So today was our official tour of Penom Penh. It was amazing, except for one tiny detail, not working camera. That means I have to go back to all the places we went today (aww). The first place we went to was called Watt Phenom. This whole area was the center for the Pa Put Regime (I am probably butchering the spelling terribly). It is absolutely gorgeous. The main temple we went in is where I noticed something very interesting. All of the paintings looked like a comic strip to me! What I mean by this is, the pictures were in their own distinct panels with titles and subtitles. The art seemed sequential, being unable to read the language I could only guess where it began and ended. In my comics class my teacher theorized that the first "comic strip" appeared on a mural in ancient England around 1537. This temple was built in the mid 1400's Perhaps I made a discovery?
In this same area there was a very symbolic image. The image is a giant clock (which works). When Vietnam overthrew the Pa Put Regime in 1979, the people of Cambodia wanted to start over from year 0 (symbolically of course). I thought that this was a powerful image because the Pa Put Regime killed over a million people, so many people that nobody living in Cambodia wasn't affected in someway. The history that is here is powerful. This paragraph was dark so I'll end it on a lighter note, I SAW A MONKEY!
The next area we went to was the royal palace. HOLY CRAP! This place was gorgeous! Royal is not even an appropriate word to describe this place. It is huge and it is vast. The entire throne room is made of gold! There are like 4 surrounding shrines that are nearly as big as the throne room. To get an idea of how awestriking the royal palace was I'll describe it like this. Driving around Penomh Penh there are different Pagodas (buddhist temples where monks go to prey), every Pagoda is so beautiful and amazing. The Royal Palace is 1000 times more amazing than any of the Pagodas, you recognize it instantly because of how amazing it is. So sorry I wasn't able to get a picture of it, I'll revisit and take pictures and post them here. Dinner in a couple hours.
Other than that, I start school tomorrow!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Day 3
After my big struggle with electricity I was mellow for the rest of the afternoon. I took my seemingly usual afternoon nap and awoke to Rachel telling me that like all the Language Corps people were going to get dinner. We went to a restaurant/beer garden a little bit south (?) of the hotel. I freely admit that I wanted to have Rachel and the other people teach me to drink (the drinking age in Cambodia is 18) and to make sure I didn't overdo it. Along with my first beer (which tasted really good actually) there was some deliciously tender beef that I dipped into a mixture of salt, pepper, and lime juice. It was fantastic. Sadly I filled up on that and missed eating a bunch of the shrimp dish that came later. I ended up having a little more beer than I wanted, the glasses were small but the waitresses kept coming around filling peoples glasses. I wound up finishing my first glass and then the waitress filled it again (oh well). I didn't drink it dangerously fast. I finished the second one and decided it would be in my best interest to just put my hand over the glass to avoid a bad situation. I freely admit to enjoying it, but I also know what the safe amount is. I'm going to make sure I'm with people I trust (disclaimer for mom and dad). Well, tomorrow is the official tour of the city! More to come.
Friday, July 29, 2011
AC/DC (not the band)
In case you didn't know, I believe that the United States runs on Alternative Current (AC). Other parts of the world like Asia run on Direct Current (DC). I may have these switched around. One of the things I brought with me to Cambodia was a converter so I can charge my various electronics. It works for my PSP, my DS' and other things. But not my computer. No, my computer has 3 prongs, the converter has 2. See the problem? I have been using my computer very cautiously with the knowledge that I wouldn't be able to charge it until I bought a new charger.
I finally bought a new charger today and when I opened it back up at the hotel it had 3 prongs! Not 3 American Prongs, 3 Asian Prongs. Was there a 3 pronged plug in in my room? No. Did I waste my money? Yes, because flipping apple doesn't let you return crap! There is a silver lining however. I heard from other students in the Language Corps program that they had 3 prong plug ins in their rooms, I decided to scour the hotel for one. I found one in one of the student rooms and he had an entire power strip with these. I asked him where he got it and he directed me to someone in charge (no pun intended). The lady gave me a second adapter which looks like one of those spinny toys that make animal sounds. I returned to my hotel room and got the charger to work! I am no longer ticked at apple (today).
