We dedicated one day in Phnom Penh to learn about the genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge and it was, as expected, a really disturbing day. I didn't know much about what actually happened until I started reading about it and visiting the sites. The first place we went to was the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek.


The Killing Fields is basically what the name describes - an area of mass graves and also the location where over 17,000 men, women and children were brutally executed. There is a giant white stupa (religious monument) that serves as a memorial to what happened between 1975-1978. Inside the stupa are about 9000 human skulls found during the excavations. Many of the skulls show that some of the prisoners were bludgeoned to death. It was horrifying to tell you the truth. There was also a small museum and several markers along the field that detailed more atrocities committed. It was overwhelming.


After walking around Choeung Ek we went to the Tuol Sleng Museum also called S-21. The building was originally a high school but was turned into a security prison during the rule of the Khmer Rouge. In 1975 Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, used the high school as his center of detention and torture in Cambodia. Most of the prisoners here were executed at the Killing Fields. Prisoners held in S-21 were tortured routinely and forced to admit to plots or conspiracies against the Khmer Rouge. During 1977, S-21 killed about 100 people per day. You can tour the prison and see the actual rooms and bed posts that remain along with several photographs of prisoners. The photos and the documentary film that we saw are definitely not for the faint of heart - the images were haunting and horrifying. It's scary to think that people were doing these things to each other just over 30 years ago.


Most of the other tourists we met along the way advised us not to visit both of these sites in one day but since we were on a tight schedule we decided to do it anyways. After spending a whole day immersed in the history of a genocide, I wouldn't recommend this itinerary either. Visiting both sites was informative and necessary but visiting them both in one day was a little extreme.

Owing to a bit of laziness and lack of motivation (and the fact that it is just plain hard) learning Chinese has not exactly been going as quickly and easily as hoped initially. Fortunately, Sean and I have some new helpers this semester: Qin Chen and Max. Qin Chen comes over on Sunday afternoons and evenings to help us with some common words and phrases. It is a lot of fun and she is a good teacher because she is tough on pronunciation and using the correct tone which is really, really hard to do. Sometimes we meet in a tea house or we all go out to dinner together and practice. Tonight she came over and we had a good time hanging out and practicing Chinese over sushi and Japanese rice bowls. Confusingly, the word "dorm" in Chinese sounds like "sue-shuh" which makes me think of "sushi" but the word "sushi" in Chinese sounds like "show-suh". Ahh!


On Thursdays, Jordan, Sean and I head over to a small classroom across the street with a senior student, Max. Max is another good friend and fun guy to be around. He is interested in teaching Chinese because he is looking to gain work experience as a teacher to foreigners as a possible job after graduation. Max is a fun teacher as well and uses games and music a lot during the class which can get a little overwhelming after 2 hours. While Qin Chen is a stickler on pronunciation, Max is a taskmaster about the characters. Jordan, being an artist, is really good at Chinese handwriting. I find it a little maddening because not only do you have to remember what it means and what each character looks like, you are supposed to remember the ORDER in which to draw each stroke (and it is not the order in which a westerner would necessarily think to do either).


Learning Chinese is a long, slow and frustrating process, but having teachers like Qin Chen and Max make it a lot more fun. The cool thing about learning Chinese in China is that you can practice it all the time! Though it seems impossible to remember everything, a previous teacher (Dave) and current teacher (Ken) are evidence that you can do it as they speak Chinese very well just after one year of living and teaching in China. Perhaps this means I should devote more than a few hours on Sunday and Thursday each week to this monumental task. It will be worth it!

One of the highlights of visiting the capital city was meeting with Eric and Angela Wolthuis and their son, Gabriel. The Wolthuis' have gone to our church in Holland as long as I can remember and now Eric and his wife are doing missionary work in Phnom Penh. They are working for Wycliff Bible Translators and are support staff - they run a school which teaches missionary children.


We met Eric at a cafe near a huge open market and then rode three deep on his moped to their house for dinner. The Wolthuis' used to work in Thailand for about 5 years but were transferred to Cambodia recently and they said it has been quite an adjustment. We had some really good conversations about the work they have done and are doing and also reminisced over common friends and experiences in Holland.

Their Cambodian housekeeper had prepared a typical Cambodian meal which was a treat. We had beef and vegetable soup, lamb meat balls, potatoes and tomatoes with watermelon for dessert. It was nice to be in a family home after constantly eating out and being on the road and it was hard to leave.


