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.