Where is democracy?

"I not only weaken the opposition, I'm going to make them dead...and if anyone is strong enough to try to hold a demonstration, I will beat all those dogs and put them in a cage."

Well it certainly is not in that quote, but we will get to that.

So I had expected to be writing about my last day as a teacher next weekend, but I probably should have expected different.  The ability to be flexible is important when it comes to being a teacher, maybe even more important in Cambodian(I'm sure many of my SALT friends have stories that would demonstrate competing thoughts).  Tomorrow, June 3, commune elections are being held throughout the Kingdom of Cambodia.  I've been trying understand exactly what that means, and how they would relate to elections back home; Cambodia has a parliamentary system, so there has to be some similarities, right?  The best I can equate these elections to is municipal elections, like mayor and city council.  However, in Cambodia the people running in these elections are tied to a party, the same parties that run for the national election.  So it might be safe to say that the outcome on Sunday will give us a good idea what the big election will look like next year.

Because tomorrow is the election, and Cambodia's Prime Minister just joined the 10,000 club I figured now would be a great time to update you on situation here in Cambodia.  When I say situation I mean the human rights situation.  It ain't pretty.  However, it is nowhere near Syria in terms of human rights offences, but it certainly is no sunny day at the park.  The rich are getting richer, The poor are being evicted,  opponents are getting thrown in jail, and yes people are being killed.

Let's start with the poor getting evicted.  The story that has been dominating the headlines for a long time over here is the evictions of Boeung Kak.  For along time the lake was a major tourist attraction in Phnom Penh and allowed thousands of residents to make a living.  In 2007 an agreement was signed to start developing this lake and the lake and slowly been filled up.  Home owners were forced from the land that they had lived on for decades and were told that they had been squatting on government owned land all this time.  With no land titles they did not have much to stand on, but there has been a group of them who have refused to stay silent.  Since I have been in Cambodia there have been numerous rallies by Boeung Kak residents, as well as local and international human rights organizations.  Often these rallies end with the police and military rounding up a select group, stuffing them on a bus, and taking them down to a detention centre or jail house.

The most recent incident occurred on May 22.  Thirteen women were arrested during a peaceful protest about the Boeung Kak evictions.  2 days latter they were put to trial, and were quickly convicted on the grounds of illegal occupancy of public land and obstruction of public officials.  One of the sentenced was a 72 year old woman.  There are some pretty tough women out there, but I think that you would agree with me that most woman at that age are not that formidable and are not doing a lot of obstructing.  On the same day a prominent monk was picked up at a rally outside the courthouse and taken to a nearby pagoda where the police threatened to de-frock him.

As sad as this is, 2 years in jail pails in comparison to losing your life to a bullet.  Chut Wutty, a well known environmental activist in Cambodia was shot to death in late April.  He was taking 2 reporters through a forested area that has been the scene of rampant illegal logging.  They were approached by an official who asked them to stop and presumably turn around.  An argument then ensued between Wutty and the official which ended with the official shooting Wutty.  Another incident happened a couple of weeks ago, again surrounding the issue of land evictions.  This time a 14 year old girl from Kratie province was killed when a stray bullet struck her.  The event happened during peaceful protests in Kratie.  It seems the military and government really know only one way to deal with protests, and that is by force.

These are some of the more recent incidents that have happened really leaving a sour taste in my mouth and many others.  There are many past events that have happened as well and I challenge you take a look at some of them including the story of Chea Vichea

Now back to that quote.  It comes directly from the mouth of the democratic leader of Cambodia.  Let's hope he doesn't have another 10,000 years here in Cambodia.

The Traveling Barang

This post will act as a quick summary of the last 6 weeks or so and hopefully kickstart another road of weekly posts to end off my term here in Cambodia.  That's right the finish line is less than 2 months away now.  Unfortunately that means my days of inexpensive tailored clothes are numbered but on the bright side I will get to see a number of your shining faces again.

Let's start with April.

April 6-7

MCC took off the first Friday in April and headed down to the beach for our annual retreat.  The 4 hour bus ride was filled with some stand up by the one and only Chylong.  Chylong is one of the longest serving MCC Cambodian employees, and seemed to enjoy the spotlight that the bus platform afforded him.  He was grinning from ear to year throwing out the Khmer and English mixed in with a little re-verberator.  Upon arriving we ditched our gear at the hotel and made our way down to the beach for an afternoon of swimming.  In the evening we all gathered for a delicious dinner in what appeared to be a garage.  We shared the resturant with a large group of male business men who were standing through most of there supper and toasting every few minutes.  After eating we made our way back to the hotel where we played some Khmer New Years games and some more traditional North American games.

The next day was spent mostly in the shade around the pool, as I had a wicked sun burn from the day before.  After lunch most of us crawled back on the bus and made our way back to Phnom Penh.  Though the retreat was short it was a great time to catch up with everybody and leave the stress of work back in the city.

