Angkor What?

Entry #4.  February 20, 2012, 6:32 pm.  Hotel Room, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  I’m going to start this note off with one of my favorite topics- bathroom humor.  I’ve touched on the food and sites of this region of the world, so it is only natural that I move on to detail the real throne of this kingdom.  First of all, toilet paper is nearly nonexistent here.  Maybe because it is expensive, the Cambodians have chosen an alternate method for maintaining the lawn Down Under.  Next to every toilet in a bathroom is a hose with a sprayer, which I assume is the tool that takes the place of TP.  As such, I have deemed this the “bum gun”.  It’s pretty weird, and I haven’t used one because I don't want to know or befriend any bum gun's story.  For girls, most bathrooms are deemed “squatty potties” to minimize surface contact.  Luckily there is toilet paper in my hotel, and that’s where I choose to conduct my business and take the Browns to the Superbowl.  A positive note, however - full bathrooms here are “wet bathrooms”, which means that there is no separate space for the shower; rather, the shower head is just sitting somewhere along the walls in your box-shaped bathroom.  I love this.  The fact that I can turn my hotel bathroom into my personal water park every time I want to shower is brilliant.  I get so clean and I can super-soak everything, which is a freedom that I don’t often have.  Talk about sensory overload.

Moving on, this weekend my group traveled to Siem Reap, a province in the north that contains the ancient Khmer temple ruins.  This is where Angelina Jolie shot Tomb Raider and it is the living version of Temple Run, iPhone users.  Angkor Wat is the main attraction, and I was right in saying that it is one of the world’s greatest sites.  The temple is HUGE.  Of course the pictures can’t do it true justice, but the feeling of first seeing something so massive, ancient, and astounding was overwhelming.  I must attach some history in this entry so that your perspective of the structure in the pictures is one that is deeper.  Around the twelfth century, a great warrior king with too many syllables in his name commanded the construction of a flawless temple to serve as a home to the Hindu god Vishnu.  What’s fascinating is that some centuries later, the current king of the Khmer Empire switched the state religion from Hinduism to Buddhism, as the influence of China and the East was increasing and that of India was decreasing.  It was a peaceful transition, however, and the king ordered that Hindu and Buddhist religious carvings be intermixed in the temples so that the people could practice either.  The temple is meaningful because it has served as a religious center since its opening date and for two major world religions across 1000 years.  It is ironic that the people who built the temple thought they were honoring the Hindu god Vishnu as well as completing groundbreaking and backbreaking (groundbackbreaking?) work, never knowing that the religion they were so passionate about would later be defunct in the region.  Loads of history surrounding the old Khmer kingdom, and Angkor Wat is only one of many fantastic ancient temples.  More intriguing still, the temples were ‘lost’ for many more centuries, since the capital was moved to Phnom Penh and the jungle consequently claimed the structures into its ever-growing tangle of trees.  When French colonists rediscovered the temples in the early 1900s, the flora had completely overtaken the walls so that stone and tree roots coalesced to form the perfect jungle cathedrals.  Many of the structures lay in ruins because the tree roots won the battle between wood and stone.  It all made for a spellbinding site.  I strongly recommend this location for vacation in an Asian nation that already has cheap libations.  If I were a rapper my stage name would be Rula JM Dubz. 

After my first week in Cambodia I am still enjoying every minute that passes by, especially the passersby.  The people are very friendly and the few phrases in Khmer language that I know have gone a long way.  Traveler’s tip:  simply knowing how to say a few common words and the numbers 1-5 in the native language can completely change the experience.  The people appreciate it, the waiters love it, and the children that swarm you to sell books and bracelets will see you more as a friend than as an ignorant tourist who can be taken advantaged of for money.  The more you use the local language, the more of it you learn, and it becomes an upward spiral so that you start to experience the culture on a deeper level.  The power of words sees no boundaries.

I finish up this week with classes and then we travel to a beach town for the weekend.  I am looking forward to snorkeling and seeing what the beach is like on the other side of the Gulf of Mexico past Mexico across the Pacific Ocean and around the Gulf of Thailand.  More thoughts and pictures to come.

Caption Contest

Pic of the Week: Asian tourists in Asia

Controlled Chaos

Entry #3.  February 14, 2012, 7:46 am.  Hotel Room, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  The Kingdom of Wonders is well named.  I am constantly inquiring about things in this country and every question leads to two more questions.  How do people not crash on their scooters?  How are the Cambodians, or Khmer, different from the Vietnamese or Thai population?  What part of the chicken is that, and why is it in my soup?  How am I a foot taller than the tallest Cambodian?  Why don’t I see any old people?  How do you say ‘thank you’ again?  Why did LL Cool J host the Grammy’s?  Why hasn’t the maid come to my room?

