I love the mix of foreign and familiar I get here in Phnom Penh. The familiar is part the similarities of expat life, and part the sheer number of times I’ve been here. In 2013 I spent 6 weeks in Cambodia, as opposed to 3 weeks in Australia.
I struggle to tell you what I actually do in an interesting way. The highlights of my work are people and I don’t feel comfortable sharing stories that don’t belong to me alone. But I love what I do, and I want to share it with you.
Life is different overseas – not always harder, but always different. I love that so many expats go out of their way to help out friends – even the newest ones. Most are happy to help, because we’ve all been there.
National Day holiday is October 1st-October 7th, regardless of which days of the week these are. This year, that’s Tuesday-Monday. Then the Sunday before and Saturday after become work days. Confused? Don’t worry, you aren’t the only one.
Many foreigners have had the experience of asking for 水 shuǐ and receiving a blank stare. The problem is that “water” doesn’t mean in Chinese what it means in English. Chinese don’t just ask for 水, they specify what kind of 水!
Part 2 of my Great Wall Adventures spans 2006-2013 and includes Mutianyu, Badaling, Laolongtou, Zhengbeilou, Huanghuacheng, and even Yumen Pass in Gansu province. But my favourite is probably Mutianyu covered with snow!
The Great Wall is not a single entity but a collection of segments built over 2,500 years. They range across more than 2,500km east-west and 2,000km north-south. Only small portions have been reconstructed; most of the Great Wall is in ruins.
Cigarettes are big business in China, which is the world’s largest producer and consumer of tobacco. There are more than 300 million smokers in China. Over 60% of men over 45 smoke, and about 55% of men in general.
For months the other youth leaders have talked about how I need to get a scooter so we could be a scooter gang. A week ago, on a beautiful day, we all had a meeting closer to town and rode together – it was the inaugural ride of the Shunyi Pandas!
Xiao Chen thinks it’s great how much I’ve travelled, that I speak Chinese and enjoy Chinese food. What truly stunned him was my explanation that in western food potato is considered a staple (starch) food more than a vegetable.
Mandarin Chinese has no true equivalents for the English words “yes” and “no”. Although at first it seems complicated (“why can’t they just say yes and no?!”) once you understand it, Mandarin allows for a wide range of subtle responses.
I was recently offered a Liebster Award, and it is an honour to be recognised. I am still surprised every time someone I don’t know personally interacts with my stories. It is wonderful to find that my writing can interest or entertain others.
Stories From Tanya 