hamster on a wheel

Since beginning my work at site, I have the pleasure of much more idle time than I can ever remember having. This is one of the main reasons I desired to join the Peace Corps at this point in my life. With idle time, my mind tends to migrate toward internal debates, conversations, and scheduling the future. This happens when I have extra time in my room, I'm participating in a conversation in which I only understand one of every 5 words (because it's in Khmer), I'm doing my laundry, biking, sitting by the riverside or when I'm taking a step back as my co-teacher leads the class. I wish I could let my mind chill a bit, but it always wants to be puzzling something out.

I often am asked by friends and family back home about how work is going or what teaching is like here. Although it's a 180 from my past several years teaching 7th grade at a no excuses style charter school and now I teach adults (18-20 year olds) who are training to be primary school teachers, I thought I would lay out some comparisons between the two. Keep in mind, this is based on my experience teaching this age/career tracked group the subject of English and does not necessarily apply to all students in primary-secondary school learning other subjects in their native language. I do not mean this as judgements but rather observations on the stark differences I have experienced as a teacher in both environments.

America
*Effective lessons were dependent on effective classroom management and thwarting misbehaviors
*Extensive lesson planning for the year and daily were essential for successful and focused lessons
*Learning was student centered and importance of individualized work was stressed throughout the lesson so that all levels and learning styles of students would be addressed
*Inquisitiveness is prized; asking questions shows students are processing and repackaging new material
*Individual understanding is the focus at all points in the lesson: during the Introduction to new material students are taking notes with demonstration from the teacher (this should be short in duration), Guided Practice is an opportunity for practice of the new concept with a safety net and finally Independent Practice (clearly)
*Copying answers from others is not acceptable
*Note taking is something that students must be trained to do in an organized fashion, stressing the details early on is important
*Testing occurred at the end of each unit for about an hour, in addition to trimester exams which lasted 2 hrs
*Every student had each class once a day for 1 hr; I wished for snow days to have a break

Cambodia
*Majority of students demonstrate respect by standing when the teacher enters the room and remaining attentive throughout the lesson
*Lesson planning is not commonly practiced; most teachers wrote lesson plans in teacher training school and improvise while teaching
*Classes are teacher centered in that the teacher stands or sits in front of the class and lectures while students copy and repeat the words of the teacher
*Students do not tend to ask questions, only those who are higher level tend to feel comfortable enough to do so
*The structure of the lessons in the English for Cambodia curriculum does not prescribe how the activities and new material should be practiced and presented; tendency of the teachers is to write notes and lecture, students copy and when expected to generate new material will take the notebooks from the leaders in the class and copy their answers or wait until the answers are reviewed so they can record the correct answer
*Note taking is an art involving different colored pens and white out, "doodling" would never be found and pencils are only used in primary school; students copy exactly what the teacher has written

*Testing is monthly, usually a 1 hr test about one chapter of material, in addition to a cumulative semester exam that lasts about 2 hrs
*Every student has English for 2 hrs per week, once a week; I wish for less holidays, meetings and exams that cancel classes so I can meet with students consistently

I should stop myself there because I'm sure I could add at least 10 more points to each, but that'll do for the time being. The following pictures show some of the learning going on this week at my house.

Roat reading; started to take the place of TV watching, my mom was reading once this week too (I like to think it's my influence of reading for hours everyday)

Newly illustrated A,B,Cs for my family to learn; my sister's and mom want to learn a new word each day

The learning wall; all produced by my dad except for the illustrated A,B,Cs

Mango season has hit, about 25 cents/kilo; these were presents from a student and the invitation for my tutor's daughter's wedding is pictured (it takes place on 3/3/13 at 3 pm, I will be a bridesmaid although I have yet to meet her)

the weekend

Friday: End of run

Saturday: Biked 18km to hang out at the gas station with fellow PCV, Diana

Sunday: My sister shadowed me for half of the day. She learned how I do laundry, how large my underwear are, how I cut my toenails, participated in a yoga session and enjoyed some "Fantastic Mr. Fox".

nomadic tendencies

Entering February, my 2nd year students have headed off for a two month teaching practicum where they started teaching at primary schools around the province. This means I am only teaching 1st year students which means half the teaching load. Idleness as a concept has always been daunting to me, but I forget that I have become much more practiced with this as an expanse of a few hours seems like hardly enough time to truly relax/work/exercise/read.

