It was about 6:30 AM when our creaky bones rose off the paper-thin bamboo floor mat. Just a typical night sleeping in the Cambodian countryside! After getting some breakfast, we headed over to the local high school. Right when we walked into the school, I suddenly realized that everyone was staring at us. We have been stared at before, but by only one or two people at a time. There were about three thousand students who attend that school and at least half of them stopped what they were doing just to look at us.
After Dyer talked to the school, and after a few trips of people going back and forth to the district education office, we were finally let into an actual class. As we came in, all 50 students stood up and took a bow before we sat down. It showed how much respect they had for us. We took our seats and listened to what the teacher had to say just like any other student. It was very difficult because there was no English being spoken. The only thing I understood was her talking about different time periods. We were told that it was a history/economics class. The class seemed very similar to most traditional schools in the U.S., but the poverty level was clear: there were many students crammed into a small room with creaky, old desks. But, the students didn’t seem to mind what the room looked like, and they were very respectful to the teacher. I spoke to the teacher after the class and she expressed that she chose to teach here because she wanted to help these kids further their lives and maybe one day go abroad.
After leaving the school, we decided to get some lunch and head back to Phnom Penh. Half the students decided to go to the market while the other half headed to the hotel. I can feel that some students are ready to head back home and go back to their American lives. I believe that people were affected by Cambodia in a very positive way and will keep this experience close to them. I also think that they will be more appreciative of things they do have because they’ve seen people here who don’t have the things they consider essential.
We had dinner with many people from Cambodian Living Arts. They really tried to make us comfortable by putting on American music and letting a few people sing karaoke, which was a lot of fun! We got to hang out with people from our home stays, and Arn Chorn-Pond, the star of the documentary The Flute Player, joined us even though he had just arrived in Cambodia yesterday. To me, this shows how many Cambodians have great integrity.
Finally, it was time to go: United Sates, here we come! Goodbye Cambodia, or as you say in Khmer: “Chum riep lieu srok Khmer!”
~Stephen W.
Hello Stephen. Thanks for the interesting story of your last day. I guess you can add to your list of unique experiences in Cambodia, learning in a vivid way what it feels like to be identified and stared at simply because you look different. Hmmmm, I think there might be a lesson in there somewhere...
ReplyDeleteGood for you for understanding even some of what the teacher was saying while speaking in Khmer, and also for learning some of the language yourself.
Thank you also for sharing your general thoughts on the trip. It sounds like all of you Northpoint students did a wonderful job representing your school and our country.
Thanks a buch Mrs.Dyer! I enjoyed the trip tremendously and being stared at to me was one of the biggest cultural shock. At that point the thoughts that were running through not only mine own but everyone else's was, "Oh my gosh we're in Cambodia!". I suppose at that moment we realized what we did people who looked out of the ordinary in our own country was happening to us.
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