Climate Change and Unfamiliar Things

We arrived in late fall, I would guess in the

month of November 1976. We all experienced our first colds and

snowfalls. I would put a cup of water out during the night, and the

next morning it was in the form of ice. Now that was really "cool" in

my understanding what being "cool" was. If we had to rely on

evolutionary processes, we could not have grown a fur coat fast

enough to ward off freezing to death.

Military personnel acted as guards to keep law and order for us

rowdy boys. They introduced us to snow ball fights. I remember

one time we creamed them so bad, that we didn't know when to stop.

We learned not to do that to them again. Sorry guys, we didn't mean

to hurt you.

More chocolate milk please! Here we are introduced to drinking

milk. Everyone fought for the chocolate flavored milk; plain milk

was a last resort. The Asian stable is rice. We know how to have a

"rice" day, every day--not just some days. Well, Arkansas is a

rice growing state as I later learned. But the way Americans fix rice

is not anywhere close to how we like our rice. Burnt bread? Toast?

Jelly? Heaters used as toasters? Sitting to take one's ease?

We like squatting much better. We all needed potty training, at

least I did anyway. Every knob, switch, and lever are becoming
inquisitive objects.

For evening entertainments, buses would come around and pick

up those who would like to go. They took us out of the base

to a church building, I would assume. They had puppet shows,

ventriloquists, and movies. Of course everything was foreign to us.
I don't think it was every evening, maybe twice a week. When they
brought us back to our barracks, there would be deer along the road
and in soccer fields. I never saw a deer in Asia, I know we had them too.

Rabbits were everywhere. I'm sure that they were hunted for meat

to grill. Stones to throw at them were the best weapons we had.

Didn't know the method of shaking salt on their tails to catch them.

One evening a group of people wanted to go on a hike out into the

woods. We were stopped by the guards. Maybe they

thought that we would escape back to Asia, or they were afraid

we might get lost, or simply we are not allowed to leave the
premises. I think it was the latter. I was disappointed myself.
We insisted, they insisted, and they prevailed.

English classes were open for people who wanted to learn. I must

have learned a few words myself. I probably didn't apply myself to
the learning of the language like I should have. Our stay in Arkansas

was short. I would guess it was less than a month before our group was

summoned to come to Iowa. By saying group, I mean the four families
that had been together all this time.

Leaving Asia Behind

When our time came to leave, we had to get up in the wee hours of

the morning to get to the airport and go through all the paper

work. I remember seeing the sun coming up when the plane

lifted off into the eastern sky. I didn't really care where we were

going at the moment. Sorry Cambodia, I didn't shed a tear for

you when I left you behind, but I have shed tears for you

since then.

The flight would have taken 20 hours or more across the ocean.

I don't know where we stopped. Anchorage, Alaska, could have been

one stopping point. Our destination was Little Rock, Arkansas.

We were placed at a military base. Yep, they enlisted us into

the military armed forces to fight for Mr. Bill Clinton so he could be

our next president in the coming years. I know that he has denied

that we did such thing for him back then, but we were happy for

him when he became our 42nd president of the United States

of America.

From there, every family awaited sponsorships from one of the

48 states. While waiting, we boys played soccer against the

Vietnamese boys that were among us. The Khmer against the

Viet. When there was a dispute, there could have been fights

to settle the score. To get the litter picked up, guards

paid us a quarter per person.

I was sick when we arrived in Arkansas. I think I was sick before

we left Asia. Salt water must have got the best of me, especially when

there was no fresh water to rinse off the salt.

Would You Like To Join In? Yummy, Yummy!

The Dreams

It was during this time of staying in Thailand that I had these two
dreams. I never remembered any of my dreams until these occurred
to me in such a vivid way that I shall never forget. And I would like to
tell them here.

The first dream: I dreamed that my very own mother rejected

me. I will leave it at that. I felt hurt, but not emotionally damaged.

The second dream: A voice from heaven spoke to me asking

me a question, "Do you want to go?" I answered, 'Yes.' Then the

voice told me, "You must die." I died in my dream as though it

was real and the voice said to me, "Now you can go."

