5:30AM The alarm goes off and another day has begun. I rise, get dressed, head to the hot water and grab a cup of tea and whilst I’m drinking this I have a gander at my Facebook account. This is the way my family, partner and friends contact me, and with being 7 hours ahead there is usually a little something to read when I get up. I then cycle to school in the morning cool breeze; this is the only time you are sure to not be sweating.
6:00AM By now I’ve just arrived to class, prepared the day before and ready to teach English. The morning classes are much easier than anticipated. The students have so much energy it is easy to become lively from them. In the Asia culture it is normal to be awake and studying or working this early.
7:00AM My first class has just finished and now onto my second and last class of the morning.
8:00AM It’s only 8 AM in the morning and I have already done half of my classes. Now to cycle back to the Teachers house (where 12 teachers from the school live together) and grab a bit to eat. The normal breakfast here for us are eggs, baguettes, fruit, some cakes and sometimes rice and beans in banana leaves. In the house we have two beautiful Khmer ladies that cook our food Monday through to Friday; their names are Mony and Linda.
9:00AM Breakfast is eaten, morning updates and chats with the other teachers have all ended and now to review my morning classes and prepare my evening classes. This won’t take me too long as I have a very good routine. After I have done my lesson plans I will have a gander at my personal to do list to see if there is anything I feel like doing today.
11:00AM Now it’s exercise time, I will either go for a brisk walk, cycle or do some toning exercises on the balcony. After getting all sweaty I head straight to the shower. I choose to shower in the middle of the day here as the majority of houses in Cambodia do not have hot water. I have found that the shower water in the middle of the day is not as cold as in the morning or evening.
12:00PM Lunch is served, all the teachers head to the communal area to grab food. Every day is different when it comes to lunch, it could be wontons, spring rolls, Khmer red curry; Khmer yellow curry; sweet and sour; tofu and long beans. There is a guarantee that you will most definitely have rice served with whatever food there is. Rice is a staple food in the diets of Khmer people. It is also the cheapest food.
1:00PM I have the afternoon free till classes in the evening. It depends on what’s going on but sometimes I’ll send some time on the balcony either reading or writing my blogs. Other days I will venture out and explore, 5 minutes’ walk from the house is the Russian Market which is a maze of stalls covered in fruit, veg, tourist stuff, jewellery, DVD’s etc. I’ve been here nearly two months and still not been able to master the Russian market layout, I manage to get lost every time I visit.
3:00PM Some day’s the teacher have meetings about the curriculum or the weekend sign up activities around Cambodia. There are also opportunities to do one off workshops for the students and help to market the school. All of this would be talked about during this time.
4:00PM I have cycled back to school for my last two classes of the day. They are very similar to the morning ones, the students need your energy this time as they are more tired as they have either had busy days at work, school or university.
6:00PM Back home for some more scrumptious food.
7:00PM I will now review my evening classes and prepare my morning classes. After this sometimes I hang out with the other teachers and we head out to a documentary or expedition in the city. Other times we just stay in watch a movie or play a game called ‘Cards Against Humanity’.
9:00PM I’m off to bed so I am fresh for my 5:30AM morning.
