Thursday, Day 12: Retreat Day #1

So, today was the big faculty retreat - day 1 of 2. Today was focused more on team building and celebrating the successes the department has accomplished over the past 8 years since it began as they prepare to graduate the first cohort! It was a very full agenda starting with a fun icebreaker about name meanings. Then, we some set up and a timeline activity to review all the successes and challenges that have been overcome in more than a decade of planning and implementation of the program. We covered shared team commitments and had faculty share feedback about what they appreciate about their colleagues. Then, we finished the morning sharing comments from graduating students about what the program and faculty members have meant to them - it was so touching that it made me a bit misty. Lunch was another wonderful Khmer meal followed by a post-meal game of animal sounds... it was amazing to hear the cultural differences between animal sounds too... a frog sounded more like a bird squawking. The afternoon was more preparation for goal setting in the next retreat. It was a long, 7 hour day but the faculty members seed to be very engaged, thankful, and with great feedback about our facilitation. My team members are now convinced that my interest in doing consulting work is perfect for me. Honestly, it was an honour to share such a meaningful and productive space with such amazing people who are doing such amazing work. 

Post retreat we had a check in about other projects. Probably not the best idea... it was really time to just stop for the night. I was pretty spent for the night but chose my normal form of unwinding which was to go out. My teammates were packing it in for the night so I ended up in a restaurant/bar across from my apartment where I tried to write for a bit... to no avail. It was a bar I had been avoiding for a while since it seemed to be mostly expats... a strange crowd for a Cambodian setting. But, I discovered the second floor with a lovely bartender named NeNe (knee knee). She sat with me for a bit while I sipped on my Sambuca. A few moments alone to take in the city from my balcony seat, to recognize what a privilege it is to be having this experience, was just what my heart needed. At the end of long days I just keep thinking how lucky I am... and hope that I can hold onto that feeling during the next stressful day.