Final Lesson

I had suspicions that Seneiji Elementary school were going to do something special for my final lesson because when I was about to leave the school after finishing my lesson last week, one of the Japanese teachers, Masayoshi, asked what my favourite Beatles song was.
I ruminated for a bit whilst trying to pick a cheerful tune because I assumed my students were going to sing a tune by the Fab Four.
I picked Day Tripper, then immediately rejected this because it was an overt drug song. I then picked Help! on account of its upbeat tune. But I aborted this choice due to its downbeat lyrics. I eventually picked Hello Goodbye - possibly the simplest song ever written.
Masayoshi wrote this down and said, "You will get a surprise next week."
It didn't take a bloody genius what he was arranging.
When my final lesson arrived, I walked into the classroom to be met by all the staff and students of the school. This was a surprise and I privately berated myself for believing Masayoshi was naive in my abilities of perception. To see all of Seneiji huddled into a room was a humbling experience and made me wished I had wiped off the toothpaste stain smeared on my t-shirt that morning.
I walked to the front of the room whilst the kids stood in rows in front of me. They all bowed and wished me a good morning. Masayoshi then made his way through the crowd whilst holding an acoustic guitar and a roll of paper. He patted my shoulder and said the students had something they wanted to sing to me. He then unfurled the paper and stuck it to the black-board. It was a lyric sheet to the song Let It Be.



This puzzled me for a moment because I picked Hello Goodbye specifically for its upbeat tune and simple lyrics. Let It Be is a nice song but it's a party-killer. I wanted something that you could tap your foot along to and get people rocking. This song, however, was about loss and tragedy.
The morose opening bars were played on the piano by Masayoshi and he signalled for the students to begin singing.
"When I find myself in times of trouble mother Mary comes to me...."
Put a gun to my head, I thought.
By the time the song was over, the kids looked depressed, the teachers looked depressed, and I looked depressed.
The song finished to a scattered applause from the teachers and me. It took a moment for Masayoshi to recover his spirit after his depressing playing on the piano, but he eventually staggered towards me and announced that the students had more surprises for me.
"Karma Police by Radiohead?" I quipped, quietly.
Masayoshi snapped his finger like a conjurer, and a line of kids formed in front of me.
One of the girls then stood one pace in front and began to thank me in English for my lessons over the past year. I thanked her and bowed. She then took out a medal made from wood which said "Goodbye Sam". I lowered myself so she could loop it over my head. Once this was completed, I inspected my medal and said, "I win gold medal for teaching at the Olympics!" I judged that the silence that accompanied this statement was because no one understood English, and not because it was a crap joke.

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