I finally bought a new charger today and when I opened it back up at the hotel it had 3 prongs! Not 3 American Prongs, 3 Asian Prongs. Was there a 3 pronged plug in in my room? No. Did I waste my money? Yes, because flipping apple doesn't let you return crap! There is a silver lining however. I heard from other students in the Language Corps program that they had 3 prong plug ins in their rooms, I decided to scour the hotel for one. I found one in one of the student rooms and he had an entire power strip with these. I asked him where he got it and he directed me to someone in charge (no pun intended). The lady gave me a second adapter which looks like one of those spinny toys that make animal sounds. I returned to my hotel room and got the charger to work! I am no longer ticked at apple (today).
Days 1-2
HOLY CRAP I AM HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE! That is only the half of it. It was very sad and heartbreaking leaving my family behind in Seattle but now I'm glad I left (sorry mom and dad, I will miss you). The first day consisted entirely of travel. My flight was at 2 am and when I got on the plane I was really bloody tired. The flight was about 16 hours (I think?) and I slept for about half of it (yay!). The other half was spent playing video games and listening to music and just being mellow.
One nuisance was the fact that I couldn't put my seat back all the way, I could only put it back a little bit. To get an idea if you're in a car seat and you tilt the seat back one notch, about that much. So I slept sitting up pretty much.
Anyway, once I got to Tai Pei (Taiwan) I was hungry. I didn't eat anything on the long flight because I was sure it would upset my stomach. I simply drank strong delicious tea the whole time. At Tai Pei, the epic search for breakfast began. One small problem, it was 4:45 in the morning! Nothing was open. I wandered the really long airport for awhile before sitting down and just puttering around doing nothing in particular. Finally things started to open up (around 6) and I decided to browse in hopes of finding something to eat. I found an electronics store that had Street Fighter 3 on the PSP. I didn't buy it but I found it very strange that I'd looked for that game in every game store in the US and here I find it in a Taiwan airport...
Right! Breakfast. I finally found a place that sold coffee. I ordered a cup of coffee and spaghetti! Of course! My bizarre breakfast was truly satisfying. One minor annoyance was the fact that I had to pay with my debit card but I do not actually know how much I spent, as I had no Taiwan currency. I think I spent around 5 dollars.
The next flight wasn't too interesting. I arrived in Phenom Penh after about 3 hours (catching the flight at 8:45). I went through immigration and customs without any problems. I went outside to find a guy holding a sign with my name on it, I felt really special (the good kind). The guy's name is Smith and he is awesome! I also met Rachel (another language corps student) and we became fast friends. Smith took us back to the hotel on what is called a tuk tuk. it is essentially a rickshaw lead by a motorcycle instead of a person. What a rush! We got to quickly see the city and it was beautiful. We got back to the hotel and were lead to our rooms. I got a room with 3 beds, a remote controlled AC and TV!!! I unpacked my stuff and went to lunch/dinner/??? with Rachel at 3:30.
This is where the culture shock set in. We sat in a relatively nice restaurant, outside within view of the river (it was very nice). What I mean by culture shock was the immense level of poverty that I saw during this time. Every so often a person would come by our table trying to sell something. These things ranged from books to movies to sunglasses. It was a sight to see and I didn't know what to make of it at first. I have reached a conclusion. Phenom Penh may have more poor and homeless people than I've ever seen in my life but they're doing something! They are actually trying to make a living for themselves and in a strange way, I respect that.
I returned home and watched some tv and dosed off around 6 and didn't wake until 12:15. I had a heck of a time falling asleep but eventually I did.
