Trip to Cambodia - ACODO

I was super disappointed that Wendy and I couldn’t get the tuk-tuk drivers in Phenom Penh to understand where the supposedly famous Cambodian Dance Academy was, despite our use of a map and help from the hotel staff--I thought I was going to miss out on traditional Khmer dance. Luckily, we found Assisting Cambodian Orphans and Disabled Orphans (ACODO) in Siem Reap, and an evening trip to watch traditional dance turned into a moving experience that touched both Wendy and me.

ACODO is an incredible, though small due to lack of funding, orphanage in Siem Reap. The children range in age, from 3-21 years—typically the orphans leave the orphanage at 18, but the 21 year old currently residing there is a burn victim who started working at the orphanage because his chances of getting a job outside of it are lower than most and he does really love the other children. All school-aged children attend state school, and receive English classes at the orphanage from volunteers (I tried to see if I could help out for a day, but there was a miscommunication and I didn't get the opportunity to put my current profession to use for this worthy organization). In addition to the standard education and English classes, the children learn traditional Khmer dance, opera and how to play an instrument. The children are amazing -- very professional in demeanor and execution of the dances and songs. Even though Wendy and I were the only people who came out to watch them that night, they performed for us as if there were an audience of a thousand.

In between acts of the traditional ballet repertoire the director of the ACODO played a video demonstrating the needs of the orphanage--food, hygiene items, volunteers, and money--and their plans for expanding their grounds. ACODO is planning on adding a library with computer lab, and they are saving for land to start a farm so they can supply their own food and use the money they were spending on food to supply more opportunities for more children. The love in the eyes of the director was as apparent as the joy on the faces of the children.

After the performance, Wendy and I stayed to play with the children and talk with the director about coming back to volunteer later on. Wendy, ever the percussionist, whipped out her wooden spoons and taught the children how to play them. This very special organization deserves support and the bonus of being able to watch traditional Khmer dances performed by unbelievably talented children and teens should drive more tourists to ACODO—it’s far better than the overpriced dinner theater style shows that don’t give any money to worthy causes.

Eric in Korea: The Final Days

So, I'll just quickly sum up the rest of Eric's visit. I'm sure most of you have looked through the Facebook photos and heard about it via talking with either me or Eric.

The day after we came back from Jeju, we went to the DMZ. We had to get up at the crack of before the sun came up to get to the USO office in Seoul by 7am. We were tired during the outing, but it was a great experience any way. The snow added to the surreal nature of the DMZ. We were told of skirmishes and all the land-mines still buried under the preserved land. Our tour guide was a humorous Philipino-American who kept apologizing for his pretty perfect English. Eric and I were able to stand on North Korean territory, it was pretty cool. I napped on the bus rides and Eric crashed when we got back to my place at 2 or 3 in the afternoon.

The next day, Eric and I met up with my friend Allison to get lunch and hit up the Korean War Museum then the Picasso exhibit at the Modern Art Museum. Korea's war history is pretty fraught with losses, but the museum stands triumphant and proud as the people in this country. Our lunch was delicious Thai food in Itaewon. When we got to City Hall and found the Picasso Exhibit, it was getting darker and colder. We got some Ho Ddeok (cinnamon and sugar filled pancake-things) and entered--a palace? Turns out the Modern Art Museum is inside the grounds of a smaller palace in Seoul. The exhibit was pretty awesome. Loads of artists packed into a tiny three story museum. When we finished up at the museum, we stepped outside to a glorious view of Seoul. Skyscrapers lit up with scaffolding and flashing, huge television screens in the background, and directly in front of us the buildings of the old palace, tastefully lit so their traditional architecture and painting highlighted at night. On the steps of the art museum, viewing the hodgepodge that is Korea, the stillness of the snow and the silence of the palace grounds, as we exited our fairy tale land of painted interpretations of life, hit us as the encroaching and imminence of modernity roared in the not so distant outer world. I don't know if we got dinner, but I'm assuming we ate something. ^_~

Next day was New Years Eve, this was an epic adventure. Eric and I started out in Bupyeong with my friend Jeffery and his friend (whose name I'm totally blanking on) got dinner at the local (only) Indian (Nepali actually) restaurant. From there, we headed into Itaewon to meet up with a group at The Wolfhound (they have alright veggie burgers there--not that we were eating again-- and beer that tastes good!). After we had a couple beers, we followed Jefferey to City Hall to see the celebration he said happened there every year (I think it actually happens at Jongo 3ga, but hey, I trusted his experience). We got there and there was nothing happening. There was a giant digital clock, but no seconds. A small crowd of Koreans was gathering, so maybe there had been something there last year. Eric pulled out his iPhone and we counted down despite the lack of pomp. After trying to buy wine but realizing the store didn't sell corkscrews, we opted for cheap beers from the 7-Eleven (yes, they're here too) before heading to a rockabilly show in Hongdae (the partying place of Seoul).

