After we’d spent a month or two as teachers at Krou Yeung School in Phnom Penh, we were beginning to become familiar with our students — not only learning their names, but their personalities and whims, their strengths and their areas for improvement. We had some that were rather challenging, and some that were endearing — and often they were one in the same.

Kimberly had a few students who were particularly difficult because they were “on the spectrum”, and if we were in a western country they would have had specially trained personnel to work with them; but quite often she had to hold the fort by herself. Classes were 3 back-to-back 45 minute sessions, conducted all in English, which complicated things all the more. As in most schools, some students were often full of an abundance of energy and had difficulty controlling themselves, which led to further disruptions. She discovered that one student who had difficulty focusing and staying on task and communication in general, was in fact a skilled reader in English (his second language) — and not even his mother had been aware of it.

Dennis had certain pairs of students who constantly engaged in spats, often with the byproduct of tears. His “spectrum” children were less likely to act out, and more likely to have overly sensitive feelings. He learned that one girl was having depressive flashbacks of being bullied extensively at her previous school; and with his own lengthy experience of being a favorite target of bullies, he helped talk her through it.

Cambodia Independence Day

On November 9, Cambodia celebrated Independence Day, the 70th anniversary of its declaration of independence from France, after 90 years under French rule. For the occasion, we got some time off from school, and we thought it was a good opportunity to get some repair work done on our wardrobe.

The nearby bazaar colloquially known as Russian Market harbors dozens of tailors, seamstresses/ seamsters, barbers and mechanics in the depth of its mazes. We sought out one of the stitchers who seemed like a good prospect, and presented him with a pair of pants from each of us that needed alteration, and a broken sandal from Dennis. He executed all of these repairs masterfully and charged the princely sum of two dollars and fifty cents. Which reminded us of one of the reasons we love Cambodia.

Of course, in the wake of the pandemic, Cambodia was experiencing inflation like every other nation on earth. But since the cost of living was so low (by American standards) to begin with, inflation here was measured more in pennies than dollars.

There were fireworks and other festivities for Independence Day, but we didn’t really catch any of it. Dennis did bike down to Independence Monument (an ornate monolith erected in the heart of town in 1958) in the morning, because there was a torch-lighting ceremony presided over by the King himself. But by the time Dennis arrived, the torch was lit and His Highness was long gone. We wouldn’t have been able to get very close to the events anyway — it wasn’t even possible to get very close when it was all over. Guards stood guard by the torch, and at the nearby plaza where dignitaries dressed in white uniforms were posing for photos.

A new volunteer arrived at the school to assist teachers, just as we had done a year earlier. He was Chris, a tall, bony fellow who hailed from Switzerland — he referred to himself as “Chris the Swiss”. Back at home, he is a bus driver, hauling visitors to tourist locations up in the mountains — a job he says he quite enjoys.

First Quarter Exams

During our eleventh week of teaching, we got a bit of a respite. Because we did almost no teaching during the last three days of the week. What we did do, however, was conduct sessions of First Quarter Examinations.

This was a change of pace not only because we didn’t actually have classes. but also because we proctored grade levels that we don’t ordinarily teach; Dennis had grades 1 and 2, which Kimberly normally teaches, and Kimberly had grades 5 and 6, which Dennis teaches. Furthermore, we were administering tests for subjects we don’t teach — i.e., math, Chinese and Khmer. In the latter two, we were not able to offer students much in the way of explanation of instructions, but we could summon another teacher to the room who could help out.

The exams were in three parts: speaking, listening, and written. In the speaking portion, we quizzed students individually, asking them certain questions and then (rather subjectively) assigning a score to their responses. (One example: “What are the pros and cons of social media?”) In the listening part, we played an audio track with an Aussie accent (the school gets a lot of its educational materials from Australian or British sources) and the students had to answer questions about the dialogue they heard. This included a peculiar exercise in which they drew lines on a picture from the name of a character to the illustration of him or her in the scene. And then, or course, the written part of the exam entailed multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions, as well as an essay requirement on a specified topic. (e.g., “Do you think students should be required to participate in sports?”)

Frankly, we found the exams rather problematic. There were quite a few typos and other mistakes, and sometimes the instructions were unclear or the task confusing. In one first grade math problem, students were supposed to draw the correct number of buttons on the shirts worn by teddy bears, but the illustrations of the bears were so dark that the buttons would not show up.

Boat Races

Also near the end of the month was another holiday, the three-day Water Festival (Bon Om Touk), which commemorates the end of the monsoon season, and the change of current on the River Sap (Tonle Sap). One of the festivities is boat racing, and we headed down to the Tonle Sap to watch the teams prepare for it. We debated either sticking around or coming back later to see the actual races, and the fireworks. But we decided that the crowds were already thick enough during daylight, and we didn’t want to have to machete our way through even thicker ones. And we’re not that keen on fireworks, except from a distance, where you can actually appreciate their visual splendor without the auditory discomfort.

Back in the States, people were gorging on turkey and football, bracing for the Black Friday stampede, and giving thanks that Americans once welcomed immigrants. But we were having quite a change of pace; and yet, people were also feasting and merrymaking, and playing games, and giving thanks that the rain had come and gone, and the river was fat and contrary.

Having reached the end of the first school quarter, we decided to reward ourselves with a massage at an excellent massage establishment in our neighborhood. It offers several varieties; and thus, even though we were in Cambodia, we chose a Thai massage — a Cambodian version of a Thai massage perhaps — because we’d loved the ones we’d had in Bangkok. And it was equally blissful in Phnom Penh. So much so that we decided we’d make it a quarterly tradition. That’s one tradition we definitely can get into.

November 2023