April 13-16 Khmer New Year

One of the many great things about living in  Phnom Penh is the number of New Years we get to celebrate.  In recent years International New Year (January 1) has become an honored holiday in Cambodia.  There is also Chinese New Year and of course Khmer New Year.  Khmer New Year is often celebrated by going back to your hometown and celebrating with your family.  My host family got together however we did not go back to their hometown instead we went to resort down by the beach.  The resort was located on a lush hill in amongst a forest of trees and wildlife.  It was gorgeous and the best part was it was only an hour or so from the beach.

The view from our bungalow

On our first full day we headed down to Ream Beach.  This beach is located outside of Sihanoukville, where most of the beaches are, so were able to escape all of the crowds.  The day was spent like any old day at the beach.  Swimming, eating seafood, sleeping and reading.  In the afternoon we headed back to the resort had a barbecue supper and playe Dutch Blitz while getting attacked by crickets.  These things were huge and my one host brother caught a few and grilled them on the grill.  Yummy!

On our final day we visited Kiriom resort another beautiful natural area in Cambodia.  Cambodians have a little different idea when it comes to mountains.  You see they don't enjoy hiking or climbing mountains like we do.  Walking as a whole is not hi on the priorities of many Cambodians.  So instead of climbing this mountain we just drove our cars to the top.  Definitely saves time, but takes something away from enjoyment i f you ask me.  On top, or close to, we grabbed a place to eat.  We had been carrying around leftovers for most of the trip and so we ate what food we had left and then played a few games, before heading home.  Fast Forward to May.

May

May 12-15

I had been waiting for this weekend since at least Christmas.  The province of Mondulkiri is located in the Northeast region of Cambodia.  It is known for its cooler weather, waterfalls and elephants.  Luckily we were able to experience all 3!  On Saturday Grace, Phil, Tiya, and myself made the 8 hour bus trip to the Nature lodge in Mondulkiri.  The nature lodge was one of the first eco-tourism places in Cambodia.  If ever in Cambodia I really do recommend it.

One of the Cabins at the Lodge

Because the trip was so long we only had two full days in Mondulkiri.  The first day we rented mottos and explored some of sights in and around the Nature Lodge.  The highlight for most people visiting the province is the Boursa Waterfall.  Being a holiday it was not a surprise to meet a large group of Khmer tourists at the waterfall.  Luckily we had been given inside information that there was a lower portion of the falls that was more beautiful and guaranteed to be less crowded.  After one or two wrong turns we eventually found the path that led to the lower level.  It was so much more amazing down below, and we only had to share the setting with a handful of other people.

A view of the upper falls

Our second day involved another, this time with a different mode of transportation.  We hopped on a few elephants and trekked through the Cambodian Jungle down to another water fall.  Ridding elephants is quite the experience.  They are magnificent animals, but not very elegant.  Your body gets bounced around on top and the sitting area that you have is extremely small and not really made for large people from the West.  What I want to say is you need to try this sometime because it really is amazing (especially when they let you get into the water and play around with them a little) but expect to be sore for a few days after the trek.  Our group did run into one situation that reminded us that these are giant animals and if they want to they can do really whatever they want.  One of the elephants was guided by a kid who was probably 10 or 12.  Near the end of the trek his elephant stepped off the trail into the bamboo brush.  Not a big deal.  Most elephants would stop and take a few steps off the trail every once in a while to grab something to eat.  However, instead of pulling the elephant back onto the trail, the kid urged the  elephant to go through the brush to presumably come out on the other side.  The elephant seemed to get spooked and veered off to the right and further into the brush knocking the driver and one of the women off.  The other women who managed to stay on came out badly scraped up and visibly shaken.  Luckily for both the women the cuts were minor and they seemed to be good sports about the whole situation.  The thing that shocked me was how nonchalant everybody seemed to be about the situation.  The guides acted as though it was no big deal.  Maybe a cultural difference, who knows.  

The view from the elephant

One other thing I need to add, the last night in Mondulkiri I pulled my sweatshirt out of my bag and put it on!   I think that is the third time I have worn a sweatshirt in Cambodia in 9 months!

May 18-21

Finally this past weekend us Yalters payed Prey Veng a visit.  I hadn't been out to Prey Veng since Thanksgiving (American), so it was nice to be able to get out of the city and just relax.  The highlight of the weekend was the Murder Mystery Dinner Party we had on Saturday.  Unfortunately my emotions got the best of me and I was the one who committed the crime.  Thank you Lisa for organizing that, it was so much fun!

So I have tried to hold off on the countdowns, but being so close to the end I have started them.  I have 9 days (maybe 8 a co-worker told me that the school was taking off one more day off.  Because the 20 plus days we have had off this semester wasn'y enough) of teaching left.  36 days until my family gets here, and about 7 weeks left here in Cambodia!

Class is Unbelievable

Alright gather 'round it's story time.

So for most of March I was given a rest from my day to day duties as a teacher.  University students studying English were placed in my class, and for 4 weeks tried there hand at teaching.  I will admit it was boring sitting in the back of class, taking notes and offering advice.  Not to say they did a bad job.  My mind, however, can only concentrate on the English Language for so many minutes at a time.  I became very productive in writing postcards during class, but that is besides the point.  I want to take you back to one particular class where I was paying attention.

