Phnom Penh; Keeping it simple

Keeping it simple. How can I, when Phnom Penh is nothing but simple?

Life here have definitely not been luxurious, I'd rather say it’s been comfortable and I had to get use to a lot of sweating. Just like working at The Flicks, though it never felt like work. I got to chat with people from all over the world, see a lot of movies and get free beer.

Living in a house(and under a cinema) and not a hostel/hotel, will, instantly, make one feel more at home. Saying thank you in Khmer aw kun(which means thank you) is a part of daily life. So is going to the market to buy fruit or shoes. Knowing which one is the expensive one and how much to pay for a tuk-tuk ride(between 2000 riel or 1 dollar). Knowing the way to work.

Though when it all comes down to it, I’m still a tourist. I still get lost, even though I know the names or numbers of the roads. I still want to go to the museums. Which I did. I saw the unimpressive National Museum, with the beautiful garden and the depressing Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, located just two blocks from my house. 

My favorite thing here is the traffic. The traffic here is something unique for me. Never in my life have I ever been stuck in rush hour on a bicycle! While I try to get to work, riding around in the roundabout I simultaneously try not to get hit or for that matter, hit anyone else. Being out in the traffic here is an adventure in itself! It lets out the inner anarchist in anyone. I don’t miss the civilized lanes back home in Denmark, there has always been a little Asian in me saying” red light, no cars? Go!”

In the beginning my expectations were crashing down all the time. Because I expected the pearl of Asia. Phnom Penh, is just Phnom Penh. It’s not the pearl of Asia and it’s gonna be awhile before it becomes that. But it's a great city and I have enjoyed every minute of my two weeks here, wishing i could have stayed longer. This city CAN be beautiful. It can be exciting. 

The things I enjoyed the most was sitting on the Flicks terrace, chatting with the other volunteers about that kids' party and what a mess the children made. Hearing other peoples stories, about how they came to Phnom Penh. Enjoying Cambodian beer. Delicious lunch at Friends. Unexpectedly falling in love with this crazy city. Thankfully I’m not done with Cambodia just yet, Monday night I will travel by bus to Siem Reap to the famous Angkor temples and there after Battambang.

On a last note on my life here in Phnom Penh, I’d like to say thank you to Paul, Harry and The One Who Shall Not Be Named. The house rats. I ended up, not being entirely grossed out by you, so thank you for that. But honestly, my stay in Phnom Penh wouldn't have been the same if I hadn't volunteered for The Flicks. Not only did it give me the opportunity to experience and live in Phnom Penh, it also gave me a feeling of being part of something with the other volunteers. 

My Love of Travel

So I'm very passionate about traveling, my big and expensive dream is to see, Egypt, New York, London, New Zealand, Tokyo and Zimbabwe. By my choices of citys you can guess that I love big citys in which the feel the rush of life is so strong that it enchants you. You are probebly wondering where does Zimbabwe fit into the picture?

Well..to be honest, at first it was the name that caught my attention, but after a little research and off course with the help of Google I found out a lot more. There are great and exciting opportunities to volenteer in Zimbabwe and I hope that I one day, I will have the money to go down there and continue to help build the independent country Zimbabwe strives to be.

(Just want to mention that my amateur research was not so thorough)

As much as I love to discover new places there is nothing like revisiting a place you've been before. At the top of my list is Paris, the streets, the old history and art, throw in the incredible atmosphereinto it and you have the place on earth, I could walk around for hours, while drinking café au lait and eating pastries, sit in Les Tuileries or gazing at art in the Louvre.

Greece is yet a place i'd enjoy to revisit. Samos is the holiday resort of my childhood. I have only been to the islands of Greece three times, but I loved it so much that I can't wait to see it again.

Writing this has been like going though the river of my memories and there is nothing like it.

An Introduction That Ended on a Sidetrack

You know, I have never really introdused myself?

Well, it's about time!

Hi! My name is Nellie, I'm a moody, kinda serious, yet funny eighteen year old teenager, that loves food and in the food catagory; mostly cheese, and broccoli is my, go to food(believe it or not!).

Now that we are talking food, I'm a vegetarian for reasons I'm still trying to articulate properly without accusing or offending anyone, so to explain my reasons I have a quote from The Fault In Our Stars(which you can read a little about here). When the maincharacter asked 'why no meat', she answered " I want to minimize the number of dealths I am responsible for" which by my standards, are the best answer to this date and it will also be mine until, I on my own, come up with something better.

