Expatriates’ Strange Lives in Cambodia
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Expatriates’ Strange Lives in Cambodia
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/ ... bodia.html
This looks quite interesting, actually. Anybody read it?
I give odds of 2/5 we get past the French jibes!
This looks quite interesting, actually. Anybody read it?
I give odds of 2/5 we get past the French jibes!
I came, I argued, I'm out
Some of the statements in the article seem to be frustratingly true. I have often moaned to foreign colleagues about their inability to get beyond BKK or Riverside, the thought of heading out as far as the ring road in any direction scares the living crap out of them.andyinasia wrote:http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/ ... bodia.html
This looks quite interesting, actually. Anybody read it?
I give odds of 2/5 we get past the French jibes!
Obi-Wan Kenobi wrote:A tuk-tuk that size couldn't get this far out of BKK on its own...
Meum est propositum in taberna mori,
ut sint Guinness proxima morientis ori.
tunc cantabunt letius angelorum chori:
"Sit Deus propitius huic potatori."
ut sint Guinness proxima morientis ori.
tunc cantabunt letius angelorum chori:
"Sit Deus propitius huic potatori."
- Lucky Lucan
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It seems a bit simplistic, like he's only sought out a certain type of the foreigner and ignored anyone else who doesn't fit his preconceived ideas.“They don’t really open the window to Cambodia. They don’t try to speak the language. They are not interested in the culture. When they finish their job, they just go to the foreign bars, have beers with friends. They live in Cambodia, but they don’t really live with Cambodians.”
Romantic Cambodia is dead and gone. It's with McKinley in the grave.
He has a point, but my question is what does the average Khmer really do that's so different from Westerners? Having taught quite a few children and adults so far, I've learned that most of them go to work or school for hours every day, then go home and play facebook, ride their moto around or go drinking in a beer garden. I do all three, but it usually involves only Westerners whom I can speak to easily and share common principles and experiences. As for the language, I think most of us see little point in learning a language which has no use outside of the country and very little inside (aside from the basics).
Don't get me wrong, I wish it was different.
Don't get me wrong, I wish it was different.
Your wish has come true, it is different.Enkay wrote:He has a point, but my question is what does the average Khmer really do that's so different from Westerners? Having taught quite a few children and adults so far, I've learned that most of them go to work or school for hours every day, then go home and play facebook, ride their moto around or go drinking in a beer garden. I do all three, but it usually involves only Westerners whom I can speak to easily and share common principles and experiences. As for the language, I think most of us see little point in learning a language which has no use outside of the country and very little inside (aside from the basics).
Don't get me wrong, I wish it was different.
Some men you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it... well, he gets it. I don't like it any more than you men.
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There is a ring road? You mean Phnom Penh has it's own M25???I have often moaned to foreign colleagues about their inability to get beyond BKK or Riverside, the thought of heading out as far as the ring road in any direction scares the living crap out of them.
What is beyond BKK or the Riverside? Someone told me the end of the earth was beyond. Me scared.
So how come so many people do manage to live here for so long without learning the language or culture or making Khmer friends? I'm not saying it's right to do it that way, but it's undeniable it happens.MoodyMac wrote:Your wish has come true, it is different.Enkay wrote:He has a point, but my question is what does the average Khmer really do that's so different from Westerners? Having taught quite a few children and adults so far, I've learned that most of them go to work or school for hours every day, then go home and play facebook, ride their moto around or go drinking in a beer garden. I do all three, but it usually involves only Westerners whom I can speak to easily and share common principles and experiences. As for the language, I think most of us see little point in learning a language which has no use outside of the country and very little inside (aside from the basics).
Don't get me wrong, I wish it was different.
