the comeback (Frenix!!!)

Do you want to be a member of one of the world's largest youth organizations, AIESEC? Your chance has come!

2009-07-13T18:59:00.007+07:00

Dear IFL/RUPP, NUM, UP and RULE students,

AIESEC, one of the world's largest student-driven organizations with a global network of 108 countries, is now in Cambodia. After having successfully established two local committees at Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia and Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, AIESEC has now come to IFL/RUPP, NUM & UP and RULE.

If you are students at one of these universities, the opportunity has come to you. We want you to lead a local committee at your university. We are looking for 1 president and 4 vice-presidents for each local committee.

With AIESEC, you can:
1. Activate your leadership skills and learn how to motivate others
2. Learn about other countries and go work abroad
3. Learn professional skills and work with others to gain real business experience e.g. critical thinking, communication & team work skills
4. Get to know new people and make lots of new friends
5. Most importantly, become number one.

If you would like to grab this amazing opportunity, do come to our introductory meeting. For more information about this recruitment and for details of the introductory meeting, please contact:

- For RULE students, please contact Mr. Tha Sanhchivorn (Tel: 012 444 027, Email: sanhchivorn@yahoo.com)
- For IFL/RUPP students, please contact Ms. Somith Solivann (Tel: 013 516 399/017 516 399, Email: somithsolivann@puc.edu.kh)
- For NUM & UP, please contact Mr. Leang Samnang (Tel: 016 362 622, Email: ls_nang@yahoo.com)

4th Youth Networking and Team Building Camp

2009-02-16T18:53:00.005+07:00

4^th Youth Networking and Team Building Camp

“Promoting Youth’s Involvement in Good Governance”

OYG-CAM is pleased to announce its 4th Youth Networking and Team Building Camp, which will be held in Mundulkiri from 7-9 March, 2009.

Purposes of the camp:

- To promote friendship, mutual understanding and build capacity among OYG-CAM members and other youths through knowledge and experience sharing.

- To build team spirit and youth network.

- To set a role model for others.

- To raise awareness about good governance and inspire the youth to get involved in promoting it.

Requirements for participation:

- Age between 16-35 years old.

- Be committed to share and learn from others during the camp.

- Be willing to share knowledge or experience after turning back from the camp.

- Be eager to participate in all OYG-CAM’s youth camp activities

- Be enthusiastic about team work

- Be responsible and accountable

- Have integrity and open mind

- Be happy to share tents for accommodation and eat food provided

- Be able to bring all items and materials required for use during the 3-day camp (E.g. Towel, pillow, blanket, shampoo, soap, toothpaste, brush, etc.)

Applications are available at our office, Asia Garden, #456, Monivong Blvd, Phnom Penh, Cambodia or on our website: www.oygcambodia.org/newsandactivities

All applications can be submitted to info@oygcambodia.org or to the above address. The deadline of submission is due on February 20, 2009, at 5 pm.

Study of the US Summer Institute 2009 for Student Leaders

2009-01-03T16:53:00.007+07:00

FY-09 STUDY OF THE UNITED STATES INSTITUTES

FOR STUDENT LEADERS

The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce the opening of the Study of the United States for Student Leaders program. The program will take place over the course of five weeks, June 28-August 2, 2009, for a group of 20 students from Cambodia, Burma and Vietnam.

The Study of the U.S. Institutes for Student Leaders are intensive academic programs whose purpose is to provide groups of undergraduate student leaders with a deeper understanding of the United States, while simultaneously enhancing their leadership skills. The institute will consist of a balanced series of seminar discussions, readings, group presentations and lectures. The coursework and classroom activities will be complemented by educational travel to other parts of the United States, local site visits, and volunteer opportunities. The institute will include an academic residency component of approximately four weeks and a domestic travel component of approximately one week that will conclude with a 2-3 day program in Washington, D.C.

All candidates should be proficient in English so that they can be an active participant in the academic program. Host institutions will take into account that the level of comprehension and speaking ability of students may vary, and will prepare lectures and discussions that meet the highest academic standards while using language appropriate for students where English is their second or third language.

The participants are expected to be highly motivated first through third year undergraduate students from colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher education, who demonstrate leadership through academic work, community involvement, and extracurricular activities. Their fields of study will be varied, and will include the sciences, social sciences, humanities, education, business, and other professional fields. Participants from non-elite backgrounds, from both rural and urban sectors, and with little or no prior experience in the United States or elsewhere outside their home country are encouraged to apply for this program.

To be eligible, applicants must:

- be typically 25 years of age or younger

- be committed to returning to their home universities following completion of their institute program

- demonstrate strong leadership qualities and potential in their university and community activities

- indicate a serious interest in learning about the United States

- have a sustained high level of academic achievement, as indicated in grades, awards, and teacher recommendations

- have demonstrated commitment to community and extracurricular university activities

- have had little or no prior study or travel experience in the United States or elsewhere outside of their home country

- be mature, responsible, independent, confident, open-minded, tolerant, thoughtful and inquisitive

- be willing and able to fully participate in an intensive academic program, community service, and educational travel program and,

- be comfortable with campus life, prepared to share living accommodations, and able to make adjustments to cultural and social practices different from those of their home country.

Application Instruction

Applications are available at the American Corners of your institution, the Educational Advising Center, Royal University of Phnom Penh, and at the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy. Interested applicants must submit completed applications and supporting documents, including transcripts and two recommendation letters from your school and your social activity institution no later than February 6, 2009. For further information on this program, please contact Mr. Chau Sa at the Public Affairs Section, U.S. Embassy Phnom Penh, No. 1, Street 96, Sangkat Wat Phnom, at 023-728-248 or 012-812-453, email: chaus@state.gov.

