Hello, What’s your name?

Hello!

Hello!

Hello, how are you?

You just walk 3 meters and new people are shouting and waiving at you from the hammock in their house or the shop (often the house is also a shop). Mainly kids but sometimes adults do it to especially if they are proud to know a bunch of English words, other adults will either just stare at you (usually at least smiling) or say “Sasourday”.

It was to be expected, when you know that Lao kids shout « Sabaidee » at every passing tourist, why not Cambodian kids? But from a poor small town guidebooks don’t talk about and google maps can’t manage to find (yes, it exists !), you wouldn’t expect so many kids to speak even one word of English. But kids all do, even the smaller ones learn it with their very first spoken words (“Say hello”).

Is it because their schools although they can’t provide full time classes for everyone are quite good at teaching them some English? Or is it the BCDO effect?

Yes, I should have expected this warm English welcome from a town where I came to help a GNO school in teaching English to children. Those children must have been used to see western volunteers walking around and speaking English.

At first, it feels like a really warm welcome.

Then, one week later, when you know almost exactly where to expect a Hello from on your way to the market, you start feeling like the queen of England. While you try to talk with an other volunteer while walking to the beach, you constantly have to bring on your best smile, wave and say “Hello”. It’s not so hard, it just feels weird and you wonder how real stars manage that in their everyday life 🙂