As an experienced English professor there isn't much I don't know about my mother tongue(wink).  However, on this particular day my practicum student introduced me to a term that I had never come across.  Part of the class was on affixes; prefixes such as re- and suffixes such as -ology.  After introducing these two terms to my students the student trainee went on to a third term.  Infixes.  I shifted my weight in my chair and leaned a little closer to listen to what she was going to say, after all this was new to me and I was slightly interested.  As I guessed, infixes are words that include another word inside of the them.  The trainee wrote one word on the board to demonstrate all three terms.

Unbelievable

In this word un- represents the prefixe and -able represents the suffixe.  I thought to myself  "well where is the infixe?" She wasn't finished.  To demonstrate to the class an infixe she added a word to the middle of unbelievable.  With her back to the class she busily wrote this word on the board.  When she turned around there it was basically shouting at us on the board!

Un(bad word that starts with F)believable

I was taken a back at first.  Was this actually happening?  After the shock came laughter as she casually pronounced the word to the class and explained how it could be used (I'm afraid they are going to start using  it when I hand them back their midterms).  She had lost my concentration. and would have lost any students concentration in Canada, but the students wrote it down like they were learning a new vocabulary word and then continued on with the lesson.

At the end of the lesson I approached her and told her she probably shouldn't use that example in class in the future.  I then asked her where she found the term infixe and the example she so eloquently used.  I will admit I was thinking it had to be Urban Dictionary, but she said it was in her textbook.  "Hmmm can you bring it tomorrow?".  "I won't be here tomorrow, but I can bring it next Monday."

Sure enough, Applied English Linguistics, page I forget, but it was there.

One Place you Must Certainly Visit When you Come to Cambodia

Well of course you should visit Angkor Wat.  I don't think I have to go about telling you that.  So you will be happy to know that this post is not about Angkor Wat, but instead about a little beach town called Kep.

I would describe Kep as a quaint beach town.  I am not sure what the population is but it can't be more than 40,000.  There are a few foreigners that you will see scattered throughout the town and on the beach, but on the whole it is very quiet, and a scene much different than the other beach town Sihanoukville.  Things quiet down around 8 and I mean quiet down; the city feels dead by that time.  Perfect, if you are looking for a relaxing getaway.

I was down there this past weekend to remove myself from the hustle and bustle of the capital.  Most of the day was spent around the pool soaking up the sun, however we did stop to eat lunch near the crab market.  The prawns were amazing!  Yes family,especially Mik, this does mean you will have to try some prawns.  We then watched the sunset from the beach.  I did not get a picture of it but you will have to take my word that it was beautiful..  Dinner was at the Veranda, a real treat.  Great food and an amazing environment definitely a must do.

That basically caps off my trip to Kep.  Not a lot to do, but when you are looking for some R & R this is the place to go.

Livin' the AsiaLife

Some of you may have already seen this, but for those of you who have not, yes that is my mug.  I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time, or should I say know the right person.  Thanks to April and the crew at AsiaLife for letting me start my modeling career off with a bang!  Anywho my face is all over Cambodia on one of the more popular magazines here.  You can marvel at the lovely cover for as long as you would like, but I also encourage you to go to www.asialifeguide.com and check out the article that goes along with the photo!  You can also check out a story on our group of guys and gals that play hockey here in Phnom Penh at montreal.openfile.ca/

Hobbies in Cambodia

I am not sure if I have mentioned one of my new found hobbies in any of my previous posts.  And frankly I am to lazy to look back through all of them, so I will continue with this post. There is no ice to play hockey on (though I have found street hockey).  The only hockey that I can watch is on really early in the morning in one of the sports bars here.  The mountains in Cambodia would typically be referred to as hills back home, so hiking is a rarity.  To add to that I forgot my saxophone at home and so I have had to search out new hobbies.  One that I have become particularly fond of is shirt making.  

The first step to shirt making usually involves lunch.  A great spot is Asian Spice as it is on the way to Oressei Market, where all the best fabric in town is.  At lunch we discuss what kind of fabric we are looking for and for what purpose.  Often the reason for purchasing the fabric is for a new shirt.  After lunch we go to the market and begin the hunt for that one piece of fabric that we have on our mind.  And oh what a search it can be!  Looking and feeling making sure it is exactly what you want.  Alas! you see that perfect pattern starring you right in the face.  Cue the dramatic music as you make your way over to your new found treasure.  And now the bargaining begins (sorry Grace my efforts last week were less than spectacular)

"Tlay ponmaan?" you say

"Muey Mite, pram muey dollar" says the seller

"Buen dollar?" you respond

"at tee, pram muey"

"Pram dollar" you try to be a little more forceful this time

"Pram muey" She is not budging!

One more try

"Pram dollar kanlah"

"Chaa"

You got 50 cents off, but she won that round!

With fabric in hand now you need to find a tailor.  And there are many options here.  First there is the best tailor, a favourite among MCCers.  He practices his trade at the Russian Market.  Other options include tailors at Orussei (very convenient) or a new place that I have found just down the street from my house.  After getting all measured up you play the waiting game.  Finally the day comes when you get to pick up your shirt.  After that it is time to start the process all over again!

And that my friends is the art of Shirt Making!

 One of my shirts

A Visit to the Province

So another update is in order!

