Longest Wednesday ever, but at least a majority was in the Seoul.

Over this summer I have learned to love blogging and just free write, something that I was not used to before. So, I will most likely move over to my tumbrl blog because it is pretty and easier to use. But, I am not sure when that will happen.
Well, I made it to Seoul, Korea this morning at 6:30am. I did not get any sleep at all from the Cambodia to Korea. It was hard to sleep because the people I was around were very loud and kept talking throughout the whole flight. Well, I guess I owe them a lot, it will be a lot easier for me to get past my "jet leg" when I get back to Minnesota. Well, besides the lack of sleep, the flight went by fast. I love flying Korea Air, it is just a nice airline, probably one of the best airlines in the whole world. Oh and speaking about Korean Air, yes, the Incheon International Airport in Seoul is the NICEST airport ever. Like seriously, I have not seen an airport that is so friendly and so much stuff to do and see. That's good because I had and am still waiting with a 12 hour layover here. Luckily, right now, I only have 2 more hours to wait until I depart to LA, but this is only a 12 hour journey. So not too bad. I love plane rides anyways. I think they are fun! Well, we landed and I was so sleep deprived because the previous night I was up til 5am. I might have taken a 1 hour nap by the pool with Rot. So, using the information and advice from Sam, I decided to checked into the transit hotel. Well, there were two of them in the transfer area that exited into and there was no way that I could go into Seoul because I probably would have passed out and got lost and confused. Something like that. Well, I got in and went to the information desk to figure out where to go and she tells me to head to Gate 6 because the transit hotel is in front of it. Lucky me, that is right in front of my departure gate. Awesome. Well, I head over and get on the escalator (which were super cool, they were motion sensor to save energy, get that, amazing). I get to the top and asked to check in, but guess what, they are all full and I was like, NOOOOOO!! But, she told me that the other transit hotel was not full and she made a phone call and told me to head over there. But, it was on the complete opposite side near gate 43. So, that was a long stretch to get to that side, but I needed to sleep at least a couple hours and a good shower. So, I headed over. The Korean airport is so interesting, they have a ton of lounges and access to free wifi all over the airport. They also had Korean cultural museum and events for foreigners to engage with. Today, it was painting fans, but every time I went, it was always full. On the walk there, there were duty free shops EVERYWHERE. Everyone had like carts of shopping bags. It was super crazy, I didn't know people went super crazy for duty free shopping. Well, I got to gate 43 finally and went up the escalator and finally checked in. The rate for the transit hotel is after 7:30am, it is $54 dollars for 6 hours and $9 dollars an hour afterwards, but if you arrived after a certain time, they locked you in for 12 hours, just the rules, but I got a 6 hour stay. The room was super nice for what I wanted. I was able to take a 3 hour nap and then a shower. I also took the chance to finally update my computer because the internet was FAST. I was shocked at how fast it was, can't wait to get to my apartment now and experience fast internet. Well, that went by pretty fast and I had to checked out 1pm. I decided it was time for lunch, after 20-30 minutes roaming around and trying to find where the food courts were, I finally found one near gate 26. There was BK, KFC and then a Italian place, Korean place and Japanese place. I decided to eat Korean food because I was in Korea and I was very happy. I got Bibambap, I hope that is right, but it was super good! But, I don't know what is truly good Bibambap, so can someone take me to a good Korean place? But, it was super yummy. Well, afterward I ended up roaming around just walking around mindlessly and I decided to go to the first transit hotel area because there was a place to sit and rest. So, I went over there and found a nice bench and two seconds later, I passed out. Yup, I was not expecting that at all. Well, luckily I woke up around 5pmish and I decided it was time for dinner because my flight did not leave at 6pm, like I thought, but 8pm and then it got delayed to 8:30pm. YAY! My favorite, not really, but it is okay because I am blogging. Well, I went to a place I saw earlier, I thought it said boba like bubble tea and I was like yes, please, That is what I want. Well, I went there and I did not see any bubble tea, but noodles and stuff. So I got some noodles, sat down and ate and then decided to come back up here and blog. Well, as I looked at the sign again, it did not say boba, but Bob and T. Oh, I am super delirious now. Let't hope I fall asleep for the night flight. It is leaving in an 1 hour and a half. YAY! United States, here I come.

