I woke up in Montreal, Canada!!

As I am enjoying my fry crabs with noodle on the side for lunch, I realized I woke up in Montreal, Canada this morning!

I did not get to my friend's place until 1:30am eastern time. My flight got delay more than an hour due to the weather condition. It was good that we waited on the plane before we took off last night, especially after I heard a scary story from the person sat next to me! The native Canadian explained how he had an experience where one of the plane he was on, got hit by the thunder during a storm. It was so bad that his whole body flew up and land hard on the seat that his head got knock out and he passed out for a bit. Of course he is ok now. Great story to share before we were taking off on a storm!

My friend, the native Canadian French Cambodian has been a great host! Her mother and grandmother have been friendly and welcoming to me! They are amazed that I can speak perfect Khmer! I have been sharing my experience when I was in Cambodia while conducting my research for six months. Since they have not return back to their homeland for 30 years now, they seemed to enjoy the update and stories I shared. I was able to practice my presentation to them but in Khmer. This was a little difficult since I have been practicing in English.

The weather has not been nice to me this morning. It is actually overcast and some rainfall.

I am amazed of how my friend speaks four languages: French, Cambodian, and English & Spanish! I think most people here speak at least two or even three languages! Awesome!

Ten cups of Chinese tea later, I am ready to start my day in Montreal, Canada!

Weather Forecast: Montreal, QC

Flying to an International Conference in Montreal

As I am charging my laptop and waiting to be aboard from an hour delay flight, I am very excited to land in Montreal soil with just few hours to go!

It has been a long day of traveling. I left San Diego International Airport around 7:30am this morning. Although North Carolina is three hours ahead of California, I feel extremely tired! It is now 8:31pm eastern time and 5:31pm pacific time. Let me share with you that the entire time of traveling, I was on the go with the shape-shoes! I mean, I'm only allow the most half an hour between each flight! I honestly, thought I was going to miss my flight because they were late. Since I only have between 20 to 30 minutes to catch the next flight, I was late for this one. This is the last domestic flight before I head to Montreal, Canada! However, it got delay. So I guess it work out after all...

I have not explore Charlotte airport yet. Well I got a little rush and walk about an hour ago when I thought I was going to miss the flight. I had to run from one terminal to the next within 15 minutes! You see, I was not alone! I met a native Montreal, who happen to sat next to me from the last flight. We did not know that we are heading the same location until I saw her Canadian passport. So we rushed, ran and worried from one terminal to the next. Now, I have no idea where she is at. I guess I will see her again on the flight since we both are going to the same destination, Montreal. Boy, I gotta say, that was my work out for today! I actually miss yoga. I did not have time to practice yoga this morning. I'm a little tense. Well, I am off to checking in...Check back for an update when I land in Montreal, Canada!

International Conference in Montreal

As I am going over my one hundred pages Thesis, I realized I have less than 30 days to go before I present it at an International Conference in Montreal, Canada! Even though I had months to plan and prepare for it, I just got started! Yikes!

I have not been to Montreal. However, I heard great things about the city especially around the month of May. This is why hotels are getting so expensive! I guess as someone who just got her Master degree with no full-time job, can get a little intimidating. As I was trying to find a nice and affordable place to stay during my one week visit and present for the conference, I remembered hostel are more affordable than hotel. Even hostel are pretty pricey! I mean, for a one night in a hostel in downtown Montreal, we are looking around $56+! However, for a one night at a hotel is about $110+! Even though I bought my plane ticket to and from Montreal, I still have to figure out my lodging.....

Just my luck, I have a friend that I met while interning with the UNHCR two summer ago who is a resident from Montreal! So far, I just found out that I have a place to stay for at least most nights! For some nights, I will have to book myself for the hostels! So far, sound good...I just have to figure out transportation to and from the conference, where to eat and what to see!

Things I would love to see...

I am not a big fan of hockey but just for the fun of it, I actually would like to attend one!

Update on the International Conference: Cambodia, from then to now: Memory and plural identities in the aftermath of genocide



Montreal, Canada Here I Come!

DONALD JAMESON- Bumpy Development Road: Implications for US Interests

I am so honor that Don Jameson gave me the permission to publish his article that he wrote for the Asia Pacific Bulletin on Cambodia. This article was published March 15, 2011.

