well here it goes
Ignore Lagos & co...Jake go for it, follow your dreams, etc. etc. blah blah blah. Just do it.
I came to Cambodia, alone in 1998 when I was 18. Spent every day stoned...a month in Phnom Penh, a month in The Angkor Wat temples, a month on the beach...I felt safer than if I was in the u.k.
Followed by 3 months in Vietnam, 3 in Lao, 5 in Burma...Oh I’m such a hot shot traveller wanker. No honest I am....but if you want my advice steer clear of all those travellers who carry backpacks that are over 15 litres, lonely planet carrying tossers....Their eyes are closed.
I lived in Sydney alone when I was 18. Ciaro when I was 19. Bangkok, Melbourne. etc. etc.
Yep I'm a Trust-i-farian. I’m also a fully qualified teacher, not just an English language teacher, I hold a UK PGCE, and a BSc in Education Policy (Both were a waste of time)…it will help if you have a qualification of some sort (the ones from Kao San are fine)…but believe me you are already a good teacher or not. It can’t be taught, its about how you relate to the kids…By the way. my grammar is shite and I’m dyslexic.
It can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be. If you sit around at the lake in PP everyday, it will be like Kao San etc. etc. 'The Banana Pancake Trail'. Where-as if you hire a big bike and head of into Palin, well it’s still fucking easy.
Your white (I presume). And if your white and speak English you can do what ever you want, anywhere...You've got a US passport in your pocket no?
Travel shows us nothing that we can't find for ourselves in the dead of night.
Baan Ciwit P'iem
I came to Cambodia, alone in 1998 when I was 18. Spent every day stoned...a month in Phnom Penh, a month in The Angkor Wat temples, a month on the beach...I felt safer than if I was in the u.k.
Followed by 3 months in Vietnam, 3 in Lao, 5 in Burma...Oh I’m such a hot shot traveller wanker. No honest I am....but if you want my advice steer clear of all those travellers who carry backpacks that are over 15 litres, lonely planet carrying tossers....Their eyes are closed.
I lived in Sydney alone when I was 18. Ciaro when I was 19. Bangkok, Melbourne. etc. etc.
Yep I'm a Trust-i-farian. I’m also a fully qualified teacher, not just an English language teacher, I hold a UK PGCE, and a BSc in Education Policy (Both were a waste of time)…it will help if you have a qualification of some sort (the ones from Kao San are fine)…but believe me you are already a good teacher or not. It can’t be taught, its about how you relate to the kids…By the way. my grammar is shite and I’m dyslexic.
It can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be. If you sit around at the lake in PP everyday, it will be like Kao San etc. etc. 'The Banana Pancake Trail'. Where-as if you hire a big bike and head of into Palin, well it’s still fucking easy.
Your white (I presume). And if your white and speak English you can do what ever you want, anywhere...You've got a US passport in your pocket no?
Travel shows us nothing that we can't find for ourselves in the dead of night.
Baan Ciwit P'iem
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bubble-T, manuh I'm not trying to be a party pooper here, but I am curious as to your life plans, if you have any.
I hear what you say about having got to Cambodia at 18, and had a fantastic eye-opening time etc, but what about your future plans?
Do you intend to remain in Cambodia, or SEA, marry, settle down etc? Or do you plan to go back 'home' at some stage? What about jobs? Do you see yourself drifting between jobs as finances dictate, perhaps starting a business, or do you have 'career' plans?
I hear what you say about having got to Cambodia at 18, and had a fantastic eye-opening time etc, but what about your future plans?
Do you intend to remain in Cambodia, or SEA, marry, settle down etc? Or do you plan to go back 'home' at some stage? What about jobs? Do you see yourself drifting between jobs as finances dictate, perhaps starting a business, or do you have 'career' plans?
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Andy, I'm hardly advocating the 9-5. Just curious what people's plans for the future are, or if they have any. I think that's a pretty practical issue, or are you saying that part of the SEA experience is to devolve yourself of future plans?
I can certainly relate to that, given how easy it is to 'get by' in SEA.
But from what I've read you yourself now have a 'career' as an English teacher, so my question isn't quite as rat-racey as it sounds.
I can certainly relate to that, given how easy it is to 'get by' in SEA.
But from what I've read you yourself now have a 'career' as an English teacher, so my question isn't quite as rat-racey as it sounds.
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Fair play b-b. Many - maybe most 'barang' settled here do attempt to create their own version of a conventional western lifestyle, which I would describe as 'rat-race'; others like myself make a conscious decision to sacrifice the security that the conventional package provides.