NB: The Cambodian alumni, who went to join this program last year, are pleased to announce that they will be conducting a presentation to share their experience in the US as well as to give interested students some suggestions concerning the application process so that students can be more prepared to go for it. Details about the presentation are as follows:

- Venue: PUC South Campus, Norodom Blvd (American Corner)

- Date and Time: Friday, January 9, 2009 (5:30-7:30 pm)

- For interested students, please go to register your name at the American Corner at PUC South Campus or contact:

+ Miss Chui Chanthy (Email: chanthychui@yahoo.com or Tel: 012 858788)

+ Miss Vong Chankanitha (Email: chankanitha_vong@yahoo.com or Tel: 016 532946)

Happy Happy New Year--the Year 2009:

2009-01-01T16:22:00.003+07:00

This is the beginning of the new year; this is the new month; and it's also the new day! So Everybody, I wish you a very happy new year! May goodness and all-time happiness stay with you all! and stay with me too!

This morning just like other Jan 01 of many other years, I woke up feeling a big regret! I didn't manage to stay to celebrate the time in-between the years 2008 and 2009 :(..... When I woke up from my very deep sleep, it was still dark, but the clock already stiked 5:45 am. Then I looked at my phone and readily realized that the celebration was over. In my phone, i recieved many wishful sms from my dear friends! (Thanks, guys! I recieved, read, and appreciate each and every one of them, although I didn't reply as my account is unfortunately low. Sorry!) I also saw a missed call--a call from 007! A friend abroad must have tried to reach me! Mayb it's Theary, or Kanitha, or Pheara, or.... (It couldn't be Lida, Sross, and Dara as they're all in cambodia now!).... By the way, talking about the 3 of them who have come to Cambodia, everyone else took their arrival as a surprise, but for me, it was not a surprise at all, as it always happened that before they came, I'd knew. Knowing it first was not fun at all!

I just couldn't control it, I mean, sleeping. At night, thesedays, I tend to fall asleep absolutely amazingly easily, and most of the time, leaving tons of school work undone! So one of my new year resolution is to keep sleep under my complete control! But despite my many attempts, they don't seem to work out, so any advice you wanna give me? I just can't go on like this at all.

Anyway, here are some of my new year's resolutions:
1. I must be early or on time in every appointment and in every class I have.
2. I must make a clear plan for my day-to-day activities.
3. I must stick to those plans.
4. I must not let sleepiness and laziness easily defeat me, straying me away from all the plans.
5. I can't be an always "yes-man" anymore.
6. I must be committed in and give my best to every work or assignment I do. I can't just swim with the tide and let things be, anymore.
7...
8...
...

Anyway, I wish you all a very happy new year!

Also, let me say a very happy birthday to two dear friends of mine--Bong Nana and Rany--two very important people of ICA. I wish you both a great year ahead of you! :D

The Click Five really rocked it!

2008-12-13T10:59:00.006+07:00

MTV EXIT Concert - it was probably the best concert experience ever, I mean, only the Click Five part.

Quite honestly, it started out pretty lame, pretty boring, and sitting up in the very crowded VIP seats wasn't very comfortable at all. Although it didn't reach the blast as I had expected, sitting next to some friends and cheering together was fun anyway.

However, it wasn't fun enough cos i really wanted to see the Click Five performing upclose. So after about an hour, I left my VIP seat and with two friends squeezed down to the standing crowd right in front of the stage in order to reach the concert experience I had anticipated.

Then i was there quite near the stage. However, i was wondering if I'd made the right decision. It was about 8:30, then 9:00, 9:30, 9:45, and 10:00 already, but the Click Five still wasn't coming out to perform. It was very boring and annoying at that anxiously waiting moment. To be honest, I was fairly pissed at the MCs as they were talking so much delaying the Click Five's appearance. I know it was their job to do so, cos maybe the Click Five and everything weren't ready to rock the stage. But, I being very tired, thirsty, bored,...., it was the worst part of the concert.

But then, a little over 10:00 pm, the five people finally came out, kicking off the stage with "Flipside". Every bit of uneasy feelings just immediately went away. and Oh boy, it was super-cool. It was absolutely AWESOME! Then, Happy Birthday, Empty, Jenny and several other songs followed. I remember the moment as the time when I cheered the loudest, danced the most energetically, sang along to the very top of my lung... It was simply AMAZING; i mean, much better than i had expected. I guess it even topped my very first concert experience with MLTR.

Although having never been really a big fan of the Click Five, this experience kinda changed me great deal towards their music. I've changed to love their songs a lot. The Click Five really really ROCKzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

However, there was one thing I felt so bad about. It was so bad that I had to leave the concert and go home while the show was still going on. I had to go home as it was really late.. I reached home at almost 11:30 pm, the latest I've ever come home, except when i was abroad or in other provinces away from home.

By the way, here are some of the photos I've taken on the day of the concert.

me with my volunteer friends

our booth -- OYG-CAM booth

at the VIP seats

the stages from the VIP seats -- so far way!

And here came the Click Five

if only this picture were clearer...

And last but not least, as a present to all the audience of my blog.... here is the video of one of my favorite songs of the Click Five.... They really rocked it!

