Well wishes

So many thoughts and so many impressions, particularly as I walk down the street or do something a little differently from what I did a few hours ago. I find myself comparing my experiences to arriving in the Philippines five years ago. At that time I was much more intimidated by a new culture and by people whom I knew to be friendly but were so clearly different from me and what I had known that I was not sure how I would survive let alone succeed. One major difference between then and now was that the Peace Corps was nursing me along as slowly as possible and giving me plenty of time to make little mistakes and learn from them. The VSO on the other hand has dropped me into the stew and I think I am supposed to know the culture, the politics, the yin and yang of survival in a foreign land. Hmmm? I don’t. Simple to say, but in reality I bless the two years I had in the Philippines because that introduced me to Asia which is a major part of what I am experiencing at the moment. I am still surprised by the traffic and the incredibly sanguine reactions from everyone concerned. I still feel a little paranoid about people staring at me, but in this response I am probably reality based. People do stare in Asia, at objects and people who are unusual. I am an old white guy who still likes to walk in a world where only poor people walk. I still am a little surprised when I turn abruptly and some little kid is just standing there staring at me with a puzzled look on his face. I check my fly and my nose for any boogers, but no, it is me he or she is looking at. It was the same in the Philippines.I moved into my new apartment today. Once again a major difference from five years ago when the Peace Corps had lined me up with a host family, and I began my training immediately in language and culture. Here I was responsible for finding my own flat, negotiating most of the terms, and then going to the markets to furnish what didn’t come with the flat like dishes, pots and pans, some sheets and other linens, groceries, some lamps to light up the dark areas of the flat. At the time of this writing I have purchased some of those things but not all. Tomorrow and Saturday will be the major excursions into the market place.

In these little notes from the front I am not sure if I should tell you more about public life or history or just some more of my daily screw ups. I have plenty of the latter but one of the beauties of being in my age group is that I am often forgiven most anything. The fact that I am still sitting up and drawing breath is a marvel unto itself. But to be fair, I am constantly aware of those of you out there who do truly have longevity at bay and are enjoying life so well. Henrietta and Aunt Ann jump to my mind. Or, I will continue to just throw in whatever I happen to be thinking about at the moment and like the Chinese meals that are in such abundance here because of their low cost, you will get a lot of flavors and tastes. Use your chopsticks to stir it around and pull out what looks or feels good. Throw the rest on the floor like the Cambodian airborne guys I see in the restaurants here. I am sure that the one main necessary in a life full of poverty and hardship is having a military that one can be proud of. Or even having one you’re not very proud of.

Well, that is it for the time being. I am going to make my bed and read a little before I retire in my brand new flat. Life is very good for your little wandering pilgrim as I hope very earnestly it is for you.

Kampong Speu

I am currently in Kampong Speu just to the west of Phnom Penh. I am literally a pilgrim without the benefit of language skills.We arrived here on Sunday to attend a three-day workshop on accelerated curriculum, for which I presume I have some responsibility since the Special education office is hosting this workshop along with the Provincial office of education.

Anyway back to my interesting dilemma, I am here in a strange town, don’t know the language and I find myself at a restaurant with my four compadres, and eight other guys whose English is as good as my Khmer. We are all drinking, me beer, them some wine that is the national treasure of Cambodia and is guaranteed to make you strong physically and mentally. It says so on the label. We are eating very well and I am making do with my chopsticks. The fish is fabulous and the twenty or so other dishes are also good. I don’t think there was any dessert unless you count the Chinese dessert (toothpicks).

For the sophisticated sensibilities of my friends who take an active interest in what I do and don’t do, I will skip the marriage vows and the karaoke struggles afterward except to say that while I don’t sing, I don’t get married in a blink either.

Today was the first day of the conference and to say that I was lost is to heap praise upon my navigational skills. Evidently workshops and conferences are not held in English or Swedish or even Norwegian no matter who sponsors them. I was introduced and from that point on I didn’t understand a word. Another Caucasian (European) came in about ten minutes after the beginning and I was introduced to him. His name was Serge and he had spent some time (5 or 6 years) in Cambodia as well as in Viet Nam and he currently resides in Madagascar with his wife and family. He is French and as luck would have it one of my companions from the Special Ed office speaks fluent French and Cambodian but no English. This guy speaks English and French. So between the three-way hook up, I was able to make quite a bit of sense of the morning and afternoon session. He is leaving in the morning and I am on my own. Even worse, my brother and bosom companion who loves me like his father and who speaks a modicum of English is leaving in the morning for Phnom Penh. I am desolate. From here is anyone’s guess.