When US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Cambodia in late 2010, she told senior Cambodian government officials "this does not look like the country I have been reading about in the press." Most first-time visitors to Phnom Penh would likely react similarly. The city hosts a vibrant society, with traffic-clogged streets, a proliferation of stylish restaurants and boutiques, and buildings under construction everywhere, many of them high-rise apartments and office blocks. If the visitor were to venture outside the capital, large-scale investment in infrastructure, especially roads and bridges, with construction underway on additional projects are what greet the eye. In addition, there are extensive land clearing projects underway for new plantations to grow rubber, palm oil, cashews and other tropical products, as well as new industrial sites springing up along main transportation arteries. In short, Cambodia is clearly a country on the move economically.

Having prepared for the visit by reading recent media coverage of Cambodia, much of it carrying headlines such as "The Beleaguered Cambodians," "Cambodia's Curse," and "Country for Sale," the majority of people would probably find themselves, like Mrs. Clinton, a bit confused. Many media reports revolve around how Cambodia is plagued by rampant corruption benefiting a wealthy ruling oligarchy and their crony capitalist friends, while much of the population lives in abject poverty. There is also much coverage about widespread human rights abuses, including the confiscation of land from small landholders for investment projects, often without adequate compensation. As a result, visitors are led to anticipate a culture of impunity that protects the rich and powerful while victimizing the poor and powerless. In addition, they would expect to hear about strict limits on freedom of expression and assembly, as well as frequent intimidation of politicians, journalists, labor leaders, human rights advocates and other critics of Prime Minister Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP).

The truth is both of these contrasting visions are accurate and represent important aspects of the complex reality that is Cambodia today. In recent years, Hun Sen has consolidated power at the expense of a weak and fractured opposition and, since the 2008 election, enjoys a CPP supermajority in the National Assembly. This has allowed him to pass any legislation he desires as well as to take punitive actions, including withdrawal of parliamentary immunity from legislators who oppose him. As a consequence, Hun Sen now has virtually absolute power. He makes almost daily off-the-cuff speeches using colorful, and often demeaning, language to castigate his critics, both domestic and foreign. Additionally, he has cultivated close relations with China, Vietnam, and South Korea, which bankroll many of his development projects and provide political cover. These connections enable him to defiantly reject criticism of his authoritarian behavior by Western countries and the United Nations.

However, there is a positive side to Hun Sen's political dominance. He has imposed stability on a country that has experienced more than thirty years of turmoil and civil war. This has attracted the interest of international investors who see Cambodia as a potential new "Asian Tiger." Along with the ongoing activities of foreign aid donors and more than 2,000 non-governmental organizations, this has led to outside involvement in Cambodia on a scale unprecedented in its history. In the process, a once insular, heavily rural, and very conservative society is being transformed into an extension of the modern globalized world. It is difficult to predict where these deep social changes will eventually lead, but the old Cambodia characterized by its apparently gentle smiling people and languorous pastoral charm seems destined over time to resemble other fast-growing Asian countries. As Cambodia moves toward greater integration with the outside world, the personalized patrimonial political culture, which underlies current abusive governance practices, may gradually evolve toward a more responsive modern polity.

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Narin Jameson on Cooking and Culture in Cambodia

After arriving in the US in 1972, Narin Seng Jameson became homesick and yearned for the food of her childhood as a way to stay connected to home. After much research and persistence, she is now releasing the cookbook, “Cooking the Cambodian Way: The Intertwined Story of Cooking and Culture in Cambodia” as a way to preserve the traditional Cambodian recipes from the 1950's and 60's, the era of relative calm and peace, prior to the Khmer Rouge regime take over. She hopes the cookbook will reach young Cambodians/Americans who do not know how to cook the traditional recipes of their heritage. All proceeds of the book will go to the U.S. NGO, “Caring for Cambodia” To furthering the development of Cambodia especially in education.

Narin Seng Jameson came to the U.S. in 1972 with the hope to further her education and return to the homeland when Cambodia regains Peace, before the Khmer Rouge regime took power. She embarked on a study abroad program in Washington D.C. from the University of Phnom Penh and was able to be closer to her older sister, who was a Counselor at the Embassy of Cambodia. When Cambodia was taken over by the Maoist Khmer Rouge in 1975, it became impossible for Jameson to return home for the fifteen years under the dictator, Pol Pot.

Similar to most first year college students who study far away from home, Jameson had to learn to be independent, while simultaneously experiencing strong feelings of homesickness. She yearned for the traditional dishes that her family had made for her when growing up in Phnom Penh, because they brought back fond memories that she cherished. Jameson had memory of her childhood spent in the family kitchen and watched how the cook prepared the food and the comments made from her mother on what to add and what to reduce but no idea on how to find the ingredients as they are not available in the early 70s in the Washington metropolitan area. She decided to experiment Cambodian recipes from the 50s and 60s with the ingredients that friends and family provided to her, it was at that time she learned the substitutes of Khmer ingredients. The 50s and 60s represented Peace and Happiness in her childhood, she called it the Golden Era of Cambodia, before the war and violence in Cambodia began.