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I think people like that tend to come from the two very worst ends of the expat spectrum: the hardest of hardcore sexpats and the the snootiest of neo colonialist NGOs.Enkay wrote:So how come so many people do manage to live here for so long without learning the language or culture or making Khmer friends? I'm not saying it's right to do it that way, but it's undeniable it happens.MoodyMac wrote:Your wish has come true, it is different.Enkay wrote:He has a point, but my question is what does the average Khmer really do that's so different from Westerners? Having taught quite a few children and adults so far, I've learned that most of them go to work or school for hours every day, then go home and play facebook, ride their moto around or go drinking in a beer garden. I do all three, but it usually involves only Westerners whom I can speak to easily and share common principles and experiences. As for the language, I think most of us see little point in learning a language which has no use outside of the country and very little inside (aside from the basics).
Don't get me wrong, I wish it was different.
Twitter: Not my circus, not my monkeys - I sold #K440
Does anyone know someone who has lived here for let's say a year and a has no knowledge of the language? Not even the numbers or directions? That would take some doing...
- horace
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Well i know you 're neither of those but just exactly how much Khmer do you know and how many Khmer friends do you have?keeping_it_riel wrote:I think people like that tend to come from the two very worst ends of the expat spectrum: the hardest of hardcore sexpats and the the snootiest of neo colonialist NGOs.Enkay wrote:So how come so many people do manage to live here for so long without learning the language or culture or making Khmer friends? I'm not saying it's right to do it that way, but it's undeniable it happens.MoodyMac wrote:Your wish has come true, it is different.Enkay wrote:He has a point, but my question is what does the average Khmer really do that's so different from Westerners? Having taught quite a few children and adults so far, I've learned that most of them go to work or school for hours every day, then go home and play facebook, ride their moto around or go drinking in a beer garden. I do all three, but it usually involves only Westerners whom I can speak to easily and share common principles and experiences. As for the language, I think most of us see little point in learning a language which has no use outside of the country and very little inside (aside from the basics).
Don't get me wrong, I wish it was different.
k440, something to do when you're pissed.
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When I go back up to visit Battambang, I *only* hang out with Khmers. As for my language skills, I have a few hundred words stored in my noggin and understand a lot more than I can speak, but on my hours, and as much as I'd like to, it's impossible to commit to lessons at the moment.horace wrote:Well i know you 're neither of those but just exactly how much Khmer do you know and how many Khmer friends do you have?keeping_it_riel wrote:I think people like that tend to come from the two very worst ends of the expat spectrum: the hardest of hardcore sexpats and the the snootiest of neo colonialist NGOs.Enkay wrote:So how come so many people do manage to live here for so long without learning the language or culture or making Khmer friends? I'm not saying it's right to do it that way, but it's undeniable it happens.MoodyMac wrote:Your wish has come true, it is different.Enkay wrote:He has a point, but my question is what does the average Khmer really do that's so different from Westerners? Having taught quite a few children and adults so far, I've learned that most of them go to work or school for hours every day, then go home and play facebook, ride their moto around or go drinking in a beer garden. I do all three, but it usually involves only Westerners whom I can speak to easily and share common principles and experiences. As for the language, I think most of us see little point in learning a language which has no use outside of the country and very little inside (aside from the basics).
Don't get me wrong, I wish it was different.
Twitter: Not my circus, not my monkeys - I sold #K440
- Bitteeinbit
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I've seen this guy before. Probably had a few drinks with him in some French bar. Can't pinpoint where but I've definitely seen him before.
Agreed, but I think he probably talks about other groups as well, just that these groups are more interesting to write about versus someone who goes to live in some village and completely immerses himself in the culture, becoming from khmer than the khmer themselves. Expats who stay apart from the society they live in are also not exclusive to Cambodia. Every country has expats like that.Lucky Lucan wrote:It seems a bit simplistic, like he's only sought out a certain type of the foreigner and ignored anyone else who doesn't fit his preconceived ideas.
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The argument in bold red is used by Jean Marie Le Pen, his daughter and other European racist parties against immigrants. Everyone needs the comfort of their original culture without integrating. Acceptance of your children being more tolerant and integrated in the society you moved to is more important.keeping_it_riel wrote:Enkay wrote: So how come so many people do manage to live here for so long without learning the language or culture or making Khmer friends? I'm not saying it's right to do it that way, but it's undeniable it happens.
Dictated to a slave and sent by carrier pigeon.
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