I recognized the voice, it was the voice of Seoung Veoung, but

she spoke from heaven above. I will tell of the possible interpret-

ation of this dream later on once I got to America and settled in

Iowa. Oh, the voice that spoke never specified where I was to go,

and I never asked the question, 'Where am I going?' I was just wanting

to go. Maybe that was the nature of my adventurous personality

back then.

Just how long we were temporarily camped in Thailand as refugees

was likely around 3-6 months at the most. Just who was

responsible to relocate us to other countries? One organization

that comes to mind is World Vision. If such an organization doesn't exist,
it must have been some other. We and many others in the same predic-

ament were accepted to come to the United States of America. We

were transported to near Bangkok, to a military base I believe,

near the sea to await our flight out.

We were bused in by charter buses. It was a whole day's trip from the

camp to our holding camp near the military base. And it was during

rainy season, and in some places water flooded the road surface, and
drivers had to take it easy. The route took us by steep mountains
which fascinated me. Mountains just held my admiration.

Back in Cambodia I could see some mountains from a distance and

there is this alluring pull from my heart to want to scale the heights

of those majestic friends. At one particular place that my father

had his rice fields was the closest mountain in sight. I often wish

I could have reached the mountain. It was just standing there all by

itself like it needed a friend like me. It had a nice peak point.

I felt sorry for those who were left behind. I hope that they did get

to go at a later date after we left Asia. Since the base camp for

departure was limited to how many they could handle, it couldn't

possibly fit everyone in there. There were at least five buses or

more that shuttled us over to the base. And there were other

refugees from other camps that were there already besides our

groups that came in. I swam every day in the sea salt water.

And sometimes the fresh water would run out to rinse off the salt.

Whose The Thief?

One place they moved us to was near a good-sized city. I

frequented the city with other people, browsing for work or just

enjoying mingling with the Thai people. There is a lot of

similarity in the language, and getting around was not a big problem.

Here we were placed in tents. One night a thief stole--the best

I could figure out would have been silver bars. I remember the

bags were heavy. Maybe it was just only one bag or several

bags. We heard the snap of the tent either being slit or ripped.

The bags were checked and were missing. The pursuit was on for

trying to recover the stolen item in the night, but to no avail. When

day break came other people helped to search the surrounding

area, looking under every bush. We suspected that the thief

could have not gone to far because it was heavy, and because

we were alerted to give the chase at the onset once we found items

missing. Before we gave up hope, there was a pond next to the

tents. One was sent down to dive for the lost treasure in the

muddy water, and sure enough at the bottom lay the silver bars.

I don't remember if the thief had taken any out of the bag or not.

If we had not recovered the stolen items that very day, our chance
was slim against the thief's trickery.

Oun Iem made it to Thailand

I have mentioned of Oun Iem being in Battambong when we left

Oddar Mean Cheay. I remember him telling us how he faked

being "dumb" to escape captured by the Khmer Rouge patroling

the route on which he rode his bicycle to get to Oddar Meancheay.

Of course, when he arrived and found that we were not home, he

made his way to Thailand through the forest. By this time,

the Khmer Rouge were guarding the main road that leads to

Thailand and planting land mines for those who tried to escape.

We had no idea of what happened to him until he showed up at

camp unexpectedly. Another incident was of a woman whose

husband was suspected dead and she was prepared to marry

a Thai husband, when her original husband showed up and

reunited with her again.

As Refugees In Thailand Part 1

Like I already alluded to, the first waves of refugees were well-

received by the Thai government. The refugees were moved

farther into the interior, away from the border, free of any clashing

between the Khmer Rouge and the Thai soldiers. They moved

us at least three times. We were given liberty to travel about in

the surrounding areas. Having plenty to eat was not a problem.

Each family was even given a cash allowance each month.

One of the places that the Thai government had allowed us to

stay was in a monastery ground. Facilities were already available.

No, we didn't chase away the monks. We were separate from

them. I believe all the refugees were Cambodians. There could

have been Vietnamese also. The shelter was modern with board

structures and tin roof. Business was conducted among the

people and natives, though it was limited I'm sure.

Men could go out to look for work. I went along whenever I could,

which I think was about every time. One time we went to a mountain

to pick stones to load up dump trucks. We camped out at the

mountain until the work was finished. I think they told scary stories

at nights. Asian people are superstitious.

