Series of Fortunate Events!

Hi everybody! I know that I’m kinda late in doing this update, but to make up for it, this will be a LONG LONG update. So I have divided into sections so feel free to skip through some if it’s boring! In this update, I’ll be telling you about all the wonderful and fun things I got to do and cool places that I got to go. BTW, this is all in the month of December! It was a crazy month because of the three weeks Christmas holiday that I got. Khmer Christians love to celebrate Christmas and each church held their Christmas services on different date so that they can go to all of them. During the holidays, I got a chance to go to like 5 different Christmas services, which was very exhausting. On top of that, even though I had the three weeks holiday, I still manage to keep my English classes going. The English classes are doing really good and I just love every minute of it. I didn’t want the momentum to died out so I kept it going, which to my surprise, everybody attended it even though it was the holidays. That really encouraged me in my ministry here and kinda makes me feel less homesick during Christmas because I was kept busy preparing lessons and tests and such. On top of that, it kinda make me feel effective and that my ministry have some sort of significance in people lives. Anyways, on with the update!

Kampuchea Night Life

A real downer living here in the dorm is that I have a curfew at 9:30PM. At first, I thought that was really lame because all the interesting things happen at night. Then my mentor told me about three foreigner girls who got mugged and got their hands chopped on a busy street because they were out at night. It was scary because I can relate to them somewhat from my personal experience with mugging. However, during the holiday, my curfew got suspended and the boy and girl’s dorm decided to check out Phnom Penh’s night life. It was so much fun! I got a chance to visit the night market here in Phnom Penh. It reminded me of Richmond’s night market. The market is pretty big, about the size of the average Superstore in Canada. All the shop and stalls are arrange in a square like pattern with clothing usually on the outside, merchandises in the middle and at the center is the food area.

Shopping at the night market is a love and hate kinda experience for me. The clothing are super cheap (if you know how to bargain). I hate it when I go to a shop and the seller tells me an outrageous price (compare to Khmer’s standard) because I’m a foreigner. Usually I just walk off but if it’s something I really like, I tend to bargain my butt off! It’s a great experience because the seller would get angry at me for being so CHEAP (because I usually ask my friend what is a fair price and I usually bargain at 80% of that price).

So I bought a couple of shirts at the night market. There were these genuine Burberry polos for like 4 dollars! Isn’t that amazing?! I ended up buying 5 different color Burberry polo shirts and I tell my English students that they were my mood shirt. I would wear yellow when I’m happy, light blue when I’m mellowed, red when I’m passionate/hyper, white when I’m feeling spiritual, and black when I’m cynical and gloomy. And they’re only $4! Okay, maybe they’re aren’t exactly genuine but who can honestly tell!? =) And I bought a bunch of Fox, Elements, Quiksilver and other name brand stuff. I was actually thinking of getting a whole new wardrobe while I’m here =).

After the market experience, we got a chance to hang out at the park near the Royal Palace. Phnom Penh have an amazing night life because there were a lot of people hanging out at this park. Even at 9:00PM, I still see a lot of people just chilling and playing sports (soccer and volleyball mostly) at the park. It was funny because the boys and girls here are so stereotypical. While the boys and I are like wrecking havoc in the park (playing soccer, play fighting, making a ruckus) the girls were just chilling on the benches and taking pictures with each other. Overall, it was a great experience. One that I won’t experience again for awhile because of the curfew.. =( Oh well!

Human Rights Holiday!

After the Pol Pot regime, the Khmer people have a national Human Rights holiday. I’m guessing it’s a day where they celebrate Human Rights (to me, it’s more like human privileges because everything is by grace but that’s another story =). So we decided to hang out at the museum. Since most of the dorm students are from the province, they never had the chance to check out some of Phnom Penh touristy places.

Again, visiting the museum was a love and hate experience (more love though). Everybody paid like $0.10 while I had to pay $3.00 because I’m a foreigner, which kinda sucks. I tried blending in and speak Khmer but I guess my accent gave it away… But the museum was a good experience. I was so exposed to centuries of Khmer culture that I learn quite a bit. There were some really interesting things.

For starter, one of the things that the ancient Khmer were obsessed over were penises. They erected (no pun intended) a lot of stone statues of penises. It was believed that these represent the gods’ penises. At the base of the statues is a pathway that drains the rainwater and funneled it into a runway. The people would drink the drained rainwater in hope of good fertility and good health. Now, THAT’s INTERESTING.

