Day 1: Khmer Recalibration

Once Upon a Time, there was a girl who traveled the world searching for treasure. This is her Cambodia story arc.

I spent a magical 10 days in Siem Reap, Cambodia... In sum, it was the best holiday of my life (at least so far ^_~), I learned something EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.... whether it was about the rich political history of the region, social and cultural dynamics, ancient architectural planning, religious beliefs and values... but most importantly I learned a lot about me myself and I. 

This was the first time where I spent time in a foreign country by myself. It was also the first time where I spent a major holiday alone. I wanted to do this to see how I'd feel about being put in a potentially difficult and lonely situation, and how I would deal with it. Would I embrace it? Would I totally freak out? Then I would understand more about my preferences and limitations. I'm weird, I know... but I think it's important to discover these things about yourself. If not now, then when??? :p

I took precautions to make this experience as safe as possible by staying in a family-run hostel Seven Candles where someone would keep tabs on me everyday. The owner of Seven Candles, Ponheary Ly, was named as a CNN Hero in 2010 for her work in promoting education for young children in Cambodia. I had the honor of both meeting Ponheary (and her terrific family), as well as volunteering in the Ponheary Ly Foundation (PLF) teaching 4th and 5th graders art and crafts classes in Knar Primary School. 

My first day at PLF was spent tagging along with the Lauter Family, whom I was taking over at Knar Primary School. It was a good idea to figure out the ropes because when I officially started teaching it was basically just me and my tuk-tuk driver as translator!!! 

The Lauter Family were a tough act to follow, you can see how much the kids loved interacting with them. :)

The video below perfectly encapsulates my experience with PLF... you can see exactly where I taught, and some of these faces were ones that I became very familiar with during this time. I highly highly highly encourage everyone to consider donating resources (whether it be your time, experience, or some money) to PLF's cause. These are beautiful children, and you would feel deeply fulfilled just watching their faces light up when you bring something new into their lives. They are easy to please, and very grateful. 

I will write more about teaching in later posts. :)

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So, I think the best way to go about recounting this trip is by chronological order. 

I left Shanghai for Siem Reap on December 19th, during the tail-end of a work situation that required several days of close follow-up even though I was technically on vacation. I don't even want to know how high my cell phone bills are, muahahaha! :p But it was fine, since the stuff I had to help out were actually important in many ways. And I don't have to pay for the phone bills. :)

People often ask whether I get annoyed or pissed off when I'm obliged to work on "days off" (what does that mean to an entrepreneur anyway?), especially because since I've never gotten full radio silence since working in Shanghai. My answer is No, I honestly do not mind, all things considered. "All things considered" being that the task is so critical and time-urgent that it requires me to reprioritize. I do give a fair assessment of the situation, because there is no way that I will drop the ball. However, I am a practicioner of the "work smart, not work hard" school of thought... there's just so many things that I want to with my life that I get genuinely angry when my schedule is monopolized by ineffective tasks may not be added-value. I really do try to live my life to the fullest, from the moment I wake up to the moment I sleep. Sometimes it's micro steps, sometimes leaps and bounds, but never ceasing to move forward in some way... I know I must sound crazy or even neurotic. That's probably why I'm not really a creature of habit, there's just too much to experience and not enough time to do it all. ;)

[edit: Just came back from a work meeting on a Saturday afternoon, but I was more than happy to do so because I learned something important and we made progress on a project. See! Hahaha.]

Anyways, even on vacation I find myself always thinking several steps ahead to make the best arrangements. I'm flexible, but rarely unprepared... meaning if something doesn't work out I'm usually fine with it, but I'll know what the alternatives are already, haha. However, this time I was so busy leading up to Cambodia that I literally shoved a bunch of crumpled clothes into the luggage just an hour before leaving for the airport. It was a good thing that Natalie did some prep work, otherwise we would have scrambled for a temple tour during peak season... and that would have been awfully stressful. Thanks Nat! :)

To get to Siem Reap, I had to fly north to Korea and then down to Cambodia. Flying Korean Air was the cheapest and the fastest way from Shanghai, around $650 USD round trip. When I got to Siem Reap, it was already 1am December 20th... and I felt like a xiaolongbao (小籠包) in my puffy down jacket. O_O I remember being super excited stepping off the plane... YAY FINALLY A REAL HOLIDAYYY~~~~!!! The trip kicked off smoothly, with someone from Seven Candles picking me up (poor guy had to stay up so late), and I checked in with no trouble. For $20 USD a night, I had my own room with a queen-sized bed, and free wi-fi. It checked off all my boxes, I am a simple gal.

The first day was spent familiarizing myself with my new environment (like reading the info pamphlet that said DO NOT BRUSH YOUR TEETH WITH TAP WATER after I had already thoroughly gargled... instantly visualizing protozoa with cilia and flagella partying it up in my mouth, yechhh). I reported to Travis, PLF's Volunteer Coordinator, and he gave me the lowdown on how the teaching program would work. It was daunting that PLF would be giving me plenty of freedom on how to figure out what to do with the children 2 hours each day, and that I would be wholly responsible for the content and curriculum during that time. But I kinda kicked ass in Art when I was 9 years old, so that gave me the confidence that I could totally nail this. Okay no I was very nervous. O_O And I wanted to do a good job.

Natalie and Korwin would be arriving in Siem Reap afternoon of Dec 20th, so I had about half a day of free time. I really did not know what to do with myself at first, or where to start. Unsure of myself, I paced around the room to "organize" and then berated myself for procrastinating. Then I scoured the map and points of interest for an hour to plan out a detailed route -- OKAY NOW WE CAN GIVE IT A GO. Hahaha. :p

First I went next door to get a scalp-tingling hairwash for $2 USD, then ventured over across the creek to try "the best iced coffee in town", also stopping by a convenience store for travel-sized toiletries. Before meeting with my friends at their hotel though, I pampered myself with a well-deserved oil massage. :)

At the spa.

They fold lotus flowers like gift bows here, so beautiful! :)

While walking around I noticed that I was getting a lot of really obvious stares, like guys on scooters performing Exorcist Great Horned Owl head-turns... it was actually quite uncomfortable (like really, you're looking at ME?!??), and rather unsafe for traffic. :( I was wearing a loose tank top and shorts that were not very short, but I guess even with plenty of skin-baring tourists in Siem Reap, I don't get the White Person Pass. After that afternoon, I did not venture out alone in town in a tank top or shorts anymore.

Natalie and Korwin lived at La Residence Hotel, just a stone's throw away from Seven Candles but veryyyyy nice. Now, even though none of us had done much planning prior to our trip, there was ONE THING that was on Korwin's "must-do" list (no, not even Angkor Wat took precedence). This, my friends, is something called "happy pizza".

Just look at how giddy Korwin is. You're totally shameless!

Did we get happy off this pizza? I don't know how many pies you gotta eat to get happy...

Then we got some REAL FOOD at Touiche Restaurant, which was down a dark alley along "boom-boom road". It was a rough and dusty tuk-tuk ride, but man I will never forget that red snapper dish.... diiiivine!!!

Concluded by many late-night rounds of Monopoly Deal, where our padawan Natalie learned how to outmaneuver the Jedi Masters! Doh.

(to be continued...)