One particular job was digging trenches for pipelines across

rice fields with mud and water to contend with. The paid was

defined by the length, width, and depth per trench. My guess was

that I could do three trenches or less in a day. Being the young boy

that I was, I don't think I broke any records. The men were helpful to

complete what I couldn't by day's end to notch me a trench more.

At another time we just went to look for work. The other times, our

work was known before we ventured out. This time we hopped on

a tap-tap (a kind of transportation--if you can hang on, you're in

for the ride of your life). We would stop here and there to inquire for

work until we happened upon one. Finally, we chanced upon picking

silk worms and other odd jobs. I believe the men had a limit as to

how far they wanted to venture out from camp. At this particular

place, a Thai family that had taken a liking to me had asked the men

if they could keep me as their son. Well, I assume they

objected to the request imposed upon them, because I'm here

in America writing this journal for you to read. If it was up to me to
decide if I would like to stay with them, I could have said 'yes'.
I assumed the men had disclosed to the Thai couple that I was alone
in Thailand without immediate family members other than my cousin.

I want to clarify who the men are. Some of them were the people

I was with from Oddar Meanchey and some were from outside of

the group. All together, from five to ten were in the group. I don't
want to leave a wrong impression of hundreds of men scavenging
for work.

After work had dried up in this particular place, there

weren't any tap-tap for our return trip, so we had to walk on foot

across rice fields full of water to get back to our base. It was

a tiresome trek for all of us as we had to walk through water.

We came upon a monastery and took our refuge there for the

night. Being that monks only eat one meal per day, having food

on hand is not a common thing at a monastery. They had to

go out to beg for their sustenance every day. But it must have

been a festival of some sort when the common people would

bake certain goods and bring them to the temple. It was not

strange for us to know that. That was a blessing as we were

given the leftovers. Some tasted on the spoiled side. We

roasted them for a crisper, crunchier taste. By roasting the baked

goods, it helps to preserve them longer. The baked goods were
wrapped with green banana leaves and cooked in water.

Some may ask, " how do you communication with the Thai
people being you are Cambodians"? Either one of us knew how
to speak Thai, or those Thai people near the boarder knew the
Khmer language. There are also Khmer Surin living in Thailand.
They could speak both languages. Khmer Surin are Cambodian
people who got sucked into Thailand when the Thai moved their
boundary farther into Cambodia territory. We call it an infringement.

Arriving In Thailand

We arrived at the border as it was getting dark. The crossing

was a mountain passage. As we were stopped at the check point,

the tractor wagon I was on started to roll backwards, but the driver

was quick to gain control of the situation and saved us from rolling

down the mountain. When the border watchers were satisfied

with our reason for coming to their country, we were ushered in to

Thailand. Beyond the check point, as we got deeper into Thai

territory, there were other refugees that had gotten there before

us. The commotions went on all night with helicopters ferrying

people in from Cambodia, I assume. I went to sleep in the midst

of the chaotic activities to await a new beginning.

At this point I want to present the situation of the refugees that

would come into Thailand later on from Cambodia. We, being the

first waves of refugees, got a red carpet treatment from the Thai

government due to the presence of the U.S officials

in Thailand. The U.S had just withdrawn from Cambodia before

the country fell. What I'm about to expose of the situation is

from a book I read concerning the matter that transpired.

There are two accounts I will mention:

1. 600 or more refugees were shipped out by army trucks

driven by Thai soldiers to a cliff and probably pushed

off the cliff at the border in a secluded area. There were no

other explanations of what they might have done with them. Due

to how they did treat other refugees that sought refuge

in their land, the conclusion is not too presumptuous according to the author.

2. 40,000 were forced back after they were stripped of the little

valuable possessions they had along. They send them back by

way of rugged terrain laiden with land mines. How many survived,

no one knows. They either died by stepping on land mines,

died of starvation and thirst, or died by the sword of the Khmer Rouge.

If it had not been for humanitarian organizations coming to our aid, I hate

to speculate the plight of my people in the time of our distress.

The quality of mercy wasn't there from the Thai government, nor

from the UN, though their aid was much appreciated on behalf of

my people, thought it was not without a price for them to get gain at the

expense of the unfortunate. The Thai government relented later on

after they saw the plight of my people. On behalf of my Khmer

people, I want to thank all that brought relief to our suffering. I

know this is 30 years late. I was not the one that experienced

the winds of calamity that did befall us. I was too adventurous.

