Back on track

After much delay I am back online. Thanks to my parents my computer has been returned to Cambodia and I now have internet! I don't think I can possibly catch up on what has happened since my last post, as it has been months!!! But I had a wonderful summer full of visitors (see pictures, and for the record I wore a white shirt and green shorts that day with my parents too, and it was definitely an accident) and as this IS Cambodia not TOO much has really changed.

I'm starting to feel like I'm in the home stretch now, though I think that's wishful thinking as we still have about seven months left of service. I've been striving to spend as much time as possible just working with my students. I absorb their every free hour with English class, hoping to give them every opportunity to learn English for free while I am here. I teach a grammar and vocabulary review class during the lunch hour, I have an English conversation club four evenings a week with 19 dedicated students, and four students who come to my house for a sort of "book club" to read stories.
The hours I spend with my students really fly by, and I'm actually seeing some improvement. Whether or not that has anything to do with my teaching skills I don't know, but it is nice to see.

All the students in my club chose "American" names at the beginning of the school year either from a list I provided or one they knew of on their own. It is funny when the students' personalities align with that of their namesakes (all the names I gave were those of people I know, which makes it more fun for me). The two real odd-ball choices were Davina, whose real name is Mary. The only student with a name that was already American invented a totally random name, but if it works for her that's fine.
And then there is Abraham Lincoln. I can't tell if he thinks we know each other well enough to make jokes, or he really dislikes me. His vocabulary is quite extensive (although his pronunciation is HORRIBLE and I have no idea what he is saying half the time) and he always commits fully to the activities I assign in class. But then he makes these horribly off-color comments or says the most morbid things! I found out recently his mother was murdered a few years ago, so I've been trying to be more understanding of where his strange sense of humor comes from, but I've been tempted to kick him out a few times for being inappropriate, rude, or just saying freaky things. Unfortunately, there's no John Wilkes Booth in the class (history jokes!).
For the record, Margaret and Andrew are two of my favorite students and are both incredibly clever. Lindsay is one of the sweetest students I know, and she has a twin sister who chose the name Alyson (who was also in my health club). And of course, Lorissa is sassy. That's the best way to describe her. She's got sass for days.
I plan to post more often in case there's anyone out there who is still interested in my daily happenings (now that I have super internet at site!!!) so for now a brief catch-up will suffice.
Belated Happy Holidays and New Year to everyone! 2011 is looking good so far.