An Ontario Play Based Kindergarten Classroom

I landed  in Toronto, Canada on a Sunday evening and it felt so good when I spotted my wonderful husband's smiling face from among the crowds waiting at the Pearson Airport! It does not matter where I have traveled, the best part is always coming home and seeing my loved ones. It was just fabulous seeing my husband and son again after almost a month away from home.  We had dinner together at an Ethiopian restaurant downtown and we had a lot to catch up! My family was very interested in learning about my trip to Cambodia and I had a lot to tell them!

Working with the Visiting Principals from China

I did not have much time to rest from my Cambodian trip as I was scheduled to work with the visiting principals from China for the next week!

Though I had worked as a public school administrator for the past decade, my passion is still teaching! Therefore, when I was asked to do some teaching for the principals by OPC, I immediately accepted the assignment.

A Pictorial/ Visual Schedule for Kindergarten Students

I love the opportunity of teaching and sharing my knowledge and experience with other educators.

I have had the privilege of  being involved in a program for international principals visiting Ontario schools. I just love it!

A Question / Challenge Posted for the children at the Sand Table

One of the Learning Centers in the Kindergarten Classroom

 I worked with a group of  kindergarten principals from Asia. These visiting principals were here to learn about the Ontario education system and to gain first hand knowledge by visiting schools in the greater Toronto area.

Each time when we receive a group of visiting principals, I could hardly wait to start my seminars with them and exchange ideas about our education systems and schools.


                                                              




These principals were eager and interested to learn about our students, school organization, curriculum, and the problems and challenges facing our school principals. However, nothing could compare to how excited they were when they visited the schools!

Another Question for the Children at the Music Table

The principals were especially very interested to learn about our play based kindergarten program and how teachers use play to teach students in their classrooms.

The principals observed that there were many learning centres set up in each of  the kindergarten classrooms they visited.

The Crafts Table Where Children Experiment Their Art Ideas

They observed that when the children were playing, they were not just playing but learning while doing so.

At many of the learning centres, there was a question or a challenge posted  and children were encouraged to find answers for the question by actively engaging in the playing/ learning process.

Children were encouraged to come up with their own creative ideas and experiment with them while playing /working on their tasks.












Though the children were working on the same theme, they were not asked to produce the exact picture, therefore no two pictures made by the children were exactly the same.

Children Placed Their Movable Teddy According to Instruction

In the area of reading and building up new vocabulary, the teacher made it fun and interactive by asking the children each to make a story book with a movable teddy bear.

After the children cut and paste the book together, they each had their own story book and were asked to place where Teddy should be by reading and following the instructions as stated on the pages.

A Math Question for the Kindergarten Children

The visiting principals gained an understanding of how the play based program and were very impressed how well disciplined and focused our students were when they were playing/ learning in the classroom.



R.T.  Toronto, Canada
Dec. 2012

If You Only Had an Evening in Hong Kong

The Famous Night Scene of Hong Kong

 Since there was no direct flight from Cambodia to Canada, I needed to stop over in Hong Kong and make a connecting flight to Toronto.

I boarded the DragonAir with Candy and Henry at the Phnom Penh International Airport and after a 2 1/2 hour flight landed in Hong Kong a little after 3:00p.m., local time.

Bilingual Signs are Everywhere - No Worry of Getting Lost

Both Candy and Henry had family members in Hong Kong so we said good bye and parted our way. I was grateful that I had them as my traveling companions and they looked after me really well helping me with everything.


The Hong Kong International Airport is a huge and modern airport with bilingual signs everywhere so foreign travelers with knowledge in English will have no problem navigating their way there.

Looking Out from My Room at the Kowloon Regal Hotel

My husband booked a hotel room for me at the Kowloon Regal Hotel and they ( and a number of hotels) even had their own counter set up right on the Arrival Floor at the airport.

Hong Kong has a very well developed public transit system. Passengers can easily take either the airport/ downtown express bus or subway train that would take the travelers right into the downtown district of Hong Kong at a reasonable cost.

The Regal Hotel has its own shuttle bus, not free, but very inexpensive at HK$ 130.00 ( around US$ 20.00.

 Many Christmas Decorations on the Streets of Hong Kong

The hotel staff kindly informed me that it would be  faster taking the subway as the hotel shuttle bus would be stopping at all the other Regal Hotel stops and dropping off passengers. Since I had no family members or friends in Hong Kong, therefore I was not in a hurry, I decided to take the one and a half  hour scenic route and waited for the shuttle bus.

