This morning Charlotte started back in-person at school. She’s been studying online for most of the last 18 months. It’s a major transition for her and she’s feeling anxious – we’ve reassured her that she’s ready and that her classmates are probably feeling the same way.

We’re grateful for her time in online school. We love having the time with her and credit online learning with the immense progress she’s made in reading over the last nine months…but we’re glad that she’s able to return to in-person relationships and learning. We’re excited for her to develop friendships with her classmates (who are also from around the world).

Because of COVID-19 restrictions the classes have staggered drop-off and pick-up. This meant Charlotte and I had to wait 30 minutes after dropping off Catherine. So we had a rice and pork breakfast at a stand down the street. It was a good opportunity for us to spend some time together, talking about her day before slowly walking the moto back to the school when it was time. The rice and pork wasn’t quite as tasty as our normal place but it was quiet and the family running the stand were very friendly. I think it helped Charlotte feel more at ease as she chatted with the daughter of the stand’s owner in Khmer and seemed to visibly relax. There were no tears when she headed in to the school but, after a final “I don’t want to leave you”, she shifted into go mode and followed a classmate in without a glance back.

As I mentioned before, most Cambodian children were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before the government announced that primary schools would be reopening. I’m not sure about other expatriate children but Charlotte has also been fully vaccinated with a ‘traditional’ inactivated viral vaccine.