Bangkok and Back again...(Cambodia for good)

Hey friends & family,

I have a few updates for you! This Friday Susan and I visited Bangkok. We met up with her friend Molly who completed the TESOL course a few months ago. Bangkok was an experience. My first impression was that it was an actual city-by my definition: real roads, highways, traffic, taxicabs, highrise buildings, skyscrapers, and people...tons and tons of people. Walking around the city, we had to walk in the streets because there were too many people to fit all on the sidewalk. They had built a sky train above the city which gave me a chance to see the city from a different perspective. We took meter taxis of all colors-mainly bright pink, green, yellow. At night the city lights up with bars, clubs, restaurants, and vendors. The food in Bangkok was infinitely better than in Cambodia, and I tried a lot more street food because I felt it was prepared in more sanitary conditions. Salted nuts, fried chicken and sticky rice, unusual fruits, breaded sausage, and my personal favorite: sweet corn on the cob. We went to the Grand Palace on Saturday and saw the Emerald Buddha (a travel guide's must see) which was smaller and a little more blue than I was expecting. The rest of the sacred buildings were very ornate with golds and colorful mosaics adorning the statues and columns.

We then visited the biggest market I have ever seen. I had to practice a lot of restraint as there were loads of clothing, shoes, linens, jewelry, hats, sunglasses, belt buckles, backpacks, wallets, incense burners, puppets...you name it, they sold it.

I returned to Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Sunday--where I plan on staying for the majority of my time in Southeast Asia. I fell in love with the city during my first two weeks, and there's also the most basic reason--there are jobs here. I already had an interview today and have a couple more lined up this week. Apparently, being young, white, female, and American is really working for me--they prefer these qualities in an English teacher, and they are up front with their discrimination. I interviewed with another girl from my program and a Philipino girl who studied in England and was completely fluent in English--but the other American girl and I would make $10/hour and the Philipino girl only $7/hr, based on her passport origin alone. If I were to stay in Thailand, I would probably have the best shot of getting a job in Bangkok or Pattaya and even then jobs are scarce at this time of year. Anyone interested in visiting Thailand...still consider it! I can travel to any of the nearby countries and we can have a Southeast Asian Adventure!

It feels good to be back in Cambodia. Tonight there is the party for the latest crew of LanguageCorps students at a local bar who just finished their first day today. I think it will feel odd meet the newcomers and be on the other side...I was in their position just three weeks ago! It feels much longer.

Happy February!