:D Really can't wait to join another concert of this ROCK band! :D

MTV EXIT in Cambodia

2008-12-04T19:03:00.005+07:00

Hi, all! Have you guys heard about MTV coming to Cambodia, in cooperation with USAIDS and qb, to conduct a campaign and a CONCERT to raise people's awareness against exploitation and trafficking. (EXIT means End Exploitation and Trafficking.)

For the event, in order to help MTV and show my support for the campaign to try to eliminate expoloitation and trafficking, I, along with many other university students, have volunteered to the publicize the campaign and seek for people's support. Now what we are doing is staying at 4 of the universities in Phnom Penh, including PUC Main Campus, UC, CMU, and BBU. And I am at PUC Main Campus, so if you want the ticket, just to come to one of these universities from either 10:30-11:30 or 5:00-6:00. Just a few simple things; then, you can get a ticket to see the concert on the evening of Dec 12 at the Olympic Stadium. And you know who are the stars coming to perform. Guess what, Click Five will come. Some big stars in Cambodia will also perform in the concert.

So wanna know how you can get the ticket? Here are what you need to do:
1. Show your student ID (ID at any school and universities) to our volunteer.
2. Have a brief talk with our volunteers about exploitation and trafficking.
3. Have your hand painted.

4. Pledge on the board.

one of the student pledged on the board

n our volunteer pledged too :D

5. Sign your name next to your palm print

6. Pledge your name on the pledge sheet

7. Finally, you get the ticket.

As simple as that, huh?

NB. The paint won't go away immediately, but for a few days it will remain on our hand as a remembrance showing our honest support for the campaign to end exploitation and trafficking. Such a special thing to do, indeed! We are making history!

seems not very easy to clean it off, huh?

and I am too taking parting in making this history! :D

So come, come..... we are conducting this campaign until the morning of Dec 12, every weekday.

So see you there! :D

Hi All...........

2008-11-19T19:35:00.007+07:00

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, y'allllllllllll!!!!

Wow it's been more than a month since my last post was published in the very blog..... i've been a bit busy, despite having millions of things to share and express through this blog.....

Now i am back..... to mark this return, i'm not gonna write anything lengthy and boring.... It's gonna be just images and music......

This are some pictures during the very first camp of the SYC alumni Cambodia at sihanouk--the event i've already posted about...... The video was the production of the early morning work that I, sovan, and chamroeun was trying to finish before its premier at about 7 in the morning to the participants of SYCA youth camp (on Sep 14).... It was memorable, thinking about that.... So enjoy!

And this is another one, which was made by Phal for the camp reunion party on October 18..... Again, enjoy!

Last month, this day (Sept 3, 08)

2008-10-03T20:23:00.007+07:00

It was so bad of me that I didn't get to write a post dedicated to the celebration of Seavhuong's bday (who is one of my very good friends) last month. Very bad, bad me!!!

This gave me the great need to finally get this post published to say a word of Happy Birthday to her although it's exactly a month late!

Happy birthday to Seavhoung!

Yesterday 20 years ago:

2008-10-02T17:07:00.005+07:00

Yesterday was Panha's birthday, and it was a shame that I didn't even know about it! In fact, yesterday, sitting in the library, Chamroeun asked me if that day was anyone's birthday, as he saw Kunthea carried a piece of bday cake home. and I said no, no-one's bday, feeling kinda of unsure if it was really anyone's bday. I tried to think, but i couldn't figure out whose it was at all, thinking only the birthday list could help me find the answer! i didn't remember to check the list, though!

It was until this morning when Chhay kinda complained that i didn't show up yesterday. I told him yesterday was a holiday and asked how come he expected me to come. Then he talked about panha... and i knew it was Panha's bday! hahahaha... can't believe i missed the celebration of his bday! although i hardly gave bday gift to anyone, I almost never missed bday celebration for anyone in the class!

Anyway, (to panha) "at least I spent this whole post talking about your bday, man! and Happy Happy birthday to you! Bro, I wish you the best of luck! Be always happy, healthy, clever, lucky, and whatever you want to be."

Happy Happy belated birthday to you!

Moments of the very first SYCA Youth Camping Program

2008-09-20T19:07:00.005+07:00

It started when one of the alumni, who said to be inspired by Singaporean students' projects in slump areas in Cambodia, came up with the idea of bringing young Cambodians together to do things together for Khmer societies as a whole.

After nearly 2 months of preparations, which involved writing proposal, submitting the proposal and related document to perspective companies and organizations for funds, and delegating work among all the organizers, the camp, on September 13, 2008, finally took shape.

As scheduled, a little over 7 am, we set off, after a little chaos, checking attendance of registered participants and waiting for a few late comers. On the bus, each was given a bottle of water, along with a beautiful box of delicious bread, sponsored by ABC Bakery, whose owner is the father of one of our very own organizers--Seavhuong. How kind--both Seavhuong and her father. Big thanks to them!

in the bus, on the way to sihanouk

Oh, there was one special, kinda surprising thing at the start of this wonderful trip. Bong Davy--our very own energizer--told about the news to be broadcast very soon on Radio Free Asia about the camp we were having. We also got to hear Bong Davy's voice on that piece of news too, yelling sounds of approval and impressedness. It was kinda surreal.

From PUC, south campus, our starting point, the bus started towards Phnom Penh international airport in order to take 3 paticipating Singaporean friends. Unlike what I expected, it only took a little less than 10 mn to wait before the Singaporeans got out of the terminal building and walked tawards our bus.

