"Calibodia."

This was a picture taken by Abby, also another former volunteer. It's during the "feeding" - as I like to call it - or, more appropriately - breakfast, at preschool in Krangpopleak village. That's me, trying to cool down the morning porridge (baw-baw) for one of the kids.

I recently applied for a job in Long Beach, home of the largest Cambodian community outside of Asia, for a position to be a Khmer/English preschool teacher. I typed a heart-felt cover letter and a jazzy resume but have not heard back. Since I have to start working as soon as possible, the phrase, "beggars can't be choosers", keeps going off in my head so I think I will end up doing something kind of dull like being a receptionist. Had an interview the other day so now I get to sit and wait for the final decision. (It is very close to home, pays comfortably and I get to use my Chinese language skills. A compromise I am willing to make at this point.)

"Everything is connected", is also another phrase that I've said a lot in my life, and particularly while I was in Cam. For years, I would be encountered with seemingly random events and circumstances that would call for this phrase to be stated, in that sort of obvious but still astounding way.

The events and people in my life seem to flow together, with some sort of continuity, even if they span across time and space. I went to a small country in Southeast Asia, only to be able to come back and find a job opportunity to do the very thing I was doing there. How incredible is that? My best friend in Cam was someone from Wisconsin of all places and I remember a time when I used to be very bitter towards that state. Even seeing my favorite cookies (Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies) at the one gas station in Pursat was always kind of strange, albeit, nice. You go to the other side of the world and even then, you are connected to parts of your side.

I still ride a bike everywhere. I love it. I still have to hand-wash some clothes. So in some ways, though they may be small, some things are not that different. They kind of all blend into one... life, I suppose. My life. And yes, as hard and emotional as it has been, my first three weeks of rocky readjustment is over, and I am starting to see some semblance of life, new life, here.

For someone on the outside, maybe they are thinking that it wasn't a huge stretch for me to have done my GLT in Asia. But I never thought about the connectedness of it. Before going, I perceived Cambodia as this very distant and foreign place, far away from anything that I could be familiar with, only to discover over and over again, how much of Chinese blood was mixed in the populace and that given enough time and language ability, I could have easily blended in with them. I share something with those people just in how I look and in some of the ways that I was raised. I am still discovering what it means to be Asian, to be connected to this entire half of the world, just through geography (in relation to China), and in the heritage of biology. When we focus on our differences, as valid as they may be, we so often forget about all the things we have in common. At the very base of it alone is in our shared humanity.

If I had to be from anywhere in the world, I am so glad I am from Los Angeles, a city so full of depth and diversity. (I'm looking up the best place to get Khmer food right now!) And it's only now that I have gone through the experiences that I did can I say that I am so happy that it was Cambodia where I went. It had to be Cam, and it had to be out in beautiful, dusty, rural Pursat.

Here's two more photos. One is of Laura driving a moto and a super cheesy picture of me, small eyes and all, riding in the back, going through our little town.