When we started delving into the culture of Cambodia, one thing that took my notice first was that eating tarantulas is a delicacy there! Since that is something we were NOT going to be doing, I decided to scale it back a bit and, instead, keep it simple. So, we're learning about Cambodian greetings or Sampeah.
Sampeahs are a greeting and a way of showing respect. As such, Sampeahs are done multiple ways, depending on who you're greeting. For someone roughly your same age, you put your hands to your chest when you bow. For older people, the hands go to your chin. For teachers, grandparents, and parents, you raise your hands even further, landing around your nose. Then, for kings, you bow with your hands at your eyebrows. Finally, for Buddha, you raise them further still to your forehead.
While on our Cambodian stop of the World Culture Tour, we also learned about the spillover of the Vietnam War into Cambodia as well as Pol Pot's reign of terror after the war which led to the infamous "Killing Fields".
See below for the rest of our Cambodian stop:
Movies City of ghosts
Two brothers
The Killing Fields
Food:
We watched, but didn't eat – Dehydrated Tarantulas - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJW0JVAzdug
Stories:
The Origin of the Tiger, The Goddess and the Giant, The Monkey and the Mermaid (https://seap.einaudi.cornell.edu/cambodian-folktales)
Music: Khmer Traditional Music - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUiztYyT1oE
Custom: Practice a Sampeah
Click to see more of the World Culture Tour