School:
- Only
about 45% of Cambodian kids finish elementary school. The figure is much
lower for children who live in rural villages.
- Cambodian
children study math, history, geography, science, Khmer (Cambodia's
official language), English, and French, as well as art, music, and
dance. Most students wear uniforms.
Play:
- Leak
Kon Saeng is a popular game in Cambodia. The game
is similar to “duck duck goose,” but instead of tapping a person on the
head, the player who is “it” places a knotted piece of cloth behind the
“goose.”
- Older
children enjoy ang kunh. An ang kunh is
an oval-shaped seed. Two teams stand about 10 feet apart and place three
to five ang kunh in a semicircle. Each team tries to
knock down the other team’s pieces by tossing an ang kunh.
Family:
- Many
Cambodians live with members of their extended families. Parents,
siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins may live in the same
home. The extended families often work together as well.
- Cambodian
parents usually give their children symbolic names that rhyme with the
name of another family member.
Favorite food:
- Rice
and fish! Cambodians eat rice at every meal. It is served fried, steamed,
or in the form of noodles. Fish is eaten fresh, dried, smoked, or as a
paste called prahok and is spiced with hot peppers,
lemon grass, or mint. Cambodians even use rice in desserts. They combine
it with fruit and coconut milk to create a sweet treat.
Interesting animal:
- The kouprey, a wild forest cow, is
known for its long, curving horns. One of the rarest animals in the
world, the kouprey is Cambodia's national animal.
- Unique
holiday: Bonn Om Teuk, or water festival, is
celebrated in November at the end of the rainy season when the water of
the Mekong River begins
to recede. Cambodians hold rowing races on the river during the festival.
- Did
you know? Thousands of tourists travel to Cambodia each
year to visit the temples at Angkor Wat.
The temples were built in the 12th century.
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