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Post by Mr. Boyle on Apr 2, 2016 20:26:50 GMT -8
What did you learn about Cambodia that you think is important to share with your family and friends? Consider all of the many experiences we have and the things you saw!
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Post by rachelchen on Apr 2, 2016 20:50:14 GMT -8
One thing that I kept telling to my family since last night is the living quality of people in Cambodia. As long as we drove out of downtown, all the roads are dirt roads. Along the roads, people live in simple, crude houses without clean running water or air conditioner. They wear dirty, old clothes, and childern barely wear their shoes. They do not have money to go to hospital, so the longevity is very low. For people living in city, their lives are also different from ours. People who work for service industry barely serve local Cambodian people, because they just don't have extra money to spend on expensive restaurants or hotels.
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Post by Jackson Smith on Apr 2, 2016 20:52:06 GMT -8
I came to the realization that there is a difference between being poor (by our standards) and being unhappy. For example, the acrobats we saw at the circus were all there because they came from poor families, so they were given the opportunity to work as performers. Contrary to what one might think, these people appeared overwhelmingly happy about what they do for a living. This goes to show that being happy and being rich are not one in the same.
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Post by Colson Xu on Apr 2, 2016 21:01:01 GMT -8
One thing that give me the strongest feeling is the skinny animals in Cambodia, cows, cats, chickens, all skinny. They need to work very hard without much food or drink. I think it reflects the low quality of living in Cambodia.
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Post by sophiekeys on Apr 2, 2016 21:06:04 GMT -8
I think that My knowledge of what others lives are like is important to share. The stories of the children in the school, the orphanage, and our guides is what I'm going to tell people about. I think this is because many people don't know ( and I didn't before this trip) that normal for some people is our extreme and our society wasn't destroyed and rebuilt like theirs. So the thing I'm going to tell my family about is going to be the people of Cambodia's stories.
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Post by sedonaherding on Apr 2, 2016 21:45:21 GMT -8
Right from the start of the trip, I noticed that a lot of the animals, mostly the cows, were very skinny. I learned that the cows usually looked that skinny around this time of year. Because it is the dry season in Cambodia, the ground is very dry meaning that grass won't grow. Once the rainy season arrives, the grass will start growing and then the cows will become fatter. It worried me a lot, at first.
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Post by Crystal Cheng on Apr 2, 2016 23:33:39 GMT -8
This wasn't my first time to Cambodia, so my new knowledge about Cambodia wasn't that positive. Last time I went with a normal Chinese tour group, and on the day we left, we were all required to put one dollar bill in our passport. My mom didn't do so and the custom official refused to let her pass and kept asking for the one dollar. Later our guide told us that this one dollar thing only applies to Chinese tourists. When I went home last night, my mom asked me if I put one dollar in my passport or not, and I told her that nobody even mentioned that to us and we all passed without any problem. I don't really know what kind of weird reason they have for asking this one dollar from Chinese people, but it made me realize that my country might have been considered weak by a generally considered weak country. Also that their people are starving every day but their officials are only focusing on this one dollar bill from Chinese tourists who went to their country wanting to make a contribution to their tourism and economy to help their people.
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Post by yolandazhang on Apr 3, 2016 0:20:56 GMT -8
One thing I share whin my family is the visiting of king field. That is the Khmer Rough committed mass execution in sites known as the Killing Field. I saw thousands of corpse in a red self and saw some pictures of this massacre on the killing field, and knew the history of Khmer Rouge. I connect it with The Nanjing's Battue and The Cultural Revolution in China in my mind. People who known knowledges or did not want to work for Pol Pot had killed. That is pretty cruelty and that made me angry. And It let me treasure my life.
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Post by JackC on Apr 3, 2016 2:34:24 GMT -8
First thing I learned, is that to have fun on a trip, we have to relax and be positive. On this aspect, I respect the local Cambodian people. They gave a really nice impression. I could always see a smile on their faces. It doesn't matter how poor they are or how bad of a living condition they have, they were always smiling. Having a positive attitude also helped when I was building the house under such hot weather. Being positive actually made me more efficient. Besides being positive on a trip, I also learned how important is sustainability, I honestly didn't know what the word actually means until Erick explained it. Combining the experiences from the past few days, I learned how important it is to maintain the environment. Lastly, and most importantly, I learned helping people in need gives me true happiness. It doesn't work on everybody because some people make their own happiness by destroying things. Seeing that everybody built a house together made me forget how tired I was. Based on the three things I learned, I would say this trip is a meaningful, wonderful trip.
