Starting to feel at home…

Feb 21

It’s the subtleties of living in another culture that cause culture shock – usually, not so much the different types of foods, or the clothes, or transportation, but it’s when you get past those obvious things, and into the subtler worldviews that it gets more difficult. I’m not there yet, obviously. Culture shock doesn’t usually set in until after at least 6 months. To me, this is still just an adventure, sometimes awesome, sometimes really difficult.

One of the tough things for me is not feeling free to go where I want, when I want. It dampers my usual independence. I’m pretty much relying on Amber and Michelle to get around. I did try the mototaxi the other day, but I’m still really shy cause I still can’t speak the language. And I still don’t know my way around the city. But Amber and Moo are awesome. They're great at driving their motos, and they're always happy to take me as extra luggage.

Today, Amber and I went shopping for some furniture for her apartment. We headed out on her moto. The shops are so different here. It’s a little bit like China town, and a bit like Brazil too… but you really need to know where you want to go for what. Then there’s the white tax… because you’re an obvious foreigner, vendors will try to get the most possible out of you. So, once Amber found the furniture she was looking for, she bargained. I was outside waiting (today was hot), and a tuktuk from across the street called out to me. He wanted to offer his services. I knew we needed a tuktuk, so I nodded to him. He threw the stuff in the carriage part, and I sat back there too. Amber called a Cambodian friend to explain to the driver where we wanted to go, and what we wanted to do. And off we went, me in the tuktuk and Amber driving her moto alongside us.

Finally we came home with stuff in the tuktuk, and a shelf unit roped up to the little roof of the carriage. This driver was particularly kind; he even carried the large furniture all the way up to Amber’s apartment, which is on the 5th floor. He got $4.50 out of the whole venture.

Then there’s the dirt. When we got home, I cleaned my face with a little cotton pad, and it was filthy. At night, in certain parts of the city, they burn garbage piles. The smoke from it helps ward off mosquitoes. But it also leaves a thick unhealthy cloud at ground level. At least that doesn’t affect daytime hours.

Certain things here bring to life Biblical principals. In Proverbs, for example, when it says that the Lord hates dishonest scales. Here, at the markets, that actually happens. Vendors will tamper with scales so that buyers simply don’t get as much as they think they’re getting. And there’s the bribing system. You can bribe a teacher to pass your exam. Or doctors may ask for a bribe to give proper care to a patient. These are cultural impacts of war and genocide.

I guess in a system like this you can really tell when someone is a true believer. They treat others with fairness and integrity. How precious godly character is!

Being here is a daily adventure. These challenges can be frustrating, but they make little things rewarding. And some parts are just plain fun.

Tonight, Amber, Moo, Hak and Jenny, and Sopheak and I went out to eat after the Youth Outreach party (one of Moo and I’s students, Raksmay, who is not yet a believer, came out to Y.O. He’s also wanting me to teach him piano lessons. He seems very open, which is exciting!). We all went back home on 2 motos. It was so enjoyable, a lot like what we’d do back home, except for the moto part. BTW, riding a moto is a blast.

Amber, Moo and I live at the house Sopheak’s parents own. Sopheak also lives here with some of her siblings. She used to work in an orphanage, and that’s where she met her American boyfriend. They’ve now been dating long distance for over a year. He’s a Christian, and his parents have adopted several Cambodian children. He and Sopheak are currently studying and getting ready to one day get married and then found an orphanage, a school and an old age home.

While working for the orphanage, Sopheak got to go to the dumpster slum a few times. That’s the lowest of the lowest of lifestyles. Workers sometimes go there to bring some food and try to help. Interesting thing is, even though the government’s tried before to get some of these dumpster dwellers out of there and re-house them somewhere else, to many, the dumpster’s their home and comfort zone. They’ll actually refuse to go anywhere else! That boggles my mind. How can they seriously prefer that lifestyle, full of diseases, stink, etc.

CS Lewis said it best : "If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

In the end, Sopheak, Moo, Amber and I came home. Moo went to bed, but the rest of us played Dutch Blitz. Then Amber and I swapped 15 minute massages, and that was awesome. For the first time since I’ve gotten here it felt a bit like home. I even thought “I think I could live here, if that’s where God directed me, as long as I can have my own moto…” But then, I’d also have to bring quite a few Canadians back with me…


Feb 23

Yesterday was also lotsa fun. After church, Moo and I took some of our English students out for lunch. Moo had invited them on Thursday, saying “We’re taking you out for lunch, so meet us after the second service at the church”. Most of the ones who showed up already are Christians, but Raksmay isn’t, so that was good. I think he’s really close though.

It was a good lunch. We got to know our students better, and I think it’ll make teaching them a bit more fun.

I had to be back at the church for 3pm for my first piano class. I forgot to take down the names, but I had around 7 students there. Moo stayed for the class too, and it seems that she’s gonna join us for all the classes. Most of students are from the children’s church ministry.

Raksmay and another one of our students also joined us for Cell Group time. I’m getting used to not being able to understand what’s going on… Now I understand how Deg feels when we’re at my parents’ church in Quebec!

By the end of Cell Group, I was exhausted. The heat really drains you. But now I’m ready for a new week, with lots more piano lessons, meetings, editing, and English teaching. God is good!