranges and watermelons and balloon games.  They even had a 2 tier cake.

Gifts:  A T-shirt had a huge group photo of the students and I.  A second gift was lovely black Chinese traditional shoes with a peacock embroidered on them.  The third environmentally friendly gift from the class I taught about trash was a video, a 10 minute creative production of students using English to give me their goodbye messages.

For the last class of the term, we went to an open and un-gated golf course where we were chased off by guards.  We then went to a grassy hill beside a river alongside a castle to have a picnic, little Germany.
 
I think the biggest difference between my Gansu students and my Chengdu students when it comes to goodbye parties is singing versus dancing.  My Gansu students sang while my Chengdu students danced.