Fun and Games

Khmer New Year is just around the corner, so celebrations were in order today, being the last school day before the holiday.

I had a slowish start to the day, after a rough night, but the day ended up being lots of fun. Just before recess I gave all the children a number from 1 to 9, which determined which team they would be in for the coming Khmer New Year games. At 10.45am we all headed downstairs, and the children joined their teams (made up of students from grades 3 to 8). Each group then moved through a series of traditional Khmer games and dancing. The dancing didn't go so well, but a good time was had by the students. Here are a few snaps from the morning.

A Khmer variation on "dog and bone".

Tom & Jerry (a variation on the old "cat & mouse" game).

Everyone together for a final time of dancing!

I took a lot more, but it's not easy to get good photos of running children, especially in a confined space.

After the games were over we had lunch, then it was time for swimming with the boys and PE for the girls. When those activities were over we returned to the classroom to pack up, and then headed up to the PE area. We cannot often have it on Friday afternoons, but the high-schoolers were having a party today, so we were able to have it. We have a space the size of a small basketball court on the roof of one of the buildings. This afternoon I had decided to introduce the children to T-ball. I had brought the set over some years ago when I knew I would have to teach my own PE, and since it wasn't used at all during my last year at Logos, I had it with me. It is a good set for the confined space we have because it uses a foam covered bat and foam balls. The children had a lot of fun, and we only lost the ball about 5 times. I say lost, since the fencing around the roof area, while safe for children and great for stopping big balls (like basketballs and volleyballs) from going off the roof, didn't do much for stopping our smaller balls. We did get the balls back, with a big thank you due to Mr Dy and Mr Sambath for running down and up two flights of stairs to retrieve them each time! Sorry, no photos of this, but the children had lots of fun, and have asked if we can do it again.

Well, I'm off to enjoy a quiet evening with a friend as a quiet start to the week's holidays. What am I looking forward to most of all? Not having to get up at 6am every weekday morning for a whole week!