Don't worry Cambodia, I will be back so soon.

I will miss Cambodia, I will miss Phnom Penh. In the past eight weeks, Cambodia has truly made a indent in my life, no longer is it just a place that I hear stories about, read news articles about, see pictures of. I have experience Cambodia on a first-person account. It is such a strange feeling to think about it in those terms.
I don't know if I ever mention this, but this is my "first" internship. I am so thankful I got to experience what I experience this summer in Cambodia because I believe that I can take this back with me and apply what I have learned about Cambodia, work related skills/stuff and myself. Just to add on top of that, my heritage connection to this place. It is an absolutely amazing experience that I do not take for granted for. I really hope that my little sister can come to Cambodia and experience what it means to be Cambodia or at least try to figure that our. I did not in any way figure out that tough question, but it at least open new doors and new perspectives to continue on trying to figure out who I am.
This internship has really made me calm about going into my practicum in the fall for social work. I don't think I will ever experience another internship like this, something that was hands-on at every point of the journey, every piece of work that we did was not just busy work, but something so meaningful and be able to go into communities and connect with individuals on a one to one basis. I heard from my other internees that this internship is not like all internships at all. It's amazing that this was my first and I was able to experience something like this. Something I truly care about and has given me so much passion to strive and do the work that I did in Cambodia. I will not forget all of the times that I spent out in the province. Being able to just throw myself into a community and talk about life, struggles, hopes and dreams. Even the little moments, just a simple goodbye with their hand on your hand wishing that road ahead will be happy and that your future will be good. Those moments are the moments that I will miss. Being able to meet my family who I had heard in stories, finally being able to match them with the real faces and being able to meet uncles and even my Grandma. I don't know how I will ever forget those moments.
I am leaving to the airport in 3 hours by a taxi (because my mom wanted that and she thought it would be safer than a tuk tuk), but I am sitting here realizing about how fast this had gone by. I was up til 5am this morning with Rothany because we both couldn't sleep, we actually wanted to play on our iPhone because we are addicted to Tap Resort Party and God Finger, but besides that we ended talking about all sorts of things and about Cambodia and life. It was a positive that I was up that late to get myself used to Central time when I get back. This isn't goodbye to Cambodia, but just a vacation away from Cambodia. I will be back for sure. 100%.
See yeah later Cambodia, I will miss you in the time being. =(

Unexpected times.

Last night, we went out to go dancing. Once again, kind of a no surpriser. But, we started the night at Blue Chili. Ever since I got to Cambodia, I had heard of Blue Chili, being the hippest bar for the best drag shows in Phnom Penh. When I heard that, I was a little thrown off. Drag shows....? In Cambodia? WHAAAA?! So, I was super excited to go last night and see what this was all about. Well, we arrived around 11pm and luckily it had just started. The place was a super tiny bar, but it was pack with people standing outside. The drag show took place in the bar with the drag performance done on top of the bar counters. Super fun! When we first got there, the drag queen was preforming to a Cambodian pop song. It was just mind-blowing. I never thought I would see this at all, especially in Cambodia. The place reminded me of the 90's and the drag performances, except with Cambodian people. Well, we stood outside and watch for a little bit before we decided to get inside the bar. I am happy that we did because the view was a lot better, crowded, but better. It was a short performance. There were 5 drag queens, so the drag performance was about an hour. But, it was an hour of just awesomeness. Three songs that were in Khmer, one being a famous Korean song by Wondergirls, but of course Khmer dubbed. Naturally a performance with Cher and Beyonce. I did hope for Lady Gaga, but maybe she was just taking a rest in Phnom Penh that night. =( But, besides that, it was just absolutely fun!
Next stop was Saint Tropez. We decided to go here because our friends that we made/ met through Jeff, Monica and Sokha wanted to go to Saint Tropez and do a little dance. Well, let's say things got somewhat crazy. The music was pretty all right. But, they did play some Khmer song, but remix. One of them being some old school Khmer rock, I'm sixteen. So naturally, I busted out my Khmer dancing.
Afterwards, we said our goodbyes to Monica and Sokha and headed to Pantoon.I have heard a lot about this place since I got here. It is basically a club on a boat on the river. Yes. Who thought of that? Such a genius. I do not know why we had never gone here because the music was absolutely amazing. It was quite weird to dance on the boat because it was somewhat rocking, I think, but it could have been that there was so many people there. Yes, so many people, that has to be it.
Well, it is Sunday night. I leave Phnom Penh in two days. Oh man, this crazinesssss.