-end day 1-
I woke up at quarter to 6 and showered and got dressed. Then I fell BACK asleep (ugh) and woke up about 2 hours later. I opened my door and Rachel was standing there and we went to get breakfast/lunch/??? We went to a large mall that was about 5 minutes from the hotel. In the mall there were lots of American food selections ranging from KFC to burgers. The mall also had a grocery store in it (from which I bought a big bottle of water) and an arcade (worth checking out). We explored the mall thoroughly before settling on some food. I got a burger at a fast food place. It didn't quite hit the spot because it was probably real meat (gasp!). After I finished eating, Rachel decided to be adventurous and try some kind of ravioli soup stuff. The food court we went to was interesting. You buy food court coupons which is essentially your dollars turned into Riel or your Riel turned into food money. After we were full and content, we decided to head back.
This is where the adventure begins. I'll quote Rachel "lets not wander, we don't want to get lost". You know what happened? We got lost. Somehow when we left the mall we went in the exact opposite direction of the hotel. We wandered and wandered, and wandered some more before concluding that we were thoroughly turned around. It was very good having her there as I would have been terrified but during this whole thing she reassured me insisting that it was part of the adventure (and she was right). Eventually we got very tired and decided to flag down a tuk tuk. The man didn't speak a word of English... But Rachel showed him the card for the hotel and he seemed to know what he was doing, or did he (foreshadowing!)? He got turned around, twice, three times technically. First time he went the exact wrong direction, second time he went the wrong way on a street, and the third time he passed the hotel. After all was said and done we gave the guy 3 dollars and I returned to my room and watched a couple of crappy movies and fell asleep for about 3 hours.
I awoke to Rachel shouting "JORDAN!" I popped up and groggily stepped outside and we went back to the mall for dinner with ______ and ______ (so sorry, I forgot their names already) two more language corps students. We went back up to the food court and I decided to be adventurous and try some Ramen which cost approximately 2 dollars (wow!) Anticipating that it would be spicy (the broth was red...) I bought some juice to go with it. I have no idea what was in this juice but it was fantastic! It was like lime and coconut and orange or something strange like that but it was delicious! We talked for awhile, the two new guys told us about their adventure to Penom Penh's firing range...
Where apparently you can pay money to shoot coconuts. Or if you're really extreme, shoot an RPG (rocket propelled grenade), yikes. My dinner was delicious, hot but not too hot. We walked back to the hotel (we could actually find it!) and I tried to go on the internet and was successful thus explaining how this post was written. That's all for now, I am happy, I am having the time of my freaking life!
-end day 2-
Note: There is a lizard in my room, his name is Bob. I think Bob is a vegetarian because he won't eat the magically teleporting dead cricket that lives in my room.
One nuisance was the fact that I couldn't put my seat back all the way, I could only put it back a little bit. To get an idea if you're in a car seat and you tilt the seat back one notch, about that much. So I slept sitting up pretty much.
Anyway, once I got to Tai Pei (Taiwan) I was hungry. I didn't eat anything on the long flight because I was sure it would upset my stomach. I simply drank strong delicious tea the whole time. At Tai Pei, the epic search for breakfast began. One small problem, it was 4:45 in the morning! Nothing was open. I wandered the really long airport for awhile before sitting down and just puttering around doing nothing in particular. Finally things started to open up (around 6) and I decided to browse in hopes of finding something to eat. I found an electronics store that had Street Fighter 3 on the PSP. I didn't buy it but I found it very strange that I'd looked for that game in every game store in the US and here I find it in a Taiwan airport...
Right! Breakfast. I finally found a place that sold coffee. I ordered a cup of coffee and spaghetti! Of course! My bizarre breakfast was truly satisfying. One minor annoyance was the fact that I had to pay with my debit card but I do not actually know how much I spent, as I had no Taiwan currency. I think I spent around 5 dollars.
The next flight wasn't too interesting. I arrived in Phenom Penh after about 3 hours (catching the flight at 8:45). I went through immigration and customs without any problems. I went outside to find a guy holding a sign with my name on it, I felt really special (the good kind). The guy's name is Smith and he is awesome! I also met Rachel (another language corps student) and we became fast friends. Smith took us back to the hotel on what is called a tuk tuk. it is essentially a rickshaw lead by a motorcycle instead of a person. What a rush! We got to quickly see the city and it was beautiful. We got back to the hotel and were lead to our rooms. I got a room with 3 beds, a remote controlled AC and TV!!! I unpacked my stuff and went to lunch/dinner/??? with Rachel at 3:30.