The Escape

My guess is that I lived around 1-3 months in Oddar Meachey before

the Khmer Rouge captured Battambong. I don't know if there were

any communication links between Oddar Meanchey and Battambong.

I had my doubts if there were, other than mail by air or jungle trek.

At this time Oun Iem was back in Battambong. I'm sure people

were keenly aware and keeping post of any report of impending

Khmer Rouge activity heading our way by the way we came in.

Our first report came as a false report; nevertheless, we took no

chances of being caught by them. We loaded up our possessions that

were valuable to us and prepared to leave and barred up the

rest in the apartment. I was at the farm and someone was sent to

get me. We ended up not leaving at that time.

The people that I was with were well-to-do people. I just don't know

what their rank and file were to the Cambodian government, if any.

Or if they knew the Khmer Rouge ideology and what they

would do once they took control of the country. So to flee from being

under their tyrany was the smartest thing to do to save their lives.

Because what the Khmer Rouge did once they got control of the

country was to kill all the intellectuals and tried to re-educate the

peasants to do what they thought would make Cambodia like its

glorious past.

About a week later, the news came again. And this time it was real.

Again I was at the farm. It was getting to be toward the end of the

day and I decided to leave the farm and head home by taking a

shortcut through the woods instead of using the main road. When

I got home, here they had already loaded and were ready to roll toward

Thailand. Their plan was to pick me up on the way out since that

was enroute. Maybe it was in haste to get out that they didn't have

time to send for me. I can't remember what we had going. I was

riding in a tractor wagon. There might have been two tractor wagons
and a car.

The scenario could have been like this:

They could have left, heading in the direction of the farm. Once

they reached the road that runs to the farm, someone would

have been dispatched to get me while the rest were waiting at the main

road for our return. From there we would be on our way out of the country.

What if that was off timing? I would have left the farm and took the

short-cut (which I did and came out to the main road that came

from Oddar Mancheay to Thailand). And they would have already gone

past the exit point of the short-cut. I would be continuing on my way

home and they on their way to Thailand. Of course, the neigbhors

would let me know that they had left and I would reverse my course

to try to catch up with them. And the one that was

sent for me would have had to figure out where I was. Since I wouldn't be

at the farm there would be only one option, that I probably had gone home
and taken the short-cut since they didn't see me on the main road.
He would search the short-cut and hope to track me down before I went

all the way home. There are at least 3-5 miles between the farm and home.

In my haste to catch up I could have passed the exit of the short-cut,

and he would have been bewildered whether or not to go all the way home

since I was not found on the trail. Since time was of the essence, any

delay was compounded by fear that the Khmer Rouge could be

on our trail too. But I'm glad that the timing was not off, but almost

perfect.

Looming War

All this time the civil war was raging in the background between
the Khmer Rouge and Lon Nol government to the east of us.
Back in Battambong before we left, the Khmer Rouge insurgents
would shell into the city from their hideouts. Their aim was to damage
the airport. But the rockets landed wherever they fell. When this happened
we took refuged in our bomb shelter, hoping and praying that one
would not land on us. The shelling was always done in the night time.

The enemies blended themselves with the common villagers during
the day and did their damage in the night. I've seen people with blown-off
limbs and their lives hanging in the balance as they made their
escape toward Battambong. Once the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom
Penh, all hope was gone. Battambong was their next target and that meant
us.They made their conquest from east to west. Toward the western
border is more forest for a better chance of escape before the forest
was riddled with land mines later on, when they tried to cut people off from
reaching Thailand.

Each family was given weapons to protect themselves. The weapons I
assumed came from the U.S side. Before we were defeated, men were
assigned to patrol at night for enemies running loose among us. Fights
did break out during the nights. Flares would light up the night sky to
help rout out the enemies. I used an M-16 and tried to bring down a dove.
I missed the bird and I hope I hit a KR beyond the target. I think he's
the one that killed my girlfriend with whom I was in love back then.

