no internet

so internet has not been very accessible so far and my computer broke on the trip from japan to here... boo. I was planning on just writing a bunch of posts and copy pasting them to my bloggie, but that won't be happening any time soo... so sorry for not being the best at doing this blog thing... besides that, i have been pretty busy with language classes and training and nothing too exciting has happened... i will start a journal and add to the blog whenever something i think you might like to read happens... otherwise keep your chins held high... and email me if you feel like it... also my town that i'm going to doesn't have internet either and so i will only get it if i go somewhere that does have it... later gators.

Made it

I made it. I haven't prepared a post yet and i'm not sure what to write in the short amount of time that i have... so let's just say that it's good. Ít's hot. Khmer is fun. I'm sweaty. People are nice. Other PC people are fun.

Soon we will be splitting up into 3 smaller groups, but for the last few days we have all been together so it has been nice to be around everyone before we go off on our own. Everyone seems to have some talent except for me... so note to self, take music/ art lessons when i get home.

we have been staying in a guesthouse while the national elections are taking place, they happened yesterday and everything seems to have gone smoothly. In the next few days we will be getting bikes and moving in with our host families! so until i write again... take care...

Countdown

The countdown has begun. I only have two more nights at home and I still feel like there is so much to do! But I have done as much as I can as far as preparing... if I try to do any more I will lose my mind.

Also, after about five years, my phone finally died. It gave a good run in its last few days and I will always remember it fondly. I'm sorry if I didn't get some of your phone calls telling me goodbye... I know that there were probably millions of well wishes... but know that I appreciate the effort. To be honest, it was nice to have some seclusion from the world.

Thanks to everyone who took time out of their day to meet me for lunch, dinner, drinks, etc... I really want to let everyone who went out of their way for me that it really meant a lot to be able to see you before I go... and to all of you who didn't! Shame on you... just kidding. Life gets pretty crazy and so you'll have to pencil me into your calendars for two years from now.

Now I'm going to my reflexology appointment.

Until later.

Getting ready

So, Shirin told me to update my blog...

Right now, I am trying to get a good idea about what I want to bring. I think that less will probably be better because I figure I'll be able to buy whatever I really need when I get to Cambodia. When I went to Korea, I took two large suitcases and one travel back-pack... that was okay... but I ended up not even touching half the stuff until it was time to pack up and send it home. So I think that this time I will only bring what I will need for the first four months... and then once I get an idea about what I need, I'll buy it or have you send me it from the States... thanks in advance.

Books... I think that I will be reading alot over there... or at least I hope so. When I come home you all will be so impressed about how smart I've become. That's my goal. So if you ever want to mail me a book... feel free! Or send any little note telling me that you care...

PCT Emily Olson
P.O. Box 2453
Phnom Penh
Cambodia

Games... I kinda want to bring travel scrabble... so if anyone has that and wants to get rid of it... send it my way.

What else... oh, and I will be teaching English there... I believe to high school kids. But actually, I'll wait to write about what I'm going to be doing, because who knows... it could change. Alright.

Pretty boring stuff I'm sure... but still it's something.

I'm going once again...

It was funny. When I was nominated to go to Central Asia in August, I did a lot of reading on the Internet about other people's experiences with applying to the Peace Corps. The common theme from people who were giving advice to people who were nominated was to not think that if you were nominated somewhere that that's where you would end up. I thought that some people's destinations and times might change, but i was pretty confident that mine would not. Well, after submitting my medical forms and getting cleared, my placement officer called and told me that he thought that there was a better fit for me but that it left a few weeks earlier than the original program i was up for... well when i called him back to get more info, he told me that it this new program was leaving on July 20th (my bday) for SE Asia. I gave it an hour of thought, then I called him back to say that I'd do it. My dad had helped me make my decision too... I think that the idea of visiting Cambodia at Christmas was a little more appealing to him than Kazakhstan. So I am now going to Cambodia. I leave Seattle on July 19th for San Francisco... then off on the 21st to this new place...

This will be good. In November, when I was visiting Cambodia after Korea... I had thought that it would be so awesome to do the peace corps there. I remember getting onto the Internet just to see if they had a program there... they did! I kept it in the back of my mind but I wanted to leave all my options open when it came time to applying and just go wherever they needed me...

Cambodia was my favorite part of my trip in SE Asia, so I am just grateful to have the chance to go back... I always knew that I would because after all... I have to re-take all those pictures I lost. I'm still a little mad about that... but it worked out in the end.