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Published: January 20th 2007
I am really getting into a teaching rhythm at the school. Even when I have absolutely no idea what I am doing, I feel like I am more at ease with the confusion. I thought I would take this journal entry to describe some of "my favorite"children--from the goofy to the elegant to the awkward--all absolutely adorable and enlightened in their own right.
My Favorites:
Lucas: On Thursday morning Lucas was carrying around a massive chunk of a grapefruit that looked like a jellyfish carcass. He had no intention of eating it, just waving it around, spreading grapefruit-juice love wherever he went. "Teacher!" Lucas yelled, "Need to go pee-pee." So, I walked with Lucas to the toilet where he dropped his trousers before entering as to not get them dirty. Lucas, standing at the threshold of the door to the toilet, pantless and dangling the grapefruit carcass would have been a brilliant photo opportunity if I had my camera. I grabbed the grapefruit and laughed.
Lucas and his fruit are a common duo seen together in the sand box or the nametag table. He will climb all over you one minute and then hit you in the arm the next. He has a joyful smile when he wants attention and a horrid frown when he feels like he is not getting attention. He is full of wonderfully orchestrated contradictions. Lucas is sponsored by the heiress to the Johnson and Johnson company who owns an NGO called "Golden Child"--to promote the future leaders of Cambodia.
Nissa: Nissa is one of the few children that has worn a different outfit everyday. One constant is the fake pearl necklace that her parents presumably gave to her. She is a perfect example of the Khmer family's desire to preserve 'face'. I asked Muoy if Nissa was one of the elite Khmer children. "No! Goodness me," Muoy said, "Nissa and all of the other children that wear pearls to school have very limited money, but their parents teach them to value the material."
During circle times and teaching times I am in charge of all of the "middle children." These are children between the ages of 5-6. They are on the brink of putting together conversation sentences with the individual words we learn every day. On Monday, during my refreshment circle, I had all of the middle children pick an animal (pretend, of course) to pass to the child next to them. After starting this tradition, Nissa has firmly chosen a "baby lion" to pass to the child next to her every time. She says "baby lion" with her own ladylike precision, taking her time with each syllable. Even when she sits, Nissa has a presence about her. She tilts her chin up enough so that she is taller than the other girls her age. She puts up her pointer finger whenever she as anything to say: "Teacher, can I go pee-pee?" "Teacher, I will sit next to you." "Teacher, I'm finished"--Everything comes with the underline of the pointer finger. She also thinks about which remarks at circle time she should dedicate the grace of a smile to.
Kotaro: Sometimes, when Muoy is not around, Teacher Banya plays Snoop Dogg songs for the children. There are 4 boys that dance for the others in the center of the circle. Kotaro--from Japan--is one of them. I am doing his dancing an injustice to describe it in words, but--for now--it is a hybrid of breakdancing, grinding, and learning how to walk. Kotaro is about 3 years old and is always testing the ground that the other children test in his own distinct way. When one child runs up to kiss me, Kotaro will wobble up directly afterwards to kiss me and make some loud sound effect to go with it. Kotaro's turf is the sandbox. He will cover his face in sand and walk around like a zombie. When the other children laugh, he laughs too--I like that Kotaro is unafraid to laugh with a joke/situation that he invents himself.
Sok Ly: I can never remember Sok Ly's name until I see him, yet he is the child that I think of describing the most to people back home. He is 3 years old, but doesn't seem to know what age he is. He is constantly testing out different levels of maturity. He is almost like a newcomer at a series of hippie seances that sees the other hippies acting "enlightened" so he knows that he should act "enlightened" as part of that culture even if he doesn't feel inspired. He'll stand back and observe the other children having fun and then he seems to imitate having fun. He'll jump up and down vigorously for 5 seconds and then note the reaction of the others around him. If no one reacts, he will imitate the type of fun someone else is having. One particularly striking example of this experimenting with imitation occured when the children first got workbooks. They use crayons to color pictures or complete various exercises. Sok Ly sat with a green crayon for 20 minutes without putting anything on his page. "Sok Ly," I questioned, "Why are there no colors on this page?" Sok Ly just looked at me blankly, like the uncolored outline of the scene in his workbook. I took the green crayon and made one dot on the page, smiling rebelliously. "See! It's fun," I taunted. Sok Ly took the green crayon with a smile and made his own dot. He has been making progress little by little in his work book, although he only chooses green and usually fills in the pictures with small, light scratches or dots of crayon.
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Dad
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My Favorites
It's Sunday and it was great to hear from you. I'm really proud of all you are doing there. It's also great to read your Blog. It give me a lot of the feeling of being there. Keep up the good work. When you talk about and describe the kids it makes me want to help in some way. Please let us know how that could be. We are having Sunday brunch with Dotty at Boyd Place.She and your mother are at Church while I work at the office until they finish and we have lunch. Talk to you soon. Love, Dad