I have settled into my new host family and have found my role as proh poh quite enjoyable.  Growing up as the oldest in my family I always had to be the mature one.  I am now the youngest sibling in my host family and am enjoying some of the riches of being the spoiled one.  Not that my little sister has ever been spoiled ;).  I have been treated to great food, as well as some interesting food (last weekend I ate some pig stomach as well as some crickets).  We have also played numerous games of dutch blitz and sequence and for the most part I have been on the wrong end of those games, but it has been great fun so far!

Let me look back to last weekend.  I joined some my host family as they traveled to the province for a wedding.  This was my second wedding, so I had an idea what to expect but this time I did not have the safety net of my fellow MCCers.  We arrived in Kompong Thom Friday evening and made the rounds greeting all the family members.  Then it was off to bed because we were going to have to get up mighty early the next day.  Turned out to be 5:30 in the morning early!  This was to attend the first part of the traditional wedding ceremony, the fruit walk.  The grooms family walks from the grooms house to the brides house with platefuls of fruit.  The distance between the two homes was a little far for this, so we just walked a little ways down from the brides house and then walked back.  Somehow I found myself at the front of the procession.

The one Barang among many Khmer.  The guy to my left kept asking me if I wanted a Khmer wife.

After the procession we ate, watched another ceremony called the hair cutting ceremony.  Do not worry the brides lovely locks were not harmed during the ceremony.  They only pretend to cut their hair.  Then it was time to have our noon time nap.  With a two hour nap in me I was ready to get back at it, and by at it I mean the food.  One of the real treasures of Khmer weddings is the food.  Now I know you read earlier that I ate pig stomach and crickets and are probably thinking that doesn't sound much like fine dinning.  That assumption would be correct.  However, those items were not on the menu for the wedding dinner.  Instead we were treated to barbecued beef, fried octopus (slowly becoming a favourite), a big old fish, and I completely forget what we had for dessert but I can assure you it was not cake.

The fish that we ate

Once again we head back to freshen up and then head back to the party for another meal and some dancing. By the time we got back to the party unfortunately all the food was gone so that left one thing, dancing.  I have had a few different occasions to practice my Khmer dancing and though I am getting much better it is still far from being any kind of spectacle that anyone would want to watch.  Unless, that is, you are into car wrecks.  Nonetheless I always have fun out on the dance floor and it was no exception on this particular night.  There were some interesting events out on the dance floor but if you are really interested you will have to ask me about those events.  That concluded the wedding and what a great wedding it was.

Sunday morning we went to the local church where I shared a bit of my testimony and why I was in Cambodia.  After church and lunch we started our journey back to Phnom Penh.  We were stuffed into a 15 passenger van, that by the time we hit Phnom Penh had 28 people in it!  Of all my experiences in Cambodia it has probably been the least pleasant.  Thankfully I had a window seat and could stick my head out and get some fresh air.  We arrived safe and sound thus ending another one of my great adventures in this lovely little country!

1st Semester a howy'

They said time was going to fly, but it is hard to believe that it is February already.  So much has happened in the last 5 months and so much has happened in the last few weeks.

Let me get you caught up on some of the recent events in my life over here in Cambodia.

• Semester 1 classes finished at the university on the 19th of January.  It was nice to have a couple weeks off as I was definitely starting to feel burnt out.  I think I can be forthright in saying that teaching is not in my future career plans.  However, having one semester under my belt now qualifies me as an expert, as I will be having student teachers observing my class this semester.  They will be taking notes on my technique, which will be a little nerve wracking.   The benefit of this this situation is that these students will then be teaching my classes for a couple of weeks.  Ahhhh the perks of teaching, maybe I should rethink the teaching thing altogether.

Giving some serious direction to my students

•  Us Cambodian SALTers were blessed with the presence of Isaac and Jenny, fellow SALTers from Vietnam, last week.  We had a great time checking out some spots in Phnom Penh as well as up in Siem Reap.  Up in Siem Reap we were able to check out one of the partners that MCC works with.  Philip Hosler, one of the current SALTers, is currently helping them with there ceramic studio, and you can take a look at the project click here.  We of course spent a day up at the temples.  I have never really been a museum guy, so although these are the Angkor Wat temples I still had a feeling it might get boring rather quickly.  I was pleasently suprised that I was able to be entertained throughout the entire day.  There is just so much to take in and you spend a lot of time walking and tuk tuking from temple to temple.  Most of the structures are awe-inspiring especially their size.  By the end of the day we had visited most of the temples near Angkor Wat, but there were many more that we did not get to. 
We also had the opportunity to bike around Siem Reap and take in the countryside.  Being a country boy at heart I am always happy to get outside the city and be amongst the rice paddies.  Phil was an excellent guide and showed us some of the different attractions that are must sees when traveling to Siem Reap.  It was sad to say goodbye to Jenny and Isaac, but it was great to spend a week with them hearing about their stories.  Now I have to return the favour and meet them in Hanoi.

