"Always I want to live more intensely and richly"--Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Spent the weekend in Angkor, the home of Angkor Wat which is an ancient temple that makes a lot of Wonders of the Worlds list, and as well it should. It's gorgeous. We took a six hour bus ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. On the way we stopped at a market famous for it's fried tarantulas. I am a big proponent of 'if it's fried, it's probably good' so instead of biting off more than I could chew I just ate a leg. If it was deep fried like it should have been it would have been indistinguishable  and I probably could have ate more, however it was a very apparent leg with the little hairs on it clearly visible. It was seasoned well and really it just tasted like any crunchy fried thing, but I wouldn't go back for seconds. They also had live tarantulas there that they throw on willing or unwilling tourists. I was lucky enough to dodge that bullet. When we got to Siem Reap, our guide/ not at all a guide in any way took us to the hotel and then had the bus driver take us to dinner at a place called "Happy Pizza." I'm sure you can imagine that secret ingredient. The next day we toured Angkor Wat and Angkor Phom for eight hours.  After dinner we took to the streets to go to the night markets. When I came to Cambodia on Semester at Sea lots of people got the fish pedicure which involved putting your feet in a tank where little fish eat the dead skin off your feet. This time around natives warned us that people had contracted AIDs but putting their feet with exposed injuries in the water. Gross and terrifying.   I was haggling back and forth with a vendor when I told him to give me a good teacher price. He stopped and told me how he was only fourteen when the Khmer rouge took over and how he lost his brother. He said they had closed all the schools so he never learned to speak English in school. Because of this he said it was so important that his daughters get an education and learn to speak English. He then introduced me to one of his daughters who was standing in the stall with us, who spoke perfect English. When I told him he spoke very good English, he shook his head and said he would never speak well because he had never finished school.

The next day we went to a temple that has had no preservation, so it involved a lot of climbing and I'm embedding a video of the action below. After exploring we went to a restaurant across the street, where halfway through my noodles I found some insect resembling a small ant crawling over my vegetables. Then after getting on the bus to come back to Siem Reap, the non guide guide offered some mini- muffin cake like thing. Upon ripping off a piece I realized there was a spider cooked inside. Not a tarantula  or a daddy long legs, but a spider that was probably  the size of my finger nail (ring finger). I didn't eat it because the cake wasn't that good to begin with, but it got me wondering as to whether the spider was intentional or not. A lot of food in SE Asia includes bugs. This muffin thing could have easily just been rolled up on the spider and it got stuck and they said fuck it or it could have been intentionally put in there. For now I feel satisfied with my tarantula leg and I will incorporate bugs into my diet later...maybe. I had a lot more to say, but I never actually wrote it down so now I forget all the important and enlightening things I wanted to say to you. But that's okay. Oh and in case you were wondering which you weren't I passed my phonetics and grammar exam for the course.

A Word on Education

I've now had two full days of classes that potentially teach me how to be a teacher. This gets more complicated when I have to specifically learn all of the cultural faux paux of teaching in South East Asia. For example, you can never yell at your students because you will lose Face ( a concept I am still grappling with), but you can physically hit your students, make them wear dunce hats, or other mean and/or clever punishments you can think of.
    For the sake of keeping your attention I'll list off a few more cultural differences.

• The symbol Americans use to motion come here with your palm up and bringing your fingers towards you translates here to "Come Here Dog"...so that's not okay.
• Thumbs up translates to Shove it or Up yours!

Today we studied class management, grammar, and how to introduce new dialogue. Each day we have to perform some integral part of teaching that we learned in class the previous day. I know I'm starting to bore you and I don't have any pictures for this entry so I'm just going to come out and say it. The reason I would never see myself teaching in America, particularly younger kids to high school is because American students on the majority are ungrateful shits. We take education for granted because  K-12 is pretty much a given. Even I sat in the grammar section of my class today thinking about how much I don't care about grammar. And you know why I don't care about grammar? Because I forget that being able to speak English, particularly as a native speaker, is a HUGE privilege in this world. I can also speak and write in English, pretty well if I say so myself. Those are three massive privileges that I NEVER have to think about because I take them for granted. Most Americans are not faced with choices as to whether to stay in school or to drop out so they can help support their family. Why would I or any teacher for that matter, want to teach a bunch of students who don't want to be in their classroom and don't want to learn? That said, I don't have the same feelings in regards to teaching in Asia, because students here have a much different value of education. The story I heard today that backs that statement made national news this year. ( Of course when I wanted to find the link to post for you I couldn't find it). This news story is one of cheating, one of the biggest problems in schools in Cambodia. Teachers frequently receive bribes for giving better grades on tests and in some rural places entire towns will pitch in to give to the teacher. The story that made news went something along these lines.
              A boy and his father were caught cheating. The father was outside throwing rocks into the window of the second story with answers taped to their underside. The boy would catch the rock, copy down the answers, throw the rock back down and his father would then throw up a new rock with more answers.
    This probably sounds insane to you but it just goes to show how important education is in these countries. The livelihoods of entire families depend on their child being able to obtain an education. The potential breadmaker of that whole family may be a twelve year old and if he fails school that potential is gone. Obviously, there is cheating all over the American education system, but rarely where family or community members are assisting in cheating or bribery. Here, the problem has gotten so bad that many cities close down entire streets where schools are located so now one may come in from outside.
   That said, take a minute to think about how much energy drinks are consumed of college campuses. Asian Redbull comes with a pharmaceutical warning on the can.