The shuttle ride was comfortable and it took the passengers through many streets of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong - A City of 7 Million People ; Skyscrapers Everywhere

 Hong Kong is a modern, clean city with many skyscrapers scattered throughout the entire area.

Its population is around seven million and the public transportation system is efficient, accessible and very reasonable in cost.

One can pretty well get to anywhere they want to go with the public transit system.  No wonder it has been voted as the most livable city in the world recently.

Avenue of Stars - A Nice Walk Along the Waterfront

As the bus took us into the city, it passed by mountains and green areas. I did not realize that Hong Kong is so mountainous.

It is also a very busy seaport with many loading stations, huge cranes busy loading and unloading huge containers from numerous cargo ships.

As I observed sitting in the Shuttle bus, the streets were very clean, traffic was busy but very orderly. There was no crazy driving or vehicles going in all directions.When we were near the downtown area, I saw few people walking on the streets. In fact, I was wondering where did all the pedestrians go? Ah, as I looked around, I realized pedestrians used many of the walkaways built and dedicated specially for them high above ground. This way, it is much safer for pedestrians as they do not have to compete with the huge volume of traffic on the road.

Avenue of Stars - A Nice Walk Along the Harbour

I walked around the area, then along the harbour and visited the Avenue of Stars where it explained the movie history of Hong Kong through a series of sculptures and concrete hand prints of famous Hong Kong movie stars.

Honouring Bruce Lee in the  Movie History of Hong Kong

Bruce Lee, one of the most famous stars in the 1970's and was hnonoured by a bronze lifelike sculpture was the most popular spot where people paused, imitated his actions and took pictures.

10p.m by the Harbour - Lots of People Walking Around

                                           
  I strolled and shopped on the streets of Hong Kong for the entire evening and I actually felt quite safe being alone. There were a lot of countries and cities where I visited and did not feel comfortable walking at night even with friends around.

 In Hong Kong I felt  fine walking around by myself at night. It could be I was in a tourist area and there were a lot of people. People looked happy and everywhere I went, it was well lit so that I knew there was nothing lurking behind somewhere.


It was a fun evening enjoying the night scene and the harbour view of this famous city. I found people here were friendly and polite. Even if they could not understand you, they would at least make an effort to help you. It was a very pleasant experience for me indeed.

R.T. Hong Kong,
Dec.1, 2012

The Childrens'' Camp, Cambodia

After the youth training camp, the youth leaders and  we received over one hundred and fifty children from the various local churches to the Children's Camp.

The children were mainly from the nearby villages and  they were bussed in by church buses and were very excited when they got to the camp site.






 Excited they were yet the children were very cooperative and enjoyed all the activities we planned for them.

We were amazed at how fast they learned the English songs we prepared for them and they especially loved the actions that went with these fun songs.






These children might look a little shy but when they sang, they really sang with gusto and participated in all the games with enthusiasm!

Boy, could they ever limbo dance! There was so much excitement generated from this one game that required few equipment and could be played practically anywhere!

The Youth Leaders did an excellent job leading the singing, helping with many activities and especially looking after the children.

They were very responsible, mature and were outstanding role models for the children.

The Youth Leaders were Excellent Leaders!

The Youth Leaders demonstrated great leadership skills and displayed a lot of patience with the children.

We were very proud of how the youth leaders conducted themselves and did such an outstanding job in the children's camp.

Youth Leaders Assisting the Kids with their Crafts

We thank God for such a great opportunity to have worked with the Cambodian youths and the children. We had a great time sharing God's love and messages with the young people and their parents

It was a great week!


R.T. Cambodia
Nov. 2012

A Cambodian Street Wedding Tent

A Wedding Tent was Set Up in the Middle of a Phnom Penh Street

I have not had the opportunity to attend a Cambodian wedding since I was only in this county for less than a month.

However, I did have the opportunity to visit a  Cambodian wedding tent while I was in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Inside the Wedding Tent

We were out doing our morning walk early one morning. All of a sudden, we came across a huge beautiful pink tent set up in the middle of the street where we usually take to go to the park.

A huge wedding tent in the middle of a street? How interesting!

Out of curiosity,  we ventured inside the wedding tent to take a look, and some people from the grooms' side were gracious enough to allow us a tour of the wedding tent.

