The American way….

Today I was at Costco to get some items I need for my trip this week to Cambodia and I was struck by how polite and respectful most Americans are. People greeted me, waved me in line ahead of them, apologized for brushing my arm, paused their cart to let me go first. I am not used to that. Cambodian people are some of the most courteous people in the world but culturally they don’t express it the way we do here. There is seldom acknowledgement of the other person, no eye contact, no greeting spoken, no disarming smiles. They are wonderful people but they just don’t interact the way we do. Coming back to OUR way has been a really positive experience for me and an opportunity for reflection on who we are and how we meet each other.

Cambodia enters new Buddhist year

Cambodia is now celebrating the Buddhist new year of 2570. I miss being there for the annual festivities which are a source of real joy for the ordinary people who have gone through so much with the Thailand-Cambodia border war and now the effects of the U.S. war with Iran.

Here is a good article from UCAN (Union of Catholic Asian News) about the current situation.

Where I go….

One of the things I have learned upon returning to the US is that life is really expensive here and much more complex than life in Cambodia. My family bought me an e-bike (pictured above) and I learned that repairing a flat tire on it costs $45+. They also got me an iPhone. I had the iPhone mounted on the bike and when I hit a rough spot in the road, it popped off–and a car ran over it.

I took it to the IFix repair shop and they replaced the display–for $230. The only good news was that the repair took only eleven minutes!

My first spring back home

Cambodia only has two seasons, hot and wet and hot and dry. Different trees have fruits and flowers at different times but everything is always green, leaves don’t fall off trees like in parts of the U.S.

It’s my first spring time in the U.S. in 40 years and I’m really enjoying it! The cold weather seems to have finally (almost) disappeared and everything is in bloom!