The greatest thing about traveling is that everything is an adventure.  I wonder about it all, and even the most menial tasks stimulate all my senses.  The more unfamiliar you are, it seems, the greater the sensory overload.  Do I ever realize different smells when I’m back in the States, apart from Red Tide season or after a Big Mac?  Are the sights ever as colorful and dramatic?  Can I really just close my eyes and feel excited by the sounds around me?  Here, I just can’t get enough.  I feel guilty sleeping or being in my room and all I want to do is learn and explore.  What a sense of being.

Classes started on Monday and they are fairly rigorous, starting at 9 am and lasting until 5:30- with a two-hour lunch break in between.  We are learning how to teach English as well as the differences between Asian school culture vs. Western academia.  For example, an Asian student never wants to “lose face” and thus will not want to be corrected verbally, if a mistake is made, nor will he correct a peer.  It is all part of the idea of collectivism, where as in Western cultures, individualism is most honored.  The classes are interesting and I do feel that I am learning a lot, even if it pains me to be a single classroom for the majority of the day.

I am also learning how to cross a street with no laws or rules.  A red light is a suggestion and sidewalks are extra traffic lanes.  A family of five will ride on a single scooter (or “moto”), and intersections often collide into a mass tangle of commuters.  Controlled chaos.  We take a tuk-tuk (rickshaw) to class every day, as they are the main mode of transportation.  However, what I find fascinating is that you can wave down any of the hundreds of moto-drivers going by and can simply hop on the back, hold on, and the driver will take you wherever you want to go for less than a dollar.  It is safe, Mom- everyone does it, and it is just so cheap, as is everything here.  Lunch will cost less than $3, dinner less than $5, and a pitcher of beer is only $2.  Funny how I thought I hit the jackpot when I found $5 pitchers in college.  I am convinced that we will all be alcoholics by the end of the trip, and I may need to attend a cyber AA meeting here and there. 

Life here is fascinating and the people are riveting.  I feel as though I am gaining a new perspective already and it’s only been three days.  This weekend we are going to Angkor Wat, which is a MASSIVE ancient temple, Tomb Raider-style, and is on par with the Egyptian Pyramids and Taj Mahal, in my book.  Stay tuned for pictures.   Please know that not a second goes by when I regret coming over to this part of the world.  Cheers…Jmart, out.

Gooooood Morning Cambodia!

Entry #2.  February 12, 2012, 10:23 am.  Hotel room, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  There are no words to describe the feeling I had when I woke up this morning and looked out my window.  I arrived in Phnom Penh late last night and barely could get a feel for the city because: 1- it was so dark and 2- I was still a little souped up on anti-anxiety and sleep meds.  So imagine when I woke up to find a sprawling city and ancient temple outside my hotel window this morning!  This is what it means to be high on life. 

Although I haven’t yet experienced that culture outside (apart from my rickshaw ride from the airport), I felt that I needed to share this picture of my hotel room view. Notice the insane traffic heading into the city, and the great deal you can get on a Cambodian cell card from the red billboard.  Not to mention the gold temple, or "Wat" as we natives call it.  I am going on a city tour at 12:30 and then to a welcome dinner at 6 pm today.  Watch out Cambodia because Jmart is in town.  I already caused a scene at customs in the airport last night.  After waking up on the flight from Seoul to find that we had already landed, I felt that painful urge to find an immediate bathroom.  Of course that was impossible since no one is allowed to get out of their seat while landing, which I found out when I tried to stand up to go the bathroom- to no avail- because two Korean stewardess ran at me from both directions and made me sit back down.  And I thought they were so accommodating.  But when we finally got off the plane and everyone lined up for customs, I was weaving my way through people in desperation to find a bathroom, praying that one existed on the questioning side of customs.  Luckily I found one, but afterwards, I was so content and relieved that I tried to walk through passport control without first purchasing the visa!  The agent probably thought I was an idiot. So I had to go back, walk a walk of shame since it looked like I got rejected by passport control, go buy the visa, and then line up again to get into the country.  Howdy Cambodia.

 Better pictures will be uploaded soon.  I appreciate all the comments I’ve read so far!  I just skyped my parents and they have some peace of mind now.  If you are wondering (my mother asked me three separate times), YES, my bed sheets are clean. 