This is where the culture shock set in. We sat in a relatively nice restaurant, outside within view of the river (it was very nice). What I mean by culture shock was the immense level of poverty that I saw during this time. Every so often a person would come by our table trying to sell something. These things ranged from books to movies to sunglasses. It was a sight to see and I didn't know what to make of it at first. I have reached a conclusion. Phenom Penh may have more poor and homeless people than I've ever seen in my life but they're doing something! They are actually trying to make a living for themselves and in a strange way, I respect that.
I returned home and watched some tv and dosed off around 6 and didn't wake until 12:15. I had a heck of a time falling asleep but eventually I did.
-end day 1-
I woke up at quarter to 6 and showered and got dressed. Then I fell BACK asleep (ugh) and woke up about 2 hours later. I opened my door and Rachel was standing there and we went to get breakfast/lunch/??? We went to a large mall that was about 5 minutes from the hotel. In the mall there were lots of American food selections ranging from KFC to burgers. The mall also had a grocery store in it (from which I bought a big bottle of water) and an arcade (worth checking out). We explored the mall thoroughly before settling on some food. I got a burger at a fast food place. It didn't quite hit the spot because it was probably real meat (gasp!). After I finished eating, Rachel decided to be adventurous and try some kind of ravioli soup stuff. The food court we went to was interesting. You buy food court coupons which is essentially your dollars turned into Riel or your Riel turned into food money. After we were full and content, we decided to head back.
This is where the adventure begins. I'll quote Rachel "lets not wander, we don't want to get lost". You know what happened? We got lost. Somehow when we left the mall we went in the exact opposite direction of the hotel. We wandered and wandered, and wandered some more before concluding that we were thoroughly turned around. It was very good having her there as I would have been terrified but during this whole thing she reassured me insisting that it was part of the adventure (and she was right). Eventually we got very tired and decided to flag down a tuk tuk. The man didn't speak a word of English... But Rachel showed him the card for the hotel and he seemed to know what he was doing, or did he (foreshadowing!)? He got turned around, twice, three times technically. First time he went the exact wrong direction, second time he went the wrong way on a street, and the third time he passed the hotel. After all was said and done we gave the guy 3 dollars and I returned to my room and watched a couple of crappy movies and fell asleep for about 3 hours.
I awoke to Rachel shouting "JORDAN!" I popped up and groggily stepped outside and we went back to the mall for dinner with ______ and ______ (so sorry, I forgot their names already) two more language corps students. We went back up to the food court and I decided to be adventurous and try some Ramen which cost approximately 2 dollars (wow!) Anticipating that it would be spicy (the broth was red...) I bought some juice to go with it. I have no idea what was in this juice but it was fantastic! It was like lime and coconut and orange or something strange like that but it was delicious! We talked for awhile, the two new guys told us about their adventure to Penom Penh's firing range...
Where apparently you can pay money to shoot coconuts. Or if you're really extreme, shoot an RPG (rocket propelled grenade), yikes. My dinner was delicious, hot but not too hot. We walked back to the hotel (we could actually find it!) and I tried to go on the internet and was successful thus explaining how this post was written. That's all for now, I am happy, I am having the time of my freaking life!
-end day 2-
Note: There is a lizard in my room, his name is Bob. I think Bob is a vegetarian because he won't eat the magically teleporting dead cricket that lives in my room.
Friday, July 8, 2011
The Killing Fields, my first film review and why you need to see this movie
Roland Joffe's The Killing Fields, is one of those movies you just need to see. It's in the same category as Mori Masaki's Barefoot Gen, meaning it is a historical film that is in your face and graphic. In my opinion, brutal, graphic and in your face filmmaking is the way to get your point across. Some cons to this style of filmmaking (in my opinion mind you), is that people may not watch that movie. Why Killing Fields is a vital movie to see is because of it's historical significance and spectacular production.