The next morning we met some another couple doing good in world - Sean's friends he met while playing ultimate in Bangkok. They were traveling through SE Asia and decided to stay in Cambodia to do non-profit work. Right now they are working with a NGO that teaches Cambodians in the community how to be soccer coaches so they can run some after-school soccer programs. They also raised enough money to take some of the coaches and students on a trip to the World Cup in South Africa.

It was fun to hear about their experiences as well but after talking to the Wolthuis' and Sean's friends there seemed to be one common thread: life in Cambodia is tough. There is still a lot of physical and emotional remnants of the tumultuous past and the recovery process is a slow, difficult and painful one.

Since we don't work many hours this semester the foreign teachers have enjoyed an abundance of game playing including basketball, tennis, badminton, Clue, Scrabble, Crowns, Cribbage and of course, poker.



One of the most entertaining highlights of the spring has been the staff basketball round robin. So far Team Foreign Language is 2-2 in the tourney and the next game on Monday decides whether they continue into the finals or not.


Being on the sidelines is a lot of fun and each time I think we are joined by more people (usually very interested and adoring female students keeping a close eye on Peter and Jordan). Ken's girlfriend, Zhen zhen usually stands with me and helps to translate what is going on in the game since I don't really know much about basketball rules and I know even less Chinese. Sometimes my tutors come and watch or students from class with nothing else to do. But a lot of people come to see just how talented the crazy white foreigners are at playing basketball. I have no doubt that many come expecting to see a game similar to those in the NBA but I bet they are not too disappointed since our team holds their own on the court and usually put on a pretty good show.


Sean and Jordan alternate between center and forward and Ken and Peter usually play point guards (I think I have this right). Jordan has the most experience and he and Sean definitely enjoy the advantage of being tall. Ken is fun to watch as he brings the hustle and emotion and constantly squabbles with the refs over unfair calls or calls that should have been made. It is pretty entertaining. Peter is solid on defense and a key team player who doesn't relish the spotlight and keeps everybody passing.



Some of the more frustrating games have included some unscrupulous refs (everyone agrees on this) who made an obscene number of foul calls on Jordan who eventually had to step out of the game. Sometimes being tall and good at basketball can make you a target here it seems. Though I was expecting the staff basketball games to be all fun and fair play, it seems the Chinese take sports and competition VERY seriously, no matter if the stakes are the Olympics or a university staff tourney; they are in it to win it.



But when the refs are good and the calls are fair, the guys have a really good time and each game they play a little bit better individually and as a team. The fans are improving too - we are practicing our cheers and chants in English and Chinese! But I think if one more person asks me if Sean and Jordan are ever going to dunk the ball, I am going to go crazy.

After we had our fill of ancient ruins at Angkor Wat, Sean and I headed south to the capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. A lot of people had recommended avoiding the city altogether since it is not particularly scenic or a huge tourist attraction. But Sean and I had some friends we wanted to meet up with there as well as some historic places we wanted to visit.


The bus ride was a long, slow and bumpy one. We also had to stop repeatedly for huge herds of cattle during which the bus driver honked his horn uncontrollably. It was amusing only first two or three times. During the drive I mostly looked out the window and aw the countryside, the many houses on stilts and muddy and wet rice paddies.

The Lonely Planet guidebook wasn't that encouraging either. Here's what it said about the city: "It's exotic, it's chaotic, it's beguiling, it's distressing, it's compulsive, it's repulsive. Every day brings a different experience, some a shock to the senses, others that bring a smile, some that confound all logic, others that wrench the emotions. Many cities are captivating, but Phnom Penh is unique in its capacity to both charm and chill to the bone."


The "chilling" quality that the guidebook refers to represents the hellish history that the city has gone through. Once known as the "Pearl of Asia" it was evacuated under the Khmer Rough in 1975. Many of the well-educated and political leaders were killed or forced to do hard labor as they were considered a threat to the Khmer Rouge and its vision of a new agrarian society. Because of the the gruesome past even now the city feels a little haunted. Many aspects of the city is struggling party because an entire generation of the most intelligent leaders and engineers was wiped out.

Our first impression of the capital was one of blessed relief. Phnom Penh was much less touristy and crazy than Siem Reap, the location of Angkor Wat. People were less pushy, there were fewer scams and it seemed a lot quieter. We stayed in a hostel outside of the down town and away from the night life and tourist scene.

