A Bridge over River Kwai

Well, a border is a really weird thing. It is weird to feel at home in one place, walk a few paces to the left, and be in a strange place that is as far away from home as possible. We left Cambodia, my home away from home. We entered Thailand and became foreigners again, just another pair of ignorant tourists. The people look the same, the food smells the same, the heat is just as hot....but it's completely foreign. I can't just talk to anyone anymore. I can't make people smile and laugh. Speaking the language is such a valuable commodity that I almost took for granted. If I ever forget why I study linguistics, I will think back to that border crossing. Speech is so valuable. The power to get to know someone, to make them laugh and smile is so important to me. I am trying hard to learn Thai. I can understand quite a bit and I can say a lot because I always spoke with the Thai teachers at the MTC. It's such a fun language...not quite telling any jokes yet, but I'm working on it :)

Well the bus ride to Thailand took us over 16 hours...nice and short, huh? It was a pretty miserable day. The buses were packed and I was sweating up a storm too. I was really looking forward to when we met up with my friend's family. We left Cambodia at seven in the morning and got to Bangkok at eleven at night. It was crazy, but at least I slept well that night.

Ariel's family has been such a blessing to us. Ariel is my friend from BYU and she is from Thailand. Her father is Thai and her mother is American. They have been living here since birth so they definitely know their way around which has been nice. They are so hospitable and have made this trip so great. Mom, we have been eating great and sleeping well...nothing to worry about. My rice diet has now become three big meals during the day. Hopefully I could put on a kilo or two before heading over to India.

These last couple days here have been crazy. Have I fed an elephant with my mouth? Yes. Did I play with tigers earlier today? Yes. Did I jump off the top of a waterfall today? Yes. Am I trying to boast or brag? No.....but I'm so grateful for these unique experiences. Here are a couple pictures....

Making pots baby

These are the cuts on my heel...lookin' good and clean, healing well. In the States I would have gotten stitches, but I trust nature more than these doctors

K so in that first video I was trying to feed an elephant with my mouth. I was totally committed to do it, but then the elephant trainer yelled at me so I freaked out and bailed on the idea lol I was pretty scared but I went for it. The second video are these cute little kids I found in Siem Reap. They followed us around for a few hours because they had never met white guys that spoke Khmer before. Such cute kids. 

I need to get to sleep, we have church in the morning. I just wanted to end this post with a little thought I have been having ever since I got here to Asia. It started when I was about to land in Vietnam and I still think about it. I know that when I am on that plane in a few days to India I will be thinking about it too. It's about flying home, or just simply "going home." There are so many songs written about "going home." There are so many things that talk about "going home" and how good it is. Flying over here I was thinking about the fact that I won't be going home for a few months. I am going to be gone from home and those that I love for five months. I left everything I have (except for a couple crappy T-shirts) to come here. As I was about to land in Vietnam I got pretty nervous and almost uncomfortable. When I was sitting in that little airplane seat I was pretty nervous as I saw Ho Chi Minh's city lights getting closer and closer. I was the opposite of comfortable. All of those feelings that are associated with "going home" were nowhere to be seen or felt. BUT, there were hundreds of Vietnamese people on that plane that were in the exact opposite situation as me.....they WERE going home. All of the feelings that I associate with "going home" were being felt by those sweet people. I may have been far away from my family and friends and loved ones, but they were going back to them. While I was scared and homesick, they were excited and feeling right at home. Husbands were going home to wives. Mothers were going home to excited children. Boyfriends were getting off that plane and getting to hug their girlfriends. All of those feelings I think about, that I miss, were all there, just not for me. When I fly to India I will be even more out of my element. But it's comforting to think that there will be many Indian people on that plane that can't wait to land...that can't wait to see those people waiting for them in the baggage claim. Home is different for all of us. I will have all of those feelings come November 28th, but for now, it's their turn. 

Sincerely, 

Kory

Long Bus Rides and Ratanakiri

Well I have been pretty bad at posting. The Internet connections here are very slow, thus making "blogging" a bit more difficult than normal. Maybe I just lack the patience to wait for all these pictures to load, I don't know. But hopefully this post will be pretty good. We have had a lot of exciting things happen and some good stories to tell. I will have a lot of pictures, and even this really dumb video I will put up as well. 

