King’s Birthday is annually anniversary which all the members of Royal family always celebrated and observed annually on May 13, the actual birth date of the king Norodom Sihamony of Cambodia in 1953. During the anniversary of King Norodom Sihamoni’s birthday, many government buildings are decorated with small colorful lights and large portraits of the King together with best wishes and congratulatory words for the King.

People in Cambodia are also suggested to raise Cambodia national flags in their houses across the country. On other hand, People in Cambodia celebrate King Norodom Sihamoni’s birthday as a public holiday, just like HM Queen Mother’s Birthday and HM King Father’s Birthday.

Cambodian King’s Birthday is considered a national holiday of Cambodia to celebrate the anniversary of His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni. The holiday is observed on 13-14-15 of May, therefore, civil servants, employers, employees, factory workers and all Cambodian people will have a three-day off. Over the country, schools, government offices, banks, and companies are closed during the king’s birthday, and Cambodian people could use the day to rest and gather with family or have a vacation to some places of interest in Cambodia.

Vores elskede, elskede søheste, ekstrem-svedning når vi beach-cleaner, bærer sandsække, laver legeplads og andet godt i den stegende sol, hunde, høns og vandbøfler der vækker os om natten, mærkelige - men samtidig helt fantastiske - australiere, at drille båddrengene, havudsigt fra terrassen, Erika/mor der redder os fra bugs og andre ting der laver farlige lyde, drikke risvin med Hua, Kikse-Callum – Ged-ged – Tissemand-Ties, tiltalen ”the Danish/Denmark”, fisketure med de lokale lærere, udforskning af fjerne vande, venner – der prøver at overbevise os om at blive, juleaften i tropeheden (vores farvelfest), at drille staff med at pynte aktivitetsplanen overdrevet med juletræer og katte, vores nye føde som supplement til risretter; Oreos, Nutella og vafler/pandekager fra Pancake-lady (<3), undervise i skolen – om sundhed og sport (hvilket mundede ud i, at en af eleverne faktisk kom til Amanda og bad hende om at rense hans nyanskaffede kæmpeflænge under foden), frugtplukning med eleverne i junglen, Barbie, Srai-niat, Li-Heng og Jeng Li, bådturene ud til The Corral – styret af handsome Mr Roh og nuttede Mr Boh, dancing until the break of dawn til Gangnam Style og dens ca. 15 remixes der kører i ring på øen, tøj der lugter ekstremt af dødt hav, bucket showers, ice milos på Tigers, at prøve at huske dykkedetaljer når vi skal logge dem, vanvittig frygt for at falde igennem molen (som ikke har det helt optimalt) når vi går med tunge tanke, at høre James Blake når vi ligger på vores terrasse og skuer ud over vandet – som det mest afstressende vi ...

This weekend appartment 6 made the trip to Sihanoukivile, which I have to say was quite frankly the most beautiful place I have ever been to, we stayed in a lovely bungalow 100 metres away from the beach. The journey was fairly painless even if it did take 6 hours to get there, this was not helped by a number of protesters as we were leaving Phnom Penh!

After we had checked in and put on our swimming gear we heeaded straight to the beach, where we had some lunch and of course some cocktails! After our food and some drinks we of course waited the 20 minutes to let our food digets and then straight into the sea, which was so beautifully warm it is hard to describe, we spent the rest of the day just on the beach sunbathing and generally having a great time. After a quick shower and change (well quick for me, I had to wait what felt like an eternity for the girls) we went out to get some food, found a great place where we had a BBQ on the beach, which costed me $4, outrageous I know. After our meal we went to a bar, mum told me to keep the blog clean so I won't go into the gory details! All I can say is that a good night was had by all!

Sunday morning came round quickly and we spent the entire day lounging on the beach and swimming in the sea, it did rain however but for only 20 minutes or so and the sea was warm enough for us to not be bothered by it, we then went out for another great meal at a bar owned by a very nice American man.

We returned back to Phnom Penh on the Monday morning, which was quite possibly the worst bus journey of my life, I had the pleasure of sitting next to a very ill man, who for the first 30mins of the journey was throwing up out of the window of the bus, he was then told off by one of the bus employees who gave him a bag to be sick in! So I ...

Sophie Weidemann Andersen working as a volunteer with Projects Abroad for three months have shared how she felt. what she did on her first dat in Phnom Penh. Here it is:

My first day in Cambodia has passed, and it seems like I've already been doing a whole lot of things!

When I got here in the morning of Monday, everyone was still at work, so the apartment was empty, besides the cook. It was a bit lonely, but I was (thankfully!) only alone for an hour or so, before most of the volunteers came home for lunch.

A single apartment can hold up to 9 volunteers at a time, and so far, we're full! One girl is leaving today, so we're down to 8. I have a single room, with a nice wide bed, and a sot of dresser that I can put my personal belongings in.

Since the lunchbreak is about 2-3 hours depending on your project, all of the volunteers can do what they want during this break. I'm an exception though, since I'll be dealing with younger kids, I will have lunch at the daycare. But since I haven't started working yet, I went to a nearby supermarket to buy some necessities. Once everyone had left for their projects again, I found a local café, which serves a DELICIOUS iced coffee, which I'm sipping on now too!

When people came home after a hard day of work, we went out to have a goodbye dinner for the girl who is leaving today. We went to something called FCC, Foreigner's Culture Club or something, and had delicious meals! Apparently, $10 is a lot for a meal and a drink... Who knew!

Today, I had my induction. That means I got introduced to my project and got a ride around town. I haven't been to my project yet, but I'll be going there in an hour or two, then come back home. I hope that the kiddies are nice and quiet when I get there!

Here are some pictures ...

Hello there my friends and so I've been here officially 2 weeks now and can say I am continuing to love my time here.

Last Sunday the apartment took a team trip to the National Museum, which really wasn't all that excited, just your classic museum, rather annoyingly you weren't allowed to take any photographs inside the museum but I still managed to get some good shots of the outside of the museum and the courtyard once inside the museum.

Teaching still continues to be rather challenging but with the help of one of the other Volunteers, Sarah, it has become much more manageable. We were lucky this week to be able to have a day off thanks to International Labour Day on Wednesday 1st May, which has broken the week up nicely. On Wednesday we attempted to go and see the Royal Palace, however myself and a couple of the other volunteers were not dressed "appropriatly" and were not allowed in. A slight disapointment but in the afternoon we went to the Toul Sleng Genocide Mueseum. This was the same prison where Pol Pot imprisoned thousands of people and basically tortured them. This experience was rather shocking to actually see the same items in which innocent people were brutally tortured with. 

The atmosphere in the apartment is great and the comaradery with the other volunteers is fantastic! Shanti, the Dutch volunteer is currently teaching me some Dutch, it's all good fun!

Ah I almost forgot we had  2 new volunteers come this week, one named Yui and she's from Japan, she's really nice and has somehow managed to literally bring wi-fi with her! The other's name is Marc and he's from Luxenbourg, he only arrived yesterday but seems like a good guy. Next week we are also getting another new volunteer, which would take our total numbers up to zeven! (7 in Dutch)

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