Tropical Thoughts

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

A Unique Day

Tropical Thoughts

I spent yesterday on my grade nine homeroom's class trip. Two students in my homeroom organized the entire thing, pretty much, with minimal guidance from me. We all met at the school and, as the other hundred kids traipsed through the gates in their formal Monday uniform, my guys strolled in wearing beach gear and only half-hidden smirks.

We headed to Pelican Key together to board a catamaran called "Lambada", which was chartered for the day, for our group alone. Lucky us, eh? We had four crew members, a huge catamaran, coolers of food and drink, and the beaches and waters of the nearby island of Tintamarre all to ourselves. It was a little piece of paradise. I judged swim contests, I played card tricks, I marvelled at the water colours, I had a fish nibble my finger while I snorkeled, I watched another fish play its own hilarious little game of "Jump the Floating Leaf" off the shore -- it must've jumped over that leaf about twenty times before it finally got bored and went to find something else to do... I enjoyed myself with a group of young teenagers! (Hmm... maybe I found the right age group for my own maturity level...) But beyond that, I was thinking about what a truly unique experience the whole thing was.

Most likely, there will never again be a time when I can just hop on a boat and go sailing and swimming with my homeroom class for a day. I enjoyed their company, their banter, their own camaraderie with one another... and I found it interesting that kids so far away from the ones back home can still be so similar to them in many ways. Seeing them together -- a group of friendly, fun, bright young people -- reminded me of possibility and all that there is ahead.

It was a day to pause and reflect, in the noisy end-of-year bustle, on the last two years of my life, and to remember that this place and my experiences have had a major impact on me. I will certainly miss many of the kids I've taught, but I also thank them for what they -- and their island -- have taught me.