Anniversary: It doesn't mean what you think it does

Prepare yourselves for yet another story about me being really confused for a majority of the day.

A couple of weeks ago, one of the teachers at my school approached me and invited me to his anniversary party.  I thought this was pretty awesome since marriages seem to often be made out of obligation, not necessarily out of any sort of romantic notion.  After he handed me the invitation I said a polite thank you and asked him how long he had been married.  He seemed slightly surprised by the question, but told me he had been married for seven years.  "Wow, seven years," I thought to myself "It's so great that they celebrate every year they have been together."

I came home and brought out my wedding outfit so it could air out before the party in a couple of days. My wedding outfit consists of a shocking, slightly off the shoulder, white lace top, and a flashy blue peacock sampot.  I was so pumped to be able to wear it again.

Me looking fly at our swear-in ceremony in my "wedding" outfit

Unfortunately, I soon realize that I had no idea at what time the actual party was....and the invitation was entirely in Khmer.  Now, I do speak a decent amount of Khmer, but I am completely illiterate.  I mean, you try reading Khmer sometime.  It's ridiculous.

Thankfully, I had a tutoring session later that afternoon, so I figured my Khmer tutor could help me decipher this cryptic invitation.  She helped me to learn that the party would start at 3:00pm (but like all fashionable parties, no one would show up until about 4:00).  I then asked her if she could kind of go through the invitation and show me what each part says.  She arrived a list of about 10 names on the invitation and said "These are all the people who are celebrating the anniversary."  As far as I am aware, polygamy is not commonly practiced, so I was pretty confused as to what all those names were doing on there.  I asked my tutor, "Why are so many people celebrating it?", to which she replied, "Because it's an anniversary party."

So now I'm thinking they have joint anniversary parties, so I ask, "Did they all get married on the same day?"  At this point, my tutor is really confused.

Finally, I take a step back and ask, "Alright, what does the word "anniversary" mean to you?"  I was informed that the term "anniversary" in Khmer refers to a ceremony that honors your dead relatives.  Yeah, definitely not at all close to what I was thinking.  It's actually much closer to a funeral than a wedding....which would have made my outfit choice extremely inappropriate.  I ended up wearing a long sleeved light colored shirt and a black sampot.  Much more acceptable.

The anniversary party itself was very nice.  I got some awesome baboa (a sort of rice porridge that I normally despise), some snacks, and soda with ice!  There was an area for prayer toward the back of the party, but for the most part, people just gathered to eat and enjoy each other's company while remembering those who have gone before them.

That's my kind of anniversary.

(also, sorry I don't have any pictures, I forgot to charge my camera battery before I left!)