Always Learning

Several things have happened over the last few days that once again have made us feel like we are back in Elementary school. By this I mean, the many things that were once daily tasks are now events full of stress, anxiety, and sometimes frustration.


Event One: Chris went to the dentist last Tuesday to get his teeth cleaned. While driving to the dental clinic your mind runs of thoughts of, "what if they do something to really mess up my teeth" or "is this going to be clean and safe?" However, the fears quickly subsided once he stepped into the office and realized it is nicer than the dentist we went to on Blake Street in downtown Denver. A pleasant surprise and comforting to know that next time we need to have our teeth cleaned we don't have to go into the day fearing what might happen.


Event Two: I got my first Cambodian haircut today. Over the past week I had done my homework, I printed off photos, asked numerous other foreigners where they go and what they thought of the place they went. Back in Colorado, getting my haircut used to be an event I loved and looked forward to, but here I was anxious with what I would come out with. Well, it went ok, about 2-3 extra inches came off, mainly because I couldn't get across to my Khmer-only speaking hairdresser that I didn't want it that short. She just kept cutting away (at what also seemed to be a haphazard toss of the scissors to my hair every time she made a cut) until one hour later I had chin length hair again. When I asked for my hair to be shampooed, the reply I got was, "no have, sorry" which really only made me laugh at the situation, until I found out the cut was going to be done on dry hair. All in all the cut is fine, I have never really been too particular, but I think I will try a different salon next time.


Event Three: Learning to read and write. We have finally started with our private tutor to learn the sounds of letters and also how to write them. Chris and I just finished an hour of practicing writing 10 different letters. Mine looks like a 5 year old wrote it, and I can barely remember all the twists, turns, and accents that each letter contains. Below you can see my color-coded sound sheet and then also my writing practice sheet. It's frustrating to know that we are far from being able to read, write, and communicate despite 7 months of going to class. I guess learning to speak a language of sounds the American tongue has no ability to say, or letters that are not of the Roman alphabet is as difficult as we thought it would be.


All of these things remind you how much work and time it takes to try to integrate yourself into a culture that is 180 degrees different from what we have known for the past 26 years. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I get mad, but most of time I just remind myself to keep trying!