10 people, 1 bathroom plus Christmas photos

It can be hard to stay healthy in a household of ten!

With family in various towns, states and outside Australia we don't get to see our siblings and parents very often, but this Christmas we (aussie side of family) were all in the same place. Lots of coughing, some vomiting and fevers. My sore throat was pretty vicious for a few days but now has scaled down to coughing fits, easier to sleep and eat now which is a relief!

Haven't seen Soeun for over 5 weeks now, but he connected to the internet this week so we were able to skype which was nice.

moving out/moving in and visiting parents

In the last 6 days...

... I moved out of our Sydney accommodation, after downsizing 2 years worth of stuff to 23.8 kg. It was weird closing the door for the last time

... Soeun started to move in to our new Cambodia accommodation, he signed a contract for a place for us to rent in Cambodia!!

...we both travelled north to visit our parents, after being in Cambodia for a few weeks he was feeling well enough to see his mum, and this time of year is when my siblings visit my parents, so a good time to see everyone before I leave for Khmer land.

things i think i'll miss from aust/ things i'm looking fwd to

miss from aust:
footpaths, Medicare, food, libraries, friends, church, parks, being able to go for walks (weather/space on footpath)
looking fwd to in khmer:
hopefully having a happy healthy hubby and feeling at home

transition continues

So, I've been sort of living out of a bag for about a month now, and I finished up my regular activities even longer ago, but this weekend I actually left where we were living over the last 2 years. The last week I got rid of so much stuff, I've been culling for more than a month, but even more severely in the last few days. At the end of packing there is always more stuff......

It was fun to find a "To do" list I wrote back in August. It was a list of stuff I needed to get done before I left for Cambodia. It was nice to see that I had pretty much done everything or on track to get it done soon. It was encouraging to see this in the midst of packing and moving, as it felt like I was never going to get it done (and in fact I did run out of time to clean properly, and I was still taking things out of my suitcase on the last day).

Last Sunday I said good bye to people at church. During the week some people from church helped me in various ways so there were a few goodbyes throughout the week as well.

Now I'm further north, where its hotter and I had to change the time on my phone, not actually in Cambodia yet, but a step closer.

endings, beginnings

Last Bible study group night

 What an exhausting weekend! Friday night was so fun, our last Bible study group meeting for the year, and my last one. We lit some sparklers to go on the cakes, and sang happy birthday. Once the sparkler smoke reached the ceiling the whole house joined in the chorus and people had to run around and calm down the smoke detectors.  After that we played a game that involved stealing and slumber nets, and I learnt a new word for a thing you use to scrub yourself but I can't remember what it was.

Last Sydney meal- Vietnames food

 Sunday morning was my last Sunday at church, thankfully we already had our formal ending things earlier. It was nice to enjoy my last service and say goodbye to people. We've felt very cared for the last 2 years, and people have been really supportive helping us get ready to go.

Construction in Phnom Penh, June 2010

 Recently we have started to think about finding a place to live in Phnom Penh.I emailed and expat who already lives there and mentioned that we were hoping to find somewhere that didn't have too much construction noise. I actually would prefer NO construction noise but I thought that might be a bit too unrealistic. This was her response:

"Not too much construction noise? Good luck with that one.  It's happening everywhere and we've had construction activity on all four sides of our house now. "

Moving the poles, after they built the houses too close. (i think)

Visiting supporting church in nth NSW

 Its a weird experience  being part of a church for just a week and a half. I went to all 4 church services on Sunday and each day I've been going to different Bible study groups from various congregations.
 Even though i'm only here for a short time, as its so intense I feel like I've connected with a lot of people and feel like I know a lot of the things that are happening here. The church-wide issues and events get mentioned not only on Sunday from the front but in each Bible study group as people chat and pray. Its a privilege to visit groups and be part of peoples lives for a short time. Actually we have been part of their lives over the years in various ways, but this week I'm are actually here in person..

Most of the groups I visited this time around I did an activity that involved them listening to me speak Khmer and dressing up in Cambodian scarves! This was an opportunity for me to get a photo of the group. I also did the memory matching game , but with some new Khmer trivia this time. After that I told the watering can story, with the help of a borrowed watering can and a power point pres.
For some groups that took up most of the evening/afternoon, others also did their Bible study. Most groups seem to be doing 1 Thess in synch with the sermons, others are KYB groups.

