The End of an Era



 





 

 

Me with some of my 7th graders



In this second-to-last post I want to write about some of my last experiences at the highschool I've been teaching at for the last 7 months. For my last class with my 7^th and 10^th grade I planned to just play games and made a kinda home-made taboo game with vocabulary that they've learned in the last year. It was a lot of fun though if I were a more ambitious teacher, I could have been rather depressed at how few of the words they actually knew. It seemed to be the first time for a lot of them playing a game requiring acting out or drawing words. A student would be presented with a word like TV (one word that all of them know) to act out and he'd just stand with a rather shocked look on his face in front of the other students, or if he even did manage to pantomime something the other students would just stare back. The school system is so centered on just repeating back answers to the teacher and getting punished (physically) for saying something wrong that the students were afraid to shout out a wrong guess. I kept encouraging them to guess and they got more and more animated as the game went on.

drawing what I think was supposed to be a table of sorts

trying to guess the word...



...and desparing (actually just trying to hide from the picture)


My last day of teaching was Friday, but the last school was on Saturday. The teachers had asked me to come again on Saturday so that they could say goodbye (repeatedly, first one director came during class to tell me, then another [they have 4] came to me in the teachers' lounge the next day and then I guess for good measure the director called Pastor Khan the next day to remind me of it about an hour before I was supposed to come). They told me they wanted to give me a small present and I was expecting something like a framed picture or some kind of fancy certificate. When I arrived I was told to sit at the head of the table next to the main director (seat of honor) and then one of the directors spoke a few words and said that they wanted to give a small gift. Three of my 10^th graders then came out of another room holding a small wrapped box. Knowing the usual procedures I got up and took hold of one end of the present while they held on to the other so pictures could be taken. The boy held a small speech in English thanking me for my time teaching and for donating the books again. Standing there looking in to the smiling faces of my students surrounded by all the teachers was one of my best moments here in Cambodia. I love to be in the center of attention (a character trait I'm not necessarily proud of), especially when I feel like I deserve it, and I do feel very proud about my time teaching at the school. Knowing that something you have put a lot of time and effort into has been appreciated and seeing that appreciation displayed is probably one of the most rewarding experiences in life.



I then opened the present and saw that it was a length of material for making a sombut, a traditional Cambodian skirt. It took a moment or two before it dawned on me what they had actually given me. It was not just any material but hand-woven raw Cambodian silk dyed in the most brilliant emerald green. Material like that costs anywhere up from $50 and most village women own only one such skirt. For Cambodia and this area it was an unbelievably extravagant present, something I was not remotely expecting and I was (and am) very touched by it.

By that point I realized that I was expected to hold a little speech (which I hadn't prepared). I started to talk and choked up after the first few words. However I managed to regaine composure and say a few very cheesy very emotional sentences.



me trying to say something



After the “official” part snacks and drinks were served (by the students) and everybody sat down to eat and talk. I stayed for a while to talk, took some pictures with the teachers, had a few embarrassing moments with a rather infatuated young teacher who saw that morning as his last chance and headed home, leaving an era behind...

Me with some of the teachers

Me with one of the few teachers who could (and would) speak English with me and who was a great help to me

Me with the main director

...Well not completely, I had already invited my students to a going-away party on the 2^nd of July and was hoping to say a proper farewell to them there. The preparations for the party took place in a typically Cambodian manner: confusion, miscommunication and a lot of "It's-oks" added to that unhappy circumstance of having a fever for most of the time before and after party. However at this point I also have to say that the kids at the orphanage wre amazing, they helped me shop for supplies, helped wrap presents (I gave every student a white-out, which is kinda luxury school supply here), blow up baloons, clean the church, decorate it, and a crew of them practiced some praise-and-worship songs for the beginning of the party.

