Vacation Again

In the middle of February RUA had its semester break. After administering exams I took off for some travel time with my parents! They came to visit for just under two weeks. It was a wonderful mixing of blessings for me as I got to travel, spend time with my parents and have two extra people to help me with my grading. :)

Our first trip was up to Siem Reap to see the temples of Angkor Wat. This fantastic area is the most famous part of Cambodian history and it was very easy to see why. The thought that these were all created and survived this long was quite a marvel in itself. The hotel room with air conditioning and hot water was also a marvel, but mostly just for me. We also had a lot of fun exploring the craft shops in the town of Siem Reap as well as spending time with an MCC family that is stationed up there.

After returning to Phnom Penh for one night we next headed off to the coastal town of Kep. We only spent one day there, mostly relaxing and eating a lot of seafood. Returning to Phnom Penh again my parents were faced with the reality that after 1, maybe 2 days there is literally nothing to do in this city. So they joined me in my regular activity of sitting around the office being bored.

Overall we all had to make adjustments for the heat. Them because they are coming from American winter (40-50F), and me because I was coming out of Cambodian winter (70-80F). We also had more than our fair share of traffic incidents which I think was unfortunate for such a short visit. I think my parents are probably now very concerned about me driving in city traffic. But I'm really ok with that because I'm concerned about me driving in city traffic.

Now I've finished my grading and have just a couple more days to enjoy being bored before teaching starts again on Monday. I have a feeling that second semester will fly by, especially with all the extensive vacations coming up. More travel to come!

Drawing Near

Today is the beginning of the end...of the semester. We will be grading students' speaking today and then the final written exam is next week Monday and Tuesday. I have no idea how to grade a speaking exam. And I am also becoming increasingly aware that these final exam grades are a reflection on my competence as a teacher, awesome.

Also a new thing learned for today: Having the thought "We're going to die" more than three times on the way to the MCC office in the morning is a less than optimal way to start the morning.

Almost....

My parents are coming in four days. It's crazy. And yes, I'm trying not to think about it too much, but even so it still doesn't seem that close. What does seem very close is the exam review and speaking evaluation I have to do this week. Then the final exams next week. And then the grading of everything after that. Those seem close because they are very tangible. They exist here in Cambodia. My parents do not yet exist in Cambodia. I think it might be a little strange when they do. Clash of Contexts.

This weekend was pretty busy with a couple dinners on Saturday and Sunday night. Although enjoyable, I think I need to work on my people skills in large groups of people I don't really know well. Or just remember not to move to Washington, DC anytime soon.

This Week

On Monday morning my parents called and told me that my Grandpa died. Well, he was technically my step-grandpa, but the only one I'd ever known. I was pretty upset. But after the non-Super Bowl party that I was at at 6:30 in the morning I headed to school. Taking the day off was not an option because of how close it is to the end of the semester. Teaching was rough on Monday, but has been a little better since then. But the week has still been crazy with all the teachers trying to compile bits and pieces into a final exam. It is hard to prep students for a final exam when you haven't seen the thing yourself yet. So mostly I've been walking around half insane this week. If you're here in Cambodia with me, you've had fair warning... If you're not in Cambodia with me, wait until next week if you need coherent conversation. As you can see, this blog post is a good example of non-coherent communication on my part.