The Tent was Set Up and Decorated Beautifully

The wedding tent turned out to be a reception hall where a wedding banquet was about to take place. There were two sections in this wedding tent. We saw some of the people from the wedding party congregating in the smaller section on the right side of the tent which provided some privacy for whomever were sitting there.

Anybody could apply for a license to have a wedding tent set up in front of his/her house and invite friends and neighbors to the celebrations. How neat is that!

 As for the local traffic and the people who have not been invited to the party. they just have to detour around it while the neighbors are having a ball enjoying the feast and celebrations!

The tent was a beautiful place with many tables and chairs all set up for a big banquet. Waiters were all dressed up and some of the wedding party was already there.

This was about 6:45a.m. when we were out doing our morning exercises!

A Temporary Kitchen Specially Set Up for the Wedding Banquet

There was another tent set up at the back of the wedding tent - a huge working kitchen. This temporary kitchen was well equipped with many cooking utensils and equipment.

The kitchen staff was busy at work preparing food for the banquet.

Some Dishes Were Ready to be Served at the Wedding Banquet

Some of the dishes were already set out to be served.

Unfortunately, I did not have an opportunity to attend a Cambodian wedding, but I learned some traditions about how a bride gets ready for her wedding day.

I was told that that some wedding celebrations may take three days to one week! For some brides, they may take up to a month to get themselves ready and looking pretty for the big day by putting on some special lotions or herbal treatment. For a wealthy bride-to-be, the parents may even build a separate house for her so that she would live separately from her parents for up to a year to get herself ready for the wedding day! There are so many interesting customs and traditions about a Cambodian wedding, I would love to learn more about them in the future!

R.T. Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Nov. 2012

Visiting Churches and Schools in Rural Cambodia

A Rural church in Cambodia

Cambodia is a small country with a population of about eleven million people. Because of its civil wars in the 1970's that destroyed much of its country's infrastructures and wiped out a whole generation of educated Cambodians, the entire country has been pushed back for decades in terms of economic and technological development.

Fortunately, there are many countries and NGOs that are willing to lend a helping hand in this country. We visited Rita and Matthew - two individuals who willingly gave up their comfortable western life style, sold everything they had in Canada eight yearsa ago and moved to Cambodia. They have been living and serving the rural Cambodians in their small village ever since.

A Sparsely Furnished Village Classroom

Besides visiting this missionary couple, we also visited a few other rural churches and their schools. These churches are doing amazing work and providing important services to the villagers. The churches first started classes in their own building and from there they grew into schools to fill the needs of the villagers. The schools are typically free for the children and all the parents have to do is register their children. Some church schools ask parents to pay $5.00 a month for the snacks which the students get daily when they attend school.

Making Balloon Animals for the Kids in the Village

Led by the pastor of the local church, we went to visit the village and and helped promote the church\s new Children\s Centre. As we entered the village, we made balloon animals and gave them to the kids to entertain them. The families and children were happy to see their local pastor and her entourage. The children giggled and just loved seeing Steve twisting his balloons and  making different animals out of them.

The Small Church was Packed with Parents & Kids

Judging from the attendance at that evening's meeting, we did out job and got the parents out for the meeting to learn about the new Children\s Centre!





R.T.
Rural Cambodia

Youth Leadership Camp, Sihanonuk Ville, Cambodia

Sihanouk Ville, Cambodia - Where the Camp Took Place

6:30a.m.

An absolutely tranquil setting. A sunny blue sky above with birds chirping and singing their good morning tunes while soft ocean waves hitting against the rocks creating soothing sounds.

Sitting under a palm tree on a set of patio furniture craved out of the Cambodia hard wood, I am writing the last blog entry before I leave this beautiful resort town of Sihanouk Ville, a five hour car ride from Phnom Penh.

 Sihanouk Ville is like another world compared to the hustle and bustle of Cambodia's capital city.
It is a small, but very pretty, quiet, tourist town. There are a number of nice resort hotels built along the water and we chose to stay at the New Beach Hotel, not the most modern resort hotel, but the best price for its value. The Grace Church also rented the conference room for the youth leadership and children's camp here for the week, therefore, it has been very convenient for us.

Introducing the Youth Camp Leaders

We got here last Sunday evening, unloaded our luggage along with many props and gifts that we brought with us. We even had time to decorate the conference room, hang our wall murals and different posters turning this spacious room into a kid friendly and welcoming place.