Jenny, Isaac, and I in front of one of the temples (Bayon I believe)

• The last significant event happened this past Sunday when I moved in with my new host family.  My family actually hosted a SALTer last year and one of the members of the family was an IVEPer 2 years ago.  One thing I have already learned is that they love to play games.  The first night I brought dutch blitz and even though I was sick and went to bed early they continued to play until 11:30.  Looks like my remaining months will be filled with lots of fun.

It is hard to believe that I am coming up on the halfway point of my term here.  I want to thank all of you for your support so far and look forward to sharing the second half of my journey with you.

New beginnings

So who else is still trying to get used to writing and saying 2012? I am sure I am not the only one having that issue.  The turn of the calendar has given me a nice boost of energy.  The difficult Christmas season is over, and I am extremely excited about the next 6 months here in Cambodida.  The beginning of 2012 has also become a period of transition.  I am currently living at the MCC Guesthouse getting ready to move into a new host family.  What, what, what!  That's right I am switching my host families.  My host father from my first host family recently left for Malaysia where he will be working for the next 8 months.  This past Sunday I moved out, but not before my host brother took me to wade through some lotus flowers on piece of land that the family owns.  Not sure why he waited this long to take me there, but I was glad he did because it was a lot of fun.  After multiple goodbyes, and promises to meet up again for dinner I made my way to my new home.  

The family with a lot of motto hair going on

As disappointing as it has been to move away from a place that had been my home for 4 1/2 months, I am looking forward to meeting my new host family.  Right now the plan is for me to move into my new host family in early Februaury, right around the time I start my second semester at RUPP.  It is funny that all of this is happening around the same time.  It reminds of my early days here in Cambodia, when I was living at the Guesthouse and waiting for my job to start at the university.  

On another note I was able to experience my first Khmer wedding last weekend.  One of my Khmer colleagues at MCC got married in her hometown of Kratie.  A crew of us from MCC rented a bus and headed out to Kratie Friday morning.  About halfway along we picked up our Prey Veng workers, and then continued on to Kratie.  We arrived for lunch which was the quiet part of the wedding.  In the evening we pulled up to music that could be heard blocks away.  The way it works at a Khmer wedding is that you find a table and once the table is full they start serving you food.  Our table took a while to fill up so we had to wait awhile as the other MCC table got their food.  After the food (probably the best beef I have had in Cambodia) a number of us partook in the dancing, both traditional Khmer and Western style.  My traditional Khmer still needs a little work, but it is coming.

The scene from our table

The next day Michael, Lisa, Ryan, Daphne, Grace, Mok and I all went to take in the famous Iriwatti dolphins.  I would love to put up a picture of them, but unfortunately all my attempts failed.  Because of that I have a whole album of  beautiful water photos.  There were some really neat moments when 3 or 4 dolphins came out of the water at the same time near our boat; It was certainly worth visiting.  That afternoon we all climbed back into the bus and made the trip back to the big city.  At that is my story of my first Khmer wedding.

Tip of the week:  When students ask whether you are married or not the right answer is always married.

Happy New Years

Well It is now nearly 2012 across the world.  I hope that you had a satisfying 2011 and can look back at the highlights and be happy with the year that was. 

Over the past couple days I have been trying to think how to define my 2011.  Often you hear people say if you could sum it up in one word what would it be.  I have been trying to do that, but it has been tough to pin point one word that could some up the entire year.  This morning I got up and the word Faith popped into my mind.  A year abroad had never really entered my mind as something to do.  I certainly would not have done if it weren't for God poking me and prodding me to sign up. 

So I signed up for SALT in February 2011, and specifically requested placement in Africa.  After about a month I was told that the African spots had been all filled up and that I would be placed on a waiting list.  Shortly there after I received a call that there was a position in Cambodia and that MCC Cambodia was interested in me.  This was another instance where I had to put my faith in God.  I can distinctly remember telling Eva, the SALT coordinator that I felt that God was calling me to Africa, and only Africa.  I could have easily used this as an excuse to back out and say no thanks but no thanks.  I quickly realized though that maybe it was just myself who was calling for Africa and not God.  I emailed Eva back the next week and told her that I was interested in Cambodia, and within a couple weeks it was settled. 

These past 4 months here in Cambodia have been full of ups and downs, and I think I will experience similar things in the next 6 months.  It isn't easy entering a new culture, and having create new relationships (at least not for me), but it has been a challenge that I have embraced and enjoyed.  I have learned to take joy in the little things like fighting through conversations with my neighbors or students, learning new Khmer words and actually remembering them, and making new friends.

With that in my mind I have some sad news.  My host father has just taken a job in Malaysia and will be moving there in a week, and my host mom is moving there at the end of the month.  That means that I will be moving out and will have to find a new host family.  It is sad because I have developed a good relationship with my host dad, as well as with my host brothers and one of our neighbors.  I am really going to miss them and it will be tough to move out from a place that had felt like home for awhile.  That said there is a bit of excitement when it comes to change.  I will be moving into the MCC guest house for awhile during the transition, which will allow me to have a little more alone time.  After that I will get the chance to meet a whole new family, which like I said is a little bit exciting.  I ask that you keep me in your prayers in the next couple weeks as I go through this transition.

