Yes, it was a busy week. Not because I had started working but because there had been too many social gatherings and events.
First of all, this week started off with some guest speakers from another country briefing the teenagers about their future career and how to write a CV. Actually, the topic was too advanced and too abstract for the teenagers from the villages. The guest speakers (also teenagers and volunteers) also realised that after a while. But it was a full day workshop. Poor those teenagers from the villages. They had no idea what was going on. Later in the afternoon, somehow the agenda changed (I was only an observer. I wasn’t engaged in any of their activities) to a singing competition. It turned out that the guest speakers were from a singing organisation. They held an audition and then offered to mentor the kids. Now, these kids were interested and were very enthusiastic and serious about the competition. Some of them even practised singing during lunch time.
The next day, the competition started in the afternoon. The kids were so nervous. For some, it was probably their first time to sing in a hotel conference room. I was quite impressed by some of their performances. Two of them have the potential to be a star! I was so excited and I said to the winner, ‘I will be your manager!’ Lol!
Later in the week, I was invited to a wedding. Before I came, I deliberately packed a couple of dresses for this kind of occasion. I didn’t expect I’d attend one so soon. The couple is Vietnamese. Both of them are Catholics. Do I know them? Nope. Lol. Anyway, it wasn’t a traditional Khmer wedding ceremony. It was held in a Catholic church and after that came the first banquet. Yes, I said ‘first’. I was told the wedding in this country last for 2 days. The food they serve on the first day is cooked by the family – all homemade. Oh, my! It was sooooo delicious!! On the second day, the food is from restaurants. For some, they hold the entire wedding in a hotel. It will be very expensive to book the hotel for two days, according to the local standard.
I helped a volunteer here to work on some simple accounting work. Speaking of work, the paid local staff are pretty laid back. When I was helping the volunteer in the office, the paid local staff would go out and get some mangoes or some drinks. Taking a break is very common here. I think it may have something to do with the industry they are working in – charity. If they work in the financial industry or maybe startups, things may be different, I guess. They know that the deadline is coming (next week) and the headquarters will send an auditor over to check their books, and yet they are still very relaxed.
Next week, I will go into a village where I will teach the kids English and hopefully the students there will have an online cultural exchange experience with some students from Hong Kong later this year. Look forward to it! 🙂 Stay tuned! 🙂
P.S. If you’d like to find out my travel footprints (so far), check out my blog here. 🙂