The Farewell Dinner to Our Visiting Educators to Ontario

I feel absolutely fantastic this evening! I haven't felt so great in a long long time! It's strange that we work hard all our lives and look forward to our retirement. But for the past two weeks and half, I went back to work full time teaching this course and I was having tons of fun!

There were twenty- seven course participants and they were from different cities of the  province and did not know each other. Besides learning about the educational system and visiting school while they were in Toronto, in the course of the past two and half weeks, this group of visiting educators has made new friends and developed friendship with each other.

This evening, my students invited me to the celebration dinner prior to their departure. What a blast it was!

I heard of the Chinese custom of frequent toasting between guests, but I never experienced it until th tonight. Dinner started at 5:30p.m. and we toasted and congratulated each other on the completion of the course. Barely had we touched our food, then different members of the group started toasting one another. I had at least fifteen to twenty people dropping by our table throughout the dinner and offered me a toast. I think people spent more time toasting each other than on enjoying the various dishes. People apparently were having a great time interacting, toasting and chatting up with one another.

The fun part of the dinner started when most of the food had been consumed. A phy. ed. teacher organized some games, followed by various performances from the group. A couple of people even got up and recited some poems!  That was something different! Normally, when I go to some dinner parties, invariably someone would get drunk and does something silly or embarrassing. But this group of visiting educators from China was definitely different, civilized and very well behaved!

I felt so appreciated and uplifted as the participant in my coure continued to drop by my table expressing their enjoyment in my class and thanked me for being their instructor.

Teaching and sharing my knowledge with others is my passion.  Teaching in the past two  weeks reminded me of what I do the best and the tremendously joy and satisfaction it brings to me.

I could not believe it!  After I said good bye to my group, about ten of them in the leadership  program escorted me to the door of the college, and even accompanied me all the way to my
car in the parking lot!

Bathing in the kindness and love of my students and feeling totally overwhelmed with such warm hospitality, I was singing and almost dancing in my seat while driving all the way home!

In what other job would one get paid and be so appreciated for doing the job well?

R.T.
Last Day
International Leadership Course
Toronto