I've often heard Cambodia referred to as the "Land of Smiles," but I'm sure it's not the only country which has been given this moniker.
🤷♂️ No Matter The Circumstance 😂
Surely Cambodia can't be the only country to lay claim to this title, but I just want to use this post to explain why I think Cambodia has received this reputation. In the wake of the Khmer Rouge genocide, Cambodia's economy is growing rapidly and it's an economy of very young people full of new opportunities.
I also think Cambodians of all ages understand the value of time and its irreplaceability. During my more than 10 years in this country, I was shocked at the amount of time people give to each other. Family and friendships are everything, and I only wish my life in the USA had been filled with so much social interaction. Life in the west is too much about money and the self, and I feel that vibe even here in Suriname.
This picture was taken way too late at night with my friend Sokhom, the man that landed me my first paid job in Cambodia. He is still good friends with me to this day, and on the night this picture was taken we had maybe smoked plenty of the "happy stuff," as is revealed in my friend's eyes. It was a weeknight and workday for us both, but we hadn't seen each other in ages, so we made it a point to get together.
This is a picture of some friends from Siem Reap that own a restaurant in Old Market, one of the busiest spaces in town. They work 16-hour days but made time to hang out a bit with me before heading off to a wedding party several hours away. Cambodians just know how to be socially and emotionally available, a skill (in my opinion) lost in the western world.
The recurring theme when I scroll through old Cambodian photos are the genuine smiles. The above photo is four of my in-laws on the right and two friends from Indonesia that came to visit for four months. Our Indonesian friends were leaving the country so we all took the time to escort them to the bus and make them feel special on their last day.
Being silly is very important, and the above photo was taken after I had only been in the country around 6 months. I managed to arrange a very good deal with guesthouse owner, and in exchange for nearly free rent, I assisted him once or twice a week with downloading apps to his new iPhone and setting up accounts and usernames. The staff got to know me pretty well and we always engaged in general tomfoolery.
These smiles were captured in Phonm Penh at one of our favorite restaurants, Sumatra. It's an Indonesian restaurant, but the owner(s) have lived in Cambodia many years and speak pretty good Khmer, so that makes social interaction with the family a little easier. As fellow chefs we highly recommend this restaurant if you're ever in Phnom Penh.
Here are some more smiles from one of our many health conscious brown rice customers. We used to buy 150kg+ of brown rice from a special farm on the other side of the country, then break it into smaller bags for local delivery. Brown rice is still catching on in Cambodia, it's very much a niche product, and the many mills have hard time producing the right finish. Anyhow, when hand-delivering 5kg of rice turns into a one-hour hangout, it can't really be called work.
A much younger Srey-Yuu and Monkey-B can be seen with some family members on a trip to Takeo in the countryside of Cambodia. Monkey-B is the "Queen of Smiles" as usual, and I love that matching pajama suits are perfectly acceptable daytime clothing in Cambodia. How could you not smile knowing you live in a country where you can ride a moto to the market to buy some fish while wearing high-heels and a pajama suit? Some trendy bars and restaurants in Phonm Penh are now beginning to specifically ban pajama suit......let that sink in.
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