Surprise Gift

So yesterday I mentioned that it was my student teacher's last day.  We, the class, pitched in to buy him Return to Hoth, an expansion for Star Wars: Imperial Assault.  Did he like it?  YES!  He was very surprised and excited.

Well, the plot thickens.

The bell rang and students (many of them tearful, going to miss an amazing teacher) exited the school.  My student teacher and I wrapped up a few things involving students' marks and assignments left.  After clearing this all up, he informed me that he had a gift for me.  Well, I had seen him give a Christmas card to our educational assistant and assumed it was the same.  I was right about the card, but there was something underneath it!

Apparently I had mentioned my BoardGameGeek handle to him in the first few weeks of his being here and he used that to check my wishlist and buy me something!  He said he found it second hand, but still in shrink wrap.  I was a little caught off guard - student teachers don't usually buy such gifts for their mentor teachers (don't worry, his evaluation was completed and signed earlier in the week so I could not improve his mark because of this, ha!).  I was a little speechless and thanked him and we agreed that now that he wasn't my student teacher anymore, we could probably hang out outside of the classroom and game.  

How great is that?  Not only did I have a part in releasing an amazing new teacher into the world (and yes, he is amazing, and it had very little to do with me), but I've found a new board game friend!  AND a new game to play!  Win-win-win!