The adventure begins.

(P.S. This is a really, really long free write, and I’m not gonna proof read, so... sorry! :P)

Alright people. I have to say, I probably enjoyed writing the first couple blogs more than I’m gonna enjoy writing this one, cause now there are all these high expectations of interesting stuff I’m supposed to be sharing and I dunno if it’s gonna live up to that. Also it’s 5am, so don’t judge. (Worse comes to worse the blog isn’t entertaining which means I’m off the hook for writing it anymore! hehe)

Okay, SO, total travel time from Cambodia to Vermont was 48 hours. Forty-eight hours of hell. Sovann was so hungover the morning we had to leave Siem Reap. (He got coined; last time that’s gonna happen for awhile!) I wasn’t really hungover, but had gotten 3 hours of sleep, so that was no good. We had to go overland to Bangkok, wait for our flight which was at 3am, and then we were off (feeling a bit better, but still.) So, this wasn’t the first plane ride ever for Sovann - we flew from Bangkok to Chiang Mai once – but that was like a 40 minute flight. This time we had a 7+ hour flight to Kuwait (where Sovann noted “Everyone here is Indian!” and I suggested that actually a lot of them were probably Kuwaiti; he was intrigued by that notion) and then a 13 and a half hour flight to JFK. (And then a 7 hour layover and a quick flight to Burlington.) The flights and everything were okay (lots of rice served for Sovann), just fucking long. Immigration and customs were fine (except a customs officer asking me if Sovann was my son! Wtf??)

                In JFK I resigned myself to buying a $7 (plus tax, novel concept) meal of chicken wings to split  – caught myself handing the cashier money with my hand touching my elbow in the polite Asian way, a habit I can say goodbye to now. I taught Sovann the name and value of different coins, something I hadn’t thought of before. Oh, and I showed him what a water fountain was. (“Everyone puts their mouth on the same thing!?” “Well not on the actual metal!”) So, the obvious question is “How did it feel to be back in America?” and although airports are kinda weird and so they don’t really count as being in a country, there were some things I’d already noticed and found... comforting. I saw American commercials on TV, something I haven’t seen in forever, and although I’m sure I’ll be sick of them soon, I actually found them kind of entertaining. There were officials who spoke (fluent) English – people who could give me straight-forward answers that I understood! (Well, that’s not always true, we kept being told to move to different immigration lines when I told different officers that he had a fiance visa. Turns out not everything in America is very organized either!) At one point in the airport I went in the bathroom, looked at myself in the mirror, and thought, “Oh no, my friends are gonna tell me how fat I’ve gotten!” And then I remembered, nope, that won’t happen here! They might think it, but at least I won’t have to hear the reminder :P And when we stepped off the plane into the cold air for a moment, there was somehow some comfort in that too. It’s so funny – cold, cold air completely surrounding my body hadn’t happened in so long – almost three years really... it felt so novel, but familiar at the same time. So anyway, there were a few little oddities that I enjoyed. I know most of you are more looking forward to hearing Sovann’s impressions, and don’t worry, they’re coming later...

                So, at the Burlington airport, friends and family were there to greet us! Oh my god, it was so great. Sovann commented that one of my friends (Dan, 6’9”) was taller than his house. Haha, not true, but he seemed pretty convinced. Then Sovann and I, Skyler (my brother), and three of my friends (from high school) went to Denny’s. Welcome to America! :P I managed to find something on the menu that Sovann enjoyed – Tilapia – and I ate his mashed potatoes covered with melted cheese. Mmmmm. I found myself very incompetent at the restaurant. Well, first I completely missed the door, but that was just a fluke. What I found disturbing is that I didn’t know how to politely get the waiters’ attention. I kept wanting to gesture for them to come over from across the room, but it seemed wrong. And when they didn’t come for awhile,  I just wanted to stand up, walk over to them, and put in my order, which also seemed a little off. And Sky gave me shit for asking if the pitcher of water was free (you gotta pay for water in most restaurants in the Reaper!)

