Vegetarian Dinner

Cambodians are ferocious meat and fish eaters but there seems to be a growing movement for vegetarianism. It's a growing trend amongst Taiwanese Buddhist temples who have been doing charity work and spread the dharma. With Khmer New Year and my last days in Cambodia approaching, a few of my students made vegetarian dinner for us teachers. Although I'm not entirely vegetarian, I go on spurs of meat fasting so it was such a treat.

Vegetarian hot pot..yum!

The girls cooked at one of the girls' family owned restaurant

Fried rice, soup, stirfry... all Cambodian girls are such great cooks

Post dinner beer time

I also want to take this moment to thank all my students. Having never had actual classroom teaching experience, being a teacher in front of students staring wide-eyed at me has been a scary experience. But everyone's been so generous, kind, and forgiving it really gave me the inspiration and integrity to give them a better education in whatever way I could. It also gave me the time to do growing myself through teaching these past few months.

Everyone is so eager to learn it really made me realize how much the power of education means to them. Education not only is acquiring knowledge but freedom and a ticket to move upwards in society.Cambodia is still a young country but with it's high ambitions of the younger generation, I have no doubt that they will grow exponentially on the world platform.

Field Trip

Going to Angkor Wat is always special but it makes it even more special when you’re going there with 20+ local kids. How I became a chaperone for a school field trip was all by coincidence. My coworker Carena also teaches English at a village school about 5km away from Siem Reap as part of a project with my other coworker Kathryn. One day I decided to do a class visit; as an English instructor for the Sewing School myself, it’s always good to see how other teachers conduct their lessons especially someone like me who has minimal teaching experience. While I was visiting the schools the coordinator of the school, Sun also happen to come by. After quick introductions, being the Cambodian that he is,  popped the question if I wanted to come along to Angkor Wat with the children. Sun, whose actual job is a tour guide, wanted to invite the students to a tour of the Angkor Wat as a treat before the term end and Khmer New Years. This was especialy a special treat for the children because most of them have never been to Angkor Wat before.

Albeit let’s admit it, the kids were actually happy to be away from the village rather than being at Angkor Wat. Many children rarely get out of the village, letalone a worldly tourist site. Sun, being in the business had arranged all the drivers and lunch for the students and chaperones which made getting around easier. Still, with the number of children (30+) and the blazing heat, it was quite tiring.

After going around a few temples, we were ready for a cool down. Must of the afternoon was spent splashing around by the watermill which is a local favorite spot –there’s absolutely no indication in tour books so sorry I can’t point out where it is!

I was wiped out after a few hours and ended up leaving early with Kathryn but in hindsight what a special occasion that was. I am sure it was a memorable occasion for many of the kids as well and I’m very I was able to a part of that.