School with no grades or tests?

School with no grades or tests? SIGN ME UP! That is basically a summary of language school.  Right now, I am going two hours per day, five days per week.  Starting next week, I will be up to 3 or 4 hours/day.  Basically, I want to get as much as I can because I want to be able to communicate, connect, and not just be another dumb foreigner who comes and expects the local people to be able to speak English.  When in Rome, speak Roman?

  

I thought it would be fitting to take a first day of school picture (yahoo AWEA shirt) - stole this idea from Ashley and Michael in Tanzania.  Notice my sweet new bag - it is made out of a recycled cement bag.  It is from the Portland Cement Company (seems fitting on so many levels).  It had my many books (including one made of Elephant Poo). 

 

So, how is language learning going, you may ask.  Well, Cambodia has a completely different script - based on Sanskrit, so it basically looks like a bunch of beautiful, sgwiggly lines to me.  My teachers have been teaching me through the phonetics so I can speak some very basic Khmer.  Prior to coming, I was advised to start learning the script ASAP because the phonetics are not like Chinses Pinyin - they are not universal phonetics for the language, thus are relatively useless beyond personal studying for speaking.  I have learned two consonants and one vowel (there are 33 and 23 respectively, each has two sounds).  Thus, slowly, I am learning.

This experience has really made me thankful for a number of things:

1) My college French teacher who spent time on phonetics (painful at the time).  That at times is coming back to me and helping immensely.

2) I am very good at laughing at myself and will desperately attempt to communicate despite my inability to do so...

3) Having studied languages before, I am employing every means I can think of to practice.  I have MP3s from one friend in Khmer, a CD from our program, watch some TV in Khmer, have been attempting my terrible pronunciation with as many folks as possible.  I have on a number of occasions said, "WAIT, I can say that in Khmer. *Insert terrible butchering of a beautiful language here*.   I also have been practicing saying, I don't understand Khmer and I speak a little Khmer.  I also have my dazed and confused look down for when words don't come :)  As you can see, studying is a full room activity:

 

Note the many flashcards for my 250ish words and phrases, phonetically written and memorized.  I am skipping class today due to an unplanned-free cleanse (I heard all the celebrities are doing it) so you will notice clear liquids and plain tortillas litter my study area.

 

This is a bit of what my face looks like as I try to say things like wake-up which involves exhaling while making a "p" sound, followed by an n"~", than there is an AAAH, K.  Then, a hard "P", Then something that sounds similar to Kang.  Needless to say, I am attempting to learn to speak from every part of my face and just because I remember the word DOES NOT mean it will come out of my mouth the same way it sounds in my brain.  I like to think of it as my "Oregonian Accent."

 

This is another of my memorization techniques.  These are the numbers (1-9) in Khmer.  I made myself a mini memory game to attempt to memorize the script and numbers.  I can often be found walking the streets counting to myself, just to practice.  I also enjoy going to the market to practice and though I can't say the names of the veggies and fruit, I have gotten decent at saying, this how much?  that how much? I need two of these, etc.  And, I usually understand the numbers.  Though, in Khmer, they have this great thing they do where they shorten many of the numbers or moosh them together so six can be said 'correctly' about six different ways.

 

 Other than just practicing writing the phonetics and reading them out loud to practice speaking, I have drawn a number of these little conversation strips or location labeled pictures in an attempt to better remember words.  Many of them also involve hand motions (some American Sign Language, some Karen Sign language, and some musical to help me to remember to close my mouth, open my mouth, intonation, etc).  I hope my roommate is not filming me studying, though, it would be a great candid camera episode I am sure...

Fruit, Veggies, and a Lady with a Braided Rat's Tail

Sometimes the positive reinforcement comes in strange ways like fruit, veggies, and a lady with a braided rat's tail, as those of you who have transitioned to a new country, or those who have cognizant while going through any transition well know. One thing I have noticed when moving to a new culture is that sense of helplessness and not feeling able to 'contribute.' Since arriving in Cambodia, we have pretty much just gone around with our groupmates that have been here longer. We get in a tuktuk (small trailer with two bench seats that connects to a motorcycle) and get out when we are told to do so. Then, off to the next destination. Don't get me wrong, I SO appreciate the support of our community and their willingness to do everything from grocery shopping to basic language training with us but jumping in alone, today (on our day-off-of-structure), was like standing on the edge of the high dive, knowing that the ladder was taken away, and the only way down was to dive into the water.