Dollars vs. Riels

Even after a summer here in Cambodia, I am still awed about how US dollars is primarily used here and riel (Cambodian currency) is used as change for most of the time. So think of it like this, you used your dollars to buy stuff and if it is a fraction of a dollar or "change", we get it back in riel. Currently, it is about 4300 riel to a $1. In the provinces, I noticed that the exchange rate is about 4300 riel to the dollar, but in Phnom Penh, it is different. It is most likely because of the tourism in Phnom Penh, that the exchange rate is brought down to $1 = 4000 riel. It makes it a lot easier for everyone, since 1000 riel is 25 cents. Well, since US dollars are used here, it becomes very strict about the condition of US bills. If there is any super tiny, micro rip in the bill, it is deemed as unusable. This has happen to me with a couple dollars bills, a five and a twenty. One of my friends had a super micro rip in her $100 dollar bill and that bill became "unusable". Another things that makes US bills very unattractive is its age. If it is old an not the new style/updated version of the bill like the 5, 10 and 20, they become "unusable" and no one will take it. Even if you tape a bill back, in my case, I got a dollar bill from someone and it was tape in the corner, even tuk tuk drivers will not accept this at all. It gets quite annoying when that is the only change that you have and you must try to salvage for the tiny riel that you have to pay for your rides. Well, the riel comes 100, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000, 20000, and I think 50000, but I do not think I have ever seen this. The 100 riels are probably the most worthless ones because they equal to about maybe 3 cents and no one uses them. I find pennies a lot more useful because at least they are small and you can put them in a jar, but the 100 riel are a paper bill. There is a picture on top of the 100 riels that I have collected. Guess how much? I will tell you at the end.
But, it is still mind blowing about how there are 2 currencies that are used together. I still am shocked when I go to the grocery store, like Lucky and I give a $5 and then 2200 riel. Just really surprised still. I guess the riel is a very weak currency and it just cannot work without people either making wallets that are the size of a coat or carrying a bucket of riel to purchase a bed. The riel exchange rate has been like this for the past couple years because of the government,but I hope that one day the riel can be strong again, but I do not think that will happen.
Weather update, it is pouring outside and I really like it. It is nice to be on the top floor and hear the rain hit the roof and plus there is a nice view from the balcony. This morning, I said something about the weather on the east and west coast and Rot was like, again, you love the weather and I do.
Oh yes, have you made your guesses, it is about 50 cents, 2200 riel. Awesome.

Pictures finally.

Sorry, it took so long, but here they are for the last blog entry.

Sunny and humid just like Minnesota.

