'There will be no students when you come back to the village so don't come back until October.' I got this call when I was in a minivan heading to Phnom Penh. 'October when?' I asked. 'I don’t know.' The other person answered. 'Huh?!' was my response. Flashback to the beginning of last week. My … Continue reading Exodus
The chef finished her contract and the school holidays have begun. The new chef is not on board yet because the management thinks it's better to wait until the school year commences when there are more students. That makes sense. The only full-time staff and some students left for Phnom Penh or Siem Reap over … Continue reading Home Alone
Love is... when your students take you to a nearby rice field and say, 'this is the place where I come whenever I feel sad.' when your students start to share with you their problems, not necessarily in details. when your students trust you and rely on you. when your students cut a piece of … Continue reading Love Is…
Starting from this week, I gave my students tests on phonetics. When I say tests, I don't really mean tests. I actually mean exercises but I want to give them a sense of 'pressure'. While learning is fun, giving them some 'pressure' (not too much) will help them improve further. After all, we all live … Continue reading Tests, Tests And More Tests… In Life
We left Cambodia and travelled to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It wasn't my first time to Ho Chi Minh City. But this time, I was with a big group so that was a bit different. The students from Cambodia were very excited. The first thing they saw at the border was the immigration of … Continue reading Hiking Is Like… Life. You Need to Take It Slow.
A group of Hong Kong people came to Cambodia through a Youth Exchange Programme to meet with Cambodian students and to travel with them to Vietnam. I helped to facilitate and coordinate the students. After we visited the Genocide Museum and the Killing Field, the local Cambodian students were so upset. They have heard of … Continue reading You Don’t Want History To Repeat Itself. So Learn To Love And Create A Better Future For Yourself And For Your Own Country
Why did I end up in a minivan with a huge metal tin full of protein-rich insects right in front of me? It’s exam week for all the students (primary schools, high schools and universities) in Cambodia so I took some time off and decided to travel to Phnom Penh to attend a start up … Continue reading ‘It’s all over…. I will be proud of myself’
'Wow! Online lessons! No way! No privacy! Everyone can see me!' Huh?! Online lessons <> live streaming on YouTube. 'I prefer face to face.' Huh?! You can see my face and I can see your face too. 'No! I can't learn phonetics online. I need to see your lip shapes.' Huh?! I can see your … Continue reading Online… Offline… Both Are Face to Face, Please!
I travelled all the way to Phnom Penh (a 3-hour drive, one way) for this international ICT and Mobile event and guess what? First, I couldn’t find the venue. Most of the buildings on Diamond Island are still under construction and the people working in the office building there didn’t know where the convention and … Continue reading Welcome to Cambodia!
Robert Kiyosaki, the author of 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad', always criticizes that schools never provide us financial education. Now, as a teacher (or a coach), I want to give my students some ideas. No, I didn't teach them how to get rich. Rather, I gave them a surprise [sinister laugh]. I gave them a topic. … Continue reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
