My Learning Jungle!: A Glimpse at Celebrity

So today was ridiculous! It was the open house for the school in which the entire kindergarten and elementary school staff were present! We had to be there for 7am to get prepared. They had covered the front lawn with red carpets and added a stage at the front. Parents and guests began arriving around 8:30 and were first greeted by some of our staff in tradition Cambodian dress, they were then seated and offered refreshments by the catering services that were hired for the event. There were cameras galore, and I mean you could not move! Virak my employer and myself were their key subjects and so our every move was being recorded and they did not hesitate to get right up close! When the event finally began I was seated beside Virak in the important people seats (nice cushioned chairs). First the the MC introduced us to the crowd and then the opening ceremony began. They had traditional dancers do a dance which was so amazing. Their movements were so measured, they moved as though they were whisps of a cloud in the sky. Just a simple twist of their hand and the placement of their fingers was delicate...of course these were only some of the bits I was able to see as those camera crews I mentioned decided to set up camp right in front of us so that they could capture our every facial expression. After the dance Virak made a speech, something I could not understand as it was in Khmer but sounded good none the less from what the peoples response was. Next up was me! I first introduced Davy our academic director as well as our sport coach and music teacher, and then I talked about the Canadian Curriculum. Surprisingly this responsibility did not make me nervous because most of my audience had no idea what I was saying and a max of ten people were actually paying attention. It was pretty fun though to stand up there and be the star performer for a brand new school! After my speech the ceremony came to an end and we were ushered towards the main door to cut the ribbon of the school. I was handed a pair of scissors as well as the minister of Education, and Virak, and together the three of us initiated the opening of the school (again all caught on tape at very close and unflattering angles). Although we had planned on having mini tour groups to proceed throughout the school at this point people just wanted in and began looking around themselves. Within 45 min from the cutting of the ribbon most people had meandered through the school and then taken their leave of absence which left me and all the teaching assistants from the kindergarten school to eat the remainder of food and have the hired clowns make us toy swords and flowers. The girls also love to take pictures, they were almost worse than the camera crews! And so the event that has been the focus of everyones attention was finally over and we all had the afternoon off before it was time to return for our Christmas staff party later that night. The staff party was a blast since it was an opportunity to see everyone in their element, where we were all relaxed and there for a good time. There was a live band, and by live band I mean a very old man playing the stand up keyboard, and older woman who should not have been wearing such a short dress, and a guy who occasionally danced around the woman. There was lots of karaoke and dancing and everyone eating and having a good time. All around it was a great day and night

talking to some of my kids

veda (vay-dah)

sereiboth (siri-bought) and Jonah

sawa (zzzz-owe-ah)

Panha pronounced panya

Dawin (a real character, tries to tell everyone what to do)

Brian (employers son)

Virak, myself, and Becky greeting people as they come in

Sitting in the big boy chairs!

opening ceremony dancers

close up

giving my speech

another speech shot from the many camera men

yet another angle

cutting the ribbon

picture time with the girls. Girl on the right holding flowers is Rhoda, one of my teaching assistants. Girl in black is Becky, she's one of the kindergarten teachers and she's from England. The girl on the left is Marra and I love her to bits!