Our plans for the next few days included meeting up with friends from Holland and hanging out with some team members of Sean's ultimate team that we had gotten to know in Bangkok who now live and work in Phnom Penh. We also braced ourselves for a day-long tour of sites related to the killing and torture by the Khmer Rouge - important and interesting but many had warned us that it would lead to depression and fear of the human condition in general.

One of the first things that caught my attention upon arriving in China was the amount of couples wearing matching shirts - they were everywhere! I saw people wearing matching shirts downtown as well as students who were dating on campus wearing them. Couples matching t-shirts seem to be one of two kinds: either both parties are wearing the exact same shirt or they wear shirts that are complementary to each other. The shirts that are made to be worn in a pair are my favorite and can be really creative and funny. When Sean's sister and girlfriend were here they bought some couples shirts in which one shirt said "H" and the other said " ₂0".


For his birthday I bought Sean and I some pink matching shirts which form a rainbow-colored heart when worn together. Ken and his girlfriend also purchased a really cute matching pair as well.


Last night in class two of my students were wearing matching shirts (bright yellow polos with purple stripes). I asked Brian and Jessica why they wanted to wear them. They said that it was fun and a way to express to others that they were together. My class also informed me that the matching shirts have been especially popular now and during the last two years.

I started searching the internet to see what I could find about couples shirts and Wikipedia, which calls them "couple costumes," actually has a small blurb which goes like this: "Couple costume is the practice for a couple to wear the same hat, T-shirt, or other clothing in public to signal their relationship. It is especially common in South Korea and Taiwan, and is becoming more common in mainland China during its reform and opening."

I found several blogs with Chinese or Korean authors who discussed this issue at length. Here is what one blog called "loveloveChina: everything about Chinese girls" had to say: "Obviously, [couple shirts] is a way to show affection to each other and claim the existence of relationship. While public display of affection is not welcome in China young people seek for other ways to express their feelings. And the fashion industry comes to their rescue offering a big choice of outfits for couples. Besides clothes there is a wide range of other matching items for couples – such as pillows, underwear, cups, watches, necklaces, bracelets, rings and so on. Isn’t it sweet to have some common little thingies?" Check out her blog if you want to see more pics of couples in matching tees.


I think the matching shirts are pretty fun and I'm lucky enough to have a guy who will tolerate this amusement and don a pink shirt with half a heart. Now I'll just have to see if he will wear it out in public with me in Holland, MI . . .

I know, I know . . . I have done a lot of posts about temples at Angkor Wat lately but they were so cool! It is hard not to go overboard. This is the last entry about ancient ruins for awhile, I promise. This last temple, Ta Prohm, was absolutely my favorite. I liked it because it has been left the way it was found in that nature is slowly taking over. The other temples have been cleared of trees and jungle and are under preservation and restoration, but Ta Prohm has been left to fight the jungle alone. Everywhere you look there are trees growing in and around the temple. It looks like it should be a scene in Indiana Jones and in fact it was used in the movies Tomb Raider and Two Brothers.


Ta Prohm is one of the most visited temples because the combination of nature and man's handiwork creates a lot of photogenic opportunities and inspires a lot of writing. In many places, the trees look like they are strangling the stones.


Exploring Ta Prohm was really fun as it was not only crumbling ruins but crazy formations of roots and trunks meshed in. Many of the areas were roped off as they were not safe to walk in or under anymore. Being in this temple was a pretty dramatic and picturesque reminder of the cycle of man and nature.

One of the most fun things about teaching is when what your students think surprises you or helps you to understand their mindsets and perceptions a little better. I had two such experiences lately: one at Web (a part-time job) and another at the university. Since Web provides me with all of the lesson plans and materials that I need to teach each class, I am constantly getting new ideas for activities and topics that are fun and interesting for Chinese students learning English. A recent exercise that I had with students at Web was a lesson about stereotypes. We talked about what they mean and discussed different opinions concerning whether they were good or bad. The main activity involved the students working in pairs to come up with their own stereotypes of Americans, the French, people in Shanghai, the Japanese, China in general, Korea, Africa and the U.K. Here's the combined results of the class:

Americans - talkative, well-dressed, lazy, humorous, outgoing, fat and rich
French - lazy, romantic, polite, emotional, outgoing and arrogant
Shanghainese - cheap, sophisticated, talkative, arrogant, hard-working and well-dressed
Japanese - serious, aggressive, hard-working, polite, formal and nationalistic
China - hospitable, hard-working, talkative, traditional, arrogant, nationalistic, and tolerant
Africa - rude and natural
Korea - emotional and well-dressed
U.K. - formal, respectful, punctual, serious and gentlemen

The students admitted that most of their opinions came from: the past or what their parents told them, movies and TV shows and one or two people they had met from the country or area.