We worked with over seventy youth leaders from five different local churches - one group of youth traveled over thirteen hours in a crammed church bus on bumpy roads to get to our camp site! By the time we got to the conference hall the first morning, all the youths, seventy five of them, were already there and started their songs and worship.The room was electrified, pumping with energy and emotions.

Youth Leading the Singing

The youths were singing in Khmer, naturally, we could not understand a word but we could feel the intense emotions in their singing. I closed my eyes and immersed myself in their beautiful angelic songs. Though I did not know the meaning of the songs, I felt their deep emotions. They were singing a prayer song for Cambodia. Their singing was sincere, inspiring and touching, an earnest prayer to God.

I thought I heard the Angles Sing at the Conference Hall

There was so much power, and emotions in every word the it touched the core of my heart. These young people love their country; they are the next

generation, the hope of Cambodia. Their love and earnest prayers for their county was obvious on their faces and every word they sang, they did it with their hearts and souls.

Tears streaming down my face; I started to pray for these youths and Cambodia. Knowing how much the country and its people have gone through in recent history, I have a great respect for the Cambodian people and their tolerance for life's mishaps and little inconveniences.

Dividing the Youths into Different Teams

The entire mission team from Canada was introduced to the youth leaders at the camp's first meeting and the youths were curious about our different background. I wish I had provided a couple of family pictures to the introduction ppt.

 The purpose of  this two day training camp was to provide some intensive training to the participants so that at the end of the leadership camp, the youths would be ready to assist and lead many of the activities for the two hundred kids taking place in the children's camp right after the training camp.

Pastor Teresa Leading a Workshop with a Translator

We had quite a tight schedule and there were many activities going on. Each of our mission team member was responsible for certain specific tasks at the training camp. There were numerous training sessions including leading songs, games, sports, using puppets to tell bible stories, making balloon animals to entertain kids, seminars and drama workshop etc. I was responsible for a workshop about  speaking with confidence in front of a large audience.

Youths were Eager to Learn & Participate

The participants were mostly senior high school and university students and they participated with enthusiasm and energy. They were polite, friendly, cheerful, helpful and anxious to learn as much from us as possible. These were a teacher's dream students and they were definitely a pleasure to teach.

Youths Practising What They have learned in Small Groups

We were all energized today and looking forward for the next few days working with the youths and kids at the camp.




R.T.
Sihanouk Ville, Cambodia
Nov. 2012

Getting Around in Cambodia

 If you want to travel from one city to the next, there are public buses that would take you to your destinations. However,  public transit buses are not available in the city of Phnom Penh.

In order to fill the needs of getting Cambodians from one place to the other in this city, there are many modes of private transportation from which one can choose.

One of which is a very popular three wheeled wagon like open air vehicles that are seen everywhere on the streets of Phnom Penh. Potential passengers can hail one anywhere on any street and the charge is very reasonable. It can sit four people easily with a minimum charge of 4000 Cambodia dollars = US $1.00.

I have taken it a number of times  with friends and paid only US$2.00 for a fairly good distance. It even comes with a rain fly in case of rain to protect the passengers.

Guys on  motorcycles to work stopped  for a coffee

Motor cycles are everywhere. In North America, practically every family owns a sedan. In Cambodia, the motor cycle replaces the sedan.  And why not?

Rush hour just outside of Phnom Penh

 The mileage is excellent! I have been told that one gallon of gas will last the family motorcycle a week's travel. Not bad at all!

If we all convert to driving motorcycles, just think about the oil and money we will save in a year. It will be good for our environment  and Greenpeace will thank us too!

Other modes of transportation abound such as bikes,  carts, trucks and  taxis.

If you've got to go to work, you 've got to get there.

This scene reminds me of a street scene I saw in Macau years ago.

Due to the dusty conditions of most roads in Cambodia, it will be wise to wear either a scarf or a mask when traveling on open vehicles.

During rush hour, some factories transport their workers using  company trucks such as this one.

In Cambodia, only the driver of the motorcycle is required to wear a helmet by law. Passengers are exempted from it.

For some motorists, especially those from the rural area, they seem to be unaware of the helmet law and often are riding their motorbikes without proper protection.

Unfortunately, there are many fatal accidents occurring on a daily basis.  About 1500- 2000 people die from motor accidents annually.

The Cambodia Government has recently launch a traffic safety campaign to increase its citizens' awareness of motor safety.

A creative method of transportation!

  
Hopefully, with increased level of awareness of vehicle safety, Cambodians will be able to reduce their accident fatalities and have safer journeys on the roads!



R.T.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia