Saying Goodbye

Today was the last day of the school year. It's hard to tell, with so many cultural and language barriers, how much impact I have had on the people I've met, taught, and worked with for the past two years.

I'm a pretty quiet person. I'm more apt to sit and observe than jump into ongoing conversations. My natural tendencies compounded with the fact that I was tentative about using Romanian while most of my colleagues were tentative about using English meant that it took a long time for me to consistently engage in conversations with many of the other teachers at my schools.

Although not being able to fully express myself was frustrating at times, I was always at least able to smile and greet everyone with a friendly and polite "Buna dimineata" or a "Buna zuia." Not to brag, but I think I was able to make very good impressions with many of the older teachers just by being polite and upbeat. And in a work place environment that is always helpful.

Although I never sought out attention, I had it just for being different and other. I never felt this was a negative at my schools. As one of my colleagues put it today, "Julie was the only teacher able to walk through the school without a name tag and still be known by everyone." In my small town, everyone knows I'm the American girl and in my school, everyone knows I'm the English teacher who is a bit odd (but in a good way).

This week, as I have been collecting and making many goodbyes, even many of my students and colleagues that I was not particularly close to wanted to express their gratitude for my time here and for the work I have done. I hope my presence has brought some awareness of things that are odd or "other" and in the most non-cliched sense possible, that some of them might have an increased interest in something new. And, of course, it is always nice to be appreciated.

People always say that teachers are under-appreciated. And these two years have definitely been some of the most challenging of my life. I admire but do not envy those that make teaching their life's devotion. I wish every teacher at both of my schools all the best.