grade 8 and grade 2

Well, here are some pics of my kids! I need to still take some pictures with grade 7... Grade 8 is probably the most interesting for me, since they're pretty fluent in English. We've been studying sentance structure and kinds of writing. They're all really smart, and just need help with grammer (Khmer has no past/future tenses for verbs, so that's a challenge).

And Grade 2... takes a lot of energy! Their ages range from about 6-12, so it can become kind of a zoo. They're all at different levels of confidence with English, but I try to keep things fun and practical. We do a lot of TPR (Total physical resonse) exercises, basically like Simon says in English. They love singing and they love stickers, so that's always a good way to break up the lessons when they start to lose focus. ...but, there's a stick in the classroom for when I have to bang on their desks for attention! I know that God is really helping me with this class, and I'm glad He sent my friend Seyha to help (he speaks Khmer and English).

Monica's goodbye party

Here are a couple pics from Monica's goodbye party. The students were so sad to see here go, many cried and a few just didn't want to go back to the dorms/houses. I am praying God would make a way for Monica to come back, I know God really worked through her to minister to these kids. We miss you Mon!

Tonle Sap... 2 page essay due Thursday!

It's an essay *and* a field trip! It's for your science class and your English class! My grade 8 students are hating me, but, their writing is getting a lot better. Haha... on the Friday before Monica left, we all cycled out to Tonle Sap. Tonle Sap is a river/lake with two main vilages on it (one is Cambodian, one Vietnamese). We took a boat out and I was simultaneously saddened and amazed how these people live out on the water. Yes, there were Water World jokes.... but seriously, the quality of life is poor. The people do everything with that water: fish, bathe, go to the bathroom, drink and cook with it. The students had a great time, most all of them had never been on a boat - and - we were blessed to have a microphone on the boat. So, we took turns being the tour guide and singing songs. (sorry no Korean-style karaoke). Pray for the people who live out on these floating vilages, I can't imagine living like that...

cycling to lake Barray

Our holiday on Thursday was great! I'm looking back to it fondly after my first day teaching today... Sieam Reap (and from what I can tell, most of Cambodia) is fairly flat. We cycled out for a picnic lunch with a group of our students and staff to a spot on the lake lined with matts and little tents and hammocks. I managed to get pretty sun burned on the ride, but am healing and pretty much done peeling now. It was fun to be with the students on a social level first (before they realize how strict I might be in the classroom).

Although the quality of the water is somewhat questionable, it was quite fun swimming and chasing the kids around. I was surprised that some can't swim and just floated around on intertubes. We went on a boat ride to the island on the middle of the lake, and the students and staff had fun telling us all about the different stories about the small temple there.

What I've pieced together so far was, there was a crocodile that lived there and fell in love with a princess, but she was in love with the king of Thailand, so the crocodile ate him. After that, the king took her away from the crocodile so he wouldn't eat her too, so they used to leave food at his "bed" like a sacrifice? Anyway, his bed is what looks like an outdoor bath made of stone. And I'm not sure if it's the same princess, but anyway, there's some princess that bathes there and became 7 colors.

The island itself is very beautiful, and sadly full of children trying to sell me braclets and postcards. I still had some pamphlets from the last mission trip on the truth about God, and the kids were very interested, since in Buddhism, the concept of "God"is very impersonal and abstracted. Pantheism is heavily practiced here because people are in such need, they are willing to pray to everything/anyone, and do. I hope those kids come to know life as more than selling souveniers... and that there is one God who hears and answers prayers.