A Week in Cambodia

After coming back from vacation, I taught for about a week before heading off to Cambodia for the CamTESOL conference and the ELF Mid-Year conference. Never having visited the country before, I decided to head to Phnom Penh two days early to explore the city and surrounding area.

skulls displayed at the killing fields

The Killing Fields and Prison Museum

In the morning, I headed out to the killing fields, a result of the Khmer Rouge period of Cambodian history. From 1975 – 1979, approximately 2 million Cambodians were killed under the command of the communist Khmer Rouge. At that time, people were brought by bus to killing sites around the country, where they were killed and buried in mass graves. Even now, when it rains the bones and cloth remains rise to the surface, and you can still see bones in the ground. The guided tour helps explain the history of the genocide in Cambodia and is especially helpful as all the former buildings have been demolished. You can still see mounds where the mass graves have been excavated, and there is also a tree where babies were smashed to death. The executors didn't have many resources, so prisoners were not killed with bullets, but rather with re-usable weapons like machetes, knives, and even the edge of pieces of wood. All the prisoners were killed at night, and music was played to drown out the noise so that even neighbors were not always aware of what was going on. The killing field tour ended with a monument built to remember those who were killed – on the bottom level, skulls are displayed, while upper shelves show arm, leg, hip, and other bones. When you consider that this is just a fraction of those killed at this site and throughout Cambodia, it becomes a really sobering and poignant experience.

mass grave

tree where babies were smashed to death

Next, I visited the Prison Museum, which was a high school before it was repurposed as a prison during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. Here, prisoners were held until they confessed under pressure and torture and were sent to the killing fields to be executed. The cells were tiny, and it was eerie to see a high school turned prison. I wondered how one would feel if they had graduated from that high school. Displays of artwork, pictures, and stories of prisoners told of the pain and distress suffered here, and the barbed wire on all the windows, the blocked off windows, and the equipment used for torture and interrogation helped you understand the history of this place. Although it wasn’t a cheerful tour, visiting the killing fields and the prison museum was important for me to understand the history of Cambodia and the legacy it retains from this terrible period.

National Palace and Phnom Wat

The next day was more upbeat and included a visit to the national palace and Phnom Wat. The palace was spectacular and beautiful, with intricate gold decoration, and beautiful plants and flowers. Phnom Wat was nice to visit as well – it’s a peaceful retreat within the bustling city.

national palace in Phnom Penh

Phnom Wat - temple in Phnom Penh

Cambodia TESOL Conference

Attending the CamTESOL conference was a great chance to hear famous plenary speakers, listen presentations by local and regional teachers and researchers, and meet other ESL professionals. Although not all the sessions I attended were great, I did come away with some interesting tips and ideas to apply to my own teaching and research. Plus, it’s always energizing to hear what other people are using in their classrooms or researching. 

presentation at CamTESOL

the audience

I also presented myself. This time, my presentation was on culture in English textbooks – an analysis I did for my MA thesis. It was nice to finally present and share this research, as I had completed it almost three years earlier! Although not as many people attended my presentation as the ThaiTESOL conference, there were about 20 people there to hear me speak and it went quite well. Two fellows from Vietnam came to hear too, so it was nice to have the support of my coworkers.

poster session with Cambodia ELF Andrea Echelberger

After the presentation, I had a poster session. I collaborated with two other fellows to create a poster giving more information about the ELF program and detailing our specific fellowship duties and projects. The ELF program doesn’t seem to be very well known, so it was a good chance to explain to other people who we are and what we do.

the view of the river

ELF Mid-Year Conference

After the CamTESOL conference, we still had two more days of meetings for the ELF mid-year conference. This was great because I never get a chance to see other fellows – most of them don’t work in the same country as me, let alone the same city! There were over 50 fellows, along with the RELOs (our bosses) and other people from the embassy.

The president of TESOL international came to give us a workshop in the morning, and we had a chance to discuss any issues and challenges we were facing at our host institution. It was really good to hear stories from other fellows – I found that they were having some of the same problems as me, and I didn’t feel quite so isolated. 

out for Mexican - yum!

Cambodian food - a vegetarian version of "amuk"

Of course, there was a lot of socializing, I mean “networking,” going on as well. We took a cruise on the river, which offered some spectacular sites of the area near Phnom Penh, and there was a lot of eating out as well. Who knew that Phnom Penh had so much good Mexican food? And icecream too!

view from the river cruise

Overall, it was an excellent trip – not just for the chance to see a new country and explore an unfamiliar city, but also for the opportunity for professional development and the possibility meet new friends and  reconnect with old ones.