Then there we went, to Kampong Sam. First activity we did to kick off was self-introduction. Each participant had to introduce themselves, and the person who next introduced must repeat names of all the people who had introduced before them. Kinda fun lah! Good for me, i happened to be the one who was responsible for preparing the list of participants' names, so it wasn't hard for me at all, just recalling the everyone's name, who had introduced before me. hahahaha :D Btw, i was quite impressed by our Singaporean participants; although our names are not very much familiar to their ears, they could recall our names fairly well. Bravo!

amirul standing up recalling our friends' names, holding Pri Yong in his hand

As we went on we were feeling kinda of worried how our camp was going to proceed, since the rains kept falling profusely. I found it cool, though; So loved the cool atmostphere of sitting the car being covered with the pouring down of rain.

see? it's a bit dark when it's raining...

Luckily, it seemed to slow down, from pouring to just sprinkling, as we were reaching Sihanouk Ville. Nearly 1 hour behind schedule, we reached the restaurant in Sihanouk, where we were arranged to have our lunch. The lunch was really good; all were spicy and hot--just the way i like it, and everyone was uttering words of satisfaction. Also, it was quite a reasonable price, as well. For about 50 people, the whole cost just a little less than 100 dollars. Good, huh? :D

this is in front of the restaurant....

Oh, and then we went to the hotel..... Holiday Hotel near Ou cher Teal Beach! Quite a nice, reasonably-priced hotel, except that the supplying water didn't seem very nice.... not very clear, I must say.... Maybe water is like that everywhere in Sihanouk Ville. Time didn't allow us to rest, to take a quick shower... though, only to get changed into the camp T-shirt.

After the hotel, a little over 2 pm, we departed the hotel for slum areas. It was still a little sprinkling! The bus let us off by the main road; we gotta walk directly to the slum areas.

I, in group 1, went along with the group 1 people, which was lead by Sovan; another group by Seavhuong. At the start we were a bit lost; both of the guys got kinda confused which way to go exactly. However, it wasn’t very far away until we were at the planned slum. The neighbourhood really got what it takes to be called slum. Ragged houses, narrow spaces, dirty waters,… and one more thing was that some people were gathering, playing Loto! The area where group 1 people were supposed to go was actually quite different from what I expected. I had expected the place to be quite large with lots of space for children to run, play around. It was just a small piece of land, on which there is one small room as classroom and quite a small free space. It seemed quite hard to conduct what we’d planned to…. We could hardly do any role play… People were squeezing for space to stand when acting out the play in front of all the sitting children in the classroom.

walking towards the slums

in the slum area....

that's where group 1 go to...

See? everyone seems to be squeezing for space....

slum 2 isn't very narrow...

After the role play, as planned, we went out of the room and started other activities with the kids. However, things didn’t seem to be going very smoothly. Most kids were too small for us to use our planned game to play with….so we were kinda stuck on what to do with them. However, it wasn’t very much the problem… we in each small group resorted to other small fun games. It was fun…. Some kids even volunteered to do a little of rapping. I was impressed. They were really influenced by the Hip-hop thing….. A part of me was wishing if they could study as good as they could do with their rapping.

And in the program, we also set aside some time for our Singaporean friends to show what they got to show the kids. They did some small experiment. Unfortunately, some kids didn’t seem very much interested in the experiments; however, some did.

Ming and Pou.....

this is slum #2

slum 2 people got some cool shot lah....

It was about 5, when we got out of the slum areas and walked back to our bus. At the bus, while waiting for people from the first slum to come, Sovan and I went to fetch the food bought for the camp by Sovan’s aunt. After help from a few more people, we finally got the meat, squids, and shrimps to the beach, where we would later have our barbecue. It was very tiring lah! Tiredness didn’t really beat the fun and satisfaction, though.

At about 7, the enjoyable beach party started. Eating, sitting, and igniting firework was so cool…absolutely amazing! There was one problem though—the brought speakers weren’t loud and clear enough for dancing, so we resort to spending 50 USD for renting speakers from a vender there. For the fun!!! :D

beach time :D

And then we danced. It was crazy! Not very satisfied, though, about the fact that songs that I spent hours selecting the night before were not being used. It would have been better if I had had those shaking songs to dance along. Anyway, it was a blast! Also, there were Mr. & Ms. Camp Contest, hosted by our very own “Ming San” or Bong Davy, Sokhour, and Salin! It was quite fun, just sitting on the cool and kinda hard sand and watching the show. The participants danced with their hilarious moves….Some did the acting! :D :D :D

shake it! shake it!

contestants of Mr. & Miss Camp, waiting to show what they got :D

and happy birthday to Malai! :D

The party finally ended at 12:30… So we walked back to the hotel… and all organizers got in one room and had the early morning meeting!... after the meeting I immediately got assigned a piece of work to complete by the meeting of all participants at about 7am. Hahahahaha… oh and I also missed the early-morning going out with guys from PUC and a few other friends because of the meeting.

After a quick shower, with the help of Savan and Cham, I started working on the photo compilation video. We, I especially, were very unproductive, due to the tiredness and sleepiness, so after quite a long while, we didn’t go far with the video! Until when we finally decide not to sleep and go off to the beach instead for early morning swimming, we started seriously working on the video and eventually complete the whole thing at over 4 am. Yeaaahhh! :D

Then, we, with Dalin, set off to go out but turned back to the hotel after it started sprinkling and we were told abt the insecurity of strolling around at such time in the morning. And finally at nearly 5 we made up our mind to go back to our rooms and get a little rest.