Well we had dinner at the mission home on Sunday night with President and Sister Smedley. That was great to get to sit and catch up with them.....although the only thing they care about are my marriage plans lol Missionaries that got back after me are engaged and married already, so Sister Smedley was trying to find out what is wrong with me lol I assured her that I'm trying my best though. It's funny how President Smedley would use to have to tell us to not think about girls for two years....and now all he wants to talk about is how I need to find an eternal companion. All in due time President, all in due time. 

 Here are a couple of the last pictures from Phnom Penh....

Hey Par Avion, I found my replacement for the band while I'm gone :) I played through our set...still got it baby!

Can't keep a straight face

 

Oum Haem Savann....former branch president. A very sweet man.

Well we decided to take one of our buddies out to this place called Pizza Company. He helped us a lot while we have been here by lending us his moto, so we thought we should treat him to an American dinner. Well the news quickly spread that we were going to be there....so about fifteen minutes in this one girl from 12th branch shows up....then another, then another. It got awkward pretty quickly. We woofed down that pizza quickly and got outta there. We had to pick up the tab, but we were glad to....just to get outta there quickly :) Cambodian girls are kinda......umm......they just really want to go to America lol

The next morning we were off to Ratanakiri. This is the most indigenous place left in Cambodia. Technology has not even touched this part of the world yet. We saw some Khmer Indian tribe members with big huge holes in their ears and really crazy tattoos. After being there for a few hours we realized that we only wanted to spend one day there. There were some really beautiful things to see, but we decided to do it all in one day. We got our hands on two motos and went off. We went and saw three different waterfalls that the locals were telling us about. We went and found this isolated crater lake which was beautiful. I don't even know how to describe it. It was the most calm water you could ever imagine. A meteor crashed there millions of years ago, creating this perfectly circular lake, surrounded by tall, lush rainforest. The huge trees almost looked like guardians....protecting the lake from too many people. It was about a kilometer in diameter atop a small mountain. Just beautiful. I was trying to tell Steven how much I loved swimming and I bet him that I could swim across. I got about halfway there and got too scared of crocodiles. I was assured by the locals that there weren't any crocodiles, but I couldn't help but doubt. This little Khmer oasis just seemed like the perfect breeding ground for some huge crocs. I'm such a wuss. I lost the bet. 

How can you say there aren't crocs in there?

Here are some of the pics from the waterfalls and our adventures in Ratanakiri. This isn't a tourist destination at all so it was cool to venture off the beaten path and find these isolated places. 

Trying to stay afloat...the current was strong

This one was 30m high

This bridge was anything but sturdy lol

Free massage on the shoulders baby!!!

We also ran into a couple old friends on the road.....

K I have to preface this video a little bit. It's not funny. I thought it was pretty funny when I was doing it, but upon further review, I realized it isn't funny. I don't care though....by the time I get back to America everyone will have forgotten how dumb this video is, so it's all good.

Well on the mission I wrote a rap about fried bananas. Two days ago I woke up, walked outside, and found this nice old lady selling jeek jian. I had to buy a couple and take a picture :) This is where that rap all began lol

 Okay I have a quick story about this next picture. We got into Ratanakiri at about 10pm. That is VERY late to Cambodians and our options for a place to stay were very limited at this point. We had been in a bus for about 12 hours that day and I wasn't feeling very well either. We finally went into a hostel and asked if there were any rooms left. He sadly replied, "No, we are full." When I was walking out, I saw this cozy looking mattress shoved underneath a dirty staircase. Yes, the mattress is in an old fountain of pond of sorts. "Hey, how much does this room cost per night?" The man replied, "Just one dollar." He was obviously joking...but he didn't know that I was very much serious. We'll take it! We had a place to stay. Sketchy.....heck ya. Almost free....ya baby! What do you do when the hostel is full? You stay on the mattress underneath the creaky staircase lol

Desperation at it's finest

K I have another hilarious story. Speaking Khmer and being white is a funny combination...especially for these indigenous people that have never encountered the missionaries before. They don't quite know what to make of it. Once I start speaking Khmer I can see utter confusion just smack them in the face. It's pretty funny. Well at the crocodile crater lake place we made some friends. I pretended that I didn't speak Khmer at all and they just kinda watched us swim. There was a group of about 6 or 7 of them. I broke down and accidentally spoke Khmer. They were so excited. They were making some food and they invited Steven and I to eat with them. Cambodian eating habits are much much different than ours and it was highlighted in this dinner experience. They gave us each like two Cokes and some like seafood salad thing. After every minute or so, the kids would do a toast. They wouldn't say anything, but they would just put their cans in the center and make us do it too. It was so funny. Super awkward. Think of trying to eat dinner, and then every couple minutes getting interrupted with a toast. Steven and I were just cracking up the whole time. These people are so sweet. 

