Bills bills bills

I'm not worrying about money on this trip, but I am becoming slightly irritated at how I'm spending more than I wanted to. I'll survive either way I suppose, but since I am paying for this out of pocket, I was really banking on the food, etc. being less expensive. It's not. Or perhaps I should stop buying cheap DVD's... I've only gotten three so far... one of which was $10.80 alone (House Season 1). Oh well.

Not to mention that Dragon Airlines is charging me $60 each way for excessive baggage weight. Cheap airlines = no love. Bastards!

I think I'm just going to start bringing PB & J to lunch every day. Eating's not really relevant to the Cambodia experience anyway.

I think our TV got blown up by lightning last night. We were right in the middle of watching a really great episode of Friends, too (hahahahaha).

For some cute pictures of my siblings and I, check this out: Arising Images.

- m

Tuesday stuff

Been a few days since I've added anything. Hopefully your worlds kept turning.

The weekend was good. I had my first Indian food (ever) and my first Vietnamese food (ever). I had my first Cambodian beer (ever) on a pontoon boat anchored in the Tonle Sap river while I listened to Gnarls Barkley (not by choice). They tell foreigners to stay away from Angkor (pronounced ann-chore for some reason), the main brew in town, because it contains formaldehyde. I think I'm still functioning. Will -- I'll bring you home a case, I know you love the crazy stuff.

It's been raining a lot. Consequently this weekend I watched a bunch of House and Scrubs. Scrubs is just okay.

Mmmm. Stomach's been all over the place. Don't want to talk about it. I'm probably just going to stop at the pizza place on the way home and get something that will form a brick in my stomach (pizza).

Work picked up a bit. I'm going to deliver gifts at the prison this Friday. They were going to send me 4 hours away to attend a conference in Keph (seaside village, supposedly beautiful) but I've got prison duty. Niiiiccceee.

Time is actually flying by. I only have 1.5 months left. Yikes.

Go Pistons.
- m

To those keeping score at home

Diarreha - 0, Mike - 1

And until you all complain about me discussing crap on here, I'd like to point out that the last entry was the one that received the most comments so far. I'm only providing what you guys want to hear.

Ate breakfast with Christian missionaries from London this morning. They were working for a children's organization. They continually travel (this is their full time thing) and their stories were a bit fascinating. A bit encouraging... made me want to do what they were doing.

- m

It begins

Had my first case of the runs today. Wasn't all too runny (not that you needed to know that). A bit exciting I suppose. I don't know what caused it.

This was a great excuse for me to take off the afternoon from work, which I did. I stopped on my way home at the DVD store and picked up House Season 1 and Little Miss Sunshine. I laid on my bed watching House on my laptop, drinking electrolytes and waiting for my stomach to calm down (which it did). Verdict is out as to what my post-dinner evening will be like.

All in all a nice little afternoon.

Thanks.

Sigh.

I'm proud of them. Defied even my skepticism. You've got to put a team away when you have the chance, and they didn't do it. I've got to think this is invaluable experience for our younger core (Hank, Flip, Franzen, etc.). Unless the team could somehow sign Giguere or something I don't know how you don't want Hasek back. He was unbelievable from what I saw. A lot of people were ragging on him for his Game 6 performance but they wouldn't even have been there if it wasn't for him. I'd also like to give Bert another shot; you can't vilify a guy forever and this is probably as good of a chance as he'll get to turn his career / life around. Oh, and happy trails to Bobby Lang.

So now I get to follow the Pistons and Tigers closely. A good consolation gift, yes, but still a consolation gift.

Things are good in PP. Moved into our new apartment. We're on the first floor of a villa which has a large patio, garden, basketball net, etc. I have my own room. We have a large living room, dining room, kitchen. Honestly, it would be a nice place in the states, although it is a little bit dirty.

Had my first pizza in Cambodia yesterday. Nike Pizza shop. I had to laugh at the attempt to woo westerners. Went to the DVD shop after that; I can get American DVD's for $1.80 a piece. Probably going to pick up Little Miss Sunshine, Children of Men and a season or two of House.

I love taking the motos around town -- so much fun. I've got to get a motorcycle. How cool.

As you can tell being in PP is getting to be a bit routine. Hope all is well at home.

- m

Why, Lilja, Why?

Let us hope the Wings can repeat the WCF of 2002. Lose game 5 in OT, stun the fans, win games 6 & 7. I don't know if you can predict or expect something like that to occur, but I suppose you can hope it.

My heart sank when I saw the headline today. 47 seconds away from a 3-2 series lead.

I didn't see the game so I can't blame Lilja exclusively. Obviously he did score what was to be the game winner up until the Ducks evened it late. But my goodness.

Was this game as brutally terrible as it sounds?

Things in PP are going alright. I'm at work right now and there's not much for me to do until next week. Had a hot ham & cheese sandwich and fries for lunch. Awesome.

- m

Sunday in PP

It's Sunday here, Saturday back home. Yesterday we went to the Central Market. It was out of control. Chickens running around. Smelled like a sewer. People selling everything imaginable for dirt cheap. iPod nanos go for about US$25, problem is I don't know if I could clear customs w/them.



They also had a mall next door with a Western grocery store. I got some cheese & crackers and cookies. The mall also had a pizza place and a burger place, both of which looked obnoxious, a bit like Red Robin. I plan on trying both soon.

We all went back to the apartment of Haley and Zara, two other girls that are here. Their apartment is totally nice, right by the Tonle Sap riverfront, two levels, fully furnished, etc. It even had cable TV and I was watching some soccer, Manchester United v. AC Milan I think, and saw some CNN & Britney Spears (circa 2000, thankfully) on Asian MTV. They even had HBO. Also, Asian ESPN was playing a lot of clips of the Tigers' playoffs from last year and it made me feel right at home.

