Home again

On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 11:53 PM, Aria wrote:

I miss getting emails from you and Cambodia every day.

 How ya holdin' up?

From: Corbin
Date: Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 10:43 AM
Subject: Re: Day....
To: Aria

Haha! I miss it too! There are days when I think "Oh no! I didn't write Aria yet!" and then I look around and remember I'm not in Cambodia anymore :(

Well I think my my stomach is finally used to eating processed American foods again. I decided to move back out here to La'ie just for the summer, but I haven't found housing or a job yet. Fingers crossed.

Corbin did find a job, teaching a Student Development class for brand new international students.  He loves it. 

Talk Story

It's something we do all the time in Hawaii, and something we so rarely get to actually do as teachers. 

"Chakrya came by herself today and neither of us were in a learning/teaching mood so I spent the time just talking with her; it's nice to just talk 1-on-1 because the student (sometimes) feels more at ease for asking questions (or it can be the exact opposite where they're really nervous). Fortunately Chakrya wasn't nervous at all, the time allowed me to just get her to talk, practice that really everyone needs. In our conversing she told me that because Khmer New Year is coming up (Apr. 13) some of the children are starting to leave for their homelands. At least one child has already left so I plan on going to the orphanage tomorrow to take pictures with as many of them as I can because more will leave over the weekend."

 

--Corbin

A day and it's issues

Today's lesson started off on a bad note. [The little kid] was over-the-top annoying and Socheat thought it would be funny to say "sh*t" repeatedly so I was pretty sour. Everyone was very talkative when all they had to do was write some example sentences I had given them on the board. Pattica thought I was picking on him a lot today and Sophanuth and Phanith were laughing at everything for no apparent reason. I was pretty silent and they all knew I wasn't very happy so they'd quiet down but then they'd forget themselves and start up again. GAH! I was so close to just yelling at all of them today but this is like the first time they've ever been so restless so I took the "scary, silent" route and they eventually wised up and just listened to me. By the end of the lesson everything felt back to normal and afterwards I just took Socheat to the side and asked him not to say that anymore and he apologized and made up excuses like that he didn't know it was bad and while I don't believe him I just said ok and to stop saying that.

-- Corbin

Patterns for group 2

Corbin, who has had some interesting experiences with the American visitors to CICFO the past few weeks, has made a lot of progress and is continuing his work with the students whenever he can.
 "Today was pretty good. The majority of group 2 came and we were able to work on some crosswords as well as watch a Mr. Bean video on Youtube. I can't completely say they love Mr. Bean (although honestly, who doesn't?) but I think they really enjoy anything that isn't actual work."
We do Mr Bean videos because they are wordless, but it is simple to ask questions and have them correctly answered.  They're funny, simple, short...it's a great accidental teaching tool. 

Cambodian Visas

I feel like this information is hard to find, or just plain unknown.

Foreigners must have visas to enter Cambodia.  You may purchase an e-visa while you are outside of Cambodia.  You can purchase a visa for 1 month, 3 months, or 1 year.  However, we've been told at Cambodian Passport Agencies that tourist visas are only valid for 1 month, regardless of what your e-visa says.  There are other visa options available.
While you are in Cambodia, you can only purchase a visa for a period of 1 month.
While you are in Cambodia, you may apply for a visa renewal only once.
ONE TIME.
There is a $5 fee for every day that you have stayed in Cambodia past the date of your visa expiration. This fee must be paid at your port of exit, be it a border or the airport. 
If you need to extend your stay in Cambodia, you must exit the country.  You may do this by traveling to Poi Pet, which is on the border of Cambodia and Thailand.  There you will exit Cambodia, enter Thailand, and re-enter Cambodia at which time you will be able to purchase a valid visa.
You can also leave the country through the Vietnam/Cambodia border.  It really is up to you. I don't know about Vietnam, but for individuals with US Passports, there is no entrance fee for Thailand.

Word puzzles

Another day another lesson. Group 2 was a little more rowdy than yesterday, but they enjoyed the activities I had for them today. I did another crossword puzzle (I have found these to be much more thought-provoking than word searches) and for the first 10 minutes they were very confused but no one wanted to ask me so I had no idea. Eventually they all got it and it was great! Their faces just lit up when they understood and it looked like they really had fun completing the puzzle.

Week in a nutshell

day 53- This may be a surprise but group 2 has become much less difficult to teach! Today's main activities were a crossword puzzle and watching a Mr. Bean vid on youtube and then discussing it. They really seemed to enjoy the video (although they became a lot more silent once the video was over and I asked them a few questions about it).

day 52- Women's day celebration, so class was early.  


To reward the kids who had been coming to class consistently, the plan for day 51 was to watch Megamind.  Almost the entire class showed up, which is both good and unfortunate.  We try so hard to reward hard work, and not those who regularly neglect the English class.


Corbin got sick early in the week and has been trying to catch up since then.  It gets a little stir-crazy when you're ill, but he pulled through like a champ.