A new fresh, bright morning started and we all squeezed into Bong Davy’s room for the meeting. We had a little talk and the video was played. It was cool! After that, we checked out of the hotel and kick off that eventful day with the amazing urban challenge. Although as an ACE, I had so much fun….walking after the participants and being asked from time to time to give clues to participants…. My answer to them was often “I don’t know either! It’s Sovan and Seavhuong, who knows everything!” Some were having problems walking and running, which was not my problem at all. I enjoyed it more than anything! :D

and then the challenge starts...

thanks to her, we went the right ways and won the game....

group 5 are BEING seriuos!

hilarious shot..... all belly-laughing!

group 2 at the National Bank...

group 5's booties' shot :P

We were walking, running… in a sweating, humid day, in a sprinkling rain, and also in a heavy rain…. But for me, it was very meaningful and was a total blast. After going to all assigned places and doing all the assigned tasks, it happened that my group—group 5—was the very first team to arrive at Chhne Meas Restaurant. We were so happy. It was very fun, playing sarcastic and poking fun at the losing teams. Hahahahahaha =))

There, we rested, took some amazing shots of photos, and ate. Hahahaha :D

cool jump shot!

After our lunch, which was, although expensive, not very satisfactory as one we had went we first arrived at Sihanouk, we got off to another beach as that beach was not very clean. Nonetheless it was a good place—along the beach, near the sea, getting just the feel of breeze of the moving sea. It was supercool! N Thanks again to two of the most important and active people—Seavhoung and Sovan. Honestly, I was very impressed by their work. Two thumbs up, girls!

Next, we went on the bus and got a move on to Chhne Ou Cher Teal, where everyone could just rest and be free and easy with about 1 and a half hour they were given. I, with Izzati, Amirul, Dalin and Sovan, decided to stroll along the beach…again it was fun.

At nearly 2:30 pm, we departed to where we started, Phnom Penh. Everyone was so tired and was longing for a nice rest, I believe. It was only several away before we reached our houses, but it was also very near before this amazing camp came to an end… Anyway, another event is going to come soon! This alumni have many great things to contribute to Cambodia! Heheheeheheh!

just before we got the bus....and went home...

Happy Birthday to you, the Dark Corpse!

2008-09-02T15:00:00.004+07:00

Today is September 2, and one year back was exactly when I created this very blog and publised my first post! :D Now this blog is one year old!

Happy birthday! Happy birthday! Happy Birthday!

Oh....let me tell you a bit about what I did today! This morning I went to school to take my very first supplimentary exam; it's a GS exam. It was quite an experience. In fact, it was just like a typical exam day, you know, with feeling kinda nervous, excited..... but i said it was an experience because it's a supplimentary exam--exams where only students who have failed final exams are supposed to go. So to go there, wait to get into the exam room and finally sit in the room, while feeling like everybody was looking at you! You know? it's kinda of embarrassing, I must say. And it was a bit worse yesterday, when I went to IFL and stood in front of the buletin board, writing down the room and time of the exams out of the list which says Supplimentary exam! hahahaha..... People was walking by, and a few of them, maybe because I was looking at the board, joined me looking at the same thing, perhaps not knowing I was looking simply at the lists of people to take supplimentary exams. and soon enough, they went away as they had no business in these supplimentary things; they passed their exams. hahahaha.... I can hardly imagine how embarassed i would have been, if i had really failed the finals! fortunately, i was not feeling as ashamed as I think i would be, simply because I didn't fail my exams; i just missed all of them and had to go take exams with people who failed....

Stupid, isn't it?

Very First SYCA Youth Camping Program

2008-08-29T16:09:00.005+07:00

I am very excited about this camping. Anyone interested to join?

Sorry about the quality of the image above! I just can't make any better image!

So interested? If so, go for registration now!

Where 4 different worlds meet (pheak banhcob)

2008-08-28T16:51:00.012+07:00

[...]

After spending almost an hour examining the first place, Adrian turned left and aimed his telescope at another seeming world. Only a few miles from the drought zone lay hundreds of square miles of a thick rain forest. Through his telescope, he could see the place was rather wet; there must be rain regularly. All of a sudden, he experienced a feeling of peace and thought to himself that, unlike the previous place, the climate in this forest had to be very favorable for living. From afar, Adrian heard the singing of joyful birds flying from tree to tree and in the open, bright blue sky. He also noticed varieties of animal species, a lot of which he had not seen before, including some magical creatures such as unicorns and centaurs. Deep into the jungle, beside a gigantic tree and along a crystal-clear stream, were hundreds of fairies flying swiftly with their sparkling wings. The view simply struck Adrian speechless, taking his breath away. Hours had passed, but Adrian never seemed to finish watching spectacle after spectacle the magical jungle had to offer.

However, thanks to Adrian curiosity to find out about the next zone, he eventually changed the telescope’s position towards the desert-like zone. Over a long, tall mountainous wall from the heavenly rain forest was a huge area covered with sand. For the first few minutes, Adrian could hardly notice any life. There was just endless sand. But when he continued looking more closely, he could spot people, some with camels as their transportation. Furthermore, Adrian saw a town, in the middle of which was a monumental Islamic temple. “It may belong to the king,” Adrian thought. Then, curious, he began using his powerful ears and heard something chaotic. It sounded like a heated fight, but it was not coming from inside the temple. Rather, a few miles away, there was a battle field. Thousands of people were in combat with a mummy-like army. Fascinated, Adrian took a while observing the fight. He discovered that the mummy army was controlled by an evil spirit in a pyramid-like castle a few miles from the battle. The spirit looked extremely powerful and even invincible. As the fighting went on, more and more humans were being slaughtered. The sight became too brutal and harsh for Adrian , and he turned away.
After hours of looking and listening hard, Adrian started to feel tired and slightly aching in his eyes and ears. So, before moving on to the next and final zone, Adrian decided to take a short rest. He found a nice breezy place under a big shad tree, lay down, and soon fell into a long, deep sleep, much longer than he expected.