                So, then to the house! On the way Sovann immediately commented on how clean this country is. Wondered if he would notice the lack of trash; apparently yes. He also noted how nice all of the houses are. He said he thought the driving laws seemed the same as in Cambodia – and when I thought about it, I think he’s right, it’s just that nobody actually follows them in Cambodia. When we got the house I was reminded of how beautiful it is, and Sovann definitely thought so too. Big kitchen, comfortable couches, an awesome bed. Sovann said it’s such a big house – I can’t wait to show him what an actually-big American house looks like! So anyway, Sovann called his mom and then made some rice. He tried a lemon for the first time! So funny, they call limes lemons in Cambodia, but he had never actually seen a lemon. He said it tastes the same as a lime. I tried American milk, because I was curious how it would taste now that I’m used to strange Cambodian milk, and it definitely tasted bland. Sovann commented on how squeaky the floors are – something you don’t hear much in Cambodian houses. We went to sleep at about 3:30 or 4am.

                The next morning, I woke up at 6am, thinking about how screwed I would be screwed trying to stay up the rest of the day to fight off jet lag. (Spoiler alert, I actually stayed up until 8pm with no nap and almost no caffeine!) Oh wait, rewind a little bit, I forgot to touch on one very important subject: the cold weather! Sovann’s so amazing; he walked to and from the car multiple times (at the airport, the restaurant, and the house) with a T-shirt and flip-flops! What a trooper. I asked him yesterday what the most surprising or unexpected thing has been so far and he said the cold weather – even after all our warning him about how ridiculously cold it would be! And for Vermont, this isn’t even that bad. But yeah, I’m sure nobody’s surprised that he’s surprised by the cold!

                Anyway, that morning was awesome. I had the best shower ever with actual strong water pressure! I had an apple that tasted like a delicious apple! (Had an orange later; mmmm.) I drank water out of the tap; how strange! Went to the bathroom with no “bum gun”; how gross. Sovann woke up a little later and told Sara (my aunt) how he wished his girlfriend was a man (...awkward silence...) because then he could wrestle/fight with me in the morning to warm up. A little later this was our conversation: (Me:) “Did you take a shower?” “Yeah.” “You know how to work it?” “No.” “So... how’d you take a shower?” “I used the sink.” So I taught him how to use the actual shower :P Later he tried some cat food and thought it was delicious, so we’ve decided we’ll stock up on some when we go to Costco. Turkey and gravy flavored, and cheap compared to human food! Yum.

                Soo that morning we got to see Nin & Poppy (my grandparents) which was awesome! They brought us to a grocery store and we bought some food – I asked Sovann what he thought of the store and he said “Weird.” “Weird how?” “It’s like... a Western grocery store.” Ha, that’s all he could articulate at the moment. We drove to the house and as the garage door opened (triggered by the remote in the car) Sovann perked up and alarmingly asked, “Who opened that!?” :) We had some salmon there - yum! Sovann was happy to cook some rice and the salmon skin to eat. I went shopping with Nin to get bras (yes!! so sick of bras that fall apart in two months, even if they are only three dollars) and pants (thank god, I only had one pair of long pants and they’re my dad’s!) Then we went downtown with my brother and got to see Jenny (his fiancee) for a few minutes and walk around town. Sovann asked (a couple times) if there were always so many people walking around town like that – I guess there aren’t many places in Siem Reap with a lot of people, other than tourists, wandering about. He also said “I never see the teenagers fight here” which I find strange because I’ve never really seen that in Siem Reap either. He noted that none of the trees have any leaves, which I explained will change in summer (oh my god, I can’t wait for him to see autumn foliage!!) Oh, and we discovered a new American food that Sovann actually likes: bologna! But poor Sovann’s stomach has been bad lately – some things never change I guess :(

