Should I teach in Cambodia? - A year in the Khmerde part 1

Living and working in Cambodia certainly has its pros and cons. When I announced that I was upping sticks to teach English in Siem Reap for (at least) six months, my friends' reactions fell into three main camps. "Cool, Angkor Wat!", "Oh my God be careful, you will have to live on dog meat, snakes and beetles", and "Where exactly is Cambodia again?". So was it a ridiculous decision (especially given that I'd never set foot in Cambodia before) or the beginning of something great? Here are my reflections after completing the first three months.

A stone's throw away

The main deterrent to living in Cambodia is the developingness of the country and all the problems that come with it. Things we take for granted back home, such as reliable power and water supply, waste collection, public transport, and healthcare, are either sketchy or non-existent. The water (for those connected to the city water supply - not all houses are) will often run out for hours at a time, especially during dry season. Power cuts are frequent. Waste collection is sporadic and it's a common sight to see families burn their garbage in piles along the river. The only waste you can reliably get collected is metal; locals will trudge the residential streets with a hand cart picking up tin cans and scrap metal to sell for recycling. Cambodia has no public buses, trams or trains and the roads are badly maintained. You can generally get anywhere you need to go in town by simply finding a willing motorbike driver or tuk tuk, but you will generally pay however much they think they can get away with, and they all mysteriously disappear at the first sign of rain. Private bus companies run regular buses for longer distances, but the dilapidated roads and the recklessness of the drivers mean they're not for the faint-hearted. The most serious concern is the lack of quality healthcare. Going to hospital here is not recommended. Fortunately there's a reputable pharmacy where you can buy most medicines without a prescription, but for anything that's not self-diagnosable or self-treatable, the consensus is be careful and hope for the best...

Then there's the climate. Cambodia, like the rest of South-East Asia, benefits/suffers* from a tropical monsoon climate (*delete according to preference). During the dry season, the sun is relentless, and fair skin will burn quickly even on the 'coldest' day. The dust is equally relentless, and it will stick to your feet, get in your eyes, make its way into your lungs, and magically coat every surface in your house each day even if you keep the windows closed. Temperatures peak just before the start of the rainy season. As I write this, the rainy season just broke yesterday. The temperature prior to that peaked at around 37°C. The rain brought a welcome relief from the heat and dust, but it also brought an awful lot of rain. The sky went black, the heavens opened, thunder and lightning rolled around the sky, lampposts fell, the dust turned to mud, and small roads flooded. The tuk tuks disappeared, and the only people around were motorcyclists shrouded in plastic ponchos driving at speed through foot-deep puddles. On the first day of the rainy season. This doesn't bode well. The tropical climate also means mosquitoes, which are probably the single worst thing for reasons I don't need to explain.

Then, there's the food issue. Do you have to eat dog in Cambodia? If you stay on the beaten track, no. In Siem Reap you can eat pretty much any cuisine you feel like. Pizza and pasta are readily available, as are cheese and pickle sandwiches, fish and chips, burgers, tacos, and chicken korma. If you do your grocery shopping in Lucky Mall or Angkor Market, you can get most any Western comfort food, although fancy items such as breakfast cereals and cheese will set you back several dollars a pop. At the time of writing I have yet to find a box of muesli that costs less than $6, but old habits die hard and I can't stop buying it. Those on a lower budget are best avoiding the supermarkets and heading into the local markets where you can pick up vast quantities of fresh fruit and vegetables for very little money at all. However, the local markets are not for the squeamish. It's normal to have to pick your way through the pungent rivulets of God-knows-what that runs off from the stalls where the sellers squat with bare feet on the same surface as the unrefrigerated, fly-covered meat and fish which I have not plucked up the courage to even think about buying.

Off the beaten track, it may be wise not to question what you are eating. Firstly because you might not like the answer, and secondly because the locals might find it hilarious to lie to you so that you will eat it, and then tell you the truth after. A friend of mine who was volunteer-teaching in one of the villages was invited to eat with some locals. After eating a good quantity of what he described as the most delicious stew he had ever eaten, he asked his host what the meat was. The man put his hand into the stew, fished around for a while, and pulled out the recognisable skull of a dog, hairless, but still complete with skin, ears, and eyeballs. On another occasion, the same friend was tricked into eating some part of a duck that does not normally appear at Christmas dinner. The moral of the story: if you're squeamish, faint-hearted, or vegetarian, stick to the beaten track and shop in Lucky Mall. But where's the fun in that?

Although packaged food does offer excellent advice.

So if you can get past the food, the climate and the developingness of Cambodia, what is there to like?

An obvious pro is the low cost of living. This is arguable, as the individual cost of living varies wildly depending on your lifestyle, and "low" is relative to how much money you have, or earn. Expensive options certainly exist in Siem Reap. If you want to spend your entire paycheque on a flashy apartment, gourmet meals, and membership to a fancy gym, then that's entirely possible. At the other end of the scale you can rent a basic room for $80 a month, eat local food for $1-2 per meal, buy a used bicycle for $30 and cycle everywhere. Wine is relatively expensive but beer is cheap. A 20-litre bottle of water costs me 75c. It doesn't break the bank. Once you have a rough idea of how much things should cost, you can haggle with confidence and avoid paying over the odds for anything. Hint: if you need a quick ride somewhere as a solo passenger, don't get a tuk tuk. Approach the guy on the street corner with the shoddiest moto and it should cost half as much.

A pro particular to Siem Reap is that it has a lively nightlife and plenty of opportunities to meet people. It's a fairly small town and it's said that amongst the expats everybody knows everybody, but with the constant flow of tourists and backpackers, there's always a chance to meet new people if you feel like it. However, the nightlife area is mostly constrained to the triangular area around the Old Market, and if you want to get away from the noise and the lairiness and the elephant pants and overhearing people comparing which countries they've "done", you don't have to go very far for some peace and quiet. Tourists and expats are well-tolerated by the locals. Tourism underpins Cambodia's economy, so it's possible to be cynical about the locals' friendliness, but generally I don't feel any hostility or resentment directed towards Westerners here. Obviously unsavoury characters and petty crime exist, but as a sweeping generalisation, the Cambodians you meet in the street are genuinely friendly and inquisitive and happy to talk with you.

Speaking of sweeping generalisations, my last point is that Cambodian students are great. In my three months teaching here, I've found them to be respectful, enthusiastic, co-operative, and very keen to learn. The students can be a little shy at first and need encouragement, but once they know one another and the teacher, their mischievous streak starts to come out. However, classroom management is never difficult and discipline problems are virtually unheard-of. They love games and have a bizarrely unpredictable sense of humour, and often find things completely hilarious for no apparent reason. For example, a story I told about the time when I got a parking ticket back in the UK had an entire class hooting with laughter. In my overall experience, the Cambodian character is generally gentle, sensitive, warm, kind and funny.

Overall I'm very happy with my decision to spontaneously pack up and move to Cambodia. It warms and inspires me, and continually answers the questions "How many people or things can you fit on a motorbike?"¹ and "For what proportion of the day is it culturally acceptable for a Khmer woman to wear pyjamas?"². It might not be for everyone, and I'm sure this won't be forever. But here and now, there's nowhere else I'd rather be.

If you have any questions about living and working in Siem Reap just post a comment and I will be happy to answer.

And it's beautiful.

¹A family of five with or without a dog, three monks, a six-foot neon shop sign, a massive plasma TV, or twenty-five live ducks suspended by their feet

²100% of it