Travel to Cambodia, South, Phnom Penh.

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One of my students just left my office. She's had to miss her midterm exam last week because of work. This isn't uncommon. She's an unusually bright young girl with an intense face and a stout, but not overweight, frame. She's curious and an eager learner who always sits in the front row and she goes by the name Kimmy, which is short for Ong Kimheang. It's unusual for Khmer people to take on Anglo names like so many Chinese students do. She is way more engaged as a student than just about any of the other young girls. She's not a vampire girl. Vampire girls are a description that Sam and I have given to the young women who are from wealthy Phnom Penh families. They dress very Korean chic, color their hair, are rail thin, and have a skin tone that is scary white because of all of the use of skin bleach. They look somewhat like they've just been drained of all their blood, hence the name "vampire girl". Kim is very well kept but dresses simply and has kept her beautifully rich natural brown skintone.

I wanted to give her an A on her midterm. She's an ideal student who participates, prepares, comes to class early and asks great questions. Her English is exceptionally good with a very easy to understand accent. She missed the class before the midterm which would have added at least 10 points to her exam. She scored a 68 which was right around the class average, perhaps even a little higher. After her exam I explained to her that with the curve she will have a solid C and she still has a big part of her grade ahead of her so she can easily get a B and maybe even an A. And then something magical occured that happens all the time--I get her story. She's not from Phnom Penh, she's from the provinces and her father died when she was young. She described her mother as a wonderful mother who survived an abusive husband and brought her family to Phnom Penh when she was in eighth grade. She dropped out of school to sell ice cream to try and help support the family. After some years she went back to school and graduated in one year and then started college

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