A Minty Fresh New Start

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I just got back from my first day on the job here in Cambodia. The school called me in at 10:00 this morning--I woke up after a fitful night of sleep in my cell-sized guest house room. The day before I had dragged all of my worldly possessions across the continent of Asia--the airport wouldn't let me check more than one bag despite the fact that I was more than willing to pay the full price for overweight luggage. So I carried my belongings on my back, and today I woke up aching after not nearly the amount of sleep I needed to catch up on all I lost this weekend.

I came in to my designated school, where an administrator asked me for my CV and then waited watching me over my shoulder while I typed up everything I have done over my six months in China and then printed it off. I was then asked to come back around five. I spent the six remaining hours catching up on Facebook and eating all the food that I should have eaten this past weekend but was in too much a state of turmoil to actually do. I hope the food here isn't as toxic as it has proven to be in China!

I showed up at five, and my boss handed me two books, some dry-erase equipment, and several CDs and Tapes. "I don't know what page they're on, but that's ok, you can ask them," he informed me. And I walked in and taught Khmer kids for two hours. Talk about hitting the ground running.

Darn, their English was pretty good, and they were eager to interact with me. These were the sort of classes that made me walk away smiling. I hope it lasts!

After I got back with a ride from my faithful tuk-tuk driver, I bought some toothpaste. I ran out of toothpaste before I left Jining and just forgot about brushing my teeth for several days, because when you are in a refugee-type situation--oral hygene isn't necessarily your first priority.

And gosh, it's nice to feel minty fresh.

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