Over the past month, I have been quite busy travelling about the country for both work and to visit friends for better and for worse as I am one who can hardly sit still. I have had an opportunity to visit and explore new places which is something I am reminded the average Cambodian does not and cannot do. My host family expresses interest in the places I see in their own country and is eager to see pictures upon my return. While Cambodia is a small country, my family says the host and difficulty of travelling with children does not allow them to travel as I do. I explain that I love to see new parts of the country, meet Khmer people in different places and try new foods. As a PCV, we are encouraged to stay at site as much as possible as leaving often gives your community the impression that you are not as interested in integrating. I fully believed in this concept and did not intend to leave more than once a month when first arriving at site. I realize now that gatherings of friends, opportunities to travel and meetings/work-related situations make it quite difficult to stay as much as I had hoped. Thinking back to my weekends and vacation time in America, I also had difficulty staying put and made the most of my free time to go somewhere else. No matter where I am in the world, I think I'll always find opportunities to see new places as I feel it is imperative to explore what I know exists beyond me. So I should probably just allow any feelings of guilt to subside...

I had an opportunity this past week to travel to Battambang for a training on Primary English for Cambodia, a new textbook created by VSO, a more international PC, that would ideally be introduced into every 4th grade classroom in Cambodia this fall as per the final decision of the Ministry of Education Youth and Sport. Those of us who work at PTTCs training primary school teachers were pumped about this potential project as we would be teaching our trainees how to instruct English rather than just teaching them English from an 8th grade curriculum they should already have learned. We would be given a real applicable and focused purpose for our job which is something every PCV strives for. Prior to attending this training, we had heard the possibility of this huge curricular change but had not seen any evidence of this in our PTTCs or from PC. According to the VSO volunteer heading this project, the change seems more inevitable than we had thought and she hopes that we would start introducing the new curriculum immediately even though the change is not finalized. The possibility that Cambodian students will begin learning the basics of English at a younger age and with a more scaffolded curriculum could greatly improve their language acquisition skills. The large obstacle I foresee is that primary school teachers all over Cambodia will have to learn a new curriculum, in a foreign language they are not familiar with, to begin teaching in a matter of a few months. This requires these teachers to set aside much time to accomplish this and a very specialized training to help them become familiar with the new textbooks. In a country where teachers do not have a culture of professional development and are paid meager salaries that force them to work elsewhere to support their families, the Ministry will have to get creative to ensure the introduction of English in primary school effective and well-taught. 

The training I participated in and observed was for a pilot group of primary school teachers near Battambang town. They were selected to test drive this new curriculum with their students. It was co-facilitated by a fellow PCV, a VSO volunteer and Khmer teachers from the PTTC with the purpose of leading the teachers through the teacher's manual, the student textbook and the activity book so they felt comfortable leading the pre-written lesson plans for their students. These teachers had little to no knowledge of English but tackled the lessons with excitement and a high level of participation. This was a special circumstance as they received a stipend, materials and some snacks throughout the training which most likely affected their interest. I am not sure if the majority of my trainees would show a similar vigor and confidence since they have not yet spent time in front of a classroom. Nonetheless, the possibility of training a force of teachers to teach English properly and effectively is exciting and gives me some hope for the type of work I may be able to accomplish over the next year and a half.

On another note, I found the "Bay Area" of Cambodia, and it is Battambang. This has been my favorite town I have visited in Cambodia thus far due to its combination of Khmer and Western aspects and a strong artistic community I have seen nowhere else in this country. It is slightly off the usual tourist circuit so there are less tourists visiting, but many more expats who live and work there at NGOs (such as Angelina). When not participating in the training I was able to go to a really entertaining circus (http://www.phareps.org/), hike up a mountain with killing caves and bike around town. I really look forward to making it back there with fellow PCVs and any friends and family that will visit.

Art Walk: the only Cambodian owned/run gallery is on the right

Primary school teachers practicing one of the exercises

Circus!

