Life in Cambodia as a Foreigner
A few things I wish I had known before coming to Cambodia: I could say the basic things like “don’t eat the ice” or “beware of the killer heat and floods” but honestly, the most flabbergasting thing is the traffic here and the lack of road rules – they might exist, but I can assure you, they are not followed. Attempting to cross the roads in Phnom Penh is like being in a real-life game of 'Crossy Road'. The organised chaos of how vehicles swerve around each other in all sorts of directions will never cease to amaze me.
Such culture shocks leave us amused however others, not so much… An example of this is Cambodian queueing – or the lack thereof. Whoever can squeeze into the front of a queue and yell their order out first is the equivalent of ‘queuing’ here.
Despite this being said, Cambodia offers a plethora of positive things to foreigners, For instance, Mr Gary emphasised his love for the weather and blistering 35-degree heat. Although this probably says more about his home country Scotland, than it does about Cambodia.
Mr. Gary also mentioned that he is aware that he likely gets charged higher in local markets however he does not mind as much as being a foreigner, and he does earn more. Additionally, compared with prices in Scotland, there is still a better deal here even with the markup for foreigners markup. However, Mr Timothy Larocco, who has been residing in Cambodia for 12 years, did not share the same sentiment as he feels taken advantage of and would rather not pay the markup price.
Furthermore, offering a varying perspective as an Asian (Chinese Singaporean) but still a foreigner, it is common to get remarks like “Ni hao” or “Annyeonghaseyo”.
Other than one-off incidents, such as getting called “Ajinomoto’” – a famous Japanese MSG brand – I can confidently say Cambodian people are one of the kindest and most welcoming to foreigners. Locals will never hesitate to help and they are also especially forgiving when attempting to speak broken Khmer.
Moreover, what else we can all agree on appreciating is the freedom Cambodia offers. The easygoing lifestyle differs from what we all grew up with and it is simply refreshing. Cambodia is surely an underrated country when put amongst its Southeast Asian neighbors and definitely deserves more recognition.