In my culture class we did a similar activity concerning America. We had already talked about the U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand and our last two units involved the U.S. and Canada. To begin talking about the U.S. I asked each student to write down the first word that came to their heads regarding America. Here's what they said:

humorous, civilization, fair, rich, wealthy, open, power, beautiful, high-tech, entertainment, violent, powerful, freedom, democracy, weapons, independent, NBA, crime, famous, advanced, fantastic, fashion, junk food, guns, competition, multi-ethnic, developed, modern, busy, exciting, tall people, Bush, strong and Obama

Other random student facts:

I get asked many questions about: fashion in the U.S., food in the U.S., how much things cost in America, my relationship with Sean, where I have traveled and what high school and college were like for me

Students want to see pictures of: my house, my car, my family, my friends, my town and my college life

Students are always surprised that: I'm 28, I prefer to be tan instead of having very white skin, I don't have a lot of money and I can speak Spanish

Some interesting conversation topics lately have been about: Christianity, homosexuality, curfews, dating and differences between American and Chinese business practices and manners/etiquette

Ta Keo was fun to visit because it was so massive. The structure was basically a huge pyramid that stood over 50m tall. For some reason it was never finished and is missing some of the detail and carvings that some of the other temples have. Some of the inscriptions on the temple suggest that it was struck by lightning during construction and then abandoned. Others think that it was unfinished because of the death of a king or because it was hard to work with the material that they chose.


It was pretty scary to climb to the top as the steps were large and awkward and there were obviously no handrails to help with balance. The view was well worth it however and offered a peaceful respite since there were not as many other visitors who undertook the climb.

That's right, it's time for the faculty basketball competition at JSTUT. Each department plays in a round robin complete with uniforms and brand new sneakers for each of its (male) participants. (Sean is really excited about the free pair of shoes). When I complained that women don't get to do anything in this country, Ken aptly reminded me that had I wanted more female opportunities I should have chosen a less patriarchal country. Indeed. So I will have to be content with watching and taking pictures from the sideline - I should have brought my pom-poms and cheerleading uniform from back home!

Monday afternoon was the opening ceremonies for the event which involved some speeches and beautiful women in elaborate pink dresses holding the sign for each departmental team. After the ceremonies, the guys on the foreign language department team held practice. Jordan commented that although being a foreigner can have its advantages, he feels a lot of pressure to play basketball as well as the guys do in the NBA. I mean, he is tall and from America after all - aren't they all good at basketball?


Tomorrow is the team's first game and I am looking forward to it. This year Peter, Jordan, Ken and Sean are representing the foreign teachers. Tomorrow should also be fun because it is Sean's birthday. We ordered some subs from subway (exciting new restaurant in the city and re-defining the Chinese definition of 'sandwich') and I am going to make some cupcakes. Happy birthday Sean! I hope year 28 is extra special =)

After climbing around the many-faced Bayon temple we hopped onto the Terrace of Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King. The Terrace of the Elephants was basically a long, stone platform with elephants everywhere. They were on stairways and carved into walls and there were even huge, life-size elephant heads with trunks on one side of the terrace. Many believe that this terrace was used as a reviewing stand for public ceremonies and parades which basically served the king as his giant viewing station and grand audience hall.


The Terrace of the Leper King is near the Terrace of Elephants and it is cool to look at because of all the meticulously carved figures in several layers that line the walls. The statue on the terrace is actually a copy of the original which is now housed in the national museum in Phnom Penh. Some researchers believe that the statue is of Yama, the god of death and that the site was of a royal crematorium, but others believe that it was of a Khmer ruler who died of leprosy (hence the name).


In many places, and especially in The Terrace of the Leper King, the carvings looked so well-preserved and new that it seemed like they could have been done yesterday. This led Sean and I to wonder, as we had on many of the other temples, how long it would be until there would be more security in and around the temples. Now in Angkor Wat you can climb on anything and go anywhere you want. There is nobody watching what you do or where you go. There will probably come a day when some areas will be off-limits in order to preserve them better for the future. But until then we all get to be Indiana Jones for a day.

I don't know where the time has gone lately and I can't believe I haven't written since last week. Things have been busy and fun with Sean's dad coming to visit, working second jobs and enjoying the warm weather outside. After sending Sean's dad to Beijing to join up with his tour group, things are back to normal and I am surprised to see that it is already week 11 out of 17 in this semester. I will be back in Holland in about two months!


