Today was my first day of teaching and I think it went well. I was five minutes late because I slipped into some sort of time warp between 12 and 1:30. I had gone to the grocery store to buy some food for the week and then I went to lunch. By the time I went to lunch it was 1:20! This was the time that I was supposed to be on the touk touk. I panicked and ate my food in 5 minutes and dashed back to the hotel. I managed to get back in about 10 minutes and Steve (one of my instructors) was pissed (and rightly so in my opinion). I got on the touk touk with Stephanie (another person teaching at my school) and Dara (our driver) gunned it and we were only 5 minutes late and it turned out fine.
I wasn't teaching until 3 we got there around 2. The first hour I got to work with kids in the library area with some kids, I loved this! The library area is an area where kids can read or work on their writing, they were all working on the alphabet. I looked at some of their work and they were doing very well. I wanted to learn their names so I found a small whiteboard and wrote my name and had them do the same. I also read Curious George to them and they seemed to enjoy that.
My actual class, oh dear, I was up the river without a paddle. I got gyped today in terms of a lesson planning workshop. I was going to go to the workshop from 11 to 12 but they called it off because Indy (an instructor) wasn't there. I'm thinking: "you need 3 instructors to teach one workshop?" (scratches head). I had nothing prepared and I was going to teach grammar (goody!). I actually did fairly well, it went off without too much trouble. I consulted the teacher when I was really lost and that was helpful. Afterwards, Stephanie and I got back on Dara's touk touk and went back. The kids waved goodbye to us and that was a really good feeling.
On a completely different topic, everyone in my group (only when they're together, individually they're very nice) are assholes. Here's an example, they all hate two particular people in the group, one is this guy who has a difficult personality and the other who is an older woman who is a little strange but a nice person. The guy who has a difficult personality, they all pushed him (on a couple of occasions) to drink a hell of a lot more than he should have. They're also not particularly kind to him when sober either. I feel for him, I really do because I've been in that position before (not the drinking thing but you know). They're also very cruel to the older lady in our group, sure she never shuts up but she knows a lot of interesting things. It is a little annoying when she goes on a random tangent but she is a genuinely nice person. The reason I'm pointing all of this out is because there is a third person who doesn't try to fit in with the rest of the group. I'm doing what I did in high school, I'm a neutral party who can get along with everyone (even if I grow to hate their guts). This person is the second youngest in the entire group. I finally got to talking to her and she's staying in Phnom Penh. She is so nice and and sweet and cute (I think you know where this is going). She and I will be seeing each other and I dunno what will happen. I'm in Cambodia, anything can happen. *edit*, it's the whole group mechanic where people that are nice individually, come together, have alcohol and can become very mean-spirited but are perfectly nice when sober.
I like to finish things off with some kind of funny story, this time it's the tale of Satan's Belt. I bought a new belt that looked really nice and I wore it today. I got back to the hotel and was ready to change into my chilling out clothes (meaning no pants) and I couldn't get the belt off. I also had to pee...
I tried and tried and couldn't get it off. Eventually I stepped outside of my room and saw one of the guys. I convinced him to try to get it off. He couldn't do it either! He got me a pair of scissors and I cut it off. Now I have to buy another belt...
Till next time...
Later
Monday, August 15, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Ruins, monkeys, crocodiles, thunderstorms, and sexual harassment (sorta)
How do all of those random things hang together? I'll explain. In a nutshell, this last weekend at Angkor Wat was insane. We took a bus out to Sien Reap which is the province outside of Angkor Wat. It took 6 freaking hours to get there! Normally I wouldn't mind this but we were on the most uncomfortable bus ever! Luckily I was armed with the following items, iPod, DS, PSP, Laptop, book, Spirited Away. Sadly three of those electronic items were not charged. I lost my iPod charger (ugh) and I forgot one tiny detail when I was charging my DS and camera. The hotel room only has power if you leave the key in the special slot. GUESS WHO WAS A SPACE CADET? ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pretty much I didn't have use of a digital camera or other forms of electronic entertainment. Don't worry I got pictures though. After getting into the hotel we went out to dinner and came back and went to sleep.