Thing to remember this week:  God works in mysterious ways.  On Thursday my computer cord went missing, which basically renders my computer useless until I can find it.  In the last few weeks I had been spending a lot of time in my room on the computer, and I think this was Gods way of  saying "you have a week left with your host family spend some quality time with them."  So I am trying to listen to him and spend as much time as possible with them. 

Many of you may have already read about my Christmas on facebook (thanks to those who filled out the quiz), but for those of you who do not have facebook here is a look at my Christmas weekend.

1) Washed my motto(car)
2) Got a hair cut
3) Got pulled over by the Police 

4) Paid a $2 fine;) to said Police
5) Ate Indian food for Christmas Eve
6) Went to a Candle Light service
7) Sang Silent Night (unfortunately not in German)
8) Went to Church on Christmas morning
9) Ate Khmer/Thai food for lunch on Christmas day
10) Exchanged gifts with friends and acquaintances
11) Had the worst excuse for a steak for Christmas dinner

 Thanks for reading!

Christmas is here!

I'm sure most of you will be caught up in the joys of Christmas over the next week or two, so I won't be too hurt if you don't have time to read this post.  However, if you do have time here it goes!

On the 10th, which happened to be the last time I wrote, one of the service workers, Amanda, had birthday cruise on the river here in Phnom Penh.  After months of anticipating one of these river cruises it was exciting to finally get on one of the boats.  The boats are pretty nifty with seating area on the upper deck as well as the lower deck.  Most of our time was spent on the lower deck eating, talking and dancing.  Yes dancing on a Mennonite river cruise.  I'll admit there was not a lot of dancing on my part, some toe tapping, but not too much dancing.  You might be wondering why the dancing?  Well turns out Amanda's husband is in a bluegrass band and so we were treated to a couple hours of their music.  We got a lot of peculiar looks from the Cambodian's on the boat as well as other boats passing by.  All in all it was a fun evening, and a good chance to catch up with all the MCCer's.

The following Monday MCC had there Christmas party at the water park here in Phnom Penh.  The party was organized by our national staff here in Cambodia and it was the first chance for me to meet some of their extended families.  It involved a number of games including a scavenger hunt, Christmas songs both in English and Khmer and some baay(rice).  It was a little chilly in the morning so the plan was to swim in the afternoon, unfortunately I had to work in the afternoon so there was no swimming for me :(

On to this past weekend...

The weekend involved some sleeping in which does not happen very often and a number of different Christmas activities.  Friday a group of us went to a local restaurant to partake in some carol singing.  It was packed with a lot of kids running around so we didn't end up staying to long.  We escaped to the solitude of a nearby cafe, where we could actually hear ourselves think.  On Sunday the Khmer church that I go to had their Christmas program.  The whole family attended, which is the first time that has happened since I have been here!  It was full of singing, drama, dancing and as usual a very inspired sermon from the preacher (he does a great job of keeping your attention for the 30-45 minutes he speaks).  After the service we had a meal together and then it was back to the church for the afternoon youth program.  I stayed for a little bit of the youth program, but after being at the church for 4 hours, I was getting a little overwhelmed and decided to slip out the back at get some alone time at home.

In the evening I went to the international church and once again took part in singing a number of Christmas carols.  It was a little more satisfying this time around as I could see the words and actually hear myself singing.  We even sang one verse of Silent Night in German.  Talk about feeling like I was at home for a little bit!

Talking to people who have been here for more than a year, Christmas has become a lot more commercialized here in Phnom Penh.  When you drive at night you can see lights and Christmas trees, and lots of restaurants are playing Christmas music.  However, it still does not really feel like Christmas, and more than likely this weekend will pass without too much hoopla.  And that might be a blessing for me.  Christmas has always been a time to spend with family and close friends and this year it will be a new experience for me.  So Merry Christmas if I don't talk to you before Sunday and also a Happy New Year.

P.S.  Tip of the week - Teachers make sure you erase everything you write on the board before giving out a quiz 

No clever title to think of

I seem to get into these spurts were I am able to post multiple blogs in a very short window.  It has been just a short few minutes since my last post, but the actual time between these two posts is closer to 1 month.  So a quick update of some of the events of the last couple weeks.

• I was an honorary American for American Thanksgiving last month.  The MCC workers down in Prey Veng put together a dinner, which rivaled any Thanksgiving dinner I have ever had.  The fellowship and the food was great, and it was also really fun to get out of the city for the weekend and spend some time with my hosts, the Bades.  And I had my first hot shower in Cambodia while I was out there.  Funny that I had to go all the way out to the country for that!
• I have started going to a local International Church on Sunday evenings which has been a blessing so far.  It has been nice to hear God's word in my native tongue especially around this time of year.  
• I also recently started running at the Stadium here in Phnom Penh.  Now I have never fancied myself a morning person, but I have been running at 5:30 in the morning.  My body keeps asking me why, and my brain keeps answering 'they say its good for you'.
• There is about a month left in the semester so things are heating up and at the same time us teachers are already looking to next semester.  I have become more comfortable in front of my students, but there are still times where I fumble to get the right words out or explain the meanings correctly. 

