The sense of an ending

37 days left in Vietnam, and today one of my classes (unexpectedly) came to an end.

As in, we were partway through class when one of my students raised their hand and interrupted me to let me know that this would be our last class of the semester before their final exams.

Um... okay? Thanks for the head's up?


I would have appreciated some advance notice from the English Department so I could have prepared a goodbye speech or a final activity or something to provide some closure instead of some inauthentic, on-the-spot "Hope to see all of you again someday! Please keep in touch!"

Luckily, I was able to work within my resources and surprised the class with an invitation for dinner and drinks as a final celebration for a wonderful year together (my treat!).

$40, countless beers, at least 50 hard-boiled embryonic duck eggs (a Vietnamese culinary specialty that I will not be seeking out once I return to the States, but one that apparently goes well with beer), and plenty of stringy strands of jellyfish later, everyone was drunker than I could have imagined.

However, with the drunkenness came the emotional outbursts, so the raucous party quickly morphed into a sentimental weep-fest.

It's possible that I'm still drunk, despite having consumed almost an entire bag of Goldfish in hopes of eliminating the taste and texture of semi-developed feathers and spinal columns from my palette when I returned to my room. As a result, I don't have the wherewithal or energy to post the many pictures and videos from tonight's celebration, but just you wait- they're a'coming.