Saturday was amazing! I supplemented my lack of digital camera by buying a disposable camera, FOR FIFTEEN FU*KING DOLLARS!!!!! Pardon my French but that was ridiculous. It was an interesting experience because I went down into this little area of shops because I saw a disposable camera on display. The second I said "I need a camera", at least 5 different people were on me! They were tugging and saying things like "my shop has a camera"! It was a little overwhelming. Eventually I shook em off by saying "I want a camera and it's over there". FIFTEEN DOLLARS?! Enough about that, the ruins is probably what is the most interesting part.
When it comes to Angkor Wat, there is the central temple of Angkor Wat and the (I believe) 4 or 5 temples surrounding it, once you've seen one, you've seen em all. We explored the surrounding temples first. They are very impressive and kind of a mystery. These temples are huge, I mean 7 stories at least. It makes you wonder how they got there, each brick has beautiful artwork on it. An entire wall would tell a story. If I'm remembering correctly, each temple told a different story within the Hindu religion. Don't quote me on that because our tour guide didn't speak perfect English.
After lunch we explored the central temple of Angkor Wat. I will be honest, this was godlike! I also believe that I conquered my fear of heights! You have to climb up an enormous steep staircase to even get up there. Up at the top it was like a sky temple (if that makes any sense at all). I was on top of this huge temple that was at least 7 stories high (I think) and up there were big plazas and hallways. The only thing that was kind of jarring was the construction scaffolding to preserve the temple. It was one of the most amazing things I've seen in my life.
Speaking of amazing things, MONKEYS!!!!!!! As we were heading out of one of the temples we saw wild monkeys! A bunch of us sat and stared at them for awhile, one monkey stole a banana from one of the women in our group. It was hilarious. The monkeys were so amazing and a little scary to see up close.
After the whole exhausting day was over, we geared up for dinner. What was for dinner? CROCODILE! No joke, one thing you can do at our hotel is order a crocodile from the farm next door. Special thanks to Aussie Andrew for getting it all organized. Crocodile tastes amazing, I loved it. After dinner was pretty cool because there was an incredible thunderstorm outside. I'd look out the window periodically and see the sky just flashing. Eventually we all went out there and the storm was right over us. Incredible lightning and thunderclaps that shook the entire hotel! We were out there for a good hour plus appreciating it.
The next day we were going to explore one last temple. This temple was going to be the original Angkor Wat but the king at the time said screw it, we're moving it. Off the road there's this abandoned temple where tourists rarely go and it was awesome! I explored it with my friend Rachel and these little kids lead us around. This temple was in mid construction so there were materials lying around and it looked very hazardous. I enjoyed climbing around it and talking to Rachel and just appreciating the serene quality of it. At one point apparently someone (not in our group) fell, so policemen came into the ruins to help people get around. One came to Rachel and I and helped her down this wall. When the time came for us to go up another wall to get out, the guy put his hand square on my ass and pushed. A part of me was really hoping it wasn't the policeman but I knew it was. We got down and Rachel had to give the guy a dollar, I'm like (in my head) "you're not getting a dollar to touch my ass, that was free".
After exploring the temple we went to lunch and got back on the bus. It took 8 hours to get back to Phnom Penh, this bus will appear in my nightmares because it was so uncomfortable. I got back to my hotel room and did absolutely nothing for the rest of the day.
The entire weekend I was trying to think of a Legend of Zelda reference, I came up with an okay one.
"I wish I brought my hookshot" Might be a little above some peoples heads but I thought it was good.
Until next time.
Pretty much I didn't have use of a digital camera or other forms of electronic entertainment. Don't worry I got pictures though. After getting into the hotel we went out to dinner and came back and went to sleep.