wrapping presents

singing praise and worship songs in the beginning

The party was a success, most of my 7^th graders and a handful of my 10^th graders came, we sang songs, danced, ate and had a jolly good time. One of my favorite moments was towards the end of the party: My 10^th graders wanted to start dancing and my 7^th graders, panicked at the thought of dancing in front of the older kids, were nervously eying the exit. I went up to the group of kids who from the orphanage who were moderating/leading the party and said that we should play a game first. We had already set up chairs for “musical chairs”, Cambodian-style, which means you dance around the chairs instead of just walking, but nobody had sat down yet. The “moderators” said that the 7^th graders didn't want to play. I said that they had to, marched over to them and with all of my remaining authority as a teacher said “SIT DOWN!”. It was beautiful, they all went to the chairs and sat down, and of course they were all really into the game as soon as it started.

We also played a dancing game where you dance while the music is on and when it's turned off you have freeze in whatever position you were in. The moderators of the game then walk around and try to get the “dancers” to smile or laugh, the longer the game goes the more...ummmm...inventive they get in trying to achieve that, I was one of the last 5 .

 Later on, while I was walking around outside a bit since I was feel a bit nauseous, one of my 10^th graders came running out saying that my 7^th graders (many of which live quite far away) had to head home before it got any darker. I went inside and the moderators had put some really soppy sad music on and one of my 10^th graders had the microphone and was saying “Sarah, this is the last time you will ever see your class”, I was like “geez, thanks for reminding me”. They had already given me two present boxes with some candy, hair things, and two stuffed animals (one of them looked like it had belonged to one of the kids). We took last pictures together and they left. After they had gone the 10^th graders hung around a little more fulfilling their dreams of singing on a stage and then at around 6 o'clock, 4 hours after the official start, the party was over. Here are some pictures of it:



Pich, Seng Hua and Sieng Hai, three of my 10th graders



Me with Pich in the background




Me and Kunthea with yet again Pich in the background




Sieng Hai and Vuthny (and could that be Pich in the background?)

 

Vuthny and Sokmai (aaannd Pich in the background)




Limai and Vuthny (and...do I even need to say anything anymore?)

 




answering the Sarah-quiz (am I or am I not going back to get married???)






 

playing musical chairs



and the circle gets smaller

 

playing the dancing game





fufilling their dreams of being a Khmer popstar





me, rather sweaty and greasy, but very happy at the end of the party (with the cool scarf my 10th grade gave me)



some of my wonderful helpers



While I was standing in front of the church saying goodbye I saw two of the boys whispering to each other and then one of them came up, took my hand (very forward for Cambodian culture), and said “Goodbye, teacher, I love you forever” the other boy yelled “I do too!” and they scurried off giggling.

And so ended the most challenging and rewarding jobs of my life (up to date): Teaching English at a Cambodian high school.

 

my 10th graders



my 7th graders (and yes I do know that my hair looks weird)



Love and Peace

Sarah

Mangoes for books

   



1476  school books

 I believe that one of the greatest satisfactions in life comes from seeing a dream or an idea realized. That's one of the reasons why I like to draw so much, you have and idea, a picture in your mind and with enough effort and talent you are able to bring it to life on paper. The most rewarding experience during my 13 years at school was my senior paper. I picked a subject spent many hours researching and planning and in the end I held a 30 page paper in my hands. So it was a great joy for me, after many discussions, emails and phone calls, to have been able to present 1476 books to the students and teachers at my school on the 12^th of May.

When my father came to visit last December we were invited to the school director's house for supper. With a western background it is difficult to understand what position a school director has in this society and what an honor it was to be invited to his house. One of main reasons I believe for this invitation was to tell me and my father that the school is in need of many school books, and to hint at the possibility of us perhaps donating some. We didn't promise anything that evening and afterward my dad said that I should take care of it and that he was sure that he would find some people who would be interested in donating some money for a 100 books or so. At this point I have to confess that I was rather lazy and the thought of trying to organize what in theory sounds like a small matter but in practice would involve many difficult and confused conversations with the directors of my school (something I always try to avoid) made me push the whole matter off for another very distant time. A few weeks ago the topic came up again in a conversation and I realized that it was time to do something about it.