My tasks were: 1) walk to a place with internet; 2) walk to the market, as we were nearly out of veggies/fruit; 3) figure out a running route (AKA how to get to Olympic Stadium where people workout in the mornings on my own, on foot).
Step one, check all expectations at the door.
Step two, remind self constantly that this is like being a child on my own for the first time – not speaking the language nor fully understanding traffic patterns, street signs (or lack of street signs), etc.
Step three, walk to internet.
Internet errand was successful, talk more about how to 'walk' in another blog.


Step four, walk to the market and successfully buy fruit and veggies. I, literally, had to drag myself out for this. I walked to the market and wandered to the center-ish where an older lady sat in a stall surrounded by veggies and she smiled at me. Done. I stopped and pointed to carrots saying how much (one of three or so phrases I know in Khmer). She said something and the word Kilo (I do not pretend that she understood my terrible use of her language but think she is used to foreigners point at things and mumbling). Thus, I knew she was giving me a price per kilo. She could tell I had no idea what she said so held up her fingers showing one and said the thing again with the word kilo. ALLELUIA! I thought, "I've got this game." I selected some carrots, put them in the weighing bucket, she put them on the scale so I could see two kilos. She, then, said something and held up two. Knowing the approximate cost of things (from our previous experience at the market) I assumed this meant 2,000 riehl ($.50) so tried my luck... SUCCCEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS! We then played this game again with eggplant. Unfortunately, she didn't sell fruit, so I said thank you (another of my three words) and went to a fruit vendor. From this experience, I learned that women gave me better deals than the one man I went to but it was a good learning experience - bartering will have to wait until I have more words. And, beyond holding up fingers, we employed the calculator and them showing me the appropriate amount of money techniques.

I got all this for about $3.30. Trust me, the produce was far less important than the experience. I could get myself food. Yahoo!


Step five, of the day, was walk to the Olympic Stadium. As I said, I will explain walking later. Yes, I realize that sounds humorous but it is definitely worth a blog. I may even need some diagrams... So, I didn't make it to the stadium (I wasn't sure what time the sun set, didn't want to be out after dark, and wasn't sure if there was 'commuter traffic' which would add to my walking time). I turned back after 30 minutes – "Acknowledge the little victories" – I didn't get lost once. As I was walking back, I saw a lady with a braided rat tail and her husband with a guidebook. "Miss," she softly asked as I approached, with a strong accent, testing English as a possible mutual language. "Yes," I responded. "Do you know where this museum is..." she attempts to say name and points to guidebook. "Let me look," I respond, she of course has no idea I have been here less than three days. At this, as I am grabbing out my own map which I had been studying before my adventures today, her words gush out, "We are trying to find this but don't know where we are. We can't find a street sign and we don't know if we went too far..." I recognize the name and know where it is on my map, and know where to find the sign for the the cross street to figure out where we are standing. With some deductive reasoning, I am able to point them in the correct direction including blocks to go, etc. Success again, from a lady with a rat tail. She gave me the gift of: 1) feeling useful; 2)feeling capable; and, 3) you are only the new kid as long as no one else has come more recently. I may be the new kid, but I could figure it out with the skills I bring and the many our Maryknoll Lay Missioner guides have provided over the last few days. You never know in what form the positive reinforcement will come... Thank you braided-rat-tail lady.

Travels in Thailand

As I think a photo is worth 1,000 words, here are my travels in Thailand...  In 23,000 words...

 

Thailand, like many countries around the world, has a random mix of traditional and modern and capitalistic.  This was the view from my window at the guest house in Bangkok.  This is near Lumpini Park where many of the recent rallies have been occurring (for those following international news).  You can hopefully see the traditional Buddhist Altar on the balcony, the huge building in the center, and the 7-11 on the lower right.

 

These were some of the statues in Lumpini Park.  It was a beautiful area.  I ran and walked in the park a number of times during my short stay.  Many folks were up doing Tai Chi, Yoga, Jazzercise, etc. in the morning - it reminded me of my time in Shanghai.

 

This is a Catholic Church in Bangkok.  It had these huge doors on either side so the breeze would come through (and so there was overflow space).  Once the church was full, folks would grab one of the white, plastic lawn chairs near the entrance and pull it up outside one of the big open 'doors,' extending the church outside the four walls.

 

I spent one day being a tourist and went to the Grand Palace.  I paid for the 'tourist' boat experience (accidentally) and rode at high speeds along the river.  This is a view from the boat.

 

This is what you would see if you turned the camera around...  Video found here.

 

Another view from the river.  I couldn't help but think, looking at all these buildings right on the river, what happens when sea level or river level rises?

 

I believe this was a Wat (Buddhist compound with Pagoda).  We zoomed by on our exhilarating boat ride.