Saturday was amazing! I supplemented my lack of digital camera by buying a disposable camera, FOR FIFTEEN FU*KING DOLLARS!!!!! Pardon my French but that was ridiculous. It was an interesting experience because I went down into this little area of shops because I saw a disposable camera on display. The second I said "I need a camera", at least 5 different people were on me! They were tugging and saying things like "my shop has a camera"! It was a little overwhelming. Eventually I shook em off by saying "I want a camera and it's over there". FIFTEEN DOLLARS?! Enough about that, the ruins is probably what is the most interesting part.
When it comes to Angkor Wat, there is the central temple of Angkor Wat and the (I believe) 4 or 5 temples surrounding it, once you've seen one, you've seen em all. We explored the surrounding temples first. They are very impressive and kind of a mystery. These temples are huge, I mean 7 stories at least. It makes you wonder how they got there, each brick has beautiful artwork on it. An entire wall would tell a story. If I'm remembering correctly, each temple told a different story within the Hindu religion. Don't quote me on that because our tour guide didn't speak perfect English.
After lunch we explored the central temple of Angkor Wat. I will be honest, this was godlike! I also believe that I conquered my fear of heights! You have to climb up an enormous steep staircase to even get up there. Up at the top it was like a sky temple (if that makes any sense at all). I was on top of this huge temple that was at least 7 stories high (I think) and up there were big plazas and hallways. The only thing that was kind of jarring was the construction scaffolding to preserve the temple. It was one of the most amazing things I've seen in my life.
Speaking of amazing things, MONKEYS!!!!!!! As we were heading out of one of the temples we saw wild monkeys! A bunch of us sat and stared at them for awhile, one monkey stole a banana from one of the women in our group. It was hilarious. The monkeys were so amazing and a little scary to see up close.
After the whole exhausting day was over, we geared up for dinner. What was for dinner? CROCODILE! No joke, one thing you can do at our hotel is order a crocodile from the farm next door. Special thanks to Aussie Andrew for getting it all organized. Crocodile tastes amazing, I loved it. After dinner was pretty cool because there was an incredible thunderstorm outside. I'd look out the window periodically and see the sky just flashing. Eventually we all went out there and the storm was right over us. Incredible lightning and thunderclaps that shook the entire hotel! We were out there for a good hour plus appreciating it.
The next day we were going to explore one last temple. This temple was going to be the original Angkor Wat but the king at the time said screw it, we're moving it. Off the road there's this abandoned temple where tourists rarely go and it was awesome! I explored it with my friend Rachel and these little kids lead us around. This temple was in mid construction so there were materials lying around and it looked very hazardous. I enjoyed climbing around it and talking to Rachel and just appreciating the serene quality of it. At one point apparently someone (not in our group) fell, so policemen came into the ruins to help people get around. One came to Rachel and I and helped her down this wall. When the time came for us to go up another wall to get out, the guy put his hand square on my ass and pushed. A part of me was really hoping it wasn't the policeman but I knew it was. We got down and Rachel had to give the guy a dollar, I'm like (in my head) "you're not getting a dollar to touch my ass, that was free".
After exploring the temple we went to lunch and got back on the bus. It took 8 hours to get back to Phnom Penh, this bus will appear in my nightmares because it was so uncomfortable. I got back to my hotel room and did absolutely nothing for the rest of the day.
The entire weekend I was trying to think of a Legend of Zelda reference, I came up with an okay one.
"I wish I brought my hookshot" Might be a little above some peoples heads but I thought it was good.
Until next time.
Monday, August 1, 2011
About food and school
I feel that it's notable to talk about food because there is a lot of different food here. A typical Asian breakfast is not at all what you would expect in America. What I've been having lately is soup. I have soup for breakfast. There is a cafe about ten minutes from the hotel and the breakfast section is essentially pho. What I tend to get is the regular one which has many different kinds of meat and is getting me acquainted with the food here. It has beef, pork, chicken, a shrimp, and squid. It is delicious. I also have that with coffee. The coffee here is about ten times stronger than any human would be willing to drink. Apparently I'm not human. The coffee is about three times stronger than an espresso shot and you get a small amount. I can drink it but not without wincing. Today I had some breakfast food that I bought at the grocery store. I bought a bun with some chicken inside for about 45 cents. The other thing that I bought that I have yet to try is a baguette with chicken inside. I had the bun this morning and was kind of skeptical of it but I ate it and it was delicious and filling.