Came back last night and had my first Cambodian food. Pretty good. It was essentially Cambodian noodles with beef and a ton of cauliflower, and I hate cauliflower, but it tasted alright if you dipped it into this spicy sauce that came with it. The noodles and beef were good. Also, had some carrots and green peppers mixed in.

Fell asleep last night at like 10. Woke up today at 3AM and have been awake ever since. I had "church" around six by reading 40 pages of a Christian book Ashley gave me, then got really homesick and wrote in my journal for about 45 minutes. I switch between loving it and hating here. Guess that's to be expected. Good news is I can call home for super cheap. Finally got in touch with Ashley today (which was awesome) and our 20 minute phone call cost me fifty cents. Good news there.

Today we went to Tuol Sleng, the torture center. Very, very sad. The KR were brutal people.

We're going apartment shopping in an hour, so that should be pretty boring. There's a Cambodian wedding party going on in the street outside the internet cafe -- they just prop up a tent and everyone gets underneath it, like a graduation party right in the middle of Schoenherr.

GO WINGS!
- m

Phnom Penh

Got into PP late last night after a 2.5 hour delay in Hong Kong. Slept a lot on the plane. Flying over Cambodia at night was very strange: complete darkness save for a few lights every few miles, then Phnom Penh was all lit up. The airport was surprisingly nice although customs took forever. The people from KiD (my job) picked me up; I felt bad because they were waiting for 3 hours to get me due to the delay.

Driving into PP at night was crazy. Run down. Wild dogs. People standing around in packs by motorcycles. Garbage all over.

Got to the Boddhi Tree (my guesthouse) which is nice. Right across the street from Tuol Seung prison, the KR torture center in the 1970's. A bit creepy, yes. The BT is very western and well-staffed. I have a room on the second floor of an old European-style house. My bed has a mosquito net and sleeping in it makes me feel like a princess. I have a small balcony and my own bathroom with a toilet and shower.

I met up with Erin, a UM student, and we chatted for a bit. Then I took a melatonin and slept for about 10 hours. Woke up this morning feeling on time w/the local time, finally.

Ate some eggs bacon and toast for breakfast. They were playing Jose Gonzales and Thom Yorke in the cafe. Met up with a few other UM students and we've been doing things together; took a tuk-tuk (motocycle w/4 person carriage attached) around town and saw some sights.

All in all I feel okay. Things are uncertain and I occasionally feel very stressed out. I already feel like my life has changed. This morning I woke up and thought about being in the pool at home and I couldn't believe my life exists. We're all very blessed indeed.

Until later.
- m

No sleep

Here's Hong Kong live from outside my hotel window. It's 545 am local time here in Hong Kong. I have not slept a wink, although I have tried admirably. I feel like Bill Murray in Lost in Translation. Jet lag is no fun and my body hates me.

In the last 42 hours or so, I may have slept about 8 hours. I have also been sitting or laying for most of them. This combined with my ever-present excitement / anxiousness about my location probably goes a long way towards explaining my lack of sleep.

I've got a flight to Phnom Penh at 3:30pm local time today. I might pass out before then.

- m

Hong Kong

I'm in Hong Kong. My hotel room is about the size of a closet but it has free internet and House on TV, so all is well.

My 20 hour or so commute wasn't as bad as could be imagined. Perhaps I slept too much because now I'm not so tired. However, it is like 12:30 pm at home right now.

Hong Kong's amazing, pictures to come.

Lets go Red Wings,
Mike

The Morning Of

Been sort of a rough morning. In general, pretty sad to be leaving. Still excited to go, but these next few hours are going to be somewhat difficult. I'll be much better once I'm in the air.

Very happy that the Red Wings won last night in such a convincing fashion.

Alright, time for some last minute suitcase / paper checks, and trips to the store.

Next stop: somewhere in Asia.

- m

Introduction part I.

Today is Saturday and I am in the U.S. I leave for Cambodia on Wednesday. This is both a good and bad thing. It's good because I am totally excited to go. I've been itching to get overseas for a while and I'm returning to my place of main interest: Asia. I am excited to be doing work related to genocide, and to actually be doing "international law" (although, as Justice Scalia says, international law blows.)

This is bad because I'm nervous -- after all, going to Phnom Penh is not like going to Paris. It's going to be 95 and humid everyday (probably). I don't speak Khmer or whatever the language is called (shouldn't I know this by now?). I don't really like adventurous food. I'm going to miss people. I'm going to miss home.

And the Red Wings, Pistons and Tigers are looking absolutely amazing right now. What am I going to miss? This really isn't too important I suppose.

Anyway.

The name of the blog is inspired by the song of the same title recorded by the Dead Kennedys.



That picture's actually really awful if you know what's going on in it.

This is a map of Cambodia:



Major points of interest:

Phnom Penh: This is the capital, where I'll be living.

Siem Reap: Home of one of the wonders of the world, Angkor Wat, "the largest religious temple in the world" or something.

Sihanoukville: This is the beach where we pick up the babes.

I'll be living in Phnom Penh, the capital. Phnom Penh was once a popular vacation spot and/or colony (take your pick) for the French, so today it's pretty much a bunch of crumbling French colonial inspired architecture. A bit sad in a way... I suppose it sorta reminds of the architecture I saw in China, though with a much more noticable European influence, and with a lot less upkeep. Here's a shot of what Phnom Penh looks like, according to Google images:



Have no fear I'll take some of my own pictures.

I'm going to try to break all this up into smaller posts so that it doesn't become unmanageable. This, of course, presupposes that people will take the time to read this blog. If not, the blog will be for my own benefit. Hopefully I will be able to update it. I'll have internet at work and there are internet cafes everywhere (supposedly). Hope it's not dial-up.

That is all for now, more later.

- m