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)