Yes, seeing planes dropping bombs supposedly on the enemies was
almost a daily occurance. Bombers would take off from the Battambong
airport headed toward their target which was not far away. I could see
them diving to release their payloads and hear the rumble and see the
smoke rising in the distance. I remember thinking to myself while out
there planting rice, 'What is the use to continue planting if the war is just
beyond the fence? Our effort will all be for loss anyway.'

I was fascinated about airplanes. Seeing those fighters flying in
formation and splitting off before landing was some show to watch.
Yet with air power that we had, we failed to stop the opposing force.
Many lives suffered and died from the ruthless enemy called Khmer
Rouge (Red Khmer). They held the Communist view ideology.
After they took control of the country, the light kind of went out in
Cambodia. Four years of silence to the outside world. What were
they up to? Do you want to know? See the movie called The Killing
Fields. That is a good starting point.

Cambodia past history

Life at Oddar Meanchey

Oddar Meanchey is a province. There is a good sized lake for
people to cool off during the heat of the day. We were not close to
the lake, maybe 2 miles away. Once in awhile we took a leisure
drive to town to see the lake.

Since Oddar Meanchey is close to Thai boarder, I assume there
were trade goods coming in and going out. The farm was situated
that I could see traffic coming and going. Just a note: houses are not
built on stilts, because we are not near the flood plain. Still they may
be elevated to keep the domestic animals and snakes out. The complex
apartment of ours was not elevated.

My duties here were to protect the farm produce from thieves
during the day time. During the night they can help themselves.
I was too young to cut down trees and put them in the fire. I did some
burning with what was available to burn. Most of the time I was alone. I did
handle customers who came to buy potatoes. The distance from home
to the farm is somewhere between 3 and 5 miles. A road runs along the property
for easy access that connected to the road that leads to Thailand. I either
walked or biked. Once in awhile I would take what we call a 'molad.' It's
a bike with a motor. I think I ended up pedaling it instead of letting the motor
propel me forward. I must have choked it to death, because it would not
run for me. What did I know about small engines? And it was harder to
to pedal on the deep powder clay road.

My other duty was to massage the body and legs of this head man
that we lived under. From what I remember of him he looked too much
like a French man with sharp big nose. I got along with every one. They
never mistreated me in anyway. I think my brothers would have been
envious of my status of life with these people. I was a willing 'servant.'

The beginning of the journey

If you have read my story from the beginning, you would
remember that I mentioned how my journey had its beginning
when the last daughter of my aunt got married. Her name is
Seoung Veoung. She married a man named Oun Iem. The
marriage was arranged by the parents. That was how marriage
was usually done.

I think that was the only wedding I had ever been to, because it was
unavoidable. There was a live band and plenty of food and drinks
to last through the day and night. I didn't get to dance because I was shy.
For what I know about Cambodian weddings is that the whole
village basically came. OK, maybe I'm exagerating, but it appeared
that way.

Oun Iem was a military man of some of some sort. There were
at least three factions within the Cambodian political arena. I have
no idea which one he belonged to. He was from a station up west
near Thailand boarder. I consulted the map and saw that there are two
places that sound similar. One is Banteay Meanchey and the second
is Oddar Meanchey. I think we were at Oddar Meanchey. It has an
airport for faster access to this remote place.
Otherwise we got there by dirt roads through the jungle.
It was an adventure for me. I always wanted to go into the jungle
when I was young.

Seoung Veoung need to relocate to this place after her marriage
to Oun Iem. He was with a military group stationed here at Oddar
Meanchey, living in an apartment complex with four other families.

The head leader of this military group was in need of someone
who was capable of looking after a plantation that had been
established there. Maybe it is more proper to say it was farm
land that needed to be cultivated and cleared off by slash and burn.
There were root potatoes already planted and harvestable
when I came on the scene.

Oun lem asked for one of her brothers to come with her, but they were
busy in their schooling. So they must have asked me if I would like
to come along and be that helper that they had need of. I don't
think I hesitated a minute to go. This was my chance for getting
away from my family. I assume that they did let my folks know later
of my departure to go live with these people that I never knew
before. All of these events were an adventure for me. Going back
to my family was never a concern for me. I don't know if they were
concerned for my welfare. I was in good hands with these people.
When it came time to leave, Seoung Veoung and I were planning
on boarding a plane in Battambong and flying into Oddar Meachey
without her husband. He was planning to come later with a military
caravan through the jungle dirt roads. But something happened, I
know not what. We missed the flight or there was no flight as was
thought, so we had to travel with the caravan after all.

