sur sdey chnam thmey

This morning I taught R~’s K/1st class about the Cambodian New Year. I was so nervous and stressed, which is a tad ridiculous when you consider that I got my degree in elementary education – I’m supposed to be comfortable in situations like that. But mostly I was worried that her teacher forgot she set aside this time for me and I’d show up and she’d have something else set up and all my prep work would be for nothing. I think she may have actually forgotten (despite the fact I talked with her about it twice and I saw her write it on a calendar) because the daily schedule on the board said “centers” and R~ has been talking all week about how they were going to plant sunflower seeds at centers on Friday. But anyway, I showed up right after the school bell rang and said “are we ready to celebrate the Cambodian New Year?” And she said, “yes” and quickly changed what it said on the board. So all that to say I really didn’t need to worry that much about it.

And wow that was a rambling introduction to my little class lesson on the New Year! Sorry about that. Zeeb was up twice last night because he can’t sleep without socks (!) and I’m tired and spacey.

So anyway, R~ was very excited to share with the class. I packed a silk bag I bought in Cambodia with some of our little treasures… Cambodian dolls, the Cambodian Princess Barbie, a Cambodian flag, a Krama and a little silver mirror I bought at the Central Market. We passed things around and talked about them. I read a bit of The Bora Boys . And I tried to explain the Zodiac to the class and told them what year they were born in and that 2007 is the Year of the Pig. Which segued into our craft project, making a paperbag pig puppet. (yeah, I know it’s a not a very “authentic” Cambodian craft, but I thought it fit the theme pretty well). I also printed out a worksheet that teaches how to write the numbers 1-5 in Cambodian and the kids thought that was kind of cool too. And just before the kids ran out to recess, I handed out small slices of Num Cafe (Cambodian coffee cake — thanks CC for the recipe link!) and a piece of palm sugar candy. Amazingly, almost all the kids liked the cake and most of them liked the candy. But then, they are rather American tasting, especially compared to most other Cambodian foods I’ve had. (Which are way harder to make and thus not coming from my kitchen any time soon!)

So that was the one hour “lesson.” Amazingly (and to my relief) the kids stayed on topic with me and I didn’t get any questions about why R~ was born in Cambodia or anything like that. And R~ seemed to have a very good time with her mom (and thus by association, her) at the center of attention.

And thus ends our observance of the Cambodian New Year. A parade and a classroom talk. It isn’t much, but it’s something.

And a little New Year gift for you… a music video. I like this one because it shows the games Cambodians play at the New Year and the music is cool too.

 Happy New Year All… Hope The Year of the Pig is a good one for everyone.