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03/03/06 - Further to a couple of previous points I've made, first to Rachel and Nadia's different learning styles and my improving Tamil, I do think learning a language in it's broken form is much easier than in it's formal. My Tamil vocabulary has increased a lot more just by knowing the key command words that I distribute at my students than learning some full sentences in how to book a hotel. Sentence structure doesn't matter too much, just as long as you get the key points across. You don't exactly teach a baby to speak sentences before it speaks words...

And further to about Rachel, I think I've discovered the root problem of her disrespect towards me... Rose... I found today strange in how her character changed from being in my class and being nice to me, to being with Rose and Sharon through late night prayer and suddenly being rude... I haven't really been given a great deal of respect from Rose from the start, I think it's time to get out the scolding stick...

And it's off to Cambodia for me on Monday. I'm not too enthused by this trip, mainly because I've been unable to find any contacts out there. Hopefully I won't be moping round my hotel room getting lost round some little bit of the city (and to make matters worse, I don't even have a travel guide to take with me). Hopefully I'll get lucky and make some friends out there...

10/03/06 - Despite last weeks lack of optimism, this Cambodia trip has certainly come out better than what I thought it would. Once again I've travelled and spent time with a local family, this time with Chan, whom I met within a minute of stepping out of the airport. It's so much more interesting living under the local life rather than in a hotel just visiting the usual tourist spots (even though Chan gave the opportunity to do both), and it was certainly a pleasure meeting Sriohwn and Linda and all of the local children in the village I stayed in. Though I have to wonder about my return, as Sarom could be a wife in the waiting. Aiyo...

But one thing I certainly dislike about Cambodia is the dominance of the US Dollar over the Riel in the country. You'll find a lot of things priced around the US$ in Cambodia, despite the cent coins (or any coins) not being valid tender in the country (US$1 is 4000 Riel, so a quarter would be 1000 Riel etc.). But rounding things to the US$ puts a number of things at rip-off prices (like US$1 for a cola), which you never get in Malaysia, where the Ringgit is firmly the only currency used there. And the generalisation of white people being holders of only US$s makes things even more irritating...

17/03/06 - Just a point to prove the scale of Cambodia being a rip-off with the US$, I spent US$260 in those six days I stayed there. Though there were US$45 immigration costs, and giving Chan US$50, that's still a lot more than what I would spend in a usual week in KL... I am happy to be back in Malaysia, but though there'll be a lot of culture shock for me when I get back to the UK, it'll be somewhat less heading out of Malaysia than straight out of Cambodia. It's also better being back in KL as it's generally a safer place. I never actually went around Phnom Penh from place to place on foot, so I never got to experience what it's like walking down the street, though I'm sure it would possibly carry a lot of harrassment from beggars...

So out of Cambodia and back in KL and Taman Wahyu... Further more about the whole respect issues, I certainly proved to Sugin (the 'hard way') what it takes to stay still for a while. Rose is now more respectful to me after a little talk (which earns her respect back, so I let her be a sub-teacher than a student), but Rachel is still a problem. Do I have to get the scolding stick out again? (There isn't really a stick, if you were wondering with Sugin...)

24/03/06 - Looking back over the events of this week, I think that I can confidently say that I have lost faith... in the West and white people... After leaving the UK with enough bad thoughts circling of the corrupt government and anti-socialness, I thought that white people/Westerners now being the minority to me would cause the minority of problems, but they appear to have been the majority. I have had the odd bit of trouble with Asians out here, but there hasn't been that many big issues, yet the smallest of things affect the smallest of minds, of whom want everything their way, which is the horrid turn of the Western mind...

I'm sure most of you know that I am of white skin and Western origin, but I would just like to thank my Bruneian friend NJ e-mailing me saying 'its like you're an Asian now and you'll miss Southeast Asia so much once you're back in England..'. Very true, I do certainly feel more Asian than Western, and I'll be borderline depression once I'm back in that horrid last word that you used. But though I'm an 'Asian in Training', I didn't think that after only six months I'd leap ahead some actual Asians in their own skills. Though I've passed over Joshua and Esenia in speaking Tamil (well, they're still very young), I didn't think I'd pass Steven and Sharon in reading ability. My set target is to be able to properly read Tamil by the end of my current time here (writing isn't as easy), which I've managed to do with only the help of my dictionary, but I didn't think in six months I could learn to read a language that someone's been exposed to probably their whole life. But though my vocabulary is still a little low, I'm adapting to being a Tamil quite well...

31/03/06 - As my blog reaches a year old tomorrow (today's closest to its 'anniversary'), I think God has had enough of me bragging on about the faults of his 'inferior' creation, and decides to show me that not everything is perfect. Though I can respect that even Asians have their bad points, I think the wrong people were made of this example. I regarded Eswaren as one of my favourite boys, mainly because of his good behaviour (in Sunday School atleast), but after two loud screaming tantrums and he taking my handphone, leading to its loss, I don't know what to make of him now.

But despite these issues, I'm still willing to continue working with the family and tuition the kids, but I would if they were actually home. I do think this issue is the reason they haven't been home the past two times I've tried to visit, will try again tomorrow. But I do hope we can put these problems aside, I certainly learnt this week with them being my only students, without them creates a heck of a boring week. If they're not there tomorrow then I may have to make other plans...