Goodbye and Thank You Meester Willem

The kids have been taking Dutch lessons after their regular school hours at the international school for the last 4 years. It is a fantastic program and the kids love going. Meester Willem was their teacher for the last 3 years and he is leaving the program to work for a local NGO in Cambodia. I made this photo slide show and shared it with parents at the final General Parent Meeting of the school year. It shows how great the program is, both in and outside the classroom!

10K at Angkor Wat

My friends talked me into running with them at 5:00 in the morning three days a week. Next thing I knew I was doing "long runs" on the weekend and signing up for my first 10K.
Pretty awesome feeling to cross that finish line with people cheering you on all around.
Of course the location of the run added to the magic. S&E ran the 3K Family Fun Run and are proud of their accomplishment!
C is the one who got me here. Knowing she and the rest of our running buddies are waiting for me at 5 AM helps me get up and tie those laces.
Six kids (ages 2 to 9) in a van for a five hour drive to Siem Reap? No problem, we've got movies! Did I mention that we left Phnom Penh on Saturday at noon, after the Sinterklaas celebration, drove to Siem Reap, slept, got up at 5:00, ran, ate, showered, and drove back to Phnom Penh to be home by 5:00 pm on Sunday? Impressive!

Sinterklaas in Cambodja 2010

It's all in the anticipation..... E can't wait for Sinterklaas & his Zwarte Pieten to arrive at Gasolina where the event is held.

There he is! Quite the sight for the local Cambodians too.

All the classes perform for Sinterklaas. S's class wrote a play, made puppets, recorded the voices and acted out the scenes above a screen. They are taking in the applause here.

E's class wrote a story together, illustrated it and read aloud one page each.

After all the singing, performing, and eating of speculaas, pepernoten and chocolade letter, each family is called to Sinterklaas. He had nice things to say about S&E and gave them each a gift. Dank je Sinterklaasje!

Birthday Circus

Our little girl turned six! After counting down the days for weeks, the big day arrived. Complete with streamers, gifts and those silly glasses with candles!
Treating cupcakes in the classroom. Baking by our dear cook, frosting and additional decorating by S & E. Thanks for the cool cupcake stand mama!
The Welcome to the Circus Birthday Party! Complete with tent and fanfare music.
The Ring Master (who took of his cape to cool off a little) convinced all cord dancers to walk the tightrope with a parasol in one hand, and later with a hat in the other.
Who is the strongest (wo)man? Everyone in the group stuffs one girls' shirt with balloons to create big muscles!
E had her cake and ate it too. This one was special ordered from the ngo Bloom's. It was a big hit and it took us days to finish! All in all, a pretty good birthday for a six year old!

Thanksgiving Feast 2010

Thanksgiving is such a special holiday for Americans abroad. It brings together friends and includes all nationalities and all faiths. This year we celebrated with a very dear French family and their 4 kids who also brought a Malaysian friend's daughter, and another dear American family and their daughter. They are actually responsible for this yummy turkey.
Always a teacher at heart I provided art materials and books on Thanksgiving for the small army of kids. I had hoped to see a play performed with Indians and Pilgrims after dinner but had to settle for kids who happily and loudly ran around the house together. Beauty in its own form!

Cambodian Water Festival Beach Trip

While J was is Nice, France for the ECIS conference, E and the kids traveled to the beach with another Dutch family during Water Festival. The kids are 11, 9, 8 and almost 6 and they are one happy gang. The new boogie boards added to the fun big time.
The view from the beach at the sixties style Independence Hotel in Sihanoukville. Mrs Jackie Kennedy stayed here in 1967. There is still a suite named after her.

Swim, water games and sculpture building after a rainstorm.

The gang expands as we run into other expat families from Phnom Penh!

Our friend P has the custom of building crazy sculptures on the beach at sunset. Everybody found things on the beach to add to them. After we returned home from this trip we were pretty tired. J arrived home the same evening and we all slept well that night. As I met my running group the next morning at 6 am I learned there had been a terrible stampede on the bridge to Diamond Island just a 10 minute walk from from our home. Many many people died and the country was in shock and mourning for weeks.

Gecko & Garden Pre-School Staff Field Trip to Kampot

Every year the staff from G&G goes on a field trip. Everyone brings her husband or fiancee, kids come along too. It's only one night away but months of planning, thought and discussion go into this. Last year it was the beach, this year I convinced the staff to go to Kampot and have the whole weekend planned ahead of time and contained to one simple resort on the river. It turned out to be a hugh success. They loved the kayak relay races, the buffet style lunches and dinner, and the night time boat ride to see phosphorous fish and fireflies by moonlight. S&E know the staff well by now and I think their favorite part was jumping from the porches overhanging the river. My favorite part? That a group of teachers insisted on going to the market to buy dried fish to bring home to their families. That and my one hour run through the rice fields in complete solitude. Well, me, the stray dogs and a couple of Cambodian kids on bikes.
The kayak relay races were so refreshing. These women and men love to laugh and be silly, reminding me of my parents and how they would laugh with tears streaming down their faces with friends when I was a little girl.

E jumping into the river. Over and over and over.

Fearless five year old!

S gets along well with the owners daughter M.

They are taking a plunge together here.

The staff took the bus there and back. I opted for the bus on the way there and joined my family in our car on the way home. I can only take so muck Khmer karaoke!

Our trustworthy little Rav4. Right outside Les Manguires Resort.

Cambodian countryside towards the end of the rainy season. The rice fields are a beautiful color green and stretch on for miles. Water buffalo are everywhere.