Global Drifter

Hello all, This is a travel blog. But seeing as I have become a permanent fixture in the city of Phnom Penh, I have decided I need a more permanent blog. I have set up a new, more awesome one accordingly. Please follow me here: www.adventureorbadchoices.blogspot.com Travelblog.org has served it's purpose, but now it's time to move on!! Let the next adventure begin! Love, Yanzi... read more

One year ago on this day, at this hour, I was sitting in the O'Hare International Airport in Chicago putting my first entry into this blog as I awaited my first-ever flight to Asia. I remember it like it was yesterday: me wrapped in multiple layers of clothing, a not-very-warm faux fur coat, my red Arabian keffiyah rolled snugly around my neck as I tapped out my first entry slouching on a naugahyde chair, reflecting with dark humor on the circumstances that have led me to my present condition. My entire life was packed into a suitcase in the belly of the plane and into the red handbag beside me. I was numb and horrified and exhilirated, all at once, at the thought of living in China for a year. One year--how can an entire year ... read more

Here's why I haven't blogged for two months: I've been sick. Or rather, I've been afflicted with a condition. It's probably one of the most uncomfortable non-illnesses one could possibly hope to go through, unless of course you like living in a state of starvation, panic, and an oppressive sense of death pervading every facet of life. I don't wanna be one of those people who just complains about their illnesses all the time and grosses people out with their symptoms; on the other hand, I feel like you have a right to know what prevented me from doing anything (including this blog) other than lying in bed as a blithering idiot for the past two months. It started shortly after I recovered from the previous illness that has been the subject of several other entries, ... read more

Happy New Year! It's only once a year we get to celebrate this day. The US government predicts that the American economy will improve; Gerald Celente predicts that the American economy is screwed; Chinese astrology predicts the Year of the Rabbit starts February 3rd; the Mayans predict we've only got another year left; and I predict that I'll never leave Phnom Penh. How did you welcome Two Thousand Eleven? I didn't really bother. Scenes from my celebration of New Year's: *Letting class out early only to get stood up by my much anticipated New Year's date because he decided he'd rather hang out with the much cooler folks from the guest house. *Crying at home. *Lying on my balcony at 2 am listening in on my arguing neighbors. *Spending January 1st, 2011 riding a monster motorcycle ... read more

I walk home each night. It's a several mile walk, but when you are living off three dollars a day, you have to be careful about how you spend each one. I can't afford to spend a dollar to and from work every day. This past week, Beeline, the phone company, has been hosting some sort of promotional New Year's party. They put the festivities out on the sidewalk of one of the streets I cross. And over this promotional sidewalk, snow fell. It fell and accumulated an inch on the ground; non-sexual security guards danced in it and tried to catch it; folks took pictures of it with their mobiles. That's right, somebody actually set up a snow machine so that we too can have a white winter in Phnom Penh. Given that Cambodia is ... read more

I was walking home from work today, when I happened to pass by one of the many security guards that keep vigil over the things that rich people own. Guy my age, maybe older--so there was no excuse for what happened. He said hello to me, as do any number of Cambodians on a daily basis. Ignorant me, I said hello back. The guy then proceeded to engage me in a conversation despite the fact that his English was even more limited than my Khmer. Looking me directly in the eyes, and smiling innocently, as if it were a common, everyday request, he proceeded to ask me in all honesty, "I...fuck...you? At...guesthouse. 10 o'clock...?" I just stood there blinking for a moment, just trying to take that all in. I had to conclude that's what he ... read more

I am sorry I have not been able to post in a while. There's a lot of stuff I have been meaning to say, but, as I alluded to in my half-assed Christmas post, I've been rather unwell. I went to a wedding (yes, a wedding, which you will read about shortly) and getting there involved being stuck in a car next to two sick little girls for six hours either way. I don't know what they had, but they spent a large portion of the time coughing directly in my face. One of them was feverish, possibly with chicken pox. At any rate, by the end of the four day process, I was starting to get a little congested myself. I developed a "pathetic little cough" (in the words of a friend of mine) which ... read more

It's everyone's favorite time of year. In Cambodia. The country definitely understands the holidays a bit more than they understand Halloween. Christmas displays--complete with Santa Claus, red and green letters, and pine trees covered with tinsel--line the streets. A sizeable number of companies have decorated their businesses with Christmas lights. It's not especially commercialized, and you're allowed to say Merry Christmas in public. All of my students said as much to me, despite the fact that they don't celebrate Christmas. My last class literally coerced me into singing Jingle Bells with them, and all the students in one of my other classes gave me Christmas cards and pretty packets of candy. Isn't that nice? I'd rather have a benefactor give me money, however, given that I am only teaching 3 classes and am earning that much ... read more