Lots of meals with people. yesterday and today lunch with KYB groups and folded serviettes (see photos).


Re met a girl who remembers me as her sunday school teacher (she's a grown up now!!). I've met some new people, some people I think I knew from when I was school age, or they knew me or my family from back then, some people I re met after only meeting them on my last 2 visits (July 2011, July 2010). I also saw lots of familiar faces at church but didn't have time to say hi to everyone.

hills hoist

When I was growing up I used a hills hoist weekly, but now its a novelty!

Spring time in SE QLD/Nthn NSW

 The last 2 years we keep having to change our plans, sometimes its been easier not to make any! Lots of our friends and family have had to cope with all these last min changes, and the times we don't make plans.
We recently just had another change, so the roller coaster continues.

A bit like the weather in SE Qld/Nth NSW these days. Weird darkness, hail that may have wrecked solar panels, storms that disturb sleep and mean a church service has no light or sound system. And today looks sunny, feels like it will be hot.

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Living out of a bag starts now!

I've been sorting out clothes for awhile, but it wasn't until today that our room started looking like this. All our big bags are on the floor and open, along with some plastic tubs and garbage bags.

the last 4 weeks

Over the last 4 weeks I've been visiting Bible study groups of our church in Sydney and sharing about Cambodia, its been really encouraging to meet with people who want to pray for us and who are interested to know about Cambodia. We've also have a few other events, a service at church yesterday, and the last 2 Saturdays we had people over. One of the Saturday events was a big group thing where we did some Cambodia related games and presentation, the other was more intimate, we invited 3 of our old housemates over to catch up. Its weird seeing people who we used to live with but haven't had much to do with since 2005/2006!
Next week we'll be doing similar things but in a different town!
Apart from this I've mostly been sorting and chucking stuff to get ready to move.
Soeun has withdrawn from his study and now is sick full time, I've finished up and work and I'm-getting-ready-to-go-back-to-Cambodia full time.

Bible study group visits

Over the past few weeks I have been visiting some of our churches Bible study groups. I've been doing some activities that are hopefully fun and teach people about Cambodia, as well as sharing a bit about the needs of the church there.

It has been so encouraging to spend time with people who are part of our supporting church, and to be prayed for.

I've got one more tonight, then tomorrow we have other friends coming over to hear about Cambodia as well.

Prince of light, prince of darkness dies

Unfortunately we're not in Cambodia so I can't blog about this historic event myself, so i'll just have to be content with links to another blog and a newsy type blog with lots of photos.

good days are bad

Good days in the middle of chronic illness remind me of people who smile at you but don't mean it. At the time it seems good and nice but looking back you realise you've been deceived.

Soeun feels long overdue to leave Aust, we're only still here because sometimes things seem ok, so we think maybe it will get better around the corner. But now it feels like being in this situation for so long is making things worse. All the way along we have been wondering "are things too hard, should we change, or keep persevering?"

hello? hello?

With no postal system, no access to internet or land line phone the only way we can reach our Khmer family is by mobile phone. It can take days!

 Over the last five years or so it seems there have been so many new companies popping up. Our Khmer friends and family regularlly change their phone numbers , I think sometimes it might be cheaper to buy a new SIM that put credit on your exisiting one, or maybe when they see a better deal they go for it. So with people changing numbers it can be hard to get hold of them, we often don't have their most recent number.

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enjoying trains

 After an unplanned trip to Cambodia Soeun has been feeling healthy, and we are excited about making new plans. However he still needs to some how concentrate on The Last Four Essays while struggling with the approaching Dizzy Monster.

exciting FOCUS time

The last 6 weeks Soeun has been away, although it was an unplanned trip actually turned out to be good timing for me. At work its been so busy and exciting!

It started with the beginning of semester two when we met some of the new international students who have just started study, then there was the flurry of getting small groups up and running as well as our weekly all-in meeting. Almost as soon as semester started we had a weekend away, 40 plus people spent a cold but happy weekend hearing talks from the book of Jonah. My favourite thing about it was hearing the Christian students chat about their faith with each other and with the non Christian students who came.

After the weekend away our weekly all in meeting seemed to have an extra buzz, and more people. During the actual meeting there were more people, and dinner afterwards, which had been around 5 ish some weeks suddenly became around 15!