After many years of experimenting cooking while living with her sister and while living abroad as a spouse of a U.S. Foreign Service officer in different countries and entertained host dignitaries and fellow diplomats, Jameson’s interest in cooking continued and started to contribute recipes to many cookbooks that were created by different organizations she was a member of, including: the women’s association at The National War College in Washington D.C., The New Zealand Poultry Association in Wellington, and The International Cookery Group in Yangon, Myanmar. In May 1995, the Washington Post published some of her Cambodian recipes in their Food Section. She participated at the 7th Annual Asians in America Conference in NYU in 2001, Jameson has been an active board member at the Cambodian Buddhist Temple in Silver Spring, Maryland where she helps organize the education program, substitutes as a Khmer language teacher, and assists in the teaching of the Cambodian dance and Dhamma. After retiring from the World Bank Jameson becomes a consultant in the same organization.

Red Spicy Paste Recipe:


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Job Mentor; help refugees obtain their first employment in America

I have been volunteering as a Job Mentor at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) since last December (2010). As a job mentor, by far, I help new immigrants who were refugees from Thailand to find jobs in the United States, especially in the San Diego area. Within the first few weeks and months, I work closely with mentees on important tasks to get a job in America. Some of the skills I have taught are how to search for jobs online and/or in person, fill out applications online and/or print, do a follow up, and prepare for an interview. The last three months, I have been helping and providing assistance to four refugees from Burma (Myanmar). The first two Burmese, were a mother and a son. Although I was able to help the mother and son to achieve an employment, I am determined to find jobs for the newly arrived married couple who are eager to work hard for employment opportunities.

A few weeks ago, I met with Nee and Sem (made up names). They are in their mid 20s and have lived in America for about a month. Although I was surprised how thin they both are, I understand the malnourishment of refugee camps. Like my parents, Nee and Sem met in a refugee camp in Thailand. Similar to many Cambodian refugees I had interviewed, the couple has lived in Thai refugee camps for 14 years of their lives before they resettled in America. Nee arrived to the camp at age six and Sem at seven years old. The last camp they lived in is call Mae la oo in Thailand. In the camp, they received their high school diplomas. They shared with me that they learned Karen (native tongue), Burmese and Basic English along with math and science. (I am so pleased to have discovered that they had opportunities to learn while they were growing up in a refugee camp. Refugee camps today have changed and improved since I was in the camp.)

As a Job Mentor, I have to dig deep about their employment history. Although I am aware that most refugees do not work or have a job in a refugee camp, there are a few who do. I found out that both Nee and Sem worked in the camp. They were a caregiver and a youth mentor, respectively. Believe me when I say it was very hard working on their resume. I had to be creative when filling in the blanks on their resumes because their English is very limited and I do not speak Karen or Burmese. This was a challenge on both ends. It is not a surprise that there are limited IRC staff who speak the uncommon languages. I am sure within the next few years, they will have more Karen and Burmese translators. Just like any new immigrants, it is hard at first to adjust to the new country’s language and cultural barriers.

I was curious about the last camp they have lived. So I Googled “Mae la oo.” Just like that, the camp showed up. When I showed Nee and Sem the blog/website with pictures of the camp, their eyes lit up. They smiled and pointed to the screen and looked at me to make sure that I knew it was their home before America. The name of the blog is "In Burma." The blog is a great resource for me to better understand their life before arriving to San Diego, CA. I hope through learning about the camp and their background, I can better assist them in their new home in America and hopefully they both land a job soon before their terms end.

I was interested about what happens when refugees can’t find a job after their term has ended. I interviewed one of the IRC staff, Genevieve. She was happy to provide some answers. She mentioned that if they are not eligible for welfare (i.e. without children) and have not found a job at the end of their eight-month period, they would have no income. In other words, the cash aids that they received from the IRC to help them settle in America will expire. However, the IRC would continue to help them find jobs. Often what happens is those who did not find a job before their term is over, they end up depending on their family for support. In the worst case a few ended up on the street and were forced to be homeless. This is why it is very important for new immigrants to apply to as many jobs as quickly within their eight months term, so they have a better chance of obtaining a job at the end of their term.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer and helping refugees search for jobs, and follow up on job leads, you can check the IRC website: www.rescue.org/sandiego for more detailed information.

Muay Thai Kickboxing: Yenly's Workout