 

This is part of the Grand Palace.  The grounds were huge with murals, temples, many buildings, etc.

 

Proof that I was actually here and not just taking photos from the internet while sitting in my comfy home in Oregon.

 

Just a few of the statues and such. They have a dress code (as this is a holy place) so scantly clad foreigners were given loaner clothes for the day (I was dressed appropriately so didn't experience this but just observed it). There was a man at the gate that would shout, "Lady, your skirt too short" as people entered.  I laughed.

 

More cool statues (sadly, that is all I can tell you about them)

 

This was one of the guys doing 'restoration.'  He had a stencil and would place the thin gold leaflets on it and press it down.  I was enthralled for a while...

 

This was peering in at the Emerald Buddha (I believe).  Folks travel from afar to visit him (statue).  He has three different outfits one for rainy season, one for summer season, and one for the cool season.  I believe the king changes his clothes...

 

Outside the Emerald Buddha, you could 'bless' yourself with holy water and a lotus flower.  One guide was telling folks that many people also sprinkle the inside of their purse to, hopefully, be blessed with riches.

 

This is a Buddha statue, at the emerald Buddha, to which people can make an offering.  They bring the leaflets of gold and stick them on to the statue, lay a lotus flower, and/or leave incense.  It is a similar idea to lighting a candle in a church at the Patron Saint of X, Y or Z.

 

 

A very nice German Lady, with little faith in my ability to take selfies, offered to take my photo.  This, I think, it the residence of the Thai King.  Some elderly fellow of great importance, arrived in a car while I was standing here.  The security guards moved us all to either side of the street and made sure we were not taking pictures.  Could have been the King or some other dignitary. (Shout out to Kacy for this awesome shirt!)

 

The guard(s).  This reminded me of London.  Only no elephants in London ;)

 

I have no idea what that sign says (could say go away you dumb tourist) but this was a beautiful little garden by the royal residence.

 

After time in Bangkok, all the Maryknollers in SE Asia headed to Hua Hin, Thailand for the annual retreat and meeting.  Hua Hin is a beach town with more sunburned, half naked Scandinavians than I ever needed to see in my life :)  When we had free time, I spent a lot of it here on the beach walking/running.  Not being a sunburned, half-naked, 1/4 Scandanavian...

  

 During one of the masses they had a welcome for each of us newbies.  We were given a bowl of rice (a staple crop here), a lotus flower, and incense.  From the left: New Missioner Emily (a Filipino Lay Missioner serving in Myanmar), Sr. Mary (Maryknoll Sr. in Myanmar), James (MKLM in Cambodia), Karen (that's me), Nancy (MKLM in Cambodia), New Missioner Hang (my roommate), behind Hang is Sr. Luise (20ish years in Cambodia), Sr. Ann (new as of six months ago to Cambodia).  Photo by Charlie Dittmeier

  

Just so you don't think I spent all my time on the beach, we also had prayer.  Best part of this, culturally, it is acceptable to sit on the floor :)  As long as I don't point the bottom of my feet at any person or religious statue.

 

Photo by Charlie Dittmeier

 

  

Sr. Noni (center) was leading our retreat.  She based the whole thing on Endo's Deep River.  I have never been to a retreat based on a novel before.  It was a fascinating approach.  You can see from the photo, there were a bunch of us.

Photo by Charlie Dittmeier

  

And, here is the whole group.  This includes almost all the SE Asia Missioners (Lay Missioners, Sisters, Fathers, Brothers, Filipino Lay Missioners) and some others from Asia, as well as invited leadership from the US.  Not sure you can see from the photo, I was showing my Oregon Pride.

Photo by Charlie Dittmeier

From here, it was off to Cambodia.  Those updates coming soon...

It is about the journey, not the destination

It is about the journey, not the destination. Sounds great but when a 23-26 hour trip turns into a 55.5 hour trip, the romantic notion dissipates quickly. I know many of you followed my saga via facebook, text message, or my mother but here is the summary of my journey to Bangkok. And, let me tell you the journey made me so glad to get to the destination :)


For all you visual folks, I documented my trip in shoe and chocolate photos – shout-out to cousin Veronica for the amazing chocolates! (Found at the bottom of this blog if you want to skip the "exciting" details)


Once upon a time, there was a girl named Karen. She was moving to Cambodia via Bangkok and was supposed to catch a 7am flight on the busiest travel day of the year. So, she planned to be at the airport three hours early as it is hard to re-schedule flights Bangkok if you miss them.

At 2:30 am, Thursday, January 2 – Karen wakes up after four-ish hours of sleep.