While we were waiting for our departure, the caravan was
gathering the neccessary supplies to put onboard the trucks to
make this trek through the jungle. We pulled our roots from our home
turf and moved from place to place, living some in Battambong.
This was in the city and some other outlying areas. This was beyond
my wildest dream, if I had one back then. I got to ride in a car!
Remember, I was just a poor fellow with limited education. Status
is very important in Cambodian culture. And here I was tagging along
with prominent people of higher class.

After about one week or more, moving from one place to the next,
we started our long awaited journey through the jungle, heading
to our destination. There were at least 10 trucks with canvas cover
traveling together, carrying supplies and I assume weapons also.
The trip was not boring. I took in every sight and sound. I was looking
for monkeys and wild tigers. I can't remember of seeing any, especially
monkeys. There were people living along the route in these remote
places away from civilization. We had some challenges of crossing
river bottoms without getting stuck. It took us two days to reach our
destination. I wish I could remember more in detail to make a better
story. But it was an adventure I'll never forget. I would love to make that
trek again if possible in the near future. I think I was the only boy and
Seoung was the only woman onboard.

Where do all the fish come from?

In Cambodia there is a big lake called Tonle Sap Lake. It flows
into the Mekong River. During the dry season the lake could get
very low. And those who live on the lake by means of house
boats would literally get stuck in the mud.

A natural phenomenon happens every year during spring
time. The Mekong River has it beginning in China.
As the snow melts off the mountain tops in the colder climate
areas, it feeds into the Mekong River as it flows down south
toward the China Sea. As it reaches the Delta area in South
Vietnam, the water becomes congested (bottled up).
It starts flowing backwards up the Mekong River and into
the Tonle Sap River into the Tonle Sap Lake. The lake would
expand 6-10 times its size and flood all the low-lying areas.

This is what brought the freshwater fish up the river into the
Tonle Sap Lake, making it the only lake in the
world teaming with freshwater fish from South China Sea.

Since I was not too far from the lake, we would have been
part of the low lying area covered by water during this
natural occurance. All the rivers that empty into the lake
during this time will receive her blessing of water and fish
as it makes its course up the river. Most rivers will be dry until
this happens. I assume this; I could be wrong. I lived near a river
both at my father's place and my aunt's place.
I know they go dry, except for ponds in the middle of the river.
And it is no fun to ford a raging river.

Divine mystery

I'm moved to write because I am certain that a 'divine' power was
working in my life even though I didn't realize it back then. Now, as
a believer in Jesus Christ (Yeshua HaMasiah), I give him honor
for showing me his lovingkindness and tender mercy by forgiving
me of all my sins.

By the space of two years

I think that it was about two years of living off and on with my aunt's
family as my second home. I don't recall having to be spanked
for misbehavior. Maybe none of my cousins ever got a licking
from their parents at all. I'll ask them when I get to Cambodia.

I did a lot more fishing and hunting while living with my family compared to
my cousin's place. They were more into pursuing education than fishing
and hunting like my family did. And growing fruits and vegetables was
their main livelihood. I did some fishing and trapping while living with them.

I was more an 'expert' when it came to hunting and fishing. I made fish
traps by digging a hole into the river bank vertically, devising a trigger
mechanism to a trap door made out of plank wood, that when the fish
is inside the hole it would trip the trigger and trap it inside. The top
is covered with flat boards and camouflage so the fish would feel safe
if it wants to go in looking for a safe place to lay its eggs. But sorry to
say, I don't think I had much success in that river that I was trapping.

We did go on fish hunts during the night when it is raining hard or after
it had rained. That was when fish would come out of the main river and large
ponds, migrating to wherever think they are going and exposing themselves
to predators like me and my cousins. Most of the time the species of
fish are smaller fish, like catfish and a fish similar to bluegill and
other kinds that I can't name.

Frog hunting is also common. During the rainy season, frogs seem to
come out of the ground. Of course, it is mating season, and the nights
are filled with their love songs, just like springtime in America in the
Northern region of the country. We Cambodians eat most of the frog,
not just the legs. Same thing with fish: we pick it to the bone and very little
goes to waste.

