Always a graceful goodbyeIt was eight weeks of intense language learning in Madison, WI. The teachers were phenomenal. It ended August 7th, 2009, and I am just getting to write about it. A summary in ten points...
1) I learned to sail a tech dingy and a sloop on Lake Mendota in my spare time.
2) I lost my prescription glasses in the lake during a pirate water battle.
3) I made my first Khmer friends!
4) By the end of the summer course we finished reading a famous Khmer novel, Sophat, and then created and acted a small skit based on it.
5) I learned an amazing amount about my language and my culture. However, nothing compared to what I would experience in December of 2009 when I traveled to Cambodia with my family.
6) Volunteered with the Bike Federation of Wisconsin.
7) Hung out with people in the park at sunset who hula hooped & spun poi.
8) Got walking pneumonia, which may now be dormant in my body and recur if I don't take care of myself.
9) I went on a two week family bike ride with Alex's family, who just happened to be planning the annual family bike ride in Central Wisconsin.
10) Returned home to North Carolina to begin a new semester.
The very beginning of the ride - Onalaska, WI, August 9th