The museum did not allow me to take pictures so I cannot really post them up but in the museum, I saw a lot of Buddhist statues ranging from the Angkor period all the way to modern Cambodian. In addition, I saw a lot of weapons that the ancient Cambodian used and it was very interesting! There was a sword that looks a lot like a Japanese Katana. I asked if they actually used this sword in ancient Cambodia and it was confirmed that they did! Weird huh? I always thought that Japanese were the only one that use those thing…

Anyways, after the museum, we decided to go for a boat ride around the Tonle Sap river! It was the cheapest boat ride I ever went on. We rented a big boat for an hour for only $12. It was nice to just relax and enjoy the view of Phnom Penh. On the boat ride, we got to fellowship and talk a lot (which is a good chance for me to practice my Khmer). Afterward, we went to eat desert at a street stand and called it a night. Overall the day was a fun and interesting day!

A Khmer Wedding!

The leader of the girl’s dorm got married this past month and I was invited to their wedding. I was so excited because I finally got a chance to see a traditional Khmer wedding, which was a really cool experience!

The Khmer wedding is so different from the Western wedding that I was accustomed to. For starter, the invitation tells us to be there at 6:00PM but all the guys decided to go at 7:00PM. Apparently, it’s normal to have people going to the wedding reception even after the bride and groom cut cake and do all the rituals. Secondly, foods are served to each table ONLY if that table has ten people. It was so funny because the girl’s table had eight people and they asked if I and my roommate would join them to which we said no (because it’s kinda awkward with just two guys and a bunch of girls). Instead we joined the boy table and got our food right away. The girls got kinda mad because they were there since 5:00PM and did not get served because they don’t have enough people and the boys just arrive and got their food right away. =)

After the ceremonies and such, we got a live band that play music for us to dance to. It was so much fun because I got to listen to a lot of the traditional Khmer songs. I got to witness some really old people getting funky and started to shake their booties which was really entertaining. I also got to learn the traditional Khmer dance.

On a side note, people (mostly girls) at Khmer weddings are dressed to the nines and they look so good..! This is a picture of me and one of the bridesmaid! Enough said =) And no Emma, I’m not trying anything! I just think they’re cute, that’s all, I swear! =)

The Celebration of a Dead Cow

There was a sad and happy incident that happened to one of my friend during the holiday season. Apparently Channy and Mariya’s cow got hit by a car during the holiday season. It was grazing near the road and decided to cross it to find good pasture. At any rate, it got hit by a car and the leg was broken. So Mariya’s dad decided to butcher it to alleviate unnecessary sufferings. Then all the boys and girls at the dorm were invited to come down to the countryside to join in on the feast. It was a pretty experience because I’ve never been outside of Phnom Penh before. This was a good chance for me to see the countryside.

We all took our motos to Mariya’s province. It took us about an hour and a half to get to her house. It was quite the adventure during the ride. The roads to the highway were filled with pot holes and dusts (which is quite bad for motorcycles because dusts take away traction). To make things worse, we have big trucks and SUV going super fast on these potholes filled roads. On the ride to the highway, I had a few close call when trucks and cars decided that they should have the right of way because they have a bigger vehicle…

When we got to the highway, the roads were more like North American roads and I manage to pull 100km/h on my motorcycle with two guys on the back, which was quite exhilarating!. When we got to her house, we were immediately ushered onto a table and served with delicious food! We had cow stew, hot pot beef, and buttered beef! It was so delicious because I haven’t eaten that much beef since the day I left Canada!

Afterward, we went coconut and mango hunting because there were plenty of those trees around her house. It was really amazing because the coconut trees were like 10m high and her neighbor just climbed it with bare hands and feet to retrieve the fruits for us. I wish I could do that…

Anyways, we headed to the beach afterward to chillax some more before we headed back home. It was an eye opener because I got to see how life in the village was. I am really humbled by their living condition… There was no electricity, no running water, nothing… Yet, they manage to live quite happily… And to think of all the time that I complained to God about not having hot running water, or baking oven, or washing machine or LCD TV during my Onsite… I feel quite ashamed of myself…

Mentor’s Relaxing Christmas Party

For Christmas, my mentor hosted a little get together for the boy and girl’s dorm. It was quite a fun time. We got to eat KFC for Christmas! And yes, there is KFC in Phnom Penh. Actually, KFC here is way better than the KFC back at home. For example, they use natural farm raised chickens (not ones that are pumped with drugs like back at home).

It was quite the Christmas setting. My mentor (which is a very Alliance kinda guy) had his whole house decorated like a tradition Western Christmas house (Christmas tree, red-green carpets and table covers, Christmas carols and songs playing in the background, Christmas cookies, etc). He even have a Western manual called “The Essential Christmas Manual” which teach you how to decorate your house and make it Christmassy.

Anyways, we ate all the delicious food as soon as we arrived and got some good fellowship time in there. Afterward, we gathered around the living room and shared briefly about what we’re thankful for this Christmas. After the brief exchange, we played the candy game. It is a game where Bill give us a plate of candy and we get to pick as much candy as we want unless we pick the same one that he pre-picked, which would mean the end of our candy picking. The top score was like 60 candies before they pick the ones that Bill pre-picked. The lowest score was like 4 (which is really bad luck if you asked me).

