Other volunteers told us how well behaved the students were, how the teacher (Teem) managed the 200+ students in one classroom beautifully, even how they all would say hello in perfect unison. Despite them telling us all of this, we were totally unprepared for it. I mean, how prepared can you be after a 20 minute bumpy tuk-tuk ride on dirt roads, through rice fields, to a tiny village in the middle of the Cambodian countryside where you find yourself in front of 200 village students asking if you have a boyfriend in perfect English?
After the greetings, followed by some Q & A, and a lot of singing, we broke off into different groups. Andrew and I went with Jake and a group of about 50 students. The boys seemed to be on white board duty and carried white boards from their classroom to the area we would have class, while the girls grabbed our hands and asked us what our favorite subject, animal, color, etc. was. Our class mainly consisted of a worksheet revolving around what a “mistake” was. The students breezed through it rather quickly, and by the time they were finished, it was time for a break. It took awhile to get away from the students. They wanted pictures with me... then with Andrew... then with me AND Andrew... then of *only* me and Andrew...
They seemed super entertained we were boyfriend and girlfriend, and even made us give each other kisses. It was all very adorable and entertaining, and made me wish desperately I had my new Polaroid I ordered right before we left Korea. Fortunately, I found out there is a photo printer in town, where I can get pictures developed on the cheap to take back with us on Monday!
Our break consisted of an iced coffee from the sweetest coffee lady in all of Cambodia. She practiced her ABC’s while we sat and sipped our coffee.
Teem joined us and taught us how to play “Stop the bus!” with the students for the next class period. “Stop the bus!” Is a game where students work in groups of 5 and have to think of different words that begin with the assigned letter under our designated categories:
Country, Animals, Food, Body (part), Colors
So, for example: If we wrote “C” on the board (as we did at the beginning) The students will then write down:
Cambodia, Camel, Carrot, etc.
When they are finished, with a word for each category, their group will shout out, “Stop the bus!”
The game is a lot harder than we thought it would be. A color beginning with “C?” All I could think of was cerulean, which the students did not think of. So, often we would jump to a new letter if they were having too hard of a time getting a word for every category. They ate it up though. Loved it. Were captivated by it for the entire class period.
After class, all 200 students assembled back in their desks (shared tables and benches) and thanked us for coming, sang some more, and gave Sarah a big (very heartwarming) goodbye. Sarah has been volunteering mostly at Little Po for the past 6 weeks. She held it together pretty well, I know I would have cried my eyes out if so many students came up to give me cards and even sing a special song! Most of the students ran out as we left to wave goodbye and tell us they’d see us on Monday, which means, whether or not we planned on returning or not, now we have to go. Not that we mind at all, but it’s going to be a little difficult when we have to say we won’t be able to see them the next day.
Sarah decided she wanted to go out to one of the local karaoke (noraebang to me!) joints on her last night. When we arrived, we sat outside at a table for some drinks and snacks waiting for everyone to arrive. Jake asked us if we knew how karaoke rooms worked in Cambodia. We laughed, and I said, “Well, we know how they work in Korea…” At which point Jake filled us in that Karaoke establishments in Cambodia cater to men, and for the most part men only. Girls are sold to the business (by their families) and then work to pay off their rent and perhaps buy their way out of their position at the Karaoke place? It was unsettling. Even more unsettling was when we got a room and two girls went in with us, regardless if we wanted them there or not. In Cambodia, a private karaoke room comes with one or two girls. They are “in charge” of the remote, pouring drinks, and then walking around to cheers! each person (to get patrons to drink more).
Andrew and I were not happy with the two girls working the room (in more ways than one, even though no one was interested in anything they were doing). Not to mention the selection was terrible. No Madonna. No Queen. No Boyz II Men. And they cut Andrew off singing Mr. Big. We’re pretty well versed in karaoke. Korea tends to do that to you after one month, let alone the amount of years we have under our belts there. So when the girls kept stopping songs, then singing their own Cambodian jams, then turning on dance music as if to turn the noraebang into a club without singing… No. No. No.
We were able to squeeze in a super long rendition of Do Re Mi from The Sound of Music, and Uptown Girl, but I can safely say it was the creepiest and most weird noraebang experience I’ve ever had. When we got our bill, they tried to charge us for food we didn’t ask for, nor eat. And despite the girls drinking whatever they wanted and stealing the remote the whole time, they were obviously not required to participate in paying for the experience. Although just to be cheeky, I purposely counted everyone in the room and then looked at the bill and asked them for $2.00 each. They looked at me like I was crazy. I responded with a little pantomime of them holding the remote control, singing, dancing, and most importantly drinking, and asked for $2.00 again. They laughed, although I don’t think they were as happy as my new volunteer friends were with my charades. We biked back to the volunteer center swearing never to return to karaoke in Cambodia again. (Ok, so maybe only Andrew and I were the ones who vowed to never return, but if you’re reading this and find yourself in Cambodia itching to sing into the microphone… maybe it’s best to wait until you’re back in Korea.)
