Back at school and other adventures...

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It was so great to go back to school this week – I really enjoyed having time off work last week, but I really missed the kids...........they are great fun, so keen to learn, and I have such a great bond with many of them already. I was only there for one week before the holiday period, but am really surprised at just how quickly connections were formed, and also the level of trust they placed in me....they are truly awesome kids, and yes, yes, I know I’m going to find it tough to say farewell to them.....but for the moment I’ll just squish those thoughts down and will deal with them when the time comes....

I’m loving the psychology of teaching. I find it a challenge trying to understand the minds and various learning patterns of the various kids in the classes, and then putting what I think I’ve worked out to use, and finding ways to get them interested in what I’m teaching. There are so many levels to work on, and I get very excited when I gain their interest and trust, and we can see the results at the end of the lesson. I love seeing the satisfaction on their faces when it all comes together and they realise they understand the lesson etc. It’s a sheer pleasure. In the words of the lovely Ola (former Polish volunteer)...”I LOVE IT”....

A couple of girls from the older class that I teach, appear to be getting a great deal from my lessons, and to say thank you they’ve given me hair clips as presents......one the first week (which I wear in my ponytail each day), and then another one Monday which I will also wear each day. I’d brought some hairclips with me to give to the girls also, so I’ve now returned the favour and they were very excited by the gesture. One of these girls was at the state school one morning of my first week, so in the afternoon, I took her aside and gave her the same lesson I’d given in the morning as I didn’t want her to miss out. She speaks very little English at the moment, so communication is difficult, and we get by with lots of smiles, thumbs-up etc, and she’s gaining so much confidence – it’s really great to see. The day I gave her the extra lesson, she raced back upstairs (more like a ladder) at the afternoon break and shared her snacks with me.......I love working with her (and not for the gifts) – I love seeing her try really hard with her work, then succeed, and then watch her as helps explain extra stuff to the other kids, in Khmer.

At our morning break on Monday, I was still upstairs with some of the kids, when we heard a loud bang on the roof next door. We all looked up and one of the girls said “meow”, and we all accepted that it was just a cat wandering around.............That was until I saw a huge monkey peering into our window whilst sitting on the roof next door. I quickly raced to get my camera, and as the monkey started walking away, the kids were all calling it to try to encourage it to stay for me. I only managed to get some photos of it’s back - shame. The teacher told me that the monkey wandered into the school room downstairs, just before I got back from lunch. Rats!! I would have loved a close-up photo of it...... Memo to self – keep camera in my pocket in future....there are ALWAYS Kodak moments in PP.

Talking about learning and such things, five of us took part in a Khmer cooking class on Sunday....we really enjoyed it. We only did the half day class, which covered two dishes, which were spring rolls (quite different from the ones most of us know, and I won’t be making them again), and my all-time favourite Khmer dish, Fish Amok. We made the dish from scratch and it was soooooooooooo good. I will be making it again at home, but may cheat a little and use a blender rather than bashing the ingredients into oblivion in a mortar and pestle........ It really is quite a simple recipe, though with lots of ingredients, but I know a few people already who are wanting an invite for dinner when I get home, to try it...

Apart from school, it’s been quite a social week already......I caught up with Tim (Shelley’s & Deb’s friend) on Sunday night – he’s an Aussie that’s been living here for 6 years and 3 days. After two weeks of having to ensure that people understood me, it was great to be able to chat about all sorts of things and know that I didn’t have to explain myself too much. Poor Tim though, I think I talked his ear off because it was great to be around a fellow-Aussie – don’t get me wrong, I love the Cambodians and the other volunteers, but there are so many different cultures that I’m around every day and I spend my time being a tad careful so as to ensure I don’t do or say the wrong thing, and also making sure I explain myself as simply as I can so that I’m understood, so it was awesome just to be me/an Aussie, and speak at a hundred miles an hour, about things that someone understood. Thanks Tim for your company, I really enjoyed it.

Then last night, I caught up with Sinead (Irish volunteer) and Martin (French/Canadian volunteer) from apartment 6 (a distance away from us). They’re both really great people and I love being around them. Sinead is so full of beans and good fun – she had me laughing lots on the Saturday of the Dirty Weekend (no one can swear quite like the Irish, and make it sound like a good thing!!). Martin – I met him at the Volunteers Dinner on Friday, and really enjoyed his company.....and girls, if he’s any indication of the calibre of men in Montreal, we should all move there.....what can I say, but, he’s Gorgeous......!!!

On that note, gosh, I’ve met so many really nice, single, Western guys since I left home..........I know now why I don’t meet them in Brisbane, because they’re not there, they’re all overseas..........either in planes heading off, or working, or doing humanitarian work in third world countries. I don’t think I’m ever coming home !!! I’m loving this....seriously loving this !!

It’s a week of changes in the apartments, some people leaving, some arriving........I made mention the other week about a certain powerful Western nation that has a superiority complex and wants to take over the world.....well this week we farewell one of their members, but holy dooley, the one coming in took only one day to get just about everyone offside with their overbearing, obnoxious behaviour (even the Danish girls, who are two of the sweetest, kindest people on the planet), and I’m guessing this person is going to have a lonely 3 months, because already people are ensuring that they keep out of their way. The common behaviour over here is that if someone is organising something, you invite yourself along........you don’t have to wait to be invited, it’s a “given” that it’s an open invitation.....sadly because of this person’s behaviour, people have already started saying “shhh, make sure so & so doesn’t find out we’re going to such and such.....”.

I mentioned in one of my previous blogs about the various projects that we work on. In some cases, some of the Care programs crossover with Teaching. A fairly common misconception by the Cambodians is that because we speak English, we can all teach it. Some volunteers simply cannot, or are not interested for various reasons, in teaching. In our apartment we have a very quiet, polite, sweet Japanese guy (maybe 20yo), who’s English is not so good. Anyway, Yoshi is in a Care program and has now been told that he will be doing an hour of teaching each day. Sadly “No” doean’t appear to be in his vocab, and he’s agreed to it. None of us can work out how he will teach English to Cambodian children between the ages of 8 and 15yo, because he only just speaks it himself. So, yesterday I sat down with him and started teaching him the lessons I’ve already given, and from here on will teach him regularly, and he will then teach the same lessons to the kids......as the tshirt says “Only in Cambodia”.

Well that’s it. Must get up and get ready for school, and will try to drop this onto my blog later this morning.

Hugs to everyone.....big ones....I really appreciate the emails and comments on facebook....it keeps the homesickness at bay on the occasions that it rises up....thanks

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Photos

My Fish Amok
Better than the one I had at a restaurant last night.....but the company was good, so all was well

My Fish Amok
Better than the one I had at a restaurant last night.....but the company was good, so all was well

So many hugs, so many giggles
Love these kids to bits

Comments

[Sylvi]

Good to see you
So great to see a photo of you with the kids. It's been ages since I've seen your happy, smilie face. You look happy and definitely sound like you're loving what you do. Cooking classes sound extra yummy too. Sylvi xo