After the candy game, we have a really silly game that played. It’s call the Fashion Show. Anybody that picked candies also need to pick a partner that they would go down the walkway with and strike a pose. With the music blaring in the background, it was quite silly and entertaining.

A Gospel Presentation

On December 23^rd, the girl and boy’s dorm opened a big Christmas party. It was more of a Christmas service actually. The purpose of the meeting was so that they could invite their friends (who are usually too nervous to go to church) so that they would present the message of the gospel to them.

The party’s program was a lot like a standard Christmas service. At the beginning, the boys got up and sung Here I Am to Worship and Every Move I Make along with some other Khmer song with the girls singing their own tunes afterward. Then the floor was opened up for testimonies to which some of the dorm students got up and share what God has been doing in their lives. Afterward, Bill prayed and gave a presentation of the gospel in Khmer to which I nearly fell asleep because I couldn’t understand it (hey! Don’t judge me!) After the entire services, we had a fellowship meal.

The foods were prepared in the morning. It felt so rushed because on that day, I had to wake up like at 8:00AM in the morning to help prepare and make the food. We ended up working from 8:00AM to like 4:00PM.. It was so exhausting! But it was worth it because the food was very delicious =)

During the meal, a couple of students approach me and gave me some presents! (That’s so sweet eh!?) The first present I received was from three of the girl students (Netru On, Phanith, Chanty). It was a necklace with a bling-out cross, which was very tacky but it’s the thoughts that counts. What I love more than their present was actually their Christmas card, which they made by hand. It feature a popped-up words that said (Merry Christmas Ducky) and they signed their name on it. It was very sweet.

The next present I got was from the boy’s dorm. They bought me a white Nike shoes with a few yellow stripes across it. It was very thoughtful of them because I previously bought a yellow T-shirt to match my yellow motorcycle and now they bought me a yellow shoe to match as well =)

The third present that I got was from Sokkun-Nisa. She bought me a Hugo Boss (genuine! Well not really but who can tell!?) wallet. It was cool because my old wallet was really worn out and it’s nice to have a new one for a change. I was touched by her present too because she’s do not have a lot of money but she still set out to buy me a present for Christmas… I felt kinda guilty for not getting one for her… =(

The last present that I got was from Mariya. It was kind of a weird present because it is a heart shape jewelry case. I can’t really think of a way to use that present since I don’t have any jewelry… so instead, I end up using it as a Christmas ornament in my room =)

After the party and fellowship, we got a chance to play a lot of cool games and fun games. It’s kinda long to explain so I won’t. Instead, here are some pictures. =)

After the party ended, the boys decide to go on a cruise around town to end the night. Overall, it was a very fun day!

A Humbling Christmas Experience

During my stay here in Phnom Penh, I got a chance to get acquainted with a girl name A-Ya. She’s a pretty cool girl who spoke almost fluent English. She was raised in a Christian family (her dad works alongside the missionaries of post Pol Pot regime for many years). She is now employed at World Vision Cambodia head office. For Christmas, she invited us (the girl and boy’s dorm) to her village to hang out. Now, everybody knew that it was a Christmas celebration except for me. So when the day came, we all got onto our motorcycles to go to ferry that would takes us to her village. When we got to the ferry, I noticed that everybody was dressed up and I was the only one in shorts and T-shirt. I ask them why are they all dressed up and they told me it was a Christmas celebration that we were going to. I felt like a total fool… which was kinda funny looking back hindsight. Anyways, it was a fun experience riding on the ferry across the river. It was so rusting and old that I thought we were going to sink halfway through!

When we got to the other side, it was a 10 minutes ride until we reach the village. At the village we ate lunch before we head to church. The church was really interesting because it was more like a big tent. We help set up chairs to prepare for the Christmas service. When it began, there was a missionary who gave a brief presentation of the gospel in Khmer. Then a Khmer girl name Chanriel showed us a gospel presentation using picture boards which was really entertaining for the kids.

Afterward, the kids of the village put on a traditional Khmer dancing routine for us to enjoy which was really cute. Then we end up handing presents and candies to the kids in the village. There were like 60-100 of em. Living in North America, I’m so used to celebrating Christmas with beautifully decorated church, blaring neon light, shopping for expensive presents to give to each other, eating at nice restaurants and such… I’m so humble to experience Christmas striped of its materialism and just simply enjoy its messages and enjoy fellowship with people. Overall it was a good time. I hope that when I get back, Christmas would be the same for me.

The End of a Good Year

That pretty much concluded my adventures in the month of December! This has been a long update so I’ll keep it short. If you’re reading this, I wish you a good New Year! Check back soon for yet another of DuCkY’s wonderful update! =)