Almost three hours later, the sun set, and Adrian was awakened by the feel of ground tumbling and shaking. Without warning, a loud thumping sound startled him. “Is that an animal?” Adrian cried softly, his heart pounding. In confusion, he jumped to his feet and went behind nearby trees to hide. Then from somewhere just below him, booming voice growled, “WHY ARE YOU STANDING ON MY HEAD?”

“Uh-oh,” Adrian said, uneasily, losing balance and then tumbling about 20 feet down from the mountain top. Injured, he could hardly get up. When he finally did and looked up, “It—it’s the giant monster!” he shrieked. Immediately, he started to run for his life. However, no matter how fast he ran, he could not outrun that hungry monster. Soon, he was grabbed by a big hairy hand. “The ring!” he suddenly remembered, but, held tight inside the monster’s palm, he was unable to move an inch.

Not long after he was caught, the monster rolled out his enormous red tongue from his watering mouth, intending to swallow Adrian alive. Fortunately, as soon as the monster let go of Adrian into his mouth, Adrian grabbed the ring on his middle finger off, and there he was again on the bed in his quiet room. He gave a huge sigh of relief.

After this long, exhausting, and hazardous adventure, Adrian still felt a bit curious about the fourth zone, which he had not yet examined. However, he promised himself never to put the golden ring on his middle finger again.

~the END~

This short story was written by me, about a year ago, as a writing

assignment to submit to my English teacher, Goerge

Hannen. This one is an already-corrected version; I mean, this is how

this story looked after some correction on grammatical

errors and awkward word use had been made

by my teacher.

The story is quite predictable, right? (I can see that through

your comments.) It is predictable partly because it was inspired by some

stories I have read. And you may find some parts of it quite

similar to the stories you once read, as well. :D

Thanks for reading! :)

I gotta say this or i'll explode:

2008-08-27T19:34:00.002+07:00

Now i'm preparing for my upcoming supplementary exams, which are due next week...... There are lessons for the whole semester to review--stuff that I hadn't even cared to touch for the last two months; it's very boring. So far, i've read several lessons in GS book, and guess what came to my mind while putting that book in front of my face? Some kind of annoyance was arising. Look at this:

1999 statistics? Bloody hell! As a so-called "one of the most prestigious university in the country", IFL use such books to teach its students, book with information as old and out-of-date as one seen this pictures. I remember everyone was talking, complaining at the book published for students to study. I think one reason of students lazy and not very excited to study as much as they should was this out-of-date things that are used to teach them.

Another so ridiculous thing is in the picture below. At the first time I saw it, I couldn't believe my eyes and ears:

Citing google.com as a reference? Is it even legal? freaking ridiculous, isn't it? I can't believe any scholar would dare to use this as a reference to their work. I wonder if those who prepare this book would do if their students use this kind of citing in their assignment. If I happen to be in their class, in all assingments given, I might as well use two references: www.yahoo.com & www.google.com, or maybe three including: www.msn.com. hahahaha...... :D

I'm not sure how much this amuses you learners, but for me, this is so stupidly funny. Or maybe, i'm wrong; please correct me if I am.

However, I do feel belonged to IFL, and I’m glad to be a student there. I dare say it’s one of the best schools in the country, although with such standards. At least it’s better than many other local schools. “Cambodia is still just developing; it needs time”, I gotta keep this in mind to feel better.

Where 4 different worlds meet (Episode2)

2008-08-22T18:25:00.000+07:00

[...]

“What an amazing place!” Adrian exclaimed, feeling a breeze of fresh air and looking from the top of the mountain at the breathtaking sights below. It was the place where he could see for several hundred miles in every direction. Things appeared absolutely tiny in size.

Absorbed, he spent several minutes looking around carefreely until he noticed something very odd. The mountain he was standing on was located in the middle of four completely different zones, each cut off completely from the others by high and thick walls of mountains and forests. The climate, land, and temperature of each zone appeared to be different from the others. “How can areas be so close to each other and yet be very different?” he wondered.

Curious to find an answer, he sat down, took his newly-invented 200-mile telescope from his backpack, and started to examine each area more carefully. First, he directed his telescope toward the dry-looking zone. He could see that people were experiencing a drought. The weather seemed really harsh for lives to survive. The rice fields and other farmland were all dried out. No crops and plants existed. Even worse, there were dead bodies and bones lying everywhere on the ground, apparently from famine. Only few lives could be seen. Amongst them, Adrian saw a young woman, in her poor condition, chasing a small mouse. With his magic ears, Adrian could hear that the woman was talking. “More than half of my people have already died. Please sacrifice your little life for me”, she pleaded, still running. “I’m starving.” To Adrian ’s surprise, the mouse replied, “No, I can’t. I have children to look after. Without me, they’re all going to die. Please leave me alone.” Soon, the little mouse managed to escape into a hole, leaving the women helpless and in severe hunger.

to be continued...

From Bong Chet

2008-08-22T18:06:00.003+07:00

This is a photo had printed by Bong Chet, a brother we met at SIUC and became good friends with! It was taken at Bong Vina, another brother, when the time of leaving Carbondale was getting near, just before I, with others, was about put out some clumsy words before goodbyes! In the picture are all Cambodians, 3 of whom are Cambodian Americans and 1 is a PhD student in the US.