My aunt's family are religious people, so we took time to go to temple
and offered appropiate offerings at the appointed time.

Learning to ride bike

This is where I learned how to ride a bicycle. I didn't have
training wheels; nobody did. By using the natural slope from
the house to the river bank I would coast down and try to
balance without having to peddle. There is a road that runs
parallel with the river edge, I suppose to make a turn without
ending down at the bottom of the river. In this case, the river was
dry, because that's where I ended up many times.

After I harnessed the skill that was needed to ride a bike, I had
many adventures with my cousins and friends on trips to different
villages and temples in the regional areas. This would be during
the dry season. I had so much fun just going riding, but I hate dogs
coming after my legs. Who doesn't?

I was the only one out of my family that knew how to ride a bike
at the time, and we didn't have a bike of our own. I remember
riding home from my aunt's place by myself on a paved
road part way and then turning off onto dirt roads. I made it home
ok without a monkey jumping on my back along the way. It was
scary not really knowing if I could find my way there. I'm not sure
how I made my return trip. Might have been by cross country walking
the bike back, or by train with the bike going a different route.

Flavor drink for my aunt

I really liked living with my aunt's family. I felt at home. None of her
family members ever gave me a hard time as in harassing me to
leave. I was her special "servant" when it came to a certain flavor
of drink that her children wouldn't want to get for her. When she was
under its influence, they didn't like her behavior. I was a willing
agent to get it for her from a nearby merchant. No wonder she
didn't mind having me around.

Every time I went back to my own family, I always went with a $20
bill with me. That meant a lot in those days. Now, I can't recall if
that money was for me or for my parents. I know I dreaded having
to go back to my own home. Now I know I was destined to be up-
rooted from my own country.

My aunt was what I would consider a 'merchant' woman. History
tells me that Cambodian women are in charge of business affairs.
At the market place a person won't find many male merchants.
Unless it is something pertaining to machinery of sort.

They had fruit and vegetable farms that I helped to tend in
season. That would include planting rice. There was no lack
of work for sure. I don't think I complained much about having to help.

I can't remember if any of my other brothers ever came to stay
with them. They might have came only to escort me back home.
I was never homesick. Life was better there with my aunt's
family. All my needs were met. And I got to go into Battambong
once before the country was over-thrown by the Khmer Rouge.
Being in Battambong was a big deal to a country boy.

Hold it. I was in Battambong before this, with my whole family
and other people from our village, to a celebration of fire works.
It was awsome. I never saw anything like that before. But we
didn't stay, we traveled back home in the dark after the event.
I believe we hitched oxen to a cart wagon to take us there
and back, being that it was night and long distance. I'm sure
most of the young ones were asleep on the return trip.

I can still hear the singing of the shaft on the cart wagon created by
friction from wood rubbing on wood under the heavy load.
Beeswax was applied to help eliminate this 'whinning'. But actually,
it has a musical tone to it. Better than hip hop and rap...

Culture and Arts

I will stick a video in between posts to give you readers a
little more of Cambodian culture and arts. The video below
is about young Khmer girls doing their 'girls' only dance.
Enjoy the show!

Touch SreyNich--Neary JeaJour

Enjoying life at my aunt's place

My aunt had many children like my father. The two youngest boys
were about my age. And we got along just great. All her children
were required to attend school. At the time I was staying with them,
some of the older ones had gotten married. But four were still at
home: one girl and three boys. The girl got married and....a new
chapter of my life started right after this change in her life.

Though I went to school at my own village, I was not attending classes
with any of my cousins. They reinforced my learning when they
would do their multiplication tables out loud or the alphabet letters
and spelling out words. Ha, I didn't have to have a spanking if I didn't
do it right. I'm about sure that they played teacher on me and would
love to give me a spanking for mistakes I made. This was the norm of
correction I would receive when attending school. No wonder I didn't
like school. Boy, don't they need this kind of discipline in American
schools today?

Resources were limited for schooling. I don't think there was such a
thing as the library. Maybe in the inner city schools, they may have
more books to take home to read and a library. This would include
the school that my cousins were attending, since they were at the
outskirts of Battambong.

