Sushi

Obviously, the first thing you do when you meet someone is introduce yourself, share your name. This small exchange has brought a LOT of joy, as the response has been largely unanimous. When I say my name is Susie, the kids and teachers alike repeat it back to me as a question. Like, "really, your name is Susie?" And I repeat back, "Yes, Susie," and without fail, there is an immediate, on the spot laughter, giggles and the response, "like the food from Japan?" Yep, I imagine you are following. They hear my name as Sushi. Pretty great! To say the least, they all remember my name. :)

Let me share a standard day for me and at the school:

6am-Rise and shine!

6:30am-Walk to get a cappuccino, do a bit of yoga, write here in my blog

7am-Breakfast at the Guesthouse. Typically I get a omelet with tomato, black pepper and onion, no toast.

7:25am-Order a tuk-tuk via Grab (Cambodia's version of Uber)

7:30am-Commute to school in tuk-tuk with my roommate, 71 year old, Margarita

8am(ish)-Arrive at school and begin the day with kiddos.

8-8:40am-Study with kids

8:40-9am-Play/Recess...Repeat until 11am

11-1pm-Eat lunch (Rice and a soup), nap (usually around 1.5 hours, it's lovely), and the children all shower.

1-1:40pm-Study with kids

1:40-2pm-Play/Recess...Repeat until 4pm (Kids stay til 4:30-5)

4pm-Book tuk-tuk to head home

Phewwwww. And that, my friends, is loosely an average day.

I have been rotating to a different class everyday, and the language barrier is pretty real in the class, but it's amazing how much I've been able to assist and help! I had THE BEST DAY on Wednesday with the last class on my rotation. The teacher asked if I had games or lessons I wanted to teach the kiddos, and I showed up to play! The kids were learning about fractions, so I whipped up a game relating to that, showed the kids how to make a leaf relief drawing with crayons (there will be pictures below!), and ended with playing with hula hoops!

I'm needing to wrap this up and head to work, so I will leave you all with some beautiful photos of the classroom and the above activities!