"I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine" -C.S

Before I even start this entry I just want to say that eventually I will probably run out of these clever quotes that I've been stealing from other people.
  So yesterday was all screwed up because I was going off Korea time all day instead of Cambodia. (Hint: Smartphones aren't that smart without their wireless). Because of this time slip I ended up sleeping for probably close to 16 hours, mainly because I was confused. Since all I'd eaten was Pringles and some non-juice type cocktail, I decided to do breakfast at the hotel. Pancakes and Bacon. Going to be honest, tomorrow I will stick with just fruit. I met one of the other program participants at breakfast who is looking to go to medical school for oncology, Robert. On my way back up to my room from breakfast I met my neighbor Charlie, who invited me to go with him to the Killing Fields. Though early for an education of genocide I decided to just take the opportunity and say yes. We probably drove for 20 minutes before pulling up to some cement, two room building where we were sat at a table and were handed what looked like a menu of artillery we could shoot, the cost, and the number of bullets. Shooting an AK-47 was $40 and you could shoot a rocket launcher for $350 or throw a hand grenade for $50. Now I don't know where in that room it would have been safe to fire off any of those things, particularly the last two, but regardless I declined the offer as did Charlie. Our driver then drove us to the Killing Fields which is something that everyone should know about, similar to the Holocaust, but less people actually do. Because it is extremely depressing I'm just going to do a quick summary so anyone who doesn't know can be less ignorant. In 1975, this guy Pol Pot came into Cambodia and fucked shit up. Cambodia was already a little shambly from America dropping bombs on them in the Vietnam war. Pol Pot had an idea to make some extreme communist community so he basically rounded up people that were educated, or not...yah basically he took everyone he could round up, and brought them in trucks to this place in Phnom Penh that eventually became known as the killing fields. Very similar to Auschwitz, but I think it was more outdoor based. So in about three years Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge had killed nearly 2-3 million people out of a population of 8 million in the country. Think about it this way, if 1 out of every 4 people you know was murdered in the US. Now if anyone every asks you about the Genocide in Cambodia, you better remember who told you. As you can imagine it was a very somber after breakfast excursion. This was all done by about eleven in the afternoon.

Stupa that contains preserved remains of victims of the Killing Fields

   At twelve nearly everyone in the group came out to do the city tour. It has only been a few hours, but as of now I can honestly say I like everyone I've met so far. No ones pissed me off, irritated me, or annoyed me which is a really solid start and 9 out of the 12 or 13 people are going to Thailand too. The city tour included a Wat which was cool, but to you guys it will probably just look like I took a million pictures of the same place, a visit to the Royal Palace which was also very beautiful, followed by a visit to the shopping center I had visited the day before. By the time we got back it was 5 o'clock and I was exhausted and still had to shower before our 6:30 dinner that didn't actually start til 7. Dinner was good, but I was so tired I could barely eat. I just wanted to fall asleep in my friend rice, which was delightful by the way. Dinner was also the first time we got to meet all of the staff. I learned that instead of being in Cambodia for four weeks its actually two and that I will be going to Angkor Wat next week. I also learned the last two weeks are training in Pattaya and this will require evaluations where I actually have to be observed teaching in front of a class. I'm very nervous for this part, but that's kind of why I'm here in the first place so I have to do it. The other thing I learned at dinner is all the people who work for LanguageCorps did the program and basically never left. It makes me a little nervous kind of like Never Never Land or Hotel California. Anyways it's almost 10pm and I literally feel like crying because I am so tired. I will try and update whenever I can, but as of now I actually have shit to do so that will have to come first.

