Chaul Chnam Thmey បុណ្យចូលឆ្នាំថ្មី

Suddenly the Khmer New Year celebrations are upon us.  Chual Chnam Thmey - as the teachers at Kurata said to us over repeated toasts on Tuesday - Happy New Year, although for some reason we heard it as Joel Chnam Khmer and were assured that - yes, it did mean Happy Khmer New Year. (Wrong!)  The schools now take a well-earned break until 20 April, with some of the teachers going on a trip to Preah Vihear Temple on the Thai border.  This should provide more material for another blog entry.  It should, however, be noted that most teachers have to go into school on a rota basis over the holiday in order to act as security guards.  It's not an easy job, this teaching in Cambodia!

Monday saw the Spitler School New Year celebrations with many of the younger children dressed in their finery dancing to a disco set up in the compound.  The volume was turned up to slightly above distortion level, just about drowning out the noise of the portable generator, and the children crowded together around the stacked speakers to dance wildly.  We were invited by the teachers to their classrooms to share drinks and fruit (an especially lovely one called  a 'rose-apple') so we could watch the festivities from a distance without being compelled to make idiots of ourselves by dancing.  Soon the talcum powder was out - and anyone near was liberally sprinkled.  Things were a little gentler this year, as last year buckets of water were thrown over our German volunteer, Koljia, and water-filled balloons were thrown everywhere.  It would appear that the government has put a stop to that this year.  (Bit of a relief.)

Ann Hoy, one of the Spitler English teachers was enjoying the morning and looking very relaxed.  We know how tired he can get during a working week, what with a morning session at Spitler School, followed by an afternoon session at a government school (as a Grade 6 class teacher, teaching Maths, Geography and Khmer, among other subjects), a new baby daughter at home to keep him awake at night - AND a house to build in his village.  He also donates his time some evenings to teaching English to the children of his village.  He says he's determined to get the roof on his house before the end of the New Year holiday, and then he and his family will be able to live there together as a unit. He suffered rather on Saturday when an almighty (but very welcome for the rest of us) rain storm hit the area and all his belongings were soaked.
He was trained at Siem Reap Provincial Teacher Training College and has taken very well to some of the new ideas in communicative language teaching that we have introduced.  When Loll first encouraged him to use puppets with the younger children he was very apprehensive: 'I can't do that, ' he said.  And then, a week later he could be seen entertaining (and educating) the Grade 1 and 2 children with the most convincing puppet work we have ever seen! He also tells the most entertaining stories when teaching Jolly Phonics, the children's reactions proving that a fun approach can work wonders and they really learn.

New Year celelebrations at Kurata

On Tuesday, we were picked up by Vibol in the brand new SSF tuk-tuk and taken out to Kurata School for their New Year celebrations.  We - Nick, Loll, Meghan and Josh - sat sedately in the back of the tuk-tuk feeling a little like royalty arriving at a state occasion.  The fact that we were sharing the seats with two enormous bags of bread rolls, so we had nowhere to put our feet except to poke them out each side of the chariot - rather let the effect down.  Nevertheless, we managed some energetic royal waves as we entered the school grounds (though Meghan and Josh, being American, had to follow our lead on this one and didn't quite manage the British subtlety.)

There was no dancing at Kurata.  Instead, large pots of chicken curry, rice and various vegetables were cooking over an open fire outside the library, and the teachers delivered bowls of the wonderful food to the children who all sat patiently waiting at their desks until everyone had received their share.

 Then they all tucked in.

Theary with her kindergarten children, chicken curry and bread rolls.

The Angry Birds pose for a photograph.

Once the children had all been fed they left the school and all the teachers gathered in the library for their own celebration.  Joel Chnam Khmer (or, more accurately, Chaul Chnam Thmey) we chanted periodically as we toasted each other and tried - through our different language barriers  - to communicate with each other.  The staff are so incredibly friendly and welcoming to us barangs, and they are clearly really happy to see us there and appreciate the introduction of the English programme to the school.  Some of the teachers have good English, so we manage to learn a little about each other.  Meghan and Josh - whose Khmer has come on magnificently over the last few months - also help bridge the communication gap.  Though how we bridge the American/British English divide we don't know. (As Mr Churchill, or Shaw or someone observered, the United States and Great Britain are two nations divided by a common language...) Still, this blog will continue resolutely in British English - until Jim gets his hands on it, of course!

Vibol and Sophat present certificates to the English teachers.

We had a very enjoyable time with the teachers and began to get to know each other.  Let's hope that this will continue in the future.  Nick was very pleased to hear that one of the younger teachers thought he was handsome, though she finally admitted, after some prompting from Loll, that this was in a grandfatherly sort of way.  Ah well! And Meghan and Josh were presented with their Spitler Certificates by Vibol and school Principal, Sophat.

The teachers' New year celebration.

Finally, Vibol informed us that our 'chariot' was ready, and we set off back to Siem Reap and two weeks' holiday.

The visitors are seen off the premises by Kurata Principal and staff.