Next time I post I will have a much better understanding of my surroundings and maybe another humorous story.  Take care and rest assured, I am starting my life well and eager in Southeast Asia, in the Kingdom of Cambodia!

Inauguration

Entry #1.  February 9, 2012, 8:40 pm.  Atlanta Airport, Gate E28.  Rarely is one ever in a completely new mental state, when it is hard to process or control thoughts. I realize this because I am looking out the window at American soil, not knowing when I’ll see it again.  It is quite an exotic feeling, and one that is both thrilling and intimidating.  I’m waiting to board my flight to Seoul, South Korea, en route to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  I thought now was a good time to initiate my blog, as my head is pounding with feelings of excitement and eagerness, and I hope they are therefore reflected in my writing.  Before I delve into the dangerous world that is Jonathan Martin’s head, I must give out a disclaimer to all blog readers.  I have a tendency to stray from the politically correct and mainstream politeness.  Although I might not breach outright offensiveness, I enjoy writing so that my thoughts run through my fingers onto the screen unfiltered.  And I particularly enjoy stereotypes.  Basically, this means I will be making fun of a lot of people and things and the language may be colorful.  Certainly not the whole rainbow, but a majority of the spectrum.  I am allowed to say I love stereotypes because I am the seoul American (that cheesy joke was for you, Dad) in the KoreanAir terminal that is munching on McDonald’s, watching ESPN, and hoarding all the outlets to plug in my Apple products.  That being said, I plan to have a funny Asian picture of the week, so stay tuned because the people for KoreanAir are already starting to line up and I can tell this is going to be a great theme.  In fact, anyone who has been on a Martin family vacation knows that I am dangerous when I have the camera.  I can’t help but take pictures of comical Asian tourists, all in the name of the book I want to publish.  Have you heard of the coffee table book Awkward Family Photos?  Well, I plan to write its successor- Funny Asian Tourists.  These two books complemented with Kramer’s Coffee Table Book About Coffee Tables would provide endless entertainment to anyone that sits at your couch.  I am by no means prejudice or feel superior, but I find Asian people fascinating, brilliant, and consequently hilarious.  Think of it as an anthropologic study.  Actually, I was going to have my picture taken with an Asian lady in the airport and pretend that I already made it to Asia, but the crowd in line at Popeye’s Chicken in the background certainly would have given America away.  Note that I am in Atlanta, nonetheless.   I do have a deep respect for Asia and its peoples, which is partly why I wanted to embark on this journey.  Mostly, though, I want to experience the world and gain a new perspective on life, and I believe that the Eastern hemisphere- the other half of the world- can fit the bill.  After researching many places and watching the Travel Channel religiously, I concluded that Vietnam is a country that can and will fulfill my endless curiosity to experience new cultures. 

So welcome to my blog.  I hope that it is at least entertaining and offers a glimpse into my  riveting adventure ahead.  It’s name is Saigon to ‘Nam, as I will be gone, teaching English in Saigon after my first month in Cambodia.  Other potential names for the blog included “Rice Paddy Life”, “Back in ‘Nam”, “Peace, Love, and Ho Chi Minh”, “Herrow from Vietnam”, “White Meets Yellow”, “Not Deceased but in the Far East”, and “Teaching Asians to Speak Good”.  If someone comes up with something better, I will consider changing the name.  I must also apologize for any future setbacks, as I am not the most technologically advanced.  Actually, a friend of mine told me a story of another traveler’s blog, in which the author traveled to India and was amazed by the Henna art tattoos that were even painted on the cows.  When she wanted to give a photographic example of the cow, she accidentally uploaded a prominent picture of herself!  (Thanks Nancy for that story- shout out to Connecticut.)  I actually hope that I can pull something off like that, even if it is at my expense, if it means my blog will be more amusing. 

Well I fear that my posts will run lengthy, and I must go browse the magazines as well as try to finagle an aisle seat.  I tried calling a few weeks ago to obtain an aisle seat, citing that I had “issues”, whether that be claustrophobia or bladder problems was up to the agent to imagine.  However, now that I am near the ticket counter and in desperation I might need to take a more direct, explicit, and raunchier approach to secure an aisle seat.  I’ll let you all speculate what my “issue” will be.  Note: I just ate my last Big Mac.

With that, I leave you until my next post, which will be from the other half of the world.  I cannot wait, I value all of you, and feel free to comment!  Farewell, ‘Muricah!

Oops- first mistake.  Although I plan on getting tan, this is not me.

Did not bring the hat.