First week in Cambodia... No wait, I did this already.

Hey everyone- sorry it’s taken me a bit to get started with posting here. As you may have guessed, I made it safely. I’ve been busy and exhausted the past few days getting settled in and starting class.

So let’s start with the beginning (I know that’s boring and overdone but that’s all I’ve got). My flight got in at about 11:30 on Friday night (11:30 am your time). The flight itself could have been worse- we had lots of movies and way too much food. It was like midnight my time and they just kept trying to feed me every two hours. So I didn’t have to worry about that. I started in Newark and flew to Seattle, and from there flew to Seoul. We were a half hour late in Seoul, and that meant I only had a half hour to make it to my connecting flight to Phnom Penh. We had to go through security again in Seoul. A guy who worked at the airport was standing at the end of the security line and he asked me where I was headed. I told him Gate 50. Phnom Penh. He looked at me and said, “Oh that gate is boarding, you better run.” So I sprinted through basically the entire airport till I finally found the gate and made it with like five minutes to spare.

By the time I got to Phnom Penh, I was exhausted. Thank God it was nighttime. I tried to sleep but jet lag hasn’t let that happen much the past few days. Saturday I just basically tried to sleep and started meeting other people who live here. Everyone so far seems nice and has extensively traveled so it’s been really interesting talking to these people.

Sunday we went on a tour of Phnom Penh. And by tour, I mean they took us to Wat Phnom and the Parliament building. I mean they’re both really cool but I’ve seen them both and there are a lot of other things in the city that I would include if I were planning a tour of all of Phnom Penh. Regardless it was cool to visit those places again, especially Parliament because it’s beautiful. It’s a strange contrast though because all of the buildings are the traditional gorgeous Cambodian architecture, and then there’s this French section built right into the middle. It’s a pretty random sight.

After the tour, we had a welcome dinner. Everyone rushed home and showered because we were covered in sweat (I know my life is so glamorous), and then we went to a fancy restaurant along Sisowath Quay, the main street by the Mekong River. The second we walked in we knew it was fancy. Mostly because it was indoor, air conditioned, and the chairs and tables were elegant. There was a dancer in the back corner performing the slow, fluid motions of Khmer dance routines beside a man playing a xylophone. We got a chance to meet the teachers for the first time. One of them (I will not mention names because who knows who reads my blog) is slightly odd and asked extremely personal questions, one of them is cool and entertaining, one of them is really sweet, and one of them looks perpetually hungover and his features resemble a turtle. It’s quite the crew.

I ordered lemongrass beef, mostly because I always order anything involving lemongrass, but I still haven’t been able to eat a whole lot since the time difference is messing me up so that was all I ate. It was amazing- which considering we were in probably the best restaurant in Phnom Penh wasn’t that surprising. Still, I enjoyed it.

The rest of the night is a bit of a blur, mostly because I was exhausted and everyone around me was exhausted from the tour earlier, and all we wanted to do was go to bed.

The next morning (Monday) we started classes. Wow. We have class from 9:00-5:30. It’s been a long time since I’ve had class for that long. I’m used to having a few classes here and there, but not straight like that. It’s tiring. And I shouldn’t say 9:-5:30 straight because we do have a 1 and a half hour lunch break. So it’s technically only seven hours that we have class. But still.
The first day we got our notebooks and our papers and went around and introduced ourselves. It was basically preschool all over again. Then we started into the good stuff. Warm ups (or warmers). Lesson structure. Resume writing. All of that fun stuff that everyone loves. We were eager for our lunch break and found a little place around the corner that was slightly overwhelmed by the 18 of us (we like to stick together). We also got homework. I guess I can’t complain too much, I escaped a whole six months without having to do homework. We had to create a few warmers to show the class. Mine involved “first, second, third,” etc and pretending that everyone had just finished a marathon. It was fun but we were all a bit nervous because we’re being graded on basically every breath we take.

Last night we went to a bar called Three Rivers, which is owned by one of Dave’s friends. Dave is one of the other students and hails from Galway. We all hung out there for awhile and enjoyed the mix of Cambodian and Western influences (no ceiling but nice furniture, Khmer and Western food, etc.) I ordered pizza and beer. I’m not ashamed. I have plenty of time to eat Khmer and Thai food, don't worry.

Today we all woke up bright eyed and ready to go… okay some of us were hungover, and some hadn’t quite made it home last night, and one of us was pick-pocketed so he had a really bad night. I had called it an early night so I don't fit into any of those categories but I felt bad for the people who did. Nevertheless we made our way to class at 9:00 and sat through an hour and a half of grammar. I’m not going to sugarcoat it- I was in physical pain by the end of it, and I had almost fallen out of my chair from falling asleep. Not that our teacher isn’t entertaining, she’s a sweetheart, but there’s not much you can do to make grammar interesting. Mostly I just learned how very little I know about the vocabulary behind grammar. And that if you know how to use words in the English language, it really doesn’t matter what they’re called.

Anyway, after that happy lesson we had materials with the teacher I mentioned before who asks personal questions. He made several inappropriate statements throughout class and some people were offended- I was mostly entertained but they weren’t directed at me so I can’t really judge. He taught us how to put together classroom materials basically from trash- old yogurt cans, sticks, pieces of wood, toilet paper rolls, etc. It was actually a fairly entertaining lesson but that might just be because it was coming after grammar.

After a lovely lunch, we had to demonstrate our warmers. Mine went fairly well I suppose- I got about the same grade as everyone else, and there wasn’t anyone who did terribly. It was mostly just embarrassing being up in front of everyone and pretending that they are little kids, but it was good practice to see what warmers everyone came up with.

After that and our last lesson of the day, where we got assigned more homework (yay), we came home. And that brings me to right now because I haven’t eaten dinner yet. We’re going to Trea’s bar tonight because they’re having a party and there’s free food and first drink is on the house. All she had to say was the word free to get us there.

So far I like being back in Phnom Penh, enough that I’m wondering if I should stay here. But then I would have to change the name of the blog. So nevermind. Just kidding. In reality I do really want to at least give Thailand a try and see how it goes. If I don’t like it or can’t find a job I want, I’ll come back to Phnom Penh. Most of the other students I’ve made friends with are staying here anyway. The one thing I like about this program (okay one of many it’s really a good program) is that they’re very flexible. If we decide to change locations, they give us what help they can and we can switch our schedules around in the program or they’ll help us relocate afterwards, etc. It’s fairly easy to change your mind if need be.

Living accommodations are fabulous for Phnom Penh. Mosquitoes and cockroaches are minimal (though the two gigantic cockroaches in my bathroom are slightly problematic when I use the bathroom at 3 am). I’m staying in a room by myself- most of us are, there are only two rooms in the villa with two beds. I like the living arrangements but kind of wish I had a roommate, I feel like it would be easier to settle in that way. A lot of people came here with someone they knew and part of me wishes I would have convinced somebody I know to come with me – you’re all thinking I’d have tried to convince you, I know :) But I’ve met a lot of really cool people and everything has been going well overall.

I miss all of you! We’re headed to Siem Reap this weekend so unless something drastic happens in the next week, my next post with be after that.

Love from Cambodia (again),

Monica