The first school day after the Khmer New Year I started the negotiations. I told the teachers that I would be interested in donating school books and asked for a list of how many students are missing English books. That afternoon they presented me with what I believe to be a very comprehensive list of the books and their prices. I then wrote a letter in English and German to send to some friends and family who I believed would be interested in donating money. The next part was to wait for answers. It took about a week and in this time I was asked every single day by the teachers if my father “he say 'no problem' “, completely ignoring the fact that I had repeatedly stated that the money was NOT going to be coming exclusively from my parents.

The result of my letters was really overwhelming over 700$ were donated, that very happy fact however posed a new difficulty: It was more money than I would need for the English books. So it was back to the negotiations table and it was decided that I would buy math books with the remaining money.

I was already able to appreciate the positive effect this project would have on my relationship with the directors and teachers on Saturday when I was awakened at 7 o'clock (Saturday is the one day I try to sleep past 6.30) by S'dung telling me “The DIRECTOR is here and is waiting in front of the gate and he's brought mangoes for you!”. Again it's probably difficult to understand the significance of the director coming to visit me bearing mangoes from his OWN TREES. They were very delicious but I had a hard time getting any of the kids to eat them who were rather worried about eating the DIRECTOR'S mangoes.

Ream (the co-director of the orphanage) helped me call the book store in Takeo and order the books (and then call back and change the order and then call back again and change it again) and they were delivered on Tuesday. It was really great to see the big boxes containing the books and I was really happy until I looked at the bill and saw it was for 900$, that mistake was however quickly taken care of (it turns out that the 10^th and 11^th grade have two math books each and that the school had changed the number of English books needed) and the bill was payed.



me with all the books in cigarette boxes




that's what I like about math it's the same no matter where you are



an English book

Thursday was to be the official handing-over ceremony and I was rather petrified, I've seen official ceremonies over here and they often involve big tents, microphones and loudspeakers and I knew that I would have to hold a short speech. It was however not nearly as bad as I had feared. They had just set up a few tables in the teachers' lounge and had invited one of the 12^th grades and my 10^th grade to come and watch.



the 10th and 12th grade at the ceremony


Pastor Khan, Ream's father and very respected figure in the village who helped organize me going to teach at the school and who is the main link of communication between the school and the orphanage, gave the first speech followed by me and then the director. This is what I said:

I'm so happy and excited to be able to present these books to you that were payed for by me friends and family in Germany and the United States

Teaching at this school has been one of the most exciting and sometimes very challenging (pointed look at my problem students) experiences of my life. I'm so thankful to Kit and Ream for enabling me to come to Cambodia and Pastor Khan for organizing my teaching here and of course to you (look at the teachers and directors) for asking me to teach here and for being so friendly and helpful.

Jesus has blessed me so much in my life: with a good education, friends and family who love and support me and the opportunity to come to Cambodia. It's because he loves me so much and has blessed me so much that I want to show His love to you by giving these books.

I believe that education is one of the most important things in the world. I see how much you (look at the students) want to learn and I admire you so much for it. I hope I can help you to learn more by donating these school books.

There was then a symbolic handing over of the books to a student and that was that. The director gave me another bag of mangoes and I went home.



me handing over the books



me with all the books

I ended up buying a total of 1278 English student books, 60 English teacher guides and 138 Math student books. I want to thank everybody who gave money. This really means a lot to the school and the students here: For probably the first time in the history of the school, every student at the school will have their own English book and many their own math book, and they wouldn't if hadn't been for you.
After I had bought the books I received some additional donations, amounting to about 100$. With these people's consent I have decided to donate this money to the orphanage to help them with their plans to open up an elementary school. They started with a kindergarten this year, which I have been helping at three times a week and are planning to open a 1^st and a 4^th grade next school year. The money will be used to buy tables, benches and books.



