Nam her I come....

So my current visa is set to expire this coming Friday. Although they will nto come after me and try and expell me from the Kingdom of Cambodia, they will take a nice chump of change on my departure from the country. They usually charge a hefty $5 a day when a person overstays their visa. That would leave me in quite a bit of debt upon my departure. Therefore, I had to go to the foreign affairs office today. They informed me that the visa class that I have can not be switched to the visa class that I need. Right now I have visa class ë and I need visa class v. Ther problem is in order to get visa v I need to accept it from an immigration official. They can not simply switch my class and give me a new visa. So I have to travel to the border of Cambodia and Vietnam to do this. However, I also need to purchase a visa from vietnam in order to step over the border and come right back to Cambodia. So I went to the Vietnam embassy todaya nd left my passport with a security guard who informed me that it will cost $35 and he will have it readyf or me tomorrow. I hoep he is right. So basically friday I will get on a bus from Phnom Penh to soem border town. This will take two hours. I will then cross the border, see a market and head back accross the border with a sheet of paper informing the immigration officials to give me visa v and a 3 month extension. Then I will get back on a bus and 2 hours later be in the great city of Phnom Penh. Its gonna be a long day....
Other than that not much is going on. Classes have been getting better and the students are really genuinly interested in me. They love to hear about America and my life. I also recently went to the Russian market. I purchased a patch, a cool hat, and a t-shirt for $4. I thought it was a steal but apparently I got ripped off according to all my students. They took advantage of a foreigner... its not right! So yeah things are pretty good. I just get these urges for a hamburger. I think im close to trying one of these touristy american burger joints in Phnom Penh. I hope it lives up to expectations. I just dont think I can survive on rice and veggies as my only meals.
After New Years I am going to take a bus to Battambong and spend a night before taking a boat to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat. I am very excited to see the temples. It will be both beautiful and spiritually moving from what everyone has told me. I hope everyone is doing well and I look foreard to hearing from people.....write me! Spence

Bicycle! Bicycle!

Now I want you to go back and not just read the title, but rather sing it like Freddy Mercury did. Did you do that? Good, well thats how I felt when I purchased my bike the other day. For all of $25 I was able to purchase the green stalion from a second hand bike dealer. Yes, it is a little rusty, and I did get a flat tire my first day. However, it is a great way to get aroud Phnom Penh. Since the trafic can be a little nuts from time to time I stay on the side of the road and mind my own business. When there are huge intersections or the dreaded roundabouts, I find a group of people on bikes and charge forward with them. They may look at me funny and think im crazy, but at least im safe. Biking aroud is really great. When you are on a moto you dont get to take a step back, relax and enjoy the moment as much. Today was teh first day that I was able to do this. On my way back from teaching, looking around at the buildings, and the peopel as I went around central market onto kampuchea krom Blvd., I found myself saying to myself I really made it, I am doing this. Itw as a great feeling and a wonderful sense of accomlishment. I have finally settled in and assiilated to the everyday lifestyle. I am able to work, eat, and get around on my own. The only strange part is teh fact that everyone tends to look at westerners. I kind of stick out, but thats alright, they can look all they want.
On anothe note, I found a great bookshop in town. They buy sell an trade books. I have been reading a lot more than expected and was in urgent need of some new litterature. I brought my copy of perfum (which was great if you have the chance to read it), Nine Stories, and Vagabonding. With a little negotiating I was able to do a 1 for 1 trade. I picked up some classics: Catch 22, On the Road, and 1984. I just read Orwell's Abnimal Farm, so I decided to try On teh Road to start things out with a fresh new author. The store had a great essence to it and it was really cool to trade books and see what other travelers have read and left behind.
Well that is all for now. I see that a lot of my posts are a little messed up. This is because every, and I mean every, keyboard has some sort of malfunction. Hope everyone is doing well. Drop em a line fromt iem to time, its nice to see how everyone is doing back in teh States. Spence

hello again

Well, things have finally started to become more normal. I am finally living in Phnom Penh and not rhough my immagination back in NYC. It took a while for me to start teaching, but now I am teaching two classes a day, and I am currently filling in fo ra teacher later tonight. This is why I am writing this blog right now. I have class in the mornign that is in the Global Children house. It usually lasts about 2 hours and we talk about many different topics, read some stories and I sometiems attempt to teach grammer even though I am not great at it. It is great because the class has only 6 students. The other class I teach is at the CVCD. It is an organization that helps teach poor andunderpriveledged people english, japanese, and compter technology. I teach an english communication class and it has been going well this week. It is very funny for me because I teach a lot of monks and I am not used to seeing students in the full garb. I am even somewhat intimidated by the monks, go figure. So things are going well from a teachign standpoint.
I also learned that I was being very rude in a number of ways. I used to point at the students which is considered a no no and is very rude. Instead you have to point with a full palm facing the sky. I also learned monks cannot eat after 12 so dont offer them food. Monks are not even allowed to touch women or even sit next to them. The head is the highest part of your body and most holy, so hats must be put on desks, not the floor. And the feet, which I sprawl out all teh time are the least holy and should be tucked nicely under your seat out of ones sight.
I am takign motos to and from class but the $1 a day fee fr taxis is goign to be avoided when I get my bike and try and survive teh crazy traffic everyday. I thinka bike will be good, it will give me some more freedom and some much needed exercise after all the rice that I eat. That is all for now. Within the next couple weeks I am going to take a boat to Siem Reap and visit Angkor Wat. I hope to try and get out to do one trip per month. Take care ad post some questions if you feel like it. Ciao

Hello all,
Well things are sort of starting to become easier. Forone thing I have finally figuredout this whole 2 hour time difference when I sleep. I have not started working yet which is kind of annoying. It would be niceto work so I could find a rhythem and just be more active and have lessdown time. But nonetheless, it has become more enjoyable. I recently visited the killing fields and the main prison during the khemer rouge period which was a very difficult day. It was horribleto see how many people were murdered and the ways inwhich peoplewere treated. It was really a horrible site that I would like to stay away from. All I can say is that if you do not know of thisperiod you shouldlook it upfor yourself and see for yourself. It wasalso difficult because such tragic events happened in a place that is so peaceful and beautiful today. I believe that is one of the things they tried to create when reinventing the killing fields.
On a liter note, things are pretty good. Theonly way I could come close to describing Phnom Penh is to picture everyone walking in NYC but on scooters. The traffic is crazy and people do not have any real conception of the trafficlaws. People are going against the trafic,left , right, etc. It is sad though due to the many horrible accidents that I unfortunately witnessed the other day.
As for my room....I don't know if it is primitive or genious, but I could sit on my toilet and take a shower at the same time. Sounds very odd, but is a great way to keep the toilet clean. Also, I donot have toilet paper but rather a high powered hose, and you know what happens from there.
I wish that I couldmeet somepeople. That has been the hardest part. I look forward to meeting some westerners when I start wor'. It would be niceto be ableto knocj\k around teh city with some people.
As far as money, nothing really costs more than $1, period. So its pretty cheap. I am going to try and travel to Angkor Wat and Vietnam at somepoint. I first have to extend my visa which expires soon....of course the visa patrolwould not grant me aprolonmged visa. Until next time take care and I look forward to seeing everyone in the future. Ciao...... picturesto come