The RockTigers put on an amazing show and I have a crush on the lead singer whenever I'm at the show. She's a Korean woman with short hair! Unheard of, the men like women with long, straight hair, so until they are safely married the young women straighten out their long locks--then chop it all off and perm it when they turn 50. And tattoos! Tattoos are taboo and illegal to get in Korea (though there is an underground community of artists here), so you know people with them are bad ass. All the band members have tats. They are great musicians and all the male members (everyone except the singer) have Pompadours. The bass player has an upright with flames painted on. Amazing.

After the rockabilly show, we followed some slightly annoying girl to my favorite place here (though, I've only been there this one time)--Club 500. 500 is like a scene from Matrix Reloaded. The club looks like a cave, you're supposed to remove your shoes usually but on New Years they had us keep them on, and there are little alcoves for the dancers to find sanctuary. Trance, dance and pop music blasted from the speakers and there were instruments for people to jam on. At one point there was a jumprope game using a string of flags someone had brought in. The only down side was the bar kept closing so the folks could take breaks, so I had to walk to the local Family Mart (or possibly a 7-Eleven) to get water.

After we were all (except me! and those I cared for enough to share water with) dehydrated and tired, we headed to a norae-bong (singing room) to wait for the buses to start running again (5:30am). They had some impressive music, "Origin of Love" and "Gay Bar" were two of my favorites. They had bad beer, so I was sober pretty much after The Wolfhound, I'm such a stickler for taste. I was exhausted though, and the company was not top notch at that point--we had picked up a few stragglers and a couple of them were pretty annoying, despite most of the folks being solid.

Eric, Allison and I departed from the Norae-bong at around 6am to find the buses. Allison used her mad knowledge of the subway (aka, her subway map and having been to the station we were near before) to get us to the bus stops we needed. Eric and I had to stand the whole 45-60 min home, Eric fell asleep standing up. We passed out just as the sun was coming up at 7:30. Woo. Happy New Year.

New Year's Day 2011. Sleeping until 2pm. Anxiety over sleeping when I want to be awake and spending time with Eric. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Meeting up with my friend Erika and her awesome boyfriend Lucas for drinks, then their friends Danielle and Lise joined us later. Then home again, home again to crash.

Sunday. Souvenir shopping in Insadong. A memorable anniversary (4 years! Crazy, right? I was 19 when this thing started, now I'm 23) dinner with Eric at Namsan Tower's revolving restaurant. They custom made a vegan menu for me. Everything was delicious except the main dish--stuffed red pepper--sadly, it was basically rice with some over-powering kim (seaweed) inside of a tasty pepper. We sat down to dinner just as the sun was setting and we got to watch Seoul light up as night fell. It was amazing. Totally worth the $100 a piece. After dinner, we had to rush back to Bupyeong to meet up with Allison to catch Tron. That meant I had to do my homework the day before and watch the original for the first time ever. I loved the original for not taking itself too seriously and it's complete adorableness. The re-visitation; however, left me feeling bleh and disappointed in the hype over the visual and music. I don't regret seeing it, just felt like it could have been done better. It was pretty and I'm sure Daft Punk had put more into the soundtrack than the overplayed overture.

Monday. The dreaded Monday of separation. We slept in, then ran around Bupyeong collecting random things from the Underground Market, lunched at First Nepal (I had meant for us to make it to Sandal Baram, but we didn't have time after waking up around 11). We got back to my place and had to head right back out to get Eric to the airport. Emotional goodbye.

Then I was a wreck for two weeks. Insomnia and depression hit like heavy-weight champ.

I'm all better now! I do miss everyone a hell of a lot, but I'm doing well out here. I'm gonna look like a rockstar next time ya'll see me in person.

<3