I'm a grown up now with a big person's job.

My first couple of days back in Phnom Penh were very busy for me as I had to scramble around to what seemed like every single school in all of Cambodia to drop off my resume.  I was told that it was much better to show your face at a school and hand your in resume in person than to simply shoot them an email and wait for a reply.  After two days of traveling in tuk-tuk's all over the city with a new layer of dirt covering my freshly ironed interview outfit after every school I visited, I really couldn't be bothered going out to the last school on my list, Cambodia International Academy.  So I sent the academic supervisor my resume via email instead.  Funny that they were first school that called me back.   I had an interview, a demonstration teaching class and a full time job offer within the first weekend. 

I am now into my second week at Cambodia International Academy, a private international school for students K-12.    I am teaching 5th grade english, math, social studies and science.  Meet my morning students!  They are the sweetest. 

My favorite quotes from my students thus far: 

Note: In Cambodia, students will more often than not call their teachers "Chur." As in the last half of "teacher." 

"Teacher Rachael, you are from California?! You're like that Katy Perry Song." 

"Chur, I love your clothes. You are a fashion icon." (I am 100% sure she didn't understand the real meaning of fashion icon, but she was my favorite student of the day none the less.) 

"Chur are you Skype friends with Justin Bieber? Please say YES."

"Can you cook a chicken on the surface of the sun?" (I had just told my class that the surface of the sun was 6,000 degrees Celsius.) 

"That woman must be pregnant.  She has short legs." (I really couldn't tell you the context of that conversation...)

"2-4 is 2 Chur." (He sounded so confident when I asked him, like duhhh chur I'm not an idiot.)

"My girlfriend kick me so I kick her back." (I asked my student Barmey if he did anything fun over the weekend.  I don't know if that counts...)

It's quotes like these from my students that get me through the day just when I think I might go crazy!