Holiday's Galore

One thing that Cambodia definitely has right is the number of holidays that occur in a calendar year.  I think there are close to 17 national holidays spread throughout the year.  And when I say spread throughout I mean clumped together from September-November, and then again in April and May.  We just finished celebrating the kings fathers birthday here in Cambodia, which was ironically on the 31st.  I would like to say thank you to kings father for being born on that day as it gave us another couple of days off.  Tiya (fellow MCCer) and I headed down to the beach for the weekend with a number of other Khmer and Expats (21 in all).

It was all planned by Daleap who was an IVEPer in California last year.  It was nice to not have to worry about anything from transportation to lodging and just go and have a relaxing time at the beach.  We left early Saturday and came back late Sunday, and of course were treated to a number of Khmer music videos along the way.  I was hoping to catch up on some sleep during the trip, but inevitably that did not happen.  However, on Monday I was able to sleep until 11 which is nearly impossible in Cambodia.  Not sure how, but somehow I did it!

And just as soon as we finish celebrating the Kings fathers birthday we have the Water Festival.  Another holiday and this time the destination is Vietnam, specifically Ho Chi Minh City.  I am headed there for 4 or 5 days with a couple of other MCCers, definitely looking forward to it.   Look for some photos an adventures on the next blog from the trip.

Now I know that it sounds like all I am up to is fun and games (some truth to that), but I am actually teaching.    I believe that I just finished up my 6th week of teaching, really can't believe that it has been that long already.  After Water Festival we will be into midterms and then we will have to start thinking about finals.  I am not sure if I mentioned it in earlier posts, but the hardest thing has been trying to communicate grammar rules to the students.  Sometimes I just want to say "That is just the way it is".  That and also explaining directions to my 201 class have caused me to stop and think about patience on many different occasions.

We have started listening to music to practice listening.  At the end of every week we listen to a song and I either have them fill in some blanks or, get them to put the verses in the right order.  It is a great way to end of the week and the students are really engaged.  I may have to start picking the music myself however because I have had some requests for Justin Bieber, and that ain't gonna fly with me.

I continue to experience new food here i.e.

When I ordered spiders I expected them to be covered in batter and deep fried.  These things still had hair on their legs, but not too bad.  The legs were really crunchy and the body actually had some meat on it.  Still trying to convince Mikaela that she has to try one when she comes out this way.

Well looks like it is time to head to the market and see what else I can find!