I Didn't Expect That! I Think They Think I'm Michael Parkinson!
on So Now It's Cambodia (Cambodia), 01/Oct/2010 13:24, 34 days ago
One of the interesting things about this whole experience has been meeting people from different walks of life and from many different countries. This was something which was limited in my previous experience in the same classroom every day (though, of course, I met lots of interesting people there as well!).This has been all the more so for being holed in in the hotels of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. The cafes by the pools at both the Pavilion and the Kabiki Hotels are fairly small and sociable places anyway. Having a focal point ie. my horrible looking ankle and foot, most people can't resist a comment which usually leads to some conversation....People often tell me a lot about their lives and views. Some of these are travellers or tourists of one kind or another just passing through for a few days on tours of Asia. This area certainly appeals to the more mature in years (not old - of course!!) - maybe it's because we couldn't come here during the troubled times. Quite a few are Australian too - I suppose it's a fairly short hop over here and cheap once in the country. I've even met people from Tasmania - really friendly. There was another young teacher who'd had her passport and credit cards etc. stolen on arrival in Sihanoukeville - as they had a knife she wisely didn't argue but then had to spend the last part of her travels getting a temporary passport sorted and funds being sent from the bank of mum and dad! She did, however, have touching stories of the help she'd received from complete strangers and even being given money to help sort things out. So a bad experience followed by some heart warming ones.Some people are working for various agencies and I have met people who run their own NGO's. There was an Italian HIV/Aids worker who'd had a terrible experience in the hospital in Bangkok which I had nothing but praise for.....just goes to show; and most recently an Australian family running their own NGO setting up a school and helping a village with water supplies etc. really impressive work. Her son was a Liverpool fan which was nice (I knew this because he was wearing a Liverpool shirt (!) so we could discuss my beloved and troubled team - interesting to hear him referring to "we" - meaning the team - yet he comes from the other side of the world! What a fan base!His mother told me a lot about her English background which went back a long way and seemed to have connections to the Royal family and maybe even Jack The Ripper! No - I wasn't expecting that either!!! So I sit and listen (honest!) and learn a lot but I sometimes wonder if they think I'm Michael Parkinson -  or maybe it's my interview training from my form teacher days!