You moved where?!

Here’s the basic rundown- Todd and I are going to live in Thailand and teach English for a year in their school system. We are currently living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for two weeks for teacher training; we’ll than move to Pattaya, Thailand to finish up our training and get a job.

From talking with friends and family it seems the big question is—Why?

My answer is why not? We are newly graduated, have no debt, and we’re not in a hurry to settle down and start buying real furniture.  We can live in a tropical paradise, explore south-east Asia, learn a new language, and save $1000 a month for a year.

Yes, it is scary. Yes, it can be uncomfortable. Yes, it takes a lot of planning. And, Yes, it will push you way outside of your comfort zone.

Anyway….

Let me introduce you to Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia!

Phnom Penh is a typical south-east Asian capital. It has a beautiful city center full of pagodas and Buddhist monuments, crazy markets and food stalls, and away from the city center, suburban slums and overcrowding.  We are living half way between , close enough that we are in walking distance of a mall, and far enough that we get lots of crazy looks because we’re the only white people around-- most westerners stay in the fancy hotels and resorts by the river.  Here is the view out our window.  

You can see the major highway crossing over the river/open sewer; surrounding it are small family businesses selling whatever they can get/find, tin shanties, and the local Buddhist temple. So far our transportation of choice has been tuk tuk or walking. Tuk tuks are small carts pulled by a motorbike, you can get a ride anywhere in the city for $1-2USD (You can see them in the picture below). This can be quite an adventure since Cambodian traffic laws are more suggestions and guidelines.  Walking is nice to soak in the city, but can be a little scary. There are no sidewalks and, if there were motorbikes would still drive on them. There are no crosswalks so crossing the street is like a live game of Frogger, especially at night in the unlit streets.