So far all I've talked about are my travelling adventures so I thought it was about time I actually said something about my work!

I have been working at HERO school along with another volunteer, Vera, for 7 weeks now, and it's been a bit of a bumpy ride. Out of all the new volunteers in October, Vera and I were kind of given the short straw and placed in a new organistation that has never had volunteers before. As a result our project was not well organised for our arrival, and it was only after we'd been there a couple of days and realised we hadn't taught anything yet that we decided to ask for a timetable and were finally given classes. However we have now come to accept that the Cambodian way of life is something you just have to come to terms with, and if you go into school one day and there are exams, or staff meetings or non-English classes you weren't aware were happening during your scheduled teaching time, it's just the way it is. According to our timetable, Vera and I spend 45 minutes helping the teachers with pronunciation, vocabulary and speaking, before we each go off and teach a class from 5.30-6.30 and then 6.30-7.30. My first class is a more basic English class with children ranging in age from 9 to 14, whilst my second class is more of an intermediate level and the age range is about 15-20. They both have text books which we are meant to follow, but the one for the younger class is so hopelessly American and wrong that I started making my own lessons plans and making sure they knew the basics such as alphabet, numbers and basic personal info. They love games, and the Cambodian people in general love to sing, so my classes are always fun. So far I have taught them "Old MacDonald Has A Farm", "Ten Green Bottles", "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean", and in light of the current time of year, "We Wish You A Merry Christmas". My older class also has a text book, similar in layout to the ones I learnt French and German in, and to be honest they are pretty boring so I tend to make up exercises. Teaching English grammar is more challenging than I thought it would be as there are so many language technicalities that you take for granted as a native speaker, and so I am actually finding that I am learning a lot; teaching object pronouns earlier this week I finally learnt when to use "I" or "me" in a sentence!

We were originally going to cycle to and from our placement, but on our first evening cycling home we realised that it really wasn't feasible as it gets dark in Cambodia about 6pm, and cycling home in the dark on dirt track, country roads with potholes and no street lighting is not fun! So now the two of us squeeze onto a moto with our driver and it only takes about 10 minutes each way.

My school is currently planning a Cultural Exhibition and so at the moment we do not teach our little kids class on Thursday and Fridays as they are having dance and singing lessons, although we have recently started going along to make sure their pronunciation in the English songs is right - in "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" they find it hard to emphasise the "s" at the end of "Christmas".

I am off school for the next week but upon my return I am going to have a Christmas themed week (mostly because I miss the Christmas feeling!) and make cards and decorations with my kids which I think will be lots of fun!