That kinda sums up my life in the past few weeks.  When there are no holidays there are definitely less adventures to be spoken of.  I will add that the weather has been very pleasant recently.  It is hovering around  the mid to high 20's, but most days there is a breeze.  It also rained a couple times this past week, which it hadn't done in a number of weeks, so that has also helped to keep it cool as well.

Lastly I battled a cold all last week, and this week I have been up and down with flu like symptoms.  Wednesday I was in bed nearly all day, and I'll spare the details.  I just ask that you keep me in your prayers not only for the health reasons, but also for this holiday season.  It will be a new experience for me being away from family and friends, and I suspect that there will be some hard days along the way.

As always God Bless and thank you for the support!

And the remaining two days of my adventure...

On day 4 we were up early for some complementary breakfast and back onto the boat.  Most of the morning was spent cruising through the Delta and the floating markets.  It was quite a site to see and probably the highlight of the tour.  We also got a chance to walk through one of local markets which was neat, but really not much different than any market here in Phnom Penh.

After another long bus ride back to Ho Chi Minh we found some home cooking in the form of Pizza Hut.  Overall the pizza was pretty good, but the pasta was awful!  We spent the rest of the night at the market and Crazy Buffalo.  While relaxing outside the Crazy Buffalo we were treated to an impromptu Vietnamese rally.  The street in front of the Crazy Buffalo was completely shut down as hundreds if not thousands of mottos clogged the street.  Many people had flags and were chanting “Vietnam! Vietnam!”  This went on for a good 15-20 minutes.  During our trip, the Asian games were being played and on that specific night Vietnam had beaten Brunei 8-0.  Experiencing that was definitely another highlight.

Our final day included a trip to the Notre Dame church to take in Sunday Morning Mass.  The church was beautiful, maybe even a little too beautiful as half way through the service I began to feel a little light headed.  I knew things were not looking good when the sound around me started to fade out.  Now I have never fainted in my life and wasn't in mood to make that my first time so I made a somewhat labored dash for the door.  I found the nearest local vendor and quickly replenished some of the electrolytes that I was in need of.  Moral of the story don't skip breakfast, and go to a stuffy hot church.

And that there really wraps up the end of the trip.  Our bus was slightly delayed coming home Sunday, but that was about the only excitement to speak of.

Stay tuned for another update shortly!

Day 3

Back on the bus bright and early for another tour.  This time a 2-day tour to the Mekong Delta.  This one sounded really interesting in the brochure, but after the day before we realized that there would be a number of different tour groups doing the exact same thing and we would probably only spend 30 minutes to an hour at each stop.  There were however some interesting stops along the way, and some time for us to do our own thing.  I may mix some things from day1 and day 2 of the tour, but if I remember correctly day one included.  Many boat trips, some on large tour boats across the Delta and others on small fishing boats paddled by 2 Khmer people.  We also stopped at a bee farm, as well as a coconut candy factory.

During Lunch, which was 'on the house' but barely enough to curb the hunger that we were feeling, we were able to grab some bikes and explore the island we were on.  There was not a lot happening in the village except for a few tourist shops along the road.  If my memory is correct that was it for day one except for the bus ride to the city we would be staying at for the night.  Turns out the city was another 3 hours away.  It was dark and the streets were completely flooded  when we arrived.  After we dropped off our bags at the guest house we went on a journey to fill our growling stomachs.

We basically had 2 choices.  March through the water to what seemed to be the downtown area or head the other way away from the water,  and seemingly away from any chance of western food.  We chose the later and ended up in a small local Vietnamese restaurant.  Normally I would not be so worried about this, but we were not in Cambodia anymore, and the only Vietnamese word that I had learned was “Kamma’; Thank you( a good word to learn I figured).  Through pointing and some broken English we were able to order, and we all came out alive and well.  We wandered through the streets a bit more and eventually found our way to the river front and night market.  The markets were another highlight of the entire Vietnam trip.  They sellers spoke enough English that you could barter and joke with them at the same time.

A Catholic church we came across during our exploration of the city

Day 2

On our first full day we took a tour bus out to the Cu Chi tunnels.  We were quickly rushed from site to site, and I when they brought us up to the souvenir shop I thought that we might not get the chance to crawl through the tunnels.  That would have been a great disappointment even though we only had to pay 4 dollars for the tour.  But after a quick stop at the souvenir/shooting range we were marched back to a set of tunnels that they lets us crawl through.  The couple of minutes we spent underground were definitely worth the 3 plus hours we spent on the bus.

On returning to Ho Chi Minh we put our walking shoes and headed to Water Puppets show.  If you ever read the Vietnam Lonely planet it is a highly recommended show.  The puppeteers were amazing and we were treated to some traditional Vietnamese music which we had been looking for all afternoon.

Day 1

We left the great city of Phnom Penh for the metropolis of Ho Chi Minh at 7am (I believe this was the only bus of many that we took during the trip that left on time!).  Anticipating a 5-6 hour ride we settled into our somewhat comfortable seats on the Mekong Express, ate our pre-packaged breakfast and watched the new Planet of the Apes.  Things rarely seem to go as anticipated here though.  The second stop was the border between Cambodia and Vietnam.  You may be wondering why I failed to mention the first stop, but it was rather uneventful (just lunch and you can probably guess what we ate).  Getting through the Cambodian side was easy enough.  We got off our bus flashed some official our passport and then got back on the bus.  The Vietnamese side was a completely different story.

