1. One of my favorite things to do is bring people together so they can learn from one another and bring out the best in each other. For the past two months, I have had the distinct pleasure of overseeing a great intern at DDP. She is one of those people who greets everyone like they are meant to be her best friend and her efforts to learn sign language, even though her time with us is brief, have made a huge impact on the staff. One of her many talents happens to be teaching swimming. I love being in a position where I can help facilitate her putting those skills to use for the benefit of folks in our Deaf community. Some of her new little fish had never before attempted to swim. Some of these same little fish have only been learning sign language for a month, thus, even if she had been fluent in the language, she still would need great creativity in communications. Seeing this all unfold really was a highlight of the last few months for me. It was a good reminder that an ability to bring people together and delegate can allow the light to shine even further than trying to do things on my own. Especially in this situation because I swim like a cat (not well and I tend to yowl and look like I am about to drown). Sometimes, formal language is not even necessary.
The young students floating away.
I think they are practicing for their synchronized swimming routine...
This is my favorite picture, that is the sign for correct. (And, yes, the crazy photographer did climb into the pool with her camera in order to get better photos).
This pool is from when Cambodia was a French colony and is over two meters deep. So, they only fill it part way to create a shallow end... Definitely, a unique experience.
2. Another reason I have loved having an intern is that she is able to work on projects that have been waiting for a free moment (which usually never comes). One of her tasks was to put together short videos of Cambodian Sign Language - something visitors, social media followers, and staff had been requesting for a while. Now, this language can spread a little further. If you want to learn some sign language (for your next trip to Cambodia), check out the video below and follow our channel on Youtube - where we will be adding a new video each week (three are up so far).
3. My last little anecdote for you is one of those experiences that just make you laugh. When your co-worker tells you, "If you die today, we will celebrate tomorrow." Huh? Translation error?
So, the context. At my office, power surges that flip the breaker are not all that uncommon, especially if the A/C in the first floor office, the fridge, and the hot water pitcher are all on simultaneously. Or, the wind is strong. Or, it is stormy. Or... you get the picture... Sometimes, the lights stop shining.
A couple of weeks back, this situation arose and the lights went out. Many people wait for the maintenance guy or one of the guards to come investigate the situation and flip back the breaker. I suspect this is for a couple of reasons, one is that it is a nice unplanned coffee break. The other, is apparently some folks are worried about getting shocked if they touch the circuit breaker. As the person closest to the magical little box, I heard the switches flip so, in my western logic, walked over to put them back. As I did this, one of my co-workers said, "Careful not to die." To which, I responded, "If I do, tell my mother I love her." (This is a version of a line from the movie No Country for Old Men, and likely comes from something else prior to that but is a good example of the many things I say daily that are so US culture, my generation, that they just make no sense to people here, or they miss the point). It should be noted this co-worker has amazing English and the two of us constantly joke with each other about everything. For about six months, he insisted on saying good morning to me every time he saw me. Even at 5pm.
His response to my message to my mother was, "If you die today, we will celebrate tomorrow." He then went on to explain (because I acted highly offended), " In Cambodia we have a lot of food, and music, and people get together the day after someone dies so it is like a celebration, you know that. We don't celebrate because we are happy someone died." So, how did this bring light to my life? It made me think of all the hilarious things I am probably saying in my attempts at speaking foreign languages, across foreign cultures that should probably never be taken out of context (and likely don't make sense half the time in context). A sense of humor is the most important personal flotation device.
So let your light shine and celebrate!