At 3:30am, Karen says goodbye to her little sister (who woke up at 3:30am to say goodbye). Karen's older sister, her hubbie, and parents load into the car. with 3.5 years worth of stuff, to go to the airport.

From 4:15am to 5:00am – The whole mob of Bortvedt/Andres folks (along with approximately 1,000,000,000 of their closest friends – and two that were actually their friends) stand in line at the airport to check in. While still waiting in line, Karen hears the United lady say, the Air Canada flight to Vancouver is canceled. Well, that is unfortunate. Karen confirms and is told to call to be rebooked (Air Canada operates through United at PDX and thus, apparently, United can't rebook). After calling, Karen is told she was already rebooked (nice of them to tell her that) and will fly out that afternoon. Because she has the most amazing parents that love her, they didn't make her just stay at the airport but took her back home. When she arrived at home and looked at the new itinerary, she realized she now had a 7 hour layover in Vancouver (ugh).


Attempting to rally, Karen curled back up in bed but something didn't seem right. She couldn't figure out why it was taking 16 hours longer to get to Bangkok when the lay over was only slightly longer... At this point, in a moment of sheer adrenaline, she realized her blunder. 12:00 is not midnight but noon. The three hour layover turned into a 19 hour layover. Thus, doing the only logical thing, Karen called to try to be moved to a flight with a shorter layover or to demand a hotel stay. The nice Air Canada lady (Mercedes, I think was her name) said, Karen could ask in Vancouver but there was no guarantee or Karen could book and request the reimbursement (Karen opted to book a hotel because emotional and physcial exhaustion make her similar to a wailing banshee or a siren, neither of which end well for those around her).


At 11:15 am – after two more hours of sleep and another shower, Karen tried again, heading to the airport, checking in and saying goodbye to the family.

At 3:40 pm – the scheduled departure time, the many folks waiting to fly to Vancouver were told the
flight was delayed, again. This time for mechanical issues. Another traveler, who had friends that went to UP, worked on an oil rig in Canada, was recently engaged and getting married in Algeria in August said that the morning flight had been canceled because the landing gear on the plane coming in wouldn't deploy (obviously, it eventually did and equally obvious, Karen spent the time making friends).

At 5:15pm ish – the plane finally departed. Through sheer karmic airplane justice, Karen was the only one on the entire plane with an empty seat next to her. Allowing for optimal curling-up and sleeping, for the entire arduous one hour flight. In Vancouver, the nice Air Canada lady ensured Karen had a window seat for the quick, 14-hour hop to Hong Kong and told Karen she should have just gotten a hotel voucher upon arrival (erg, way to go Mercedes). Fast forward through a delicious
PBJ dinner, making friends with the Indian shuttle driver, sleeping...

9:00am - Friday – Karen arrived at the airport and went to check-in for her flight (after learning it was delayed by an hour making the connection nearly impossible - 25 minutes from touchdown to doors closing). The attendant told Karen to check on the layover when she arrived in Hong Kong, and then told her, he couldn't even find her ticketed for that flight... By this point, Karen was immensely amused more than anything. She also started considering the benefits of doing mission in Canada. After an hour with the ticketing agent, she managed to find the ticket and change the connecting flight so Karen would make it to out of Hong Kong...maybe...

The flight from Hong Kong, despite the delay was a lovely experience. Karen sat next to an awesome couple named Margaret and Alex who were from Edmonton, Canada and heading to Hong Kong and Bali for three weeks, their son is a neurobiologist. Between establishing a long-lasting friendship and eating delicious vegetarian meals, Karen watched four movies – since plane rides are one of the only times she takes to get in touch with pop culture. After a layover in Hong Kong, Karen caught the plane to Bangkok (the interior was all bright purple and pink and the stewardesses were dressed in traditional Thai garments – unfortunately, no picture can be included, Karen was too busy trying unsuccessfully to keep her stomach in place ;) ). Looking stellar, like the beautiful orchids adorning the lapels of the stewardesses, Karen was met by two of the MKLMers with whom she will be working for the next 3.5 years. One watermelon smoothie and a cab ride later, Karen's travel endeavors finally reached a conclusion... It was now 11:15 am Saturday (Pacific Standard Time).

The Saga in shoes and Chocolate...

 

Can you guess where this is?

 

PDX!

 
 

 

Oh, Canada!

 

Hong Kong

 

One lonely chocolate remains...

 

Free at last, free at last, thank Bangkok my toes are free at last!

 

This box being empty was so bittersweet.  Bitter (Chocolate was gone) Sweet (Travel was done)