Teaching and Learning

I'm a teacher!   I couldn't ask for better students.  I'm at an orphanage teaching 17 -21 year olds.  The number of students varies because it is not mandatory.  I usually have a class between 6 and 9 students.  They are there because they really want to learn - I couldn't ask for better students. 

On the first day the students told me they wanted to learn conversations about tourism and about businesses.  Last week I taught them about being a tourist and a tour guide.  Every day I brought in a world map and some pictures of landmarks from different countries - Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower, Great Wall of China, Angkor Wat, etc.    At least one person knew where each one belonged except for the Sears Tower.  It started a good discussion about traveling and the world.  No one has even been to Angkor Wat much less out of the country.  We also worked on dialogues you would use while traveling.

This week I am teaching them about working / shopping in an electronic store and being in an airport.  There is no textbook so I come up with my own lessons.  I enjoy putting the lesson together.  It's nice to have the freedom to do what I want and LanguageCorps definitely prepared me for this during the first 2 weeks.  In China I will have a textbook to teach from - hopefully I can still be creative with my lessons.

Last Friday their assignment was to take me on a tour of the orphanage.  After they gave me a tour of where they live I showed them pictures of my house - with snow - and pictures of my family.  They had some questions.  The question that stuck out the most -  'Your sister married before you???'   This was after they learned she is my younger sister.  It was funny. 

One day we worked on pronouncing banana.  Their pronunciations are usually so so but one kid said banana with my mid western accent and everything.  I tried not to laugh but it was pretty darn funny to hear it come out of his mouth that way.  They try so hard to pronounce words just right and sometimes it just sounds really funny.   I do my best to keep a straight face - most of the time.

They are good kids and I'm really grateful I've been their teacher - even if it was just for 2 short weeks.

In addition to teaching every day we also have to observe our peers while they're teaching.  Jason, who is also going to China, observed me and took these pictures. 


We also have a Chinese class everyday.  It can be frustrating.   The information presented each day is too much for a beginner. So I'm trying to only memorize what would be most helpful when I arrive in China. At least I'm learning pronunciations and I will have a bit of a background when I get there.  I can't believe my time is here is almost up!

Phnom Penh mall

I think I could probably spend hours in the mall.  It's huge and there is so much to see. 

Supposedly this is one of the only escalators in the country so there are quite a few Khmer people that aren't sure how to step on to it.

There are cosmetic counters.  There are lots of small shops for clothes, shoes, and toys. It is not unusual to see the worker sleeping in a lawn chair or even on the floor.   It seems that shops are not very busy most of the time.  They will usually get up if you walk in and especially if you need help.  



There are tons of stores with shoes of all kinds.  I found some heals that I will definitely not buy - I'd probably be confused with the prostitutes if I did.  (Yes, prostitution is everywhere here - and usually very obvious)

Most Khmer people don't have much style.  Pajamas and flip flops with socks is a very popular look.  I guess you could say that's their style.  Nothing wrong with it.  They just put together outfits differently then most of us would.

I've found these contacts are very popular.  There were tons in all different colors.  They'll even put them in your eyes for you.  My friend from England said they're popular over there as well.  I think they're weird.   It's like going into Claire's and buying a pair of earrings.  Maybe I've been missing them in the US?

Knock out your fat!  This is funny.  Basically you wear the device where you have fat and poof - all gone.  If only it were that easy.

This is a fun snack!  I haven't tried it yet but it's a big fried potato chip and you can have all different seasonings on it.  It actually looks pretty good.

 Deal or No Deal all the way in Cambodia!   

A trip to the hospital

Don't worry - I'm fine. 

We had to go to get our medical tests for our China Visa.  One week till we leave and we don't have our Visas! 

I will be flying to Xi'an with 3 others from my Cambodia group.  I stay in Xi'an and the other 3 take a bus to their city. 

The hospital seems to be anything but organized.  But just like the way they drive, it seems to work.  Ocassionally you see doctors with white coats on but for the most part everyone seems to dress in street clothes so there's really no way to tell who works there and who doesn't.

First up - taking some blood.  It actually didn't hurt.  Yes, that is a rubber glove tied around our arm.  No band aids - only a cotton ball soaked with alcohol.

Next - Chest x-rays.  This took a while.  There was a guy on a stretcher with a pretty swollen leg getting an x-ray. They couldn't find the doctor to do our x-rays.  We waited around for a while - the guys learned how to say bad words in Khmer.  Always a good time.

 The x-ray was taken with the machine against the wall.


And we're done. Hopefully never to return again. 

This is the Cambodian version of the long glass hallway on Greys Anatomy. 

Things I miss...

