Oz and Back

Hi Everyone.

Ok so I had an eventful (to say the least) holiday in Oz. Enough said. Anyway highlights were a ferry on the harbour and taking Pushpa to the Zoo (and seeing the most beautiful city on earth)

And the hunter valley trip spending lots of time with my niece and nephew.

On the way back I had a few moments that sapped the good karma bank. Despite thinking i would be returning to Cambodia with very little luggage I ended up with more than 37kg of luggage! Through a complicated web of deception and smuggling I managed to get it all on (including 3kg of Weetbix in my hand luggage). And in Phnom Penh airport I was about to have my bag searched by customs (and i had 4 bottles of wine i didnt declare) but I told the guy in Khmer that it was all clothes and food because I live in Kampong Speu and there wasnt much there. He had a chuckle and let me through. I popped home (saw a cow get hit by a car which was a pretty messy affair) had a shower and went straight into work for training on a new Monitoring and Evaluation toolkit so that day was murder.

The office was meant to have their new years party in December but they postponed it so I could join which I thought was very touching. My boss saw me and he said 'you look exactly the same'. I am not really sure what he was expecting!

Marie-Helene and her family are now settled into Kampong Speu. They are so nice they came over and cooked me dinner the day after I got back (although they used the thai curry paste so it was too hot for them to enjoy - but i did!). They speak okay English and are improving rapidly but their kids speak no english which makes things interesting. I , of course, speak very crappy French.

We are going to house swap. My big house is now empty so I will move into the top floor of my landlady's house and they will move into the big house. They are only across the street from eachother and I figure i need as much social contact as possible to stop me turning too crazy so I think this year I will have better contact with a Khmer family.

Oh and I pimped my ride. You can't really see it but I have a mud guard now, a tacky Australia bike bell and a light so I don't have to ride blind in the dark when i work past sunset!

I was a bit hesitant on returning back to Cambodia for a new year. On the flight in I was reflecting on how although this job has been amazing for me, it has cost me a lot as well in many different ways. But as soon as I stepped back onto that dusty, noisy National Highway 5 to catch my taxi I felt happy which was a big relief.

To get back into the swing of things I agreed to go on an early morning school visit at 4:30AM. Unfortunately I forgot and was awoken by the guard banging on my door and the loud hum of the car idling outside. Shellshocked i leapt out of bed and straight into my clothes and out the door. School visits are always interesting because in many cases there are hidden corruptions which you have to ferret out (like inconsistencies in record keeping and physical count).

I also got a chance to observe a flag raising ceremony. It happens every morning but we are almost always too early or too late. Its interesting cos everyone sings the national anthem and does their morning stretches and exercises.
The next day I was in Phnom Penh for the monthly management meeting and me and the other Assistant Heads met for dinner and a drink...and another drink...and another. I think by the time the meeting started the next morning I was still a little intoxicated and paid a heavy heavy price in hangover throughout the day. I had to leave the working lunch at one point to have a ten minute nap in one of the spare rooms! I spent the rest of the weekend in Phnom Penh and have quite a good international network of people to hang out with now which is great.

I brought back some Australia hats for my colleaugues and its been astounding the reaction. Everywhere i look somewhere is wearing some bit of Australia paraphenalia (i brough pins and stick on Koalas last time). I feel sorry for my replacement if they are not Australian!