去年夏天，我和 哪里有龙 在柬埔寨. The main focus of the trip was to study peace building and conservation. 然而, the program’s flexible itinerary allowed us to explore other facets of 柬埔寨, 包括文化, 佛教, 丰富的历史. We also witnessed the politics of 柬埔寨 during an election that took place while we were there. 在短短的一个月里，我学到了很多东西. 这里有一些...1. 我学到的第一件事就是 如何更加注意我对世界造成的浪费. 这是我们在Chambok的第一天, one of the gifts we received from the instructors was a reusable bag. 而不是一直使用一次性塑料袋, using a reusable bag would be a much more sustainable alternative. 除了可重复使用的袋子, we used reusable water bottles as an alternative to disposable plastic water bottles. Lastly, whenever we went out to eat we would always ask for no straws if they were plastic. 这些都是显而易见的事情, but I never really thought about how little changes in a person’s lifestyle can make a big difference.
2. 上这门课的时候，我知道了很多关于 红色高棉 事先政权. I knew much about the work camps, but I did not know much about S-21监狱, where at least 12,000 people were tortured and murdered, until I visited the site. 此外，我对地雷也不太了解. I knew what they were, but I did not know that they are still harming people today.
3. We also learned about social issues 在柬埔寨 as well; one of the biggest ones is 妇女不平等. 在旅途中，我读了这本书 得体的女人, Thavry Thon撰写, 我们的一位教官, 这篇文章谈到了她是如何通过上学打破性别角色的, 出国留学, 拒绝包办婚姻. Another big lesson we learned was the difference between learning service vs. community service and how there can be negative effects from community service. For example, in Nepal, where 我们的一位教官 lived, there was a horrible earthquake. 许多外国人想去尼泊尔做志愿者, but they did not know any Nepali nor did they know how to clean up after a tremendous earthquake, 这只会导致更多的挫败感. In addition, some people believe that 柬埔寨 is in desperate need of schools for education. So they travel all the way to 柬埔寨 to build a school but hire foreigners to build it rather than actual 柬埔寨ns. 等学校结束了, 他们只是离开，不告诉任何人如何运作, 所以才会有这么多空学校. Learning service is a much more ethical way of community service.
我在柬埔寨的逗留是我一生中最美好的几个月之一. When I first met up with my group at LAX airport my initial thoughts were: “What did I get myself into?” I was going halfway across the world with a group of people I did not know and without a cellular device to talk to my parents. As time passed, I soon began to realize how much I actually liked my group. We bonded over certain interests, hilarious incidents, and shared life stories. 教练们真是太棒了. Kelsey, the youngest of the instructors who was also from the United States, was like a big sister (Bong Srey (高棉语)给我们所有人. She had a smile that would brighten up anyone's day and knew so much about nature. Yut是另一位非常棒的教练. 他无疑是我最喜欢的人之一. 他出生在暹粒，当了很多年的和尚. 最后，克莱尔是一位来自英国的教练. She is incredibly knowledgeable and I am currently reading her book about learning service.
My fellow Dragons peers were easy to become friends with and we all had a naturally good group dynamic. 每个人都带来了不同的东西. 在旅行结束的时候, I was crying so much because I knew I would miss everyone and I am definitely not one who gets attached easily. 我们今天仍然保持联系! 柬埔寨, 以及和我一起旅行的龙乐队, 会永远在我心中占有特别的位置吗.
朱莉安娜·泰斯现在正朝着她努力 全球教育集中度.