"Walking is Knowing"- Prof. Aguilar

   Today has been my first real day in Cambodia. I didn't go to bed until about 5AM, most likely because my biological clock just isn't ticking like it used to. Just kidding, anyone would be confused after 26 hours of flight time. That said all my planes were on time, my legs aren't broken, and my luggage came through. Anyways, I woke up at 9 (unintentionally) and decided to get started unpacking and take a much needed shower. The shower, toilet and sink are all in one here. That sounds gross, it's not a room with a drain, but what I mean is there is no siding or closing off of the shower theres just a toilet against one wall, a shower head hanging on another, and a sink of the other. Next to the toilet is a sprayer hose, like the kind you have at home next to your kitchen sink, except I'm pretty sure this one is for your asshole. While respectfully withholding from that cultural norm, I had a food science professor on Semester at Sea that told me how other countries find American's use of toilet paper to be disgusting and unsanitary as they perceive it as just smearing shit all over yourself with paper. I'm sure if we thought of it that way too, we might be rather upset by this as well. Anyways, aside from the fear of flooding the entire room I like the shower set up because I don't feel guilty getting water everywhere. After getting out of the shower this morning, it occurred to me that I really should have cut all my hair off, it's just too hot and humid for it here. Then I realized I'd probably be forced to rock the afro I've always wanted if I cut it. We'll see what happens with that.
   Initially this morning I was feeling, not necessarily doubtful or scared but more hesitant about being here.  Actually, I'll just call it what is it, definitely scared.  Anyways the plan for today was to go to the mall, since the driver from last night wanted me to go see it. The driver and the program participant, who teaches kindergarten here, picked me up from the airport. She informed me that they're a couple and after her three month visit home, she will return her to teach indefinitely. Mom and Dad, I hope you're reading this. At twelve o'clock I went into the lobby to find him, but when he wasn't there and the tuk tuk driver didn't know what I was talking about I just decided to walk and find it myself. My art history teacher from SAS told the class one day that "walking is knowing." The man had a point. The sidewalks are crumbled and deteriorated and nearly every five steps a motorbike offered to pick me up. Walking in the street in Southeast Asia is indescribable. Basically, you should just close your eyes and cross the street because either you'll never get the courage to walk across or you'll get hit and die.  Even though walking is a risky en devour, it makes getting on a motorbike look like suicide. There were lots of little stands on the way selling fruit, phone cards, and bagged soda. I'm obsessed with lychee fruit which I came across often, but was hesitant to buy it. Next time though, it's not really a fruit that can be that bad because you peel it, I could be wrong and just end up getting really sick later, but that's for me to know and keep to myself.
   I finally made it to the shopping center and walked all around the shops. Bought a blowdryer for $8 and then thought it would be in my best interest to get familiar with the grocery store. A lot of people warned that I wouldn't be able to get certain things here, but they do have pringles. However, toiletries like face lotion, etc all seem to have whitening components. If this shocks or disturbs you, you should know they sell skin bleach creams in Denver as well, it's no specialty. I passed by a movie store, that included Sexy Man Brad Pitt. I think this must have been a cover for another movie I'd seen, since I've seen nearly all Brad Pitt movies and I wouldn't skip one called Sexy Man...I should probably just go back and buy it. Everyone here is so friendly and a smile is so communicative. It makes me wonder how I'll adjust back when I move to either New York or DC, where smiling at strangers means you're criminally insane. Speaking of which, would anyone mind giving me an update on the Colorado shooting and what's happening with the Trevon Martin case, since the judge was reassigned? I'd appreciate it, thanks.
    By the time I got back to the hotel, a second shower was necessary and I hope this doesn't need to become a habit. However, the rainy season has begun and it is currently down pouring like nothing I have ever seen before. It is literally raining so hard it would wake you up from a deep sleep. Had I went shopping a few hours later I could have gotten my outdoor shower on.

View from my window...

If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person? - Fight Club

    Technically, I should be lethargic by this point. I've been traveling since 7:15am on Thursday the 13th. It's now 3am on Friday East Coast time, but I'm in Seoul, Korea so it's actually 6pm. The flight from Boston to JFK was uneventful, however that airport is for suckers and if you don't have to go there, I highly recommend you go anywhere else. The people behind me were bitching about how long it took to get to an exit and the people in front of me were just lost.

My second connecting flight was JFK to Seoul, which was fourteen hours. I was seated between a husband and wife who I wrongly assumed would like to sit next to each other...but they didn't..or at least the wife didn't want that. Anyways, we ended up chatting for awhile even though I never actually got her name. She told me how she's returning for a month to visit family and this the first time she's been apart from her twenty-eight year old daughter who lives in Flushing, Queens with her. She then went on to tell me how she is concerned her daughter may be getting fat due to her preference for American food over Korean food, particularly pasta. She also explained to me how to make kimchi, which if I could explain to you I wouldn't because it's confusing. From my understanding it is somewhat of a cabbage based layered dish that at some point in its life goes in a jar, but don't take my word for it because I don't have any idea what I'm talking about. Come to find out she owned a Korean restaurant right by the twin towers, but closed it shortly after the attacks and opened a nursery school. When it came to our in flight service she insisted I order the 'Western Meal' because she didn't want me to go hungry if I didn't like the Korean style. She told me I could just try hers, which I wasn't planning on because that's weird eating off her plate. Instead it was more awkward as she insisted on physically spoonfeeding me these samples. But YOLO, right? Anyways, my western meal ended up being a steak, that at first bite definitely tastes like a men's dress shoe, but then proceeded to taste more like steak. After we each had two glasses of wine, she popped a sleeping pill and I ate my Western chocolate cake and watched the news.