at the kindergarten



Love and Peace

Sarah
P.S.(If anyone is interested in donating money to support education here in Cambodia please write me, there are still many ways to help)

Wedding prop

So now to the wedding (see the last post). As I've told some of you one of my “goals” for my time in Cambodia has been to be invited to a wedding. Weddings are very big affairs here in Cambodia. They often go on for two to three days, there are traditional ceremonies, many people are invited and it is all accompanied by music which is amplified by many big speakers and can be heard in about a 10km radius. So even if you didn't have the honor to be invited you still have privilege to here every word spoken or sung, be it at 4 in the morning or 10 at night. All the women wear very colorful dresses that put those worn by Barbie in her computer-animated adventures (yeah the girls here love the movies and I've watched quite a few) to shame. As soon as the rainy season is over the wedding season starts as everybody tries to get married in the few dry cool months before the hot season starts. So it seems like there was at least one wedding a week in our area during those months, there was always music playing and you constantly saw glittering sparkling women zoom past on motos. After starting to despair on ever being invited my luck turned and I was invited to 3 and was able to go to two of them.

The first one was the wedding of one of our staff Sdeung. I was very happy when she invited me and almost equally excited about picking out my wardrobe for the event. She went to her village a few days before the occasion and I followed with two other staff, Khan and Sarouen (who lives in the same village as S'dung and at whose house we were to stay at), on the morning of the wedding. Sarouen's family seemed quite nice, but I had a bit of a difficult time when I asked where the toilet might be. I was told through sign language that there was no toilet, which didn't really surprise me, and so I asked where I could then do my business and they waved in the general direction of their backyard. Now this confused me, up to now there's always been some designated screened of area, but here there was nothing. I tried to ask again, where exactly I should go, and before I knew what was really happening I was on a moto on my way to some elderly man's house who had a bathroom. Needless to say by then the whole family (and probably the whole neighborhood) now knew that I had to pee.

After that we headed over to S'dung's house to watch the different ceremonies. There was a big tent set up with chairs under it for the family, loudspeakers and a small “band”, which played music during and in between the ceremonies. They were still preparing things when we arrived, so we said hi to S'dung (who was literally unrecognisable with all her makeup) and various family members and waited around for a while.



Me with the beautiful bride



I was also very surprised and happy to see Bo, one of our former staff (well actually she was officially working for the church but was staying at the orphanage) whose family I had visited during the water festival. After a short wait the groom (can't remember his name) and his three groomsmen then came down followed by the bride and her three bridesmaids.

















They were all arranged at the table and then the wedding took a definite non-western turn. A man with clown-like makeup on his face and a funny wig on came down (from the brides house by the way, which served as the hair and makeup department for the day),



and proceeded to conduct the ceremonies like a kind of musical comedic routine. I was quite surprised at this, but apparently it's like this at every wedding. He was later joined by a women and they sang and joked their way through the rest of the afternoon.









Mercilessly teasing a very shy groomsman





Getting one of the elders to dance





and giving her his wig to wear


 While it was quite interesting and at times funny (when I understood the jokes) to watch it was also rather difficult because it was really really hot by that time and of course there were no fans. After the main wedding ceremony was over,



this is what I took to be the Cambodian equivalent of the groom kissing the bride



S'dung went up to into the hair and makeup department to change into a new outfit for a new ceremony, and invited me to come and watch



The stylist of the day



Step 1: Getting her skirt pinned on



Step 2: Getting the sash pinned on




Step 3: the jewelry



Step 4: removal of the hair piece



Step 5: The new hair piece





Violà: the bride in what I think was the third out of six outfits for the day



The next ceremony was the “gift-giving” ceremony, all the relatives friends and family came into the front of the house that was all decorated for the event and presented their gifts (usually in the form of money in an envelope) to the bride and groom.