One thing that has caught my eye recently in the news is the attention that Chinglish is getting. Chinglish is spoken or written English that is influenced by Chinese. Chinglish is usually understood by English speakers, but the words or grammar used may be awkward or wrong but always entertaining to see. From a linguistic background, Chinglish is a gold mine and I am sure there are people who have studied and written papers about it. For the rest of us, it provides constant entertainment from common, everyday things like street signs and menus. I have actually seen books that are just pictures of signs which misuse English to the point where it is just plain ridiculous and very very funny.


I started taking pictures of notable Chinglish on different trips in China and I know many of the other teachers have little collections going too. Unfortunately, Peter sent me this article the other day from the Times that outlined how Shanghai was cleaning up a lot of its incorrect English in preparation for hosting the World Expo. Before the Expo began, over 600 volunteers replaced thousands of signs and menus. A similar effort was made before the Olympics in Beijing. You can see a slide show of some examples of Chinglish here.


Another example of where you can see Chinglish is on the shirts that people wear. It is trendy not only to wear Western brand names but also to have English all over your clothing. More often than not, the English doesn't make sense and is simply there for "fashion". Usually there are long phrases of words like "The civilization strive for glad till the super love best for the!" or "trendy cutey lovely hippy hoppy" that make a native English speaker go, "Huh?". Or there are just strange phrases which are grammatically correct but make you take a second look like a sweatshirt with giant block letters screaming "DON'T LOOK AT ME!"

Some people are all for correcting the Chinglish like Zhao Huimin who says "The purpose of signage is to be useful, not to be amusing" or Mr. Yao who says, "I want to see people nodding that they understand the message on the signs. I don't want to see them laughing." But then there are the rest of us who see the signs as harmless, free entertainment and would be disappointed to see them go. “If you standardize all these signs, you not only take away the little giggle you get while strolling in the park but you lose a window into the Chinese mind,” says Mr. Radtke who is the author of a book about Chinglish.


It will take a long time to correct every sign and shirt in China which is all the more reason to keep taking pictures now. As always, thanks for reading and don't even think about whiffing or speeling in the pond.

Every morning this week I have woken up to thousands of freshmen students chanting YI, ER, SAN, SI! (one, two, three, four) in unison while they march in formation. This week on campus is military training for the freshmen. Normally, military training is done the first two weeks of the new school year but because of H1N1 virus it was postponed until now.

I have been completely fascinated, shocked, interested, nervous and a little bit put off by the goings-on of this week. For seven days for seven hours a day the freshmen students have to wear army fatigues and practice drills in groups commanded by an actual member of the Chinese army. Since there are so many freshmen students on campus (total student population is over 14,000) you can see groups of students marching and practicing all over. They learn how to march in straight rank and file, they learn chants and I think some of them may even learn how to use some weapons.


It is nearly impossible to avoid the military training since they are everywhere. I see them on the way to class, on the way to the cafeteria and walking to the gate to head downtown and I hear them while I am at home and while I teach. The chanting, shouting, marching, and thousands of students in camouflage serves as a constant reminder of how different my university education was compared to that of Chinese students. I asked some of my sophomores what they thought of the training and all of them said that they only did it because they had to and that it was not an enjoyable experience.

Today I went out and tried to take some pictures and video of the marching going on next door to where I live but I was quickly shooed away and discouraged from documenting what I was watching. I had snapped a few before they noticed but obediently went back to my apartment anyways to write this blog.


I have been reading about Chinese university military training online and there are a lot of articles and pictures about it including this one from LIFE and these pictures from China Daily. Most of the articles say something about how the purpose of military training is not necessarily for national defense but rather to strengthen students' organization and self-discipline as well as to instill the values of patriotism, collectivism and teamwork between students.


Another article I read praised the benefits of military training especially for the new generation of Chinese youth who grew up as an only child with the attention of mom, dad and two sets of grandparents. Many people believe that these "little emperors," a nickname for an only child in Chinese families due to the "One Child Policy," are too spoiled and grow up without proper socialization or the balance of teamwork. One Chinese psychologist wrote, "[Military training] is a rare experience of collective life that will help prevent these children from being too selfish and conceited as their parents spoil them."

Whatever the reason, the chanting, marching and camouflage is starting to get a little unnerving and only reinforces the importance that China places on control, uniformity, conformity and obedience. As if I could forget.