School, Cycling and Street 6Z

It has been a little while since my last post, mainly due to the fact school has started and I have been flat out with that. Only 3 weeks till the first half term break though and the start of the year has flown by. Next weekend I am heading to Sihanoukville, a beach town on the south coast, then cacthing a bus to Laos for the mid term break, then to Bangkok for the weekend after that. I have also booked in to go to Chang Mai in Thailand next February. Exciting times.....

iCAN - My new school
After our Tour De Mekong Island, our first official school day began on campus. Upon entering, what looks like a very plain building from street level, I am greeted by an infinity pool and a huge open area with outdoor furniture, chairs and decor in every colour of the rainbow. Instantly my fears and anxieties about my new place of employment were swept aside.

The school is modern, well stocked, and had everything an educator could need. Right down to the photocopied text books (Thank god for a lack of copyright laws).
The staff are all friendly and the best bit about the whole place is that i am NOT ALLOWED to wear shoes inside. Meaning i walk around barefoot all day everyday!
I only have 6 kids in my class, which is both a blessing and a curse.
I know what the rest of you teachers are thinking,
"How can he complain about only having 6 kids, when i have 30?"
Well it can be tough sometimes. Think group work...I only have enough for 1 group or 2 at the most. But mainly its awesome.

The kids are so well behaved. For example yesterday the leg on my teachers chair broke and i feel flat on my back in the middle of teaching. Imagine the response you might get in Australia or the UK? Screaming laughter, whooping, hollering, grief for days. Here? The all looked on in silence, shocked at what had happened.
"Are you alright Mr Nathan?"
Again another example: The kids here call me Mr Nathan. Informal, personal.
The school does not believe in homework, there are no defined assessment protocols and its generally the most relaxed school i have ever seen.
I may look back at this post in months/years and say,
"How wrong was I?"
But for now.....iCAN see myself loving this place.

ADVENTURES OF THE GREEN MACHINE

Look left, look right, look left again. Then go.....dont hesitate!

The pure craziness that is the traffic in Phnom Penh cannot be described.

The only rule i have picked up so far is: If you have a Lexus 4WD or a Landrover then you have right of way.
When i say this is the only rule, i mean the ONLY rule. Dont even think for a moment this would include something we would consider simple in the west like, driving on the correct side of the road. It is the ONLY rule.

I purchased the Green Machine for a pricely sum of $US35 and he came with comlimentary basket, light, lock and a very tempermental chain which likes to come off at the most inappropriate of times, eg. crossing the busiest steet in Phnom Penh during peak hour.

I ride to school every day, which is only 2 mins away and this contains only right hand turns, which we have come to find are a must to survive. Often we will take a longer route to cut down on left hand turns and therefore the need to cross over lanes of traffic. To be honest to begin with riding here was daunting and almost suicidal but I have learnt quickly to adapt and now feel comforatble enough to ride my bike anywhere, even at night time. Phnom Penh is a relatively small city for the number of people living here so a bike is the perfect vechile to get around on.

Our HOUSE

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=134053&id=645643528&l=93d6bab617

Two weekends ago we moved into our new house on street 6Z. When i say we i am referring to what is know known as "The Family" or "The Girls and Me."
I have moved in with Olivia and Jo, both from the UK and Andrea, a Kiwi. My initial worries about moving in with girls have subsided and things have been fantastic so far. We all get on really well and have enjoyed each others company immensly so far.
We have the top two floors of the house which we are in and after having made our way past 2 security gates we are into our outdoor lounge room. The middle floor has our bedrooms, kitchen, and 3 bathrooms, then upstairs is the jewel in the crown. A huge rooftop terrace, perfect for parties or just to catch the evening breeze.
After Olly had the showbox of a room at the guesthouse she was really keen on having first dibs on rooms. There were no real fights over rooms and i think everyone is happy with their room, although Olly did complain for the first few days about how dark her room is.
We have big plans for the roof top terrace, and talk of tiling the ground, sand, trees, fairly lights and pool tables are all very exciting. Once we get the first pay cheque through the pimping will begin in readiness for our housewarming bonanza!
Our street is a quiet dead end street with lots of Khmer families. They are all really friendly, however the next door neighbour has the most annoying little dog which yaps its way constantly though both day and night. Im off to the Russian market next weekend to try to find a pellet gun to shut it up.
I guess this is only a small inconvienece compared to some of the other houses we saw with their shoddy plumbing and bizzare architechture (tiles floor to ceiling?? why??)
Check of the photos on facebook by clicking on http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=134053&id=645643528&l=93d6bab617