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Post by Annie Ren on Apr 3, 2016 3:13:03 GMT -8
When I came home from the airport, I spent the entire night recounting the Khmer Rouge to my mom. She shared some similar stories about families being torn apart, innocents being killed, and communities suffering throughout the history of China.The elderly man who told us his story at the killing field/museum especially gave me insight to the history, it made the Khmer Rouge seem more authentic, more detramental, more personal for me to sympathize. There are tragedies happening everyday and everywhere, but it is our mission as global citizens to prevent, assist and help rehabilitate the victims in these situations. Many people don't really know about what happened during the Khmer Rouge, compared to the genocide in Rwanda, or the holocaust, the Khmer Rouge is kind of down played. I feel like we owe justice to the victims and people in Cambodia to educate as much people as possible about the traumatizing truth.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2016 3:30:58 GMT -8
One of the things I would share to others would be the culture, history, beliefs and practices of Cambodians. During this trip, I learned a lot about these things. I checked out temples, learned about Buddhism, learned about the house ceremonies, etc. I think these would be worth talking about with people.
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Post by jinsiangong on Apr 3, 2016 3:47:02 GMT -8
I learned a countless number of things during this trip, but the most important thing this trip taught me was a new way to perceive life. I shared my experiences and sights with my parents and explained that I am grateful for living such a luxurious life because when I saw all the impoverished children in Cambodia, it triggered a change in the way I would live in the future. I also gained independence and responsibility because during I had no one to look out for my belongings, so as a result I had to always be attentive to my surroundings. My time management skills have also improved because in the morning I had to set an alarm clock and sometimes in the afternoon, I would arrive at the given destination early, just in case my watch was a little off. I shared my experience of leather carving with my parents because it was such a unique experience and I also learned the basics of leather carving. In conclusion, I shared all the experiences I had in Cambodia because they were all special.
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Post by noraliu on Apr 3, 2016 4:14:35 GMT -8
This trip taught me many things, the most important being a new attitude towards life. Looking at the villages and houses in the areas far away from downtown, I was shocked how people in Cambodia have to live in such small houses without plumbing, electricity or any source of entertainment. The people here work hard for what they have, yet what they have is not at all proportional to the work they've put into life. The farmers and fishermen work so hard to supply their family, yet they still live low quality lives. When first I saw this, I assumed that the people here will most likely be unfriendly and grumpy. Oh boy was I wrong. Everywhere I looked, people laughed and talked joyfully in Khmer. Everybody had a smile on. When I greet the locals, none of them will turn away and pretend they do not hear you like they do here in China. They will always return your greetings with a grin on their face and a small bow. The children in Cambodia are the happiest, most joyful angels I've ever had the pleasure to meet. The children we taught all come from poor families of farmers and fishermen. Most of them don't even have full sets of clothes. Yet, they are so extremely happy every single day. They are always so grateful of everything around them, holding the best attitude towards life. This is a quality that most of us don't even have. Seeing their living conditions, I understood how we take everything for granted. These people love everything and everyone around them; therefore, they enjoy their lives even though it's not what they deserve. We, on the other hand, live in the best conditions, yet hold grudges against so many small insignificant things in life. This experience taught me to be grateful and love everything around us, to enjoy what we have and understand how precious it is, to understand how blessed we are, and to hold the brightest attitude, to treasure every single piece of happiness, even if it's the most insignificant ray of joy.
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Post by Peter Woo on Apr 3, 2016 4:18:11 GMT -8
The biggest takeaway from this trip for me was having a positive outlook on life. Ute's discussion, the Slo-mo video, and just going around some of the less fortunate areas of Cambodia made me repeatedly reconsider parts of my life all throughout the trip. All of the three experiences made me realize that material goods and our surrounding environment is not the cause of happiness or sadness, but it is our inner self can allow us to feel true happiness, sadness, or any other profound emotion. I was really glad that I was not only able to get more than just the joy of helping people out of this trip but also learn a valuable life lesson.
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Post by linahong on Apr 3, 2016 4:38:36 GMT -8
There are so many things about Cambodia which are important and good to share with my friends and family. First, I think must-visit places in Siem Riep are Angkor Wat and the killing fields. The Angkor Wat temples are very unique compared to the other temples. One of the differences of Angkor Wat from other temples is that Angkor Wat head towards the west. The killing field is also good place to visit because by visiting there, I could feel how Khmer Rouge was depressing and horrible event in Cambodia, and also could think about how the survivors would live with those memories. Next, the living conditions of Cambodia should be known by more people. Cambodia's education environment was especially poor. They do not have enough schools, teachers, and etc. I hope after more people know about this, more people can contribute and help Cambodia people to have better learning circumstances.
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