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!

disease

Over the last little while I've been reading that there was some strange new disease in Cambodia and heaps of kids were getting sick and dying. Later on some sites (like cnn, see below) said that it might be because of the use of steroids in treatment, while others said other things. The  other day a friend in PP rang me, and she said her son had a fever , and it was that new weird disease. I just read they are closing schools now?

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012071857488/National-news/cambodia-closes-schools-amid-virus-panic.html

our room

Nice happy coloured things at home

This year has been easier than last year for lots of reasons- December last year a doctor gave Soeun a diagnosis for his sickness, and a medicine. Another reason is we changed accommodation. I'm really enjoying our "everything" room- we have our wardrobe, sofa, kettle and rice cooker all in the one room. Its so nice to have a place to relax- I love sitting on the sofa or floor mat and looking our the window. Its especially nice at the moment because it has a bunch of fresh flowers a friend gave me.

Last Tuesday it was foggy!

refreshing

Yesterday Soeun had a healthy day! He was happy and energetic, seemed like he was The Real Soeun. We both really enjoyed the day, remembered what he was like before he got sick! Really thankful, it was so nice to have a break. 

But today he is unwell again :(. Disappointing, he thought he could get some study done today.

Went to the airport recently to farewell friends going back to China