View from the roof of our guesthouse

New pictures!: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sam_wise/

nothing says gastrointestinal fun like construction

Independence Monument, Phnom Penh

One of my two routes to PP goes through Nek Luong which has a big ferry line up for a 5 minute trip; here are sellers who swarm with all sorts of goodies - sandwiches, drinks, grasshoppers, larger beetles, etc.

Mekong boat cruise to celebrate PCVs with January birthdays

After a fun filled weekend in PP, I come back to the street being completely torn up. That means it's quite loud all day as they dig new holes, add lots of dirt, roll over the dirt to make sure it's smooth and repeat. At night, it's a fun playground for my sisters and all the cousins in the neighborhood. I also happen to have some "chuu bpoowah" which means "stomachache" or more generally interpreted as diarrhea. This means when I tell coworkers, supervisor, community members what kind of sick I am, my whole social circle tends to share the news that I have "rrhea" as they call it in Khmer. So when my stomach is cramping, I hear the soothing sounds of the work happening right outside my house. By the way, the stomach issues are quite the norm for the Peace Corps Volunteer. I'm just hoping mine will pass in the next few days (don't worry Mom). They say you don't truly become a volunteer until you poop your pants, so I still have my fingers crossed.

PS - Sorry if that was more information about bodily functions than you're accustomed to, but it's a hot topic of conversations among PCVs in any country and is totally normal to discuss in the Khmer culture as well. Meaning, it's a big part of my life, so it had to enter the blog at some point...

My host sister and her sister on the porch of our house

My sister and cousins in the trenches

The trench which is much larger today

More pics posted in "Phnom Penh" and "PCV Life" - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sam_wise/sets

not your typical thursday afternoon

I actually felt busy today. It's nice to come home and feel like I haven't just chilled for awhile as this is not the norm for me nowadays. I would have killed for the lack of feeling like a chicken without it's head cut off in the past several years of life, so believe me, I am quite thankful for the new pace of life. Since I do not have a typical day-to-day to share with you, I did want to give a snapshot of my day so you can maybe picture what life is like at my site, especially since today was a little more happening than usual.

6:15 Woke up intending to meditate (something I do sporadically), reset the alarm since I slept well due to the aid of benedryl, but couldn't really go back to sleep.

6:35 Alarm went off again, read some Tao of Pooh with my headlamp and crawled out of the mosquito net, brushed teeth, put on sampot and button down shirt, ate a small banana (intending to eat real breakfast after class).

6:50 Biked to school to start class at 7, my co-teacher tends to be 5-10 minutes late, so I usually sit down on a bench in front of class to read, but no time today as he showed up about when I did.

7-8:50 Taught 2nd year students, reviewed for a semester exam next week with a week voice I thought I might lose as I had a bit of a cold the day before. Voice came back thankfully as I had to teach more later.

8:50 Headed to the market in teacher clothes which is exciting for the crowded market as I look more Khmer (despite my desired features of angular nose and 'white' skin), went to my favorite sweets lady where I got a small bowl of jek k'dtee (banana soup with tapioca, condensed milk, sticky rice) for 500 riels (~12 cents). She gave me some warm tea as the weather was pleasant/cold today, then I bought some yogurt at one of the few places that sells it in my town to eat later with cereal, bananas and some honey.

9:10 Arrived home. Changed to do some laundry, it had been 2 weeks so I had a fair amount to do. A new grandma ('yaay') that lives in my house, maybe temporarily, maybe not, asked me about how I do laundry in America and she observed me trying my hardest for a bit. Finished up the laundry around 10:40 after a rinse cycle with fabric softener which enabled me to check email, chat with a friend in America, etc. Changed again to teach.

11-12:10 Went to the vocational school where I teach everyday with my tutor, Sam Ang (the best person in Prey Veng) a free class open to the public. It's a fluctuating group of about 20 students, high school, university, high school teachers, focused on reading comprehension. Taught vocabulary related to braille to prepare for reading the article the next day. Sam Ang often buys me nice things to thank me for helping, today he got me a soy bean drink from the food shack at the school served in a bag with a straw. Delish.