                                                                

Since there is few sources for international news that people actually read, I'm going to hope you're still reading this and give you a clue as to What's Happening?

What's Happening in Korea?

• The country has declared a war on sex crime. A surge in violent sex crimes against women has led police to crackdown on internet cafes, porn service providers and those found to possess child porn. There is also a growth in Smartphone Apps used to protect women. One of which informs police of an emergency upon shaking it a certain way and another that tracks your location while in taxis and pushes notifications of your location to a family  member.
• A six month old child hung itself playing with the strings that pull up blinds.
• Massive tax evaders seem to be hiding their money in real estate in NYC.
• There is growing concern for the number of single households in Korea, largely due to divorce.

In my experience watching the news followed by The Lorax in Korean made me feel like Koreans are a much happier people. I have no idea whether that's true or not, but I wasn't interrupted with anti-depressant commercials every five minutes like in the states so that certainly helps.

Well that's all I can muster up for now, can only be so clever at 3:30 AM sober. Now only five more hours to Phnom Penh and then I really don't care what happens as long as I can lay down.

A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step - Confuscious

After waking up at 8am to make pre-church mimosas for my mother, I decided that I might just have enough stalkers or should be stalkers that I would make a blog for my upcoming travels.  I realize from that first line you may think this girl and her mother are alcoholics and I don't care about her travels, but my mother's not an alcoholic, she's just a therapist. Meanwhile, I'm just a narcissist that thought blogging would be a good way to keep in touch with EVERYONE, while saving money on postcards that will probably never make it. There's a pretty good chance that despite my efforts, no one will ever read this blog and in the likely event that this occurs, it won't be catered for a certain audience. So if you find it too crude or appalling, either keep  it inside like an angsty teenager or shoot me an email and ask me to write you a postcard instead.

For now, here's the plan. In four days, I will get on a plane from Boston to JFK then JFK to Seoul, and Seoul to Cambodia. That's a 26 hour travel day so in case you thought you could bitch to me about your flight to California, don't.  I'll be taking part in the LanguageCorps TESOL Program training in Cambodia for four weeks. During this time I'll be doing my second excursion to Angkor Wat, where I visited  in November of 2010 on the MV Explorer for Semester at Sea. After training I will transfer to Thailand where I plan to teach English for a year. After two weeks of cultural and language training in Pattaya I will start a job in my city of choice in Thailand. This city is unknown as of now because I have no idea where I want to go. So far I'm thinking beaches, which doesn't really narrow it down. My dear mother seems to think I'll be killed by a tsunami or monsoon if I live on the coast, but she also thinks I'll be taken and sold into sex slavery anywhere in the country, so she hasn't narrowed down my options, but I am open to suggestions people. SPOILER ALERT: They are making a Taken 2, no I'm not in it, but Liam Neeson is and hes saving helpless women left and right...yet again. I'm serious.

Anyways, that's the plan and we'll see what happens from here. As of now I am shit-your-pants scared, but I keep thinking that I've done this before and believe it or not I have actually worked my way up to this point with baby steps. First I moved to college in Colorado not knowing anyone ( shout out to Gamma D house and if any of my professors actually read this far I thank you). Then I went on Semester at Sea and lived on a boat for four months traveling to 15 different countries learning how to travel. Now it only seems natural that I would spend time living abroad. Besides, my other option was to live on my parents couch and I'm willing to travel across the world to be unemployed in Thailand rather than in Boston, Mass. 

Okay, I think that's all for now. And this is for anyone who's interested...

Strawberry Lemon Basil Mimosas (recipe courtesy of Giada at Home, photo courtesy of me)

Ingredients

3/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves

Juice from 2 large lemons (about 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice)

1/2 cup agave or honey

8 medium fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed and sliced

One 750ml bottle Prosecco, chilled

1/2 cup soda water or sparkling water, chilled

Directions

Combine the basil, lemon juice and agave in a pitcher. Using a wooden spoon, lightly crush the basil. Stir in the strawberries, Prosecco and soda water. Pour into chilled champagne glasses and serve.