Next we had a special invite- your-friend meeting which turned out to be HUGE! We had a party sort of atmosphere, a talk with lots of props and free food while we chatted to visitors about Jesus.

phew! almost too much excitement, but the semester continues

rice paddy fun- there's more than one way to catch a fish

 When Soeun was growing up he caught various kinds of protein to eat, so many things live in rice paddies! He recently had the opportunity to re live this bit of his childhood. He has a "groma" around his waist to put the fish in once he catches them.

Got it!

breaking out of the cycle!!!

Soeun is spending some time in Cambodia. It wasn't a planned trip, but the side effects of chronic illness got too much for us, the disappointments and frustrations. It felt like it was useless- even destructive to go on how we were. So we are feeling relieved he can have some time getting healthy, and that we are making new plans.

green in the city

Something we like about Sydney is that there are parks, even in the city!

being absent means it feels like he is more present

 Just talked to Soeun on the phone, it was raining heavily so he couldn't talk for long. Today he has been picking fruit and eating it. This huge yellow citrus fruit looks sort of like a grapefruit but tastes different, and the skin is heaps thicker.

Over the last year and half Soeun has been sick most of the time, often feels like he's not really here. He doesn't seem like the person used to know. A friend asked me the other day how I was coping with him being away. He said something like his wife would find it hard if he was away for so long.

I actually feel like I don't cope very well with his absence, but him being in Cambodia actually means he feels more present as he is healthy and can do stuff like laugh, ride motos and he is even preaching tomorrow.

So these weeks while he is away I'm feeling ok, it was the 1.5 years before that when it was hard, when he was really absent.

a wedding

 It was interesting to watch the girls in the bridal party become teary while most of the rest of us just sat there blankly. The speech was in Korean so most of us couldn't understand it until someone read out an English version.

I think all of the weddings we've been invited to this year are between a  white Aussie  and an Asian, mostly some variety of Chinese. So this Aussie/Korean was a bit different! It was also interesting as it was the first wedding to be held in the new church building, so there were some engaged people there taking notes.

Also fun for me, as I got to see lots of old friends. The groom is someone who was in first year uni and at the same church as me so lot of people I used to see back in those days were there, as well as current church friends.

If only Soeun had been here, he would have loved eating the kimchi!

Social interactions, illness, isolation and other frustration

Well the title says it all, and sums up the last year and a half for us. We’ve discovered there are so many ways a chronic illness impacts life.

I've been to the airport so many times in the last 1.5 years, this last time was so foggy!

When we first arrived in Australia and people started inviting us to things, it became to frustrating and disappointing. We would say “yes” to an invitation but on the day Soeun would be sick so I would end up going by myself, or not going at all.

As a few one-offs thats kind of ok, but when it become a general pattern it makes life hard. Not being able to keep commitments, not being able to show people they are important to us by spending time with them.

So it’s easier not to make plans, then we don’t have the disappointment of breaking them. Which means when people invited us to things we are sometimes in a tricky position.

And it’s not just going out, it feel likes it’s in every part of our life. Often Soeun does have good days or weeks which give us a break, but then the disappointment and frustration that comes when it’s over feels worse each time.

Recently we have been trying some different things to cope with it. A few people have wanted to meet us and talk to us, so we invited them to meet us on at the Bible school we live at. That meant whether Soeun was sick of not I would get to see them, Soeun had freedom on the day to stay inside the whole time or part of the time depending on his health.

If you look carefully you might be able to see Soeun

 Once he was ok on the day, another time he was too sick to come out at all, another time he just came out for a bit.

But the frustrations and disappointments seem to be running our life to the point of it feeling like its not productive to keep going with what we are doing, so time to make some changes!

We are sad about all the things we’ve missed but happy to be making new plans.

eek, no internet

Early morning fog last week

 Until this year I wasn't used to using internet at home- but now I'm so used to it a week without it feels like a long time. I use it to contact family, friends and need it for work, so finding it hard not having a connection at home. In Cambodia I had to ride 20 min on my bike to get to an internet cafe, I had a note book to keep track of the jobs I needed to get done while there, and my memory stick load with the things I need to upload, and space for the emails and things I would be downloading to read at home.

The FOCUS group I'm part of recently had a lunch to welcome new international students!