I love to travel, actually I love it so much, that I have written a whole post about it! Which I will, post at the end of the month

As you can guess from this blog, I like to write. One day I aspire to become a auther even though, I will be the only one to know. I don't care if I won't be published, it's  the accomplishment that matters to me. The only person standing in the way, are myself and my astounding ability to procrastinate. Writing is not easy and hard stuff are hard.

It seems I got on a sidetrack, but it's okay because I think this is all you need to know, for know at least. If you want to know more about me and my everyday life, maybe you will find something out by reading some of my blog posts or trying to read between the lines.

L - Life

Life is such a big thing, it i also a broad subject. Because life is so much, it has different meninges and the term it self is used in so many ways. Both in positive and negative, such as "Get a life!" and "I feel like I am truly alive". The thought of the word life in my mind, often leads to the stream of thoughts/questions "what do I want out of life?" , "do I live my life to the fullest?"  and "am I really happy or is it all just superficial nonsense?".

I dare to say that I am probably not the only person on earth to have these thoughts.  
I see these thoughts as self discovery and a way to make life goals for my self. Sometimes when I am sitting in class, spacing out, I suddenly think of all of those things I want out of life ,and what I want to do before I am no more. It's often about traveling, seeing Paris, not just as a tourist, but as a well known visitor, because I am a lover of the art. My latest new found life goal is to be a part of the "pantsless subway ride" in New York, that occurs every year in January. Think of how cool would it be, to step over that boundary you may or may not have,  and make way for a new unique experience you hopefully will look back on, all of your life with a smile on your face?  Why not try to do these crazy things?

Off course there can be a lot of arguments of reason against it, but if you make it simple and think to your self "wouldn't it just be fun?"
For me the answer will always be yes!

And with that I will leave you , hopefully given you a little weird something to think about.
(or maybe not)

D - Dreams

We all have dreams. Dreams are beautiful, wonderful, crushing, unrealistic and ambitious, but some of those dreams the goals in life that we seek.

The young have loads of them, it's possible that it is because we are naive, the old maybe not so many because they had the time to fulfill their dreams. I can't really speak for the elders because of my young age.

All I can say is that dreams are impotent, at least to me. I even have a list, some more easy and something that is possible right now and some dreams are for the future.

My biggest dream right now, is that one day I will be able to open my own cafe/bookstore. A place students can come and meet and study. Like a library just without the shushing librarian.

I would also like to travel the world, I am in love with Paris. Big city's is so exhilarating. Little Copenhagen is not enough for me.
I have two more dreams I'd like to share.
One is completing this challenge.
Two is writing a book or a short story, and if a short story print it on a T-shirt. That way you can say "this T-shirt has a story too it".

Those are are few of my dreams, what are yours biggest dreams right now?

Wishing it wasn't so hard

Job applications

I really dislike doing them. You take a risk - putting yourself out there. I feel vulnerable. That and I don't know what to write. Do you write the classic " I smile easily" or something original"?

I've only been to one proper job interview before and it went horrible. 

I wasn't a particularly bad experience, I just sucked in that moment, at remembering my good qualifications that could be useful in a working situation.

From there you can easily guess, that I didn't get the job.

But I have dreams, and sometimes dreams cost money. It also turns out that food costs quit a lot of money, that my family don't really have. I just can't make myself eat meat again. It doesn't feel natural to me anymore.

And for these reasons I really need a job and I must not forget all of my dreams. Unfortunately dreams cost money.

Dreams are what you should live for.

I just wish I didn't have to write these job applications..

Get lost

I want to write, I want to be gone, somewhere else. I don't want to die, I never wanted that. I wish to live, I always will. But i want disappear completely and become mindless. Lose my head in another persons life, because of some reason my life isn't good enough, even though I have all I could wish for.  Sometimes it's just not enough. Of course there are some material things I want, but they aren't necessary for a good life.

It's weird that, when I'm done with the days deed, school, grocery, cooking and my homework, all I want to do is become someone else or at least get lost in a story/movie.

I wonder if anyone else have ever felt this way. Always the thought, am I the only one to think this? Am I truly alone?

For me it is just two of they many questions and thoughts I have.

But what I think most of, is the life I want to live. All the dreams I have. So many that I can't even remember them all. When the day comes and my dreams come true, maybe I don't want to escape my own life any more or get lost in another's. Or some fiction.  Because my life will be good enough.

I hope so. I dream of that.