A way from home

There were not many relations that I could relate to,
only one aunt. And it was through this one aunt that 'A Journey Beyond
The Sea' began.

My aunt and her family were well to do people. They lived in a
modern house with tin roof and concrete foundation, but still built
on stilts for high waters during the flooding season, being near
a river.

We lived far apart--far apart being 8-10 miles away from each other.
They had bicycles and motorcycles and we had none. Having a
bicycle and a motorcycle back then was considered "class" in
transportation, compared to walking.

Now from the beginning of my journey, I never gave the location that I
came from in Cambodia. For those who may be Khmer,
I was from O Sa Louv. Whether that is a "Poom or Village" you decide.
My aunt's family was from near Battambong outlying area. Just a
matter of a few miles to the city. Battambong is the second largest
city and Phnom Penh is the largest.

The good side of my father

I don't remember much of his good side, though I'm sure there
were plenty of examples. But I will at least mention two of them
to show that he was not all mean. I'm referring to his spanking.

1. I was sick unto death once. He did all he could to make sure
I would recover and not succumb to the wishes of the disease.
We have one family member who died from drinking kerosene.
He was just a young baby at the time.

2. As the war progressed, people were being displaced from their
homes and villages. He allowed a family to stay with us that
had two daughters, and I fell in love with one. You bet I kissed
her and that was the last kiss too.
I remember distinctly that there wasn’t enough rice to go around
and how were we going to feed them all? But somehow we
managed to scrape by. I will write more about the war later on.

I will add the third one also. Being that we are Buddhists, my father
would often have a feast for the monks to come to our place--
maybe once a year. We fed them in hope of a favor in
return that we would receive a blessing from them when they
blessed us by their prayers and chanting and sprinkling of holy
water, or blessed water. This is a Buddhist thing to do, hoping
to earn good merits for the next life. Maybe I'm wrong on this
assumption, but that is my interpretation of it.

The rod of my father's wrath

Even though I got along with my brothers, somehow I felt
like my mother didn't love me. I guess you can say it was
sibling jealousy. I tried to win more of her love. She was not
unkind to me in any way at all. I will share more about this
and the dream I had about this matter when I got to Thailand.

But I still liked my mother better than my father,
because she didn’t give a harsh spanking like my father.
My father knew how to give a whipping. Every time I got a
whipping, there seemed to be no mercy left from his heart.
Mother was helpless to intervene. Maybe she thought I deserved it.

I think this might have been the stigma that caused me not to want
to live at home. I don't think my father hated me at all. Just
when he spanked any of us, he did it with all his might and that
frightened the life out of us. I learned how to be swift footed.
Hey, when a lion roars, who wouldn't be afraid?

During my growing up years

During my growing up years, which was about 12
years in Cambodia, I had a lot of fun with my
brothers and friends. I miss them very much now.
We didn't have modern toys to play with. We invented
our own games and used our own imaginations to
entertain ourselves. Of course, we got into mischief
too.

Swimming comes naturally for most Asian boys. Swim
or get drowned because of the monsoon rain. Most, if not
all houses are built on stilts because of this reason.
We play games in water. A favorite one is Keep Away.
Since the water is muddy, it is hard to be seen from
surface when trying to get away, unless one kicks up
mud on the bottom and bubbles rise to the top, that
is a dead give away. But speed does count by revealing
your flight path.

Too many times we allowed ourselves to play to the
point of exhaustion, and I nearly drowned a few times.
One time I misjudged and tried to surface under heavy
vegetation and couldn't break through to get air for my
lungs. I think my lungs got expanded from that scary
incident. I had to back-track and guess my way out with
what was left of air capacity, hopefully before being drowned.
Thankfully, I my guess was correct.

My birth place and family

I was born in Cambodia to a family of 7 siblings. I am the third male
child and I have four other siblings below me, the last one being a
sister. We were a peasant people living off the land. I had some
education and learned how to read and write before I had to leave my
country. Since it was not my priority to be educated, I dodged school
by hiding and playing in the rice paddy. I think I might have gotten
the whipping for such behavior.

My family lived right next door to a monastery complex. Matter of
fact, we were the East gate keepers, if you will. Since Cambodia is
predominately Buddhists, every festivity that took place at the
complex seldom missed my entry and enjoyment.