I also need to talk about dinner last night as it was fantastic in every sense of the word. Almost every single Language Corps person was there, meaning we had a party of about 30! This restaurant was beautiful. It was located directly by the riverside and where I was sitting, I got a perfect view of the river. I was awestruck at how amazing this view was. The river had lit tour boats going on it. The restaurant also had live music and dancing. The dancing seemed to be traditional and it was very intentional movements in time to the music. I can compare that to the dancing you would see in a kabuki play, where the movements are very precise. I had an amazing meal, I had a traditional Cambodian dish called fish amok. It was fantastic! It was a mixture of cooked fish mixed with lemongrass and other spices inside a banana leaf which was in the shape of a cup. Absolutely amazing.
Today was my first day of the TESOL training program. I can honestly say it won't be terribly difficult but it will be challenging as there are 4 weeks being in class for 8 hours a day! I can say that it will be bearable because we do get several breaks throughout the day. Our teachers are pretty cool, I swear my teacher named Billy looks like a very tan Bill Murray. We were given our course supplies and the day was broken into two three hour segments or four hour and 45 minute segments. We were given a workbook which is really cool because they have their own pages where we can take notes on a given subject. For lunch I can proudly say that my whole meal cost one dollar. ONE DOLLAR! I had a sandwich with some meat inside and you can fill it with Asian coleslaw with some chicken as well. I also had a coke with it. I loved this meal! After lunch we continued our day by learning about some basic teaching strategies. I will elaborate on these later (probably). For the last period we learned how to write resume's. I found this lesson very helpful to me. So sorry I don't feel like elaborating a whole lot about school but I just got back after an 8 hour day and I need to desensitize. I went into such detail about food because I'm pretty hungry. Note: I am actually 14 hours ahead of Seattle.
Till next time.
I also need to talk about dinner last night as it was fantastic in every sense of the word. Almost every single Language Corps person was there, meaning we had a party of about 30! This restaurant was beautiful. It was located directly by the riverside and where I was sitting, I got a perfect view of the river. I was awestruck at how amazing this view was. The river had lit tour boats going on it. The restaurant also had live music and dancing. The dancing seemed to be traditional and it was very intentional movements in time to the music. I can compare that to the dancing you would see in a kabuki play, where the movements are very precise. I had an amazing meal, I had a traditional Cambodian dish called fish amok. It was fantastic! It was a mixture of cooked fish mixed with lemongrass and other spices inside a banana leaf which was in the shape of a cup. Absolutely amazing.
Today was my first day of the TESOL training program. I can honestly say it won't be terribly difficult but it will be challenging as there are 4 weeks being in class for 8 hours a day! I can say that it will be bearable because we do get several breaks throughout the day. Our teachers are pretty cool, I swear my teacher named Billy looks like a very tan Bill Murray. We were given our course supplies and the day was broken into two three hour segments or four hour and 45 minute segments. We were given a workbook which is really cool because they have their own pages where we can take notes on a given subject. For lunch I can proudly say that my whole meal cost one dollar. ONE DOLLAR! I had a sandwich with some meat inside and you can fill it with Asian coleslaw with some chicken as well. I also had a coke with it. I loved this meal! After lunch we continued our day by learning about some basic teaching strategies. I will elaborate on these later (probably). For the last period we learned how to write resume's. I found this lesson very helpful to me. So sorry I don't feel like elaborating a whole lot about school but I just got back after an 8 hour day and I need to desensitize. I went into such detail about food because I'm pretty hungry. Note: I am actually 14 hours ahead of Seattle.
Till next time.
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