The weather in Phnom Penh has been getting hot and steamy, but I heard that in Minnesota, it is hot and nasty? Is that true? I just noticed that it might be a very Minnesotan thing to talk about weather. I always talk about weather here. It might be weird, but I checked the Star Tribune online, a couple times a week, to check on what the weather is like in Minnesota. There was not one week this summer that I did not mention about the crazy weather in Minnesota to all of Cambodia.
Last night, we went to a carnival in Phnom Penh. It was exciting. Chanrith took Jessica, Rot and I to where people get married and the carnival next door. It was so strange. It was on an island called Diamond Island. It was super nice and elegant. I wish I could have taken pictures, but I did not know where we going. There were so many fountains and statues. I can see why there are so many weddings here, but of course only for the ones that can afford it here in Cambodia can have these grand weddings and all of these elegant things. Well, next door was a carnival with ferris wheels and rides. Somewhat unsafe looking, but tons of local Cambodians out having a fun time. Well, one of the huge hits at this carnival was popping balloons for prizes. 6 darts for 5000 riel, roughly around 1.25. Well, the prizes were somewhat interesting, they were made up of pots, dish soap, some snacks, more pots, lunch boxers, soy sauce, oyster sauce and other very useful, but not the typical prizes that we are used too. Well, I can't throw darts, but Rothany can, we ended up winning some chopsticks, a lunch pale and chips. Awesome. Well, Rot, Jess and I ended up going on a ride that was the HydroBlast ride at valley fair, oh wait, it is called Rip tide, but no water and I am glad none of us died because it was obviously not the safest thing, but it was fun because we were the only three shouting, yay!!! and woo hooo! I think people thought we were strange.
But, we learned a lot about Diamond Island. People who used to live on this island, were forced to move and got evicted. The people who own Naga World bought the land and with help from the gov't (naturally bribe and being able to make money) made this happen. No one knows what happen to the people because they did not get anything back or compensation. This was not surprising at all that this happen because after 8 weeks here, you get used to all the corruption that happens in Cambodia. I was very disturbed that people could do this to others and to also hear that this island was home to a community, but then forced to leave.
On lighter note, sorry for the depressing topic, the carnival did remind me of the State Fair, the people at the carnival were families having fun and enjoying life on a Wednesday night which was so nice to see and it reminded me of the State Fair, which I am very excited to go to this year. Anyone want to go with me? I was on the State Fair website a couple days ago because I got an email. I am very excited to try all the new foods and stuff. But, besides that the carnival seem like a place for locals to come and enjoy and have fun with their families and friends. I did not notice any foreigners besides us (but we blend in so well). =)
I have some photos posted up. There is one about the fun prizes as well as two group shots. One of the whole group the night before Vinita and Mahdev left plus our new friend JP (Jessica Pham is in there too!) and of course the fours of us, Rot, Justin, Jessica and I, the awesome AJA interns of 2010.
Actually, I have trouble uploading pics from my phone, but the next post will have them, just wait so close, you will see some awesome pics. Soon!

One Week. Really?

Exactly in one week, I will be on a plane from Phnom Penh to Seoul. Craxy. Not crazy, but craxy. Justin and Sam left tonight back to the States. It was super weird. Way weird that they are not here anymore. I moved up two floors in the guest house to share a room with Ne and Jess because it would be way cheaper than renting a room by myself. I am wrapping up all of the work in the next couple days and this weekend will just be a relaxing weekend to myself and enjoy Phnom Penh before I leave. I think that I am going to have trouble with moving rooms because I will before I leave try to open my first room here. So many memories.
I did not do anything particular today. It was just a nice day to relax and think. As well as Justin's last day in Cambodia. I ended up going to the Russian Markets and I found some fun gifts for friends and such at home. It is a surprise. Well, the day just went by very quick and it is about 1 AM in the morning. Not so tired, but Rot and I are both working on whatever right now.
I have no clue what tomorrow will be bring, but in the evening we will be meeting with Chanrith, a good friend who we came with us to the provinces and helped us get around. He wants to see us before we all leave, even though he was sad that he didn't get to say bye to Justin. But, I am very excited to see him! I heard that he might take us to carnival, so let's see how this goes.
It is scary to think that I am on the Starbucks schedule next week again! My first shift back at work will be on Saturday, during the mid-day. So all you Lakeville people should come on and say hi! Somewhat....actually....so excited to go back to work. I have missed Starbucks way to much and miss good coffee. But, I ended up calling Starbucks(after an intense talk with Mads) and it was fun to talk to Shelley and Paola. So good to hear their voices! OMG! Can't wait to see them.
I was planning on going to Vietnam this week and also out to Takeo, but with some budget restraints and also finishing up work, I can't make it out to those places. I am a little sad, but it's okay. There is a lot to do in Phnom Penh and I am excited to see what is out there.
Sadly, the gym I have been going to is closing for 4 days. They are moving to a new location, so I am sad I won't be able to work out because I still have 3-4 passes left, so from August 8th to 11th. Hardcore work out. Gotta look good when I get back, right?
I don't know how I feel right now. A week. A week. Tomorrow will be my last Wednesday in Cambodia. Just so eerrie. Don't you love thinking like that, this is going to be the last so and so and this is going to be the last time I do this, I always do that. But, really, a week! OMG. I can't believe that it has gone by this fast! I can remember the first day I got here and telling myself how this will be such a long trip away from home, but now it is August 4th and I will be heading back home in a week. Just crazy. Looking back at June and July, so much has happened and so much has been learned, about Cambodia and myself. =)
I am getting sleepy and this blog, I just realized has no concrete order. But, that is the thing about blogs, well at least mine, no concrete order ever. =)