                Anyway, a little later we met my friends downtown – so good to see them! It was actually funny, I met Kayla who’s one of my best friends but when I first saw her I like... forgot to get excited or even remember that this was the first time I hadn’t seen her in forever. I think it’s a reflection of how I feel being here with friends and family: it’s just so easy to pick up where you left off, almost like you’ve never been gone. I think that’s a sign of a really good friend. So then we went to Tiny Thai, a Thai restaurant in town. This brings up another topic: my (or our) realization of people’s (Americans’) geographical ignorance. But I don’t mean ignorance with a negative connotation, as that would be hypocritical because I’m super bad with geography too... like, embarrassingly so. And lots of people in Cambodia don’t even know that there’s an ocean between the US and Europe, so I’m really not one to judge. It’s just new for us that we’re in a place where people aren’t familiar with Asian... stuff. Like in the Kuwait airport a worker who was checking our passports asked where Cambodia was – Sovann tried to tell her “Angkor Wat country” but of course that didn’t ring any bell for her either. And when we were deciding where to go to eat my friends suggested a place nearby which they thought was Vietnamese but once we got there we realized was Chinese (which Sovann doesn’t like.) Ehh, Vietnamese, Chinese, same same but different. And when we were on our way to the Thai restaurant Kayla asked “What kind of food does Tiny Thai have?” Haha. So, Sovann got Tom Yam with rice (his favorite) – he said was good which I was thankful for cause I was afraid they would Americanize the dish too much so he wouldn’t like it, but no problem. Oh, and a note on prices: so I know some of you worry that we’re gonna be blown away (and in pain) because of prices here. And while I’m definitely not thrilled on spending $7 on a meal (plus tip and tax which adds up! the Tom Yam was actually reasonably priced, but then the rice was $2! crazy), I think we’ve mentally prepared really well so we’re not totally dying. Like, in Cambodia we kept telling him the price of ridiculously expensive things, so now when I make him guess how much something costs he actually overestimates.

                Soo, we got to bed at about 8 last night, woke up 3am this morning. I felt a little homesick, missing Cambodia, but I didn’t wanna let Sovann on in case it would make him feel upset too. (I asked him yesterday if he was homesick, he said just a little bit.) Then at about 6 I went in the hot tub!! Sovann wanted to go too but it was too hot for him. Haha, he doesn’t even shower in hot water so he’s sensitive to it. Anddd today we have a lot to do, but I’ll probably write about it later so I’ll spare you for now.

                Two things I want to touch on: Sovann really likes my family and friends, he says they’re all really kind, which of course they are. :) It’s funny to see him so shy though – I’m sure he’ll warm up, but for now he’s been pretty quiet around them. Well, plus we speak pretty fast most of the time (let alone all the references relating to pop culture, or places in Vermont, or people we know or whatever) so it’s often hard for him to follow conversations. But he’ll get used to it after awhile, and people will get used to his (adorable) quirky way of communication, so I’m not too worried.

                And also, I don’t know if you can tell by this post, but I feel pretty damn happy to be here. (Although if I think about how we’ll probably be here for years and won’t be in Cambodia again anytime soon I start to freak out, so I’m trying to ignore that part for as long as possible.) Anyway, a big part of why I feel so happy is how amazing everyone has been to us. Seriously, Sovann and I really have a knack at surrounding ourselves with people who are ridiculously generous and help us out a ton. Having this place to stay with Sara makes like so much easier, and she’s been great about letting us eat her food before we go on a major shopping trip, and making us feel at home, and being great company. And my grandparents have been driving us around, they bought Sovann a fishing license (!!), some snacks, and gave us some clothes to keep warm! Skyler has also been giving us rides and buying us food. Dylan and Alanna got our whole phone situation figured out, and Dylan has done annoying paperwork for immigration to be Sovann’s official “sponsor” in the US. Alice (another aunt) has also given us warm clothes. Basically, we’re just way too lucky. We hope to stop having to mooch rides, food, and clothes off people soon, but for now we’re loving our (fake) vacation :)

                By the way, if any of you want specific info in the next blog – or if you have any questions for Sovann (I’m thinking of having an interview with him for a blog sometime) let me know!