I myself did not come to Cambodia with the intention of acquiring a respectable career; that happened by chance. It was my voluntary work that brought me here and that provides no security at all. Even now, I have no substantial savings, investments or pension plan, so it just takes one nasty moto-accident and I'm done-for.
If I may.....
CHOOSE LIFE
Choose life.
Choose a job.
Choose a career.
Choose a family,
Choose a fucking big television
Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers.
Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance.
Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments.
Choose a starter home.
Choose your friends.
Choose leisure wear and matching luggage.
Choose a three piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics.
Choose DIY and wondering who you are on a Sunday morning.
Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing spirit-crushing game shows
Stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth.
Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home
Nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats
You have spawned to replace yourself.
Choose your future. Choose life.
I chose not to choose life.
I chose Cambodia.
I myself did not come to Cambodia with the intention of acquiring a respectable career; that happened by chance. It was my voluntary work that brought me here and that provides no security at all. Even now, I have no substantial savings, investments or pension plan, so it just takes one nasty moto-accident and I'm done-for.
If I may.....
CHOOSE LIFE
Choose life.
Choose a job.
Choose a career.
Choose a family,
Choose a fucking big television
Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers.
Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance.
Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments.
Choose a starter home.
Choose your friends.
Choose leisure wear and matching luggage.
Choose a three piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics.
Choose DIY and wondering who you are on a Sunday morning.
Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing spirit-crushing game shows
Stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth.
Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home
Nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats
You have spawned to replace yourself.
Choose your future. Choose life.
I chose not to choose life.
I chose Cambodia.
I came, I argued, I'm out
Well said.andyinasia wrote:Fair play b-b. Many - maybe most 'barang' settled here do attempt to create their own version of a conventional western lifestyle, which I would describe as 'rat-race'; others like myself make a conscious decision to sacrifice the security that the conventional package provides.
If I may.....
CHOOSE LIFE
Choose life.
Choose a job.
Choose a career.
Choose a family,
Choose a fucking big television
Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers.
Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance.
Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments.
Choose a starter home.
Choose your friends.
Choose leisure wear and matching luggage.
Choose a three piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics.
Choose DIY and wondering who you are on a Sunday morning.
Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing spirit-crushing game shows
Stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth.
Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home
Nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats
You have spawned to replace yourself.
Choose your future. Choose life.
I chose not to choose life.
I chose Cambodia.
If he puts it off he might never go.
Fresh out of grad school, I came here over 13 years ago to make money. And did. I never planned on staying, but one opportunity lead to another and I never left. I've seen lots of people come and go, many in not very pretty ways, but in almost all those cases their problems were self-inflicted. Living in Cambodia requires self-discipline. If you can't control yourself - if you need the law to keep you from driving drunk, or closing hours to keep you from drinking all night, or high prices and social pressure to keep you from abusing heroin or yama, etc. - then Cambodia is not the place for you to live long term, unless of course you have a death wish. On the other hand, if you have the discipline and desire, you can live a fairly normal life here. I have a regular job, a house, a car, a family, a dog in the yard, health insurance, car insurance, a bit of a savings and so on, i.e. a fairly standard life. You can have it here if you choose to have it, but I think that many that come here to work choose not to have it since it's not what they came to Cambodia for. Or they choose to live a minimal existence in constant anticipation of leaving 'someday.' Which is fine. To each their own. Cambodia is, as many have said, the 'wild west.' But that doesn't only mean lax laws and drunken cowboys. It's also a wide open land of possibilities and opportunities. Given a bit of self-discipline and the proper skills/qualifications, you can make of life in Cambodia what you choose to make of it.
My Life Plans? Not to go back to the UK or Europe.
That is one downside, I can never go back. It grew up in Bangkok as a teenager, and travelled at 18, lived in Egypt, Aus etc. The UK kills me in minutes. The shitsystem. I went to Uni in one of the top red brick Universities, and fell back on Cocaine and pot. Couldn't adjust to life at all. Simple things like being in a cafe and knowing that everyone, if they wanted, could understand my conversation.
And everybody looks the same...they honestly do. All those white people look the same!
Another downside, I could never own a pickup in Europe. When you start to like pickups, you know you've been in SEA to long.
But the +'s out weigh the negatives. Like andyasia says "Choose Life" (He has obviously chosen a beef and onion pie, with mash and peas alongside that).
I really don't have any worries about the future. I don't care about the pension, or career progression, or having that pick-up.
I've chosen the middle path.