So here is how they deal with border crossings in Vietnam.  First we gave all of our passports to our bus attendant who runs them into the custom office.  All of us then made our way into the building with hundreds of other travelers.  We were packed in like sardines and you couldn’t move even if you wanted to.  Every few minutes we would take a step or two forward and after doing this for about half n hour we reached the desk where they had the passports.  Instead of giving us our passports when we got to the desk they just waved us through and told us to wait on the other side.  I should mention that as all this was happening the custom officials were just holding passports up and shouting peoples name.  It was almost too much!  After probably another half n hour on the other side of the customs desk Phil and I finally got our passports.  Turns out they don’t have a scanner so they have to type everybody’s info in one by one.  I could say something about communist countries here but I’ll leave that out.

After that gong show we were back on the bus and only a couple hours outside of Ho Chi Minh.  Or so we thought.  30 minutes outside of Ho Chi Minh there was a huge bang that sounded like a gun shot.  At first the bus kept on rolling, but people quickly started to wave it down.  As we came to a stop a large crowd quickly gathered around the back of the bus.  Turns out that we had blown out one of our back tires.  The humorous or I guess for the motto driver unfortunate part was that the pressure from the tire knocked down a motto that was on the side of the road.  As we exited off the bus the poor motto driver was standing there with his hands on his head staring at his broken motto.  After close to another hour delay fixing the tire and appeasing the motto driver we were back on our way and arrived at our guest house about 25 minutes later.  That evening we spent a great deal of time wandering around the city, including visiting the market.

For the next few days we put on our tourist caps and explored some of sites around Ho Chi Minh.  Around in this case is really a relative use of the word as the one tour took us 5 plus hours away from the big city.

Vietnam day by day

So I last left you off with the anticipation of a Vietnam adventure.  If you were expecting crazy and possibly near death experiences you may be disappointed with this post.  Nonetheless, I will put fingers to keyboard and give you some highlights from the trip that was Vietnam 2011.

To make it a little easier to digest I am going to split each day into a different post.

One more interesting thing

There was one other story that I was supposed to add and my mother has graciously reminded me about it.  Last Friday I was driving back from the MCC office, when I passed a man on a motto with a couple of pigs strapped to the back.  I think I stared at these pigs for a good 15 seconds to make sure I wasn't dreaming.  At first I thought they were dead, but when I looked closer I could see one of the pigs breathing pretty heavily.  They were as calm as calm could be, probably unware that their lives may be coming to an end in the near future.

There is always an adventure on the street!

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!

Time flys...or does it?

So I kinda promised this post yesterday, but things happen, plans change, life goes on and instead of yesterday this post is going up today. 

I realized today that it has been nearly three weeks since my last post.  I didn't think it would be hard to find time out here to update my blog, but I do not have the internet readily available so I have to seek it out to communicate with all of you.  It really doesn't feel like it has been that long since I started teaching, but tomorrow I start my 4 week which is pretty crazy.  Almost a month of school finished.  I think I am close to getting into my teaching grove.  I am having a lot of fun with my intermediate class and they are really challenging me when it comes to my grammar.  My pre-intermediate class has been a lot more difficult and I am having a tough time explaining concepts to them.  I keep praying for patience as it can be frustrating when they look back at me with blank looks after I have tried to explain it multiple times.  There are small successes in class and I try to focus on those.

So a quick run down of my time since the beginning of my teaching career.

-After the first week of teaching we had a 3 day holiday.  Most of the Cambodians went back to their home towns for this holiday.  If you would like to look the holiday up it is called Pchum Ben.  I spent most of my time in Phnom Penh with the host family.  It was nice to enjoy the empty streets and the slower pace of life.
-On the Tuesday of Pchum Ben I went with some friends to the province of Takeo.  There we went to the zoo.  Zoo's are quite big there so we drove around most of the zoo on our mottos.  We also had lunch on the river, and played a ton of dutch blitz. (hopefully there will be some more photos up on facebook soon)
-Last weekend I went to the market and picked out some fabric to make a pair of pants and a shirt.  Look for a picture in the near future.
-This past Friday I went to a Taize (not sure about the spelling on that one) service.  It was a peaceful and calming service.  We sang some catholic verses and read some scripture and meditated for long periods of time.  It was definitely a nice way to wind down and clear your mind after a busy week. 
-After the service a co-worker and I went and got massages, which is another great way to relax after a busy week.
-Last night I went out to dinner with the family.  We had wanted to go out on a boat but it was raining, so we went out for pizza instead.  Safe to say I got completely soaked.  Still trying to figure out a way to keep my pants dry during the rain, they don't make big enough ponchos here for me.  So when we got to the restaurant I went to the bathroom and proceeded to wring out my pants as best as I could.  Ahh another great story.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in Canada, so happy Thanksgiving to you all. I am thankful that I have been blessed with good health so far and a great support group.

And also for those of you WGMers following the blog you will never guess who I ran into the other night at a small house church.  Mr. Hugh Campbell's daughter.  Talk about a small world!