This film is set in 1973 during the Vietnam War. During this time Cambodia was a neutral country but faced its own share of issues, a group called the Khemer Rouge. A supposed "revolutionary" group whose goal is to pretty much mess crap up. In the beginning of the film they have no clear goals except to terrify the main characters and the viewers.
The first act opens by introducing our protagonists, a journalist for the New York Times Sydney Schanberg and his interpreter Dirth Pran. The two of them are in Phenom Penh (I believe) and Sydney has just arrived in Phenom Penh and is furious because his flight was delayed. He heard a rumor that a nearby village was "accidentally" bombed by the Americans. A few scenes in the first act consists of hardcore journalism where Sydney and Pran are literally charging into warzones to get pictures (holy crap). My only gripe with the first act is that Sydney is absolutely insufferable! There is a scene where the Khmer Rouge is in the ruins of the bombed village and they are about to execute some villagers just because they're the guys with the guns. Sydney (being the idiot that he is at this point) insists on taking pictures! When the Khmer soldiers said "no camera" Sydney's companions, Al Rockoff (a minor character), and Pran give up their cameras. Sydney tries to explain that his camera has no film my argument is who cares? You listen to the guys with the guns!
Sydney wises up shortly after this as they're captured. Sydney realizes just how much sh*t he's in. The scene that follows is very graphic at some points and very dramatic. What I love about this movie is the music. There are some scenes that have a sense of chaos, and the music helps add to that. The music in these scenes sounds like deranged circus music. If the clown that stalked your nightmares decided to record his own theme music it would sound something like the soundtrack to this movie. Alternatively the music also takes a different approach. In the third act of the movie, the music alternates between classical music and dramatic music, all in the same scene.
In addition to giving insight to the bloodshed and terror in Cambodia, the movie chooses to focus on the relationship between Sydney and Pran. The two characters have very good chemistry together, since Pran is able to speak Kamir (the native language of Cambodia), he was able to get Sydney and company out of multiple sticky situations. The first half of the film concludes with Sydney, Pran, Rockoff, and John Swain (another minor characters) taking refuge at the French Embassy. The embassy was organizing an evacuation to Thailand which was a neutral country and thus safe. In order to leave the country, the men needed passports. Everyone had a passport except for Pran. In a group effort between Rockoff and Swain, they successfully find a camera, film, and darkroom to produce a picture of Pran. Pran did not have a picture of himself as his possessions were all taken away from him. The two men successfully produce a picture of Pran, change the name and photo of a fake passport (which they already had) and they're in the clear right? Not quite, all the passports clear except for Pran because the picture faded :( The other men evacuate to Thailand leaving Pran behind.
The film then cuts to 1976 where Sydney seems to have dedicated the better of 3 whole years looking for Pran upon returning to the US. Sadly, he has no avail. Meanwhile Pran is still in Cambodia under control of Angka. Angka is essentially the dictionary definition of a cult. Khmer Rouge evolved into the religion/cult called Angka. People who follow Angka (whatever he/she/it is, it isn't explained) believe that anyone who has memory of Cambodia before the "revolution" should be killed. That is exactly what they did. This whole movement can be summed up in Pran's chilling quote "only the silent survive".
The better half of the movie turns into a full fledged survival film. Pran tries to imitate Solid Snake's antics by concealing himself in water and grass. He manages to escape his holding camp and makes his way along. This part of the movie features some very disturbing imagery. At one point he stumbles into a trench that is actually partially made of human remains. Pran collapses from exhaustion (and probably shock). He wakes up and is picked up by some followers of Angka. He later learns that these people do not actually follow Angka and they support Pran. Pran adopts one of the soldier's children. Long story short, the end is pretty sad. All of the minor characters that you're introduced to at the end die one by one. The movie ends on a happy note with Sydney and Pran reuniting with dramatic happy music playing. (YAY!!!) This movie is great, it's sad though, if you're ready to learn a little something about history and maybe cry a little, this is the movie for you. 4 out of 5 stars.