12:10 Back home to eat lunch, usually eat with my family, but they were hungry today and my sister's were already napping. Lunch was left out for me, so I enjoyed on my own. Checked the internet again (I spoiled myself with unlimited internet), talked to Mom.

1:10 Headed out to adventure and meet up with a Khmer volunteer working with a Youthstar, a Khmer volunteer organization, I had met the previous Saturday. I was intending to meet up with her in her village and observe her English class to help her out. Her village is 7 km away so I set out biking in the heat of the afternoon.

1:40 Supposed to meet her at 1:30 but no luck finding her village. She calls and I put her on the phone with a woman on the side of the road to help find her village. She informs me that I have to go back to Prey Veng, then go 7 km in the other direction. Oops, guess I'll meet her next week. No problem (awt panyaha). Lots of construction on the main road, number 11, get hit by a few pieces of gravel, luckily not in the eye. I'm good. I'll go get a coffee in the market instead.

2:20 Get back to the market. Buy fried banana from a friend I haven't seen for a while, stop to chat. Then, head into the market to see my coffee stand friend (it's common to not address people by names, so all these friends of mine, are without name). One of the town crazies is sitting at the stand but I sit down anyway and pull out a book. My coffee friend moves me behind his stand to sit there instead since he looks out for me and this guy is staring at me and saying things. Hang out there reading Steinbeck's "To a God Unknown" for a while and chat with my friend. Leave to go teach my 4th grade once a week class at the primary school next to my Teacher Training school.

3:50 Get a call from my co-teacher asking where I am as I'm biking (yea, one handed mom and dad! don't worry I am good at it), I explain I'm on my way to school. He says I have to come as the students are having a cooking contest (again) and I have to eat num ban chok (noodles with fresh veggies and curry). No problem, I'm on my way anyway. Arrive at school, shove food in my mouth, tell them it's all delicious. Rush off to teach.

4:05 Arrived a little late to class, the kids are super excited. They have awesome energy and listen so well. We review last class's lesson of "Hello. My name is..." and simple commands. Today I teach them "Hello. My name is... What is YOUR name?" and directions to help them learn how to write. They all write the letter "C" and the bell rings. It's time for them to head home.

4:55 Started my English club with 2nd year trainees which meets every Tuesday and Thursday. It usually has about 6-10 people who come which is a good number as we practice a lot of pronunciation and word stress. We also tend to chat and I answer questions they have about my culture and personal experiences. We switched off between the students figuring out the correct word stress in a laundry list of items and them asking me about why I like to travel and where I have volunteered before. There is often a monkey running around at that time too, which I love. Unfortunately, today there was trash burning on both sides of us, but I tied a bandanna around my nose and taught anyway.

6 Arrived home to the whole street torn up. Check it out. Prey Veng is having major construction, it seems like all the roads are being revamped. It will be nice for biking when it's all done. Took my clothes in from the line outside with the help of Daibee. She likes to hold up my underwear and clothes to herself and say "tome!" which means 'big'. We spoke in gibberish and played on my computer a bit.

7:15 Ate dinner with the whole family: sisters, mom, dad and yaay. Had a spinachy green sauteed with egg, fried eggs, sour mango with fish sauce and rice, of course. Shared a sweet mango with the family and told my mom, sister and yaay about the monkey at my school today, my love of monkeys as long as they're not too daring, and the cooking contest.

Camera 1

Camera 2: This lady is headed off to a wedding

Hope you made it through not completely bored. I guess a lot does happen here in a day. Even when I think I had a pretty uneventful day, when I start cataloguing the small moments, it's actually quite infinite.

choices

With the start of the new calendar year, many emails reminded me of the American tradition of renewal come January 1st. I have never been much for resolutions or thinking of this time as a new start, which actually jives quite well with Khmer culture. Although January 1st is another holiday here, there's not much celebration here except for in the bigger Western influenced cities. In April, it is Khmer New Year which I'm told is quite a big deal as schools often suspend studies for 3-4 weeks. I do like the idea of reflecting on the past to inform my only complete year I will spend in Cambodia.