-Taking walks that are stress free (even when you think you're safe here comes a moto speeding the wrong way down the street or a crazy looking dog heading straight for you with a mean bark)
-Drivers that obey traffic signals
-Traffic signals and cross walks
-Clean feet
-Flushing toilet paper
-Assuming every bathroom has toilet paper
-Assuming every bathroom has a toilet
-Calling / Texting friends (I need to Skype more)
-Brushing my teeth with tap water
-Clothes that have been dried in the dryer.  (Hanging clothes to dry really stretches them out)
-The Whole Foods salad bar.
-STARBUCKS - which has never been my coffee of choice but what I wouldn't give to walk in and order a latte.


While we're on the subject of coffee....this is the best I've found.

It is really good.    It's basically a French press.  I ordered it with milk - which means condensed milk at the bottom of the cup.  Very delicious but painful waiting for it to slowly drip into your small cup.    I could drink this every day but it's the price of a meal, very small, and not served everywhere.  Instant is the coffee of choice.



(Obviously this list isn't naming the obvious - friends, family, etc.)

The truth is you get used to things being different and not having everything you're used to.   I miss these things but I don't NEED these things.  You adapt to the culture you're living in.  Who ever thought I could get used to putting used toilet paper in a garbage can??  And actually admit it on a public blog!  

One of my major concerns when deciding to do this was communication.  Of course there are plenty of times when communication is difficult but it's far from impossible and turns out not to be as much of a challenge as I thought it would be.  We all know what is supposed to be said at restaurants so even if it's said in another language you can probably figure it out.   So far I have not been in a situation that I couldn't figure out.

There are some things I actually don't miss.  TV is the big one.  Yes, I don't miss TV!  I know - hard to believe considering I've been obsessed with it for pretty much my entire life.  I have downloaded episodes of TV shows for long journeys but overall I'm doing just fine without it.

I expect this list to change when I get to China and I've been away from the US for a bit longer.

Sihanoukville

This weekend we took a much needed break and spent a weekend at the beach in Sihanoukville.  It was pretty amazing. The drive was about 4 hours outside of Phnom Penh.  It was not bad at all.  The driver had some karaoke DVD's that we watched and sang along with.   The songs were really horrible but that just made it all the more entertaining.  The AC worked really well and the scenery was beautiful as we got closer. 

Our hotel had a pool and was right across the street from the beach.

 
The rooms were nice, we had a balcony and a bathroom.  We are pretty spoiled at the villa and actually have a tub with a shower and hot water.  Most bathrooms in Phnom Penh are like the one we had in the hotel where it's all in one little room, everything gets wet, and there's no hot water.

 On the beach there were women walking around with baskets of food on their heads.  Some had fruit.......

They take it right off their heads and cut it up for us. 

 

This girl helped cut up the fruit and balanced her tray of lobsters while she cut.

 I had mango and bananas.  Soooooo good.

We had squid cooked right in front of us on the sand.

And we had deep fried lobster.  Although they call these lobsters but they're not what we call lobsters.  She skinned the top and put salt/pepper/lime on them.  10 for $3 and delicious.

You could also get manicures, pedicures, and massages on the beach.

It was a nice relaxing weekend - now we teach.

Angkor Wat

The morning after arriving in Siem Reap we got up at 4:40am to catch the sunrise over Angkor Wat.  We got there when it was pitch black so we couldn't even see that it was in front of us.  We crossed over the moat in the dark to a big open area with a pond between us and Angkor Wat.

It slowly got lighter but, no sun. According to our tour guide the sun drank too much the night before and was still drunk.  Oh well it was fun to be there so early in the morning and have it slowly revealed to us.

Then it was back to the hotel for breakfast and much needed coffee.

Angkor Wat means 'city temple'.  It was built in the early 12th century for the King of Cambodia.  It has become a symbol of Cambodia and is on their flag.  It is surrounded by a moat that's 2.2 miles.  Nothing in the city can be built taller than Angkor Wat.  They even named a beer after it.

There are a lot of temples on the grounds where Angkor Wat sits.  We went to a handful of them.  They're so spread out buses had to drive us around.

Our tour guides were pretty great.  They were really knowledgeable but also loved to laugh at their own jokes.

They love saying 'No money, no honey, no baby.'  No money, no honey is said a lot here but they added their own touch. 

I don't know that they actually have a problem with Korea as a country but they told us we would stay away from the Korean tour groups.  Their big complaints were that they are rude, they don't move out of the way, they bring their own tour guides, and stay in Korean hotels.  It's hard for them to comprehend why they would come all the way to Cambodia and not embrace the Cambodian ways or spend money where it counts in this poor country.  Makes sense to me.  Isn't that why you travel to a new country?

Needless to say, it was amazing to see Angkor Wat.

On the way home we stopped to see Beng Mealea.  It is a temple in ruins that was built to the same floor plan as Angkor Wat but much smaller.  I felt like I was back on the set of Transformers 3 - only these slabs of concrete were real.  You are free to just explore and basically walk where ever you want.