Things have been so busy around the office that I almost forgot about Thanksgiving! There is a large group of American ex-pats here in Phnom Penh, so there were a few “Friendsgivings” happening throughout town.
Dean [Cynthia] Alkon and Dean [Charlotte] Ku were in town working on some exciting Texas A&M related activities and invited my colleague Christian Holden and me to Thanksgiving dinner at their hotel. Christian is an Aggie Law classmate also working at Vishnu on temporary assignment. Dinner was a beautiful spread of traditional American Thanksgiving food mixed with local flavors. My personal favorites were the pumpkin pieces sautéed in butter, sweet potatoes, and the huge cheese and cracker table. #delicious. After being here over two months, it was really nice to see some familiar faces and exchange travel stories.
As much as I miss home, I have never felt lonely here. There are so many ex-pats from all over the world doing various things in Phnom Penh. The ex-pat community is very welcoming and there are always people to hangout with, take trips and try out new cultural experiences. It is very easy to make friends and learn about even more cultures. I am not the most social person (introvert all the way), but I have really enjoyed meeting people here. Everyone I meet is so passionate about her or his work. Which makes sense because it takes some passion (or guts) to just get up and relocate halfway around the world.
Some of the people I hangout with are from America, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Japan and South Africa. It is fascinating to see the similarities and learn the differences between all these different cultures. It is also very humbling to know that America is just one country out of many. The best part about meeting all these people is that now I have places to stay during my future travels!
We met two fellow Aggies the other day at lunch! We were at a Japanese restaurant trying delicious udon noodles and my colleague Christian ('09, JD '15) was wearing a Texas A&M polo. The couple stopped him to say hello. They were surprised to see Aggie Maroon on this side of the world. They had moved to Cambodia about 17 months ago and just had a baby. They are getting ready to head back to Texas for the first time since they arrived here. Very small world and further proof that Aggies are global!!