And all those ugly letters written messily on the photo was done my Cambodian colleagues...... In retrospective, I really miss the moment!

Btw, Bong Chet ery, I'm afraid I haven't got any SUM to put this big photo into yet! However, it's kept in a very safe place!

Where four different worlds meet:

2008-08-19T16:41:00.001+07:00

Adrian was born into a wealthy family on a very remote island country named Dorgan. Growing up, Adrian usually locked himself inside his room in his family’s castle, doing experiments and inventing unusual things. He always hoped his inventions would make his dreams of becoming a magician come true. As a boy of genius, he made it. He gradually developed extraordinary abilities.

His first achievement was that he managed to have magic ears, which could hear over thousands of miles. He could even hear people’s thinking. Later, Adrian invented 12 magic rings, which he called cross-world rings. Each ring has a unique colour, and, when worn onto any of his fingers, could teleport him into another world and teleport him back when taken off. Different rings worn on different fingers led to different worlds. With this wonderful invention, Adrian did less of his experiments and took up adventures in other worlds. He left early each morning; he returned late at night, exhausted but safe and sound.

One day, Adrian wore a golden ring onto his middle finger, and a few seconds later he found himself on top of a mountain, so high that he could almost touch the sky....

to be continued...

Where i've been to so far!

2008-07-23T10:42:00.006+07:00

right now, at this very moment i'm sitting in a couch in the lobby of the Abraham Lincoln President hotel, Sprinfield--capital city of illinois, making use of the provided wireless connection to write this post.... but before telling u guys abt the trip in springfield, let me give ya a bit of insight into my trips to varius places in the US during this amazing program i'm a part of....

first, of course, i've been to carbondale.... stayed there for abt 3 already.. the place was great... i love the peace and quiet there... the air is fresh and clean; there're a lot of trees; people are friendly; the university campus is huge with recreational centre, student centre, gigantic library....etc. and i've been doing a course of political science and american politics at SIUC (southern illinois university carbondale)....every weekday of the last 3 weeks, i had to get up and take a walk from the unversity hall (the university dorm) to the department of political science and study in various lectures abt politics... it was fun and memorable, although very few days could go without me feeling sleepy in the class.. really couldn't bear it, no matter how interesting the lecture was..

we're on our way to class

in front of the reacreational centre

at the university campus

and i've been to chester, another town in illinois, which is the hometown of Popeye, on the 4th of july... on that day, we went to kakaskas to see how american people there celebrated the birthday of the American independence....

moreover, i've been to st. luis, in the state of Missouri, for literally three times.... the first time was when i first arrived on the flight from chicago. we landed there and got driven by our kind GA (graduate assistant) for 2hours to Carbondale! the second time was when we were with the sparta rotary club. I went up the Gateway arche in st. luis; it was amazing, although not as amazing as i had expected. and just the other day, on july 19, i went to st. luis again but to different place. i, and others, went to an amusement park called Six Flag.... it was so much fun, giving me my very first time on high, exciting rollercoasters... unfortunately, the end of the day at six flag didn't go as well as the rest of the day... because of the last rollercoaster i rode in, i broken the internal screen of my camera, making it almost impossible to see the images while taking photos... i felt so regretful; i shouldn't have kept the camera in the bag and sat on it on the rollercoaster and i wouldn't have spoilt it.

at the parking lot at Six flags

inside the amusement park

a few more places i have crossed, at least, were as: Murphysboro, jonesboro, viennasboro.., which are all towns in Illinois. and i went the town Metrapolis, the superman town....

on that same day, after a short trip in the superman town, we went on to Paducka, a town in another state, kentucky, for dinner.... the trip was made possible by a cambodian guy... he's bong Vina, very kind, helpful and welcoming.. (a lot thanks to him)....

somewhere in paducka, kentucky state

and now, i'm in the capital city of illinois, Springfield. the place is awesome; everything's so beautiful---many (historical) buildings, with amazingly breathtaking achitectural structure, are available everywhere to see.... it's been just a day at springfeild; tmr afternoon, we'll leave springfield for anther city, Chicago, which is said to be the third largest city in the US or maybe in the world-- not sure....

in front of the illinois supreme court in springfield

and these have been some of the places where i've been to during the last 3+ weeks...

:D

from evening cooking to night swimming

2008-07-19T12:54:00.009+07:00

yesterday was a really fun day... we, cambodian delegates, with Burmese and Vietnamese students, got together in the kitchen and threw a dinner reception, introduing each of our local food to one another as well as to some americans invited....

Cha kat na with kos chicken

ocean & mandy (from Burma)

during the dinner; everyone is serving themselves

n what earned quite a lot of compliment was

the dessert we made, Bor bor san dek with ice

and guess what we do after that dinner reception..... we, with two cambodian people in carbondale, went to the local pubs or clubs....

in front of the club with country music,

just to see the US club,.....admission fee was too expensive, 5$

inside the club

do more guess......what did we do after that midnight club?........... ironically, at 2 in the morning we went swimming.... and not in the simple swimming pool... We went swimming in a lake somewhere about 10 mn from town.... Uh-oh!!! Ridiculous, huh?

I know!!! the place was totally quiet; there was no-one in the place besides us, along with other 4 american friends..... some of us went swim in a warm lake, viewing the almost full moon... we also created a bon-fire..... Ha..

anyway, it was a lake, and going there, i was feeling scared of snakes and movies abt crocodiles came into my mind... kinda scary, but it was a nice experience.. totally new for me!!!