One day I will open a “Fair-Trade Zone”
I've got a PGCE. This means I could work in Northbridge or some-such school with the salary, housing allowance, free flights etc. (Currently I don’t work at all)
And I have a trust fund (...I'm a Trust-i-Farian....A white boy with money, who smokes and travels, and thinks he's a Rastafarian)
But I didn't choose to teach for the money or the holidays. I chose to teach to be with Children, who look on the world with the eyes of a Buddha....They live in the moment and enjoy life.
That is one downside, I can never go back. It grew up in Bangkok as a teenager, and travelled at 18, lived in Egypt, Aus etc. The UK kills me in minutes. The shitsystem. I went to Uni in one of the top red brick Universities, and fell back on Cocaine and pot. Couldn't adjust to life at all. Simple things like being in a cafe and knowing that everyone, if they wanted, could understand my conversation.
And everybody looks the same...they honestly do. All those white people look the same!
Another downside, I could never own a pickup in Europe. When you start to like pickups, you know you've been in SEA to long.
But the +'s out weigh the negatives. Like andyasia says "Choose Life" (He has obviously chosen a beef and onion pie, with mash and peas alongside that).
I really don't have any worries about the future. I don't care about the pension, or career progression, or having that pick-up.
I've chosen the middle path.
One day I will open a “Fair-Trade Zone”
I've got a PGCE. This means I could work in Northbridge or some-such school with the salary, housing allowance, free flights etc. (Currently I don’t work at all)
And I have a trust fund (...I'm a Trust-i-Farian....A white boy with money, who smokes and travels, and thinks he's a Rastafarian)
But I didn't choose to teach for the money or the holidays. I chose to teach to be with Children, who look on the world with the eyes of a Buddha....They live in the moment and enjoy life.
Ditto.My Life Plans? Not to go back to the UK or Europe.
That is one downside, I can never go back.
I arrived here at 17 (now 21). I was in an economics class at high school in my first week of A-levels, and our teacher told us to imagine we were going to retire at 60 and live to 100, and to work out how much we would need for our retirement. Most students were freaking out as they realised how hard they'd have to work in england to get the retirement they wanted, I got up, walked out of class saying "screw you guys if you think i'm going to go though that life". I got laughed at by everyone, including my teacher, who said i'd be back with my tail between my legs in no time. Now i'm the one laughing with a fucking wicked life while they all slave away in shitty lives with the hope of a possible good retirement at the end.
I don't have any concrete plans for my life, and i've tried to stop making them. I'm enjoying life for what it is, and having a great time. If things keep going the way they have the last couple of months, i won't have to worry about the future anyway (at least from a monetary point of view).
I see what Barang Barang is getting at, in that it'd be difficult to get back into a western way of life, but i don't see that i'd ever need to. My parents are visiting now, and it's the first time i've seen them or anyone from my old life in about 3.5 years, and i'm finding it very tough to even strike up a conversation with them. The thing is, if i only have to see them once in a blue moon, who fucking cares what the conversation is like!
Coming here was the best thing i've ever done. i thought when i came that you work your whole life for a decent retirement if your lucky, but quickly found out that life is all about the living, not the end result. Coming here so young merely saved me the bullshit that most of you guys went through before you discovered the better life.
Yeah man, like how I left England. I was in the bank when the manager passed me the contract to sign for a mortgage and a lifetime of unfeasably difficult to pay back loans. I looked at the contract and then at my wife and Timmy and Rupert in the Volvo outside. I took one look at the manager and said "contract this motherfucker!" and rammed the pen through his hand into the contract. I walked out with the manager screaming "you'll be back, Snake! you'll be back!" just as the sun was setting.Bubble T wrote: I was in an economics class at high school in my first week of A-levels, and our teacher told us to imagine we were going to retire at 60 and live to 100, and to work out how much we would need for our retirement. Most students were freaking out as they realised how hard they'd have to work in england to get the retirement they wanted, I got up, walked out of class saying "screw you guys if you think i'm going to go though that life".I got laughed at by everyone, including my teacher, who said i'd be back with my tail between my legs in no time.
Then thery realise that they have no career opportunities back home, and they're doomed to teach English here, and then go on drinking themselves to death, taking drugs, and sleeping with prostitutes, in this paradise of snakes, full of fool's gold, Cambodia.fopro wrote:You can have it here if you choose to have it, but I think that many that come here to work choose not to have it since it's not what they came to Cambodia for. Or they choose to live a minimal existence in constant anticipation of leaving 'someday.'
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No matter who you are or how much $$ you have, you sleep, wake up, eat, shit, walk around a bit, then you repeat the process. The only real choices you have in life are "where" to do this stuff and "who" you decide to do this stuff with. . . .
Cambodia is a great place to sleep, wake up, eat, shit, and walk around.
Cambodia is a great place to sleep, wake up, eat, shit, and walk around.