This film is set in 1973 during the Vietnam War. During this time Cambodia was a neutral country but faced its own share of issues, a group called the Khemer Rouge. A supposed "revolutionary" group whose goal is to pretty much mess crap up. In the beginning of the film they have no clear goals except to terrify the main characters and the viewers.
The first act opens by introducing our protagonists, a journalist for the New York Times Sydney Schanberg and his interpreter Dirth Pran. The two of them are in Phenom Penh (I believe) and Sydney has just arrived in Phenom Penh and is furious because his flight was delayed. He heard a rumor that a nearby village was "accidentally" bombed by the Americans. A few scenes in the first act consists of hardcore journalism where Sydney and Pran are literally charging into warzones to get pictures (holy crap). My only gripe with the first act is that Sydney is absolutely insufferable! There is a scene where the Khmer Rouge is in the ruins of the bombed village and they are about to execute some villagers just because they're the guys with the guns. Sydney (being the idiot that he is at this point) insists on taking pictures! When the Khmer soldiers said "no camera" Sydney's companions, Al Rockoff (a minor character), and Pran give up their cameras. Sydney tries to explain that his camera has no film my argument is who cares? You listen to the guys with the guns!
Sydney wises up shortly after this as they're captured. Sydney realizes just how much sh*t he's in. The scene that follows is very graphic at some points and very dramatic. What I love about this movie is the music. There are some scenes that have a sense of chaos, and the music helps add to that. The music in these scenes sounds like deranged circus music. If the clown that stalked your nightmares decided to record his own theme music it would sound something like the soundtrack to this movie. Alternatively the music also takes a different approach. In the third act of the movie, the music alternates between classical music and dramatic music, all in the same scene.
In addition to giving insight to the bloodshed and terror in Cambodia, the movie chooses to focus on the relationship between Sydney and Pran. The two characters have very good chemistry together, since Pran is able to speak Kamir (the native language of Cambodia), he was able to get Sydney and company out of multiple sticky situations. The first half of the film concludes with Sydney, Pran, Rockoff, and John Swain (another minor characters) taking refuge at the French Embassy. The embassy was organizing an evacuation to Thailand which was a neutral country and thus safe. In order to leave the country, the men needed passports. Everyone had a passport except for Pran. In a group effort between Rockoff and Swain, they successfully find a camera, film, and darkroom to produce a picture of Pran. Pran did not have a picture of himself as his possessions were all taken away from him. The two men successfully produce a picture of Pran, change the name and photo of a fake passport (which they already had) and they're in the clear right? Not quite, all the passports clear except for Pran because the picture faded :( The other men evacuate to Thailand leaving Pran behind.
The film then cuts to 1976 where Sydney seems to have dedicated the better of 3 whole years looking for Pran upon returning to the US. Sadly, he has no avail. Meanwhile Pran is still in Cambodia under control of Angka. Angka is essentially the dictionary definition of a cult. Khmer Rouge evolved into the religion/cult called Angka. People who follow Angka (whatever he/she/it is, it isn't explained) believe that anyone who has memory of Cambodia before the "revolution" should be killed. That is exactly what they did. This whole movement can be summed up in Pran's chilling quote "only the silent survive".
The better half of the movie turns into a full fledged survival film. Pran tries to imitate Solid Snake's antics by concealing himself in water and grass. He manages to escape his holding camp and makes his way along. This part of the movie features some very disturbing imagery. At one point he stumbles into a trench that is actually partially made of human remains. Pran collapses from exhaustion (and probably shock). He wakes up and is picked up by some followers of Angka. He later learns that these people do not actually follow Angka and they support Pran. Pran adopts one of the soldier's children. Long story short, the end is pretty sad. All of the minor characters that you're introduced to at the end die one by one. The movie ends on a happy note with Sydney and Pran reuniting with dramatic happy music playing. (YAY!!!) This movie is great, it's sad though, if you're ready to learn a little something about history and maybe cry a little, this is the movie for you. 4 out of 5 stars.
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