See what I just got!

2008-07-17T12:52:00.006+07:00

It's been a while i trying to "Syong Eko"......hahahaha.... today, not today, actually, it was yesterday--since it's already 1 am--i finally decided to buy one laptop at Best Buy, Carbondale, Illinois, USA... it's an HP laptop... and hopefully it'll be the right decision....i won have to sit regreting this decision.....(it's quite expensive for me; really the most money i've ever spent on anything!)

here's how it looks like! quite blacker outside, though!

i am somehow happy!... from tonight until the time i leave for cambodia, i have my own laptop to use for internet access heuy! Awesome!

:D

somewhere in this morning's southern illinoisan

2008-07-11T11:15:00.004+07:00

yesterday's evening i, and other student leaders program participants, had a chance to have dinner with some local memeber of the UN..... we, representatives of each country, also got a previlage to give a little presentation about our own country and, guess what, i was one of the two Cambodian presenters.... it was an honour, but i did just okay, i guess.... however, it was fun, making me feel more belonging to this program.....

at the end of the dinner, two guys from southern illinoisan newspaper came up to me and did a brief interview on me....(my very interview for the media, indeed)......

and, amazingly, the next morning we all was shown the paper of the southern illinios... and guess what, i was among the people who appeared on this morning's paper.....

wanna read about it?.... and there you go.....

http://www.southernillinoisan.com/articles/2008/07/10/front_page/25055748.txt

http://www.southernillinoisan.com/content/current/news_templates/frontpage.pdf

unfortunately, they spelled my name incorrectly.... damn them! they should have spelled it acurately; my name was exactly on my shirt during the interview!!!!

awesome, anyway!!!

:D

first week in SIUC

2008-07-05T13:41:00.006+07:00

It's been a week since i left cambodia.... Saturday last week i was with some cambodian at the airport waiting for a flight here to the US and now, one week just flew away, I'm sitting in front one of the my colleagues' laptop, updating this blog abt the once-in-a-lifetime journey.....

so now let start.... i'll let some photos share some talking!!!

these, excluding my sis, were the only people who went see me off at the airport...

here were are at the suvanphum airport in thailand, waiting 4 connecting flight...

the waiting was just horrible.... it was fine at first, but as time went on, it was getting more and more terrible.... gotta wait the whole night, sleeping on the damn cold floor with little on, as day room at that airport was super-expensive....if we slept in the day room, each of us may have to spend upto more than 100 us dollars....

then, after abt 7 hour flight, it's for another connecting flight in narita airport, tokyo... it was better and the time to wait wasn't very long, only abt 3 hours.....

then here we were, after very long time of abt 12 hours, in the plane, in Chicago, illinois....

this is in the airport waiting for our twice-delayed flight to St. Luis

and after a while, we were in st. luis

however, the travelling didn't end there yet; gotta take another 2 hour drive from St. Luis to Carbondale........

finally, after some horrible hours of exhausting travelling--about 40 hours, we reached Carbondale at around 3 am....we reached the university--SIUC(Southern Illinois University Carbondale)......

oh....gotta go sleep now; it's already 2:30 in the morning... i'll come back updating this later.... maybe soon, hopefully!!!

bye for now!!!

In Siem Reap

2008-07-05T12:11:00.005+07:00

I'm not in siem reap right now.... have been in southern illinios for almost a week; the stay here has been awesome and there are millions of things i wanna post about.... but before this US trip, i just can't help posting about another amazing trip i had a month or two ago in siem reap......

in fact, i don't have much to share at all....just the video of the compilation of photos my friends and i took during our trip to Siem Reap.... I wish i could post the whole thing about the trip, just like how i posted about my last singapore trip; it just doesn't seem very likely, though..... so just enjoy what i got, k!

btw, sorry abt the music,....it's a bit sad, which is the complete opposite to what are actually in the photos--full of happiness and fun.....:D the reason i chose the song was bcoz it was my kinda favorite Madonna's song, and, too, the song length fits with the video so well; just can't find any happy song that fits this well.... :D

:D

I Will Possess Your Heart

2008-06-27T19:07:00.007+07:00

have you watched this video?... if not, watch it closely; you'll see something pretty amazing!

Today's lunch

2008-06-25T16:39:00.004+07:00

Guess what I did this noon? hahahaha..... it was a pre-departure orientation, so i gotta go to the US embassy..... at nearly 11, we 7 gathered and went into the embassy..... some advice for our flight was given...and we finally had a chance to sit and have lunch with the Ambassador, mr. Mussomeli, and two other important people in the embassy....

they are very friendly and down-to-earth... despite their position, they made jokes and talked to us like our friends... i'm so impressed and appreciative..... during lunch mr. Mussomeli told us that the american are "very loud"...suggesting us to be loud as well... (some of us, and i, may not have sounded loud and assertive enough when speaking during lunch) Hopefully after the experience from the US, i will be a person as loud as the American people.....

and guess what! there was a photo session after lunch as well; hope i look good in those photos....haven't got the photos yet, though.....

oh by the way, i really like how Jeff speaks.... Fast but very understandable...... that's the quality i want my speaking to have.... Fast and very understandable!!! hope 5 weeks in the us will enable me to speak faster with higher level of understandability.

In fact, i'm always quite loud with my close friends... but when it comes to meeting strangers or anyone in higher position, i try not to be as loud.... ideally, this inconsistency will change and i can be loud and assertive with everyone..... :D

i'm very glad to be here right now.... it's another step.... I'm feeling pushed!!!