Me and Sarouen giving our gifts



We left after that and headed back to Sarouen's house where we got ready for the very formal evening part of the wedding. This also included taking a shower with only a length of material wrapped around me in front of the whole family (the well was in the middle of the yard), but I'd done it before and so I wasn't too embarrassed. After an hour or two we were all done up and ready to go.

When we got to S'dungs neighborhood we first stopped at Sarouen's grandmother's house. She was (and is) a very sweet lady who very energetically tried to hook me up with whom I believe was her grandson (nice but rather shy young man, stared at the ground for most of it).



Me with Sarouen's grandmother





Me and Sarouen



The whole atmosphere at the wedding had changed, while it had been more of an intimate family affair in the afternoon it was a full blown dinner party now. S'dung and her newly wed husband were standing at the entrance greeting all the guests.

Tables and chairs set up and waiters and waitresses walked around serving drinks and food.

 We ate our meal ( which was a bit of a challenge for me since it was chopsticks and I still wasn't very proficient at eating with them at that time), and afterward we helped clear the tables and the other staff helped serve food (considering how clumsy I can be at times I decided to refrain). It was photo shooting after that and I served as a prop for a few of them. There are now a number of young women in Cambodia who have a picture of them hugging (only the women have this one I just stood by the men) a foreigner whose name they don't even know. ;)



The whole gang





Me with Bo





Me as a prop





A very adorable little girl, one of Sdeung's relative's kid



After the photo shoot all the guests who were still there (most everybody besides family and close friends leaves right after the meal) changed into more modern “dancing” clothes and the table were moved away and the dancing began! However it was very unspectacular in the beginning it was just drunk guys and little kids.

 The staff started an infuriatingly annoying process in which one would say that we should dance and try to convince the others they'd talk about for a few minutes, then drop it, start up again 10 minutes later, decide to dance, get up walk two meters then turn around and sit back down, this basically went on ALL EVENING.



In between dancing



They asked me to dance with them and I felt like I owed it to the crowd (who had probably never seen a foreigner try to dance traditional folk dances) and so I went out and danced one of the traditional folk dances with them. Now this was the first time I had danced in public (it wasn't the last though) and so I was fairly petrified which never helps when you're trying to do anything that requires a certain extent of gracefulness. I was also wearing ridiculous heels and the ground was sand, meaning I sank down every other step. All of these factors contributed to the dance landing a rather high spot on my “most embarrassing experiences in Cambodia” list. I danced another dance for good measure and then said I wanted to sit down, thinking that I had done my duty the evening. I couldn't have been more wrong. I was repeatedly dragged to the dance floor, even after most of the guests had sat down or left. I started to get rather annoyed and was looking forward to going back to Sarouen's house and sleeping, this proved to also be a false hope. I should have noticed something was wrong when S'dung's mother kept asking me if I wanted to go up into their house to sleep, I was like “No, I'm just gonna wait until we go to Sarouen's house, it doesn't make any sense to sleep here for an hour or so and then be woken up”, I really should have noticed when S'dung told me I should take a shower, I was really confused, why would I want to take a shower here, I didn't even have a change of clothes! After a few more painfully confusing conversations I realized that, we were not going back to Sarouen's house but were sleeping here. All of us girls (including the bride, S'dung, which I guess is normal) slept up in the house, I actually slept quite well until I was awakened at a bit before 4 the next morning when it was time for S'dung to do her hair and makeup for the last ceremony. I was told that I could keep on sleeping in her next-door neighbor's house, so I staggered over there and completely slept through the ceremony. Sarouen however took some pictures of it.



Sdeung's youngest brother and sister



When I awoke everything was over, stuff was being packed up and after saying farewell and thank you we left too. It was a very interesting (in a good way) experíence, everybody in her family was very friendly and welcoming towards me, and I was really lucky as I was able to be there for many parts that usually just family sees. However I have decided that should I ever marry it will be a Western wedding ;).

Peace and Love

Sarah