It would take much more than a single blog post to describe what is summed up with these few pictures and the year that they cap off, but you need to get a taste, for my cup runneth over!!!
For the entire school year we have been studying the Cambridge IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) Business Studies course, a general overview of all the major functions of business. We were the first ever Business Studies class in Mongolian public school history and yours truly got to be the first teacher, which was quite an honor for being only my first full year of teaching.
The event pictured above was the beginning of some of the best days of my life. It was a time of intense focus when I had dropped all my English classes and was focused only on Business for the last month or so. There were really only a few main goals: Take the 11 that were giving the big exam in May and get them as ready as possible, help the next teacher prepare for the advanced Business Studies course next year, and take as many of the rest of the class that were interested and help them prepare for the test in October. Some of us met 5-6 days per week and even spent 2 nights at our house before Paper 2 of the exam and reviewed the whole book. How amazing to have learned this book in such a short time, but they did it with the help of their floundering teacher and the immeasurable grace of our great God. They really learned to take initiative on their own and in groups and they eventually learned how to organize these things by themselves. Oh, and yes, it was junk food night. On the floor next to me is my little brother! He's the only Christian student in all of 9th or 10th grade.
This is MB, or my own personal name for him "Market Boy - Business class superhero!" He added that last part. Actually, I think he made the first part as well by accident and it stuck! :) A handful of students came over to help me pack and clean since the cleaner-packer-organizer-in-chief was already in the States and she's got 90% of our combined skills in this area. What a blessing to have so much help...
...help finishing off the cakes that is! :) I can so relate to this picture!
Most of you have seen pictures of our German friends Shinee and Pascal and this is their new little baby Ariguun. He's SO CUTE!!!
She really liked Jess' cowgirl hat so I told her to take it. I think the students swiped my camera for this shot. The next shots all feature my students holding the wee baby!
The girls went crazy with this one. Something about a handsome young man holding and kissing a sweet little baby.
Ok then. Last day of school.........Pause to overcome emotional swell........ Ok, several of my 10th graders and a few rogue nines came down to the river near our house. Same river as in all the other posts. We all walked home together and they played outside with the neighborhood kids while I did a few things inside. Aren't they cute!
Ok, off to the river...
We all put our stuff down and then scattered to collect wood. By the time I hauled my branches back they had found enough wood and started a fire. Nice job, guys!
Jess actually made this fire ring a couple months ago and other folks have been using it too. Still looks good!
A few folks had some meat they cooked, the rest just enjoyed the beauty...and the heat. This was initially intended to be a 10th grade event but the few 9th graders that came were sensitive to that and did a great job tending the fire the whole time. Two of the three you may recognize from the skiing post.
They took turns being on fire for the pictures. Duuluu! You on fi-yah, man!
Anyone know what a random goat with a tubular headdress on is doing here? Well, the scarves are a Mongolian spiritual tradition used for a variety of occasions. Here, they are saying, "Don't kill me, I belong to somebody." Something like that. A bit like branding a cow.
Mанай дүү. (My little brother)
Ok, he should have been in the picture but I had no idea he could jump so high. Mongolians can really jump! We all spent a good while just hanging out, talking, playing games. It was great.
Below, everyone is playing a game called "Cops and Killers". At least, those are the primary functions of the game. You randomly draw a card and you're either a cop, a killer, or a citizen. The cops lay down their card immediately and try to find the killers. The killers kill by discretely winking at you and as soon as you have been offed you must immediately say, "I'm dead." to give the cops clues. Pretty fun.
If you're the cop and you guess the killers wrong, you get a penalty. Here, one of the ladies had to carry the other cop around the tree and he carried her back. Too funny!!!
We all had a great time!
After a while I kept hearing, "Ямар гоё!" which means, "How beautiful/nice/wonderful/etc." I looked and saw these two looking up at the sky and they invited me to take a look. So I did. :)
I thought I would take a picture and then another student jumped in.
Pretty soon we had a viewfinder full and my arms could not get any longer!!! How beautiful they are! There are a hundred memories for each one. How precious!
All I was told was, "Can you bring your notebook (laptop)?" "Ok, sure." At the end of our time, they all gathered and made a place for me to rest and showed me a video presentation of my teaching with a bunch of really nice thoughts. Students had snuck photos with their phones during class! Naughty students!!! :) ~sniff~ ~breathe~ ~sigh~ I was in unbelief at the moment. Such kindness our Father lavished upon me through these relationships and these final moments together. I do not deserve any of these but it was a remarkable end to a great year. Well, almost the end...
They gave gifts for me, Jess, Ezra, and even Baby-Baby. Thank you guys so much, and especially for thinking of my family! The love was deep and tangible and it still overwhelms me to think about it. The moment was one thing, but it was really the culmination of the whole year including all the students that couldn't make it that added to this conclusion. Even that was still not the end as a group almost this size surprised me at the airport to send me off with more gifts, more hugs..........more tears, and more memories that I will NEVER forget. The only thing that wasn't perfect was my family was not able to share these first hand but I know that all was in God's hands and good plan and that Jess and Ezra were where they needed to be.
To the students of my first full year of teaching:
You have done so much and have given me more than you know. Your hearts have been knit into mine and I'm so happy that finally at the end of the year we could know such a sweetness together. You are more than my students. We have adventured and conquered together; we have taught each other and learned how to learn; we have had good times and bad, but mostly all good; we have laughed and we have cried; we have lived and we have loved, and Lord willing, we will see each other again.
I LOVE YOU!
Your teacher and friend,
Mr. Gens
P.S. SEND PICTURES!!! :)
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