A Cambodian Frosh Week

It has now been a week in Cambodia. You should go. Seriously. I have already started to fall in love with this place. It would be impossible for me to recount all the things that have happened to me in the past week without writing a couple of pages, so I will do my best to create a highlight reel spanning this and the next couple of entries. And it'll still too long. Whatever. Deal with it. 

Let me first say that all the people doing the training program with me are awesome. A lot of us are recent graduates, while some others have put their previous careers on hold to go on this adventure. Everyone it seems has a different background, but we all have a similar mindset with respect to moving to Asia, and because of that we have been able to build friendships amazingly quickly and easily. It feels a bit like Frosh Week 2007, and that is the highest compliment I can give. The teaching staff is as professional as it is nice, and the additional staff, comprised mainly of locals, is simply amazing. They do everything for us, and they do it with a smile on their face. I have quickly learned that language barriers are a minor detail when it comes to the human ability to connect.

Cambodia, at least the way it is now, is a very young country. It is still in a sort of recovery stage from the reign of the Khmer Rouge, and that becomes very clear when you see some of the poverty and the standards of living that exist throughout the city. You don’t see many old people, because during the Khmer Rouge era about a third of the population was killed. The recent history here is unbelievably sad. The most humbling part however is that the people here have found a way to put it behind them. Their positivity is contagious. It really makes you rethink how lucky most of us have been.

The energy (yes I said energy, don’t worry I haven’t turned into a hippie) here is amazing. Life moves at completely different pace than life back home. It seems chaotic, especially when driving through the city and witnessing a million motorcycles passing each other in bumper-to-bumper traffic, seemingly completely oblivious to any sort of traffic laws. I have frequently found myself driving on the wrong side of the road or simply cutting straight through moving traffic. But you learn quickly that there is a very distinct order, evidenced most clearly by the fact that there are literally no accidents.

One of the things I was most looking forward to before coming here was the food, and I have not been disappointed. I have eaten frog, goat, tarantula, and crocodile. Still haven’t been sick. I have eaten some amazing Pho, some ridiculously good spring rolls, and a plate of dumplings that simply has no peer stateside. But the best meal I’ve had happened when four of us asked one of our Cambodian drivers to take us to his favorite restaurant, because we wanted an authentic taste of Cambodia. What happened next was a feast featuring spring rolls, dumplings, and pork belly. But the piece de resistance was an entire Fish (couldn’t understand him when he explained what kind of fish, and the menu was not in English, unlike most things here) very simply wrapped in tinfoil and prepared on an open flame. Unbelievable. Oh and no meal has cost me more than 7 dollars. And beer is 75 cents a can. Shit, now I’m hungry.

I will post pictures soon (that I have poached from some others in the group), and I will also tell the story of our weekend trip to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat (one of the ancient wonders of the world), which was unbelievable. This post is already too long. Until next time.

Oh and the title change happened because I am pretty sure that I am by far the largest person in this country.