As a result, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how teaching here has very little in common with my experience teaching in America. For example, I often take the time in class to discuss more casually (to the extent my students understand me) cultural differences, usually related to the lesson. In my community class I teach with my tutor, today I was told by a student that I know a lot about Khmer culture due to my astute comparisons of opposite sex friendships in Cambodia vs. America. While I am no expert on Khmer culture, I realized that I have gained a lot of knowledge as I approach six months here. It is also a constant challenge not to generalize about an entire culture based on some individuals, but it is something I find myself and other PCVs constantly at fault for doing as we try to make sense of our differences. I also speak in generalizations when describing Americans to Cambodians because, ironically enough, the culture of conformity is more familiar to Cambodians and speaking in generalities helps them to comprehend an unfamiliar culture. Teaching about individuality and diversity within other cultures is something I will try to explain at a later time when my Khmer vocabulary can more accurately aid in describing this.

Sometimes, my false sense of integration makes me feel a bit too comfortable and causes me to lose sight of obvious differences between my background and that of my coworkers, students and community members. I sometimes take the fact that I am a transplant adopted into this community for two years with a grain of salt. I have an ability to come and go from my site because I am accustomed to travelling and I desire to experience other areas of Cambodia. Over New Years, I traveled to Kampong Som to visit Sihanoukville and Koh Rong, a nearby island. Although my host family has been able to travel there as well as Siem Reap, I realize that the majority of Cambodians do not leave their province and most likely will never travel these distances despite the relatively small size of the entire country (Cambodia is slightly smaller than Oklahoma). This fact seemed to slip my mind as I was teaching my trainees today a lesson about the airport. I stopped teaching to ask "raise your hand if you've ever been to an airport". I was already pretty positive that for the twenty-five 18-20 year olds in front of me as well as my 30 year old co-teacher, the answer would be no. They also most likely will never go to an airport in their life. One had been outside of an airport but never inside, so I begin to describe some basic aspects of an airport and opened up the floor for any questions they had about flying and how airports function. I explained my journey to Cambodia from Washington D.C., how many stops the plane took, how many hours it lasted, etc. and it occurred to me that my students were unaware that this journey was one of many I have taken. In my nature, I have an urge to adventure and explore and I see my experience living and working in my community as part of that. Although I am content at my site discovering new people and places, I also have an inability to sit still which will always leave me thirsting to find more. I am fortunate enough to come from circumstances that allow me the freedom to be able to make such choices.

A fellow PCV living my province visited my town yesterday which is much larger than his site. As I led him around the market looking for breakfast, he kept remarking on the variety of food options I have available to me. We walked down the fruit "aisle" outside the indoor area of the market with 20 or more vendors and explained his only options are whatever the one fruit vendor in his village is selling for the day. Many people fantasize about life in the Peace Corps as a possibility to simplify their day-to-day experiences by scaling down their scope. I am glad that I still have the ability to make simple decisions that may change the course of my day, such as choosing between breakfast options or what topic I might want to discuss with my English club. Even if my students will not experience an airport any time soon, broadening their awareness and opening up the possibility of choice is my current focus.

The following pictures are connected to my interest in the changing landscape of Prey Veng, which is a concept that extends to the rapid growth and development in other parts of Cambodia as well. I have seen and discussed the quick response to increased numbers of tourists in other areas of the country. Buildings are erected with rapid speed here. I see the same trend in my town in terms of construction and road improvement. Another intriguing facet of my town is evolving natural landscape as areas that are water filled during the wet months reveal land, thus enabling harvesting opportunities and community growth. New pictures have been added here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sam_wise/sets/72157632187727135/

These shelters, small shops, restaurants, etc. have all been erected as the water revealed land

Street resurfacing adjacent the park

Note: For those who read this blog regularly, once or obsessively, I would really like feedback on things you want to learn from my experiences in Cambodia, modes of sharing (pictures, writing, etc.) and any other requests. I try to share themes that I find prevalent or inspiring to write/photograph in my daily life, but am receptive to suggestions as well to improve the content. Thanks a lot for your help!

for the visual consumers

happy new year all those out in cyberspace! some photographs to share from recent travels south to Sihanoukville area, site and Phnom Penh. Look in the sets "Dar Lang", "Phnom Penh" and "PCV Life"...check them out - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sam_wise/sets/