Impromptu kung fu and other such things

Another semester over and done with, we had a "graduation ceremony" for our English students on January 22. What made this program different from programs past was that this will be our last one. I'm sad to say that our school is closing because the owner & manager has decided to move back to the States. While it will be a loss not to see our little Saturday friends anymore, I am thankful for the time I got spend with them as "Belly Lao Shi."

We started the festivities off with the older students (read: less chaotic). Look at how calm and civilized they are:

We even had our own version of China Idol:

I mean, you know you're pretty impressive when you need two microphones to show off your skillz:

One hour and 50 or so "diplomas" later, it was time for the Big Dance...the preschoolers, my pride & joy.

My nose-picking, angel-faced, in-need-of-ritalin pride & joy:

What? You don't believe me? Were last semester's pictures not enough to prove to you just how much energy these kiddos have? Well, to further my case, I present you impromptu kung fu fighting:

For the full effect, start humming Carl Douglas' "Everyone Was Kung Fu Fighting" to yourself. And no, I did not know that song's artist off the top of my head. Thanks, Yahoo Answers!

Cue music... I'll provide the lyrics. And no, I did not know the lyrics off the top of my head either. Thanks, lyricsondemand.com!

Everybody was kung fu fighting...

Those cats were fast as lightening...

In fact, it was a little bit frightening...

But they fought with expert timing...

It was a crowd pleasing event for sure. Even this little gal loved it:

So with the flash of a donkey kick and an uppercut, we say goodbye to our little ninja students.

Thanks for the laughs, xiao pengyoumen. Thanks for the sticky hugs. Thanks for never letting me forget to give you candy at the end of class, even though some of your rotting teeth certainly didn't need it.

Thanks for all the times you walked into class, shouting my name with excitement (now that I think of it, my name seems to be the only English word you truly mastered...well, sort of).

Thanks for the effort you put in to conquering those tricky "th" and villainous "v" phonics.

Thanks for not being comfortable enough in your creativity to color a watermelon blue or an apple brown without coming up for a logical reason for its discoloration (The watermelon is frozen! The apple has poison!)

Thanks for being you each and every Saturday.

You will be missed.

Your teacher,

Becky/Betty/Belly