Hilarious kids...they look 14, but they were almost our age. 

After that "toasty" meal, they wanted to go swimming. We showed them some of our American moves, like backflips and cannonballs, off of the trees surrounding the water. They wanted to play a game of Tag. We were of course willing to play. This game of Tag quickly became a game of us constantly doing a head count to make sure everyone was still above water. Khmers aren't the best swimmers lol 

Well I gotta get cruising. We are catching a bus in a couple of hours and I need to go handwash my laundry. We are both doing fine. No sicknesses. I managed to cut my heel pretty badly on the moto because I fell in the rain, but I'm okay. Sidney has been giving me advice on how to avoid infection and get better....even from thousands of miles away she still helps me so much. I am getting pretty excited for Thailand, and then India. I am excited to be productive everyday. I don't like when I don't have goals and tasks to get done everyday. Traveling is fun, but a solid month of it becomes taxing a bit. India will be a whole new ballgame which I am excited for. I hope everyone is doing well back home. All is quiet on the Asian front. 

With love, 

Kory

PS: Please look at how funny Steven looks in this picture. Make sure you zoom in and look at his face lol

Kampong Saom and back!

Well if it looks like I wear the yellow Lakers shirt a lot....it's because I do. Let me give a quick inventory of the clothing I brought with me: three t-shirts, two shorts, three pairs of socks, one pair of shoes and a pair of sandals. After a few posts, my clothing will get very repetitive. If you aren't a Lakers fan, this may be the last post you read....you are probably getting tired of the Purple and Yellow! 

***Announcement**** To all those in Cambodia: I did NOT come here to find a Cambodian wife. It seems like everyone I talk to seems to think I am here to find a wife to take back with me. This is the opposite of why I am here. This is not my intent. All the members here are throwing their daughters at me everywhere we go....anything for that flight over to America. If you know anyone in Cambodia, please tell them this is not the purpose of my visit. Much appreciated :)

K so now on to the good stuff. On Tuesday we left Kampot and went in search of these caves. We had a good connection to get a cheap moto again so we just rented one and we were off. We certainly found the cave. It was huge. We went way deep in their and just saw some crazy stuff. We also got a bunch of the local kids to take us in and guide us around. Here are some of the pictures....

You can't tell, but I climbed like twenty feet up this sketchy vine thing....straight up Tarzaned it baby!

After the caves, we caught a little taxi bus and headed down south to Kampong Saom. This was the most touristy part of our trip, consisting of relaxing on the beach and sipping on cheap fruit shakes. In typical white-guy-that-speaks-Khmer fashion, we quickly caused a scene on the beach and made lots of friends. One of the benefits of being the only white guys that can speak Khmer is the amount of free stuff we get....people just want to give us stuff for some reason! We get free mango, and bananas, and little grilled banana treats. It's been great. We made good friends with the little kids that walk on the beach and sell bracelets and fruit. This was definitely my favorite part of this portion of the trip. I love just talking to the people and making them laugh. My Cambodian personality is definitely that of the class clown. There is nothing better than a good conversation. Hopefully these pictures sum up the week....

K so we gotta get outta here right now. I will definitely write more later, but here are some pictures of church today. I got to meet a lot of the people I baptized and some of the missionaries that I taught in the MTC. It is weird to be "Brother Stevens" and "Elder Stevens" all in the same place.

Elder Jensen, left, was in the last group I taught

Elder Nielsen and Elder Mickelson: I got to teach both of them

Daneet and her kids...still active baby!!!

I baptized Sokhon, the young man, and now he is preparing for a mission :)

This member in 12th branch had my Bible from the mission :)

Sister Rytting (left) was in the last group I taught

I will end with a couple funny pictures.....

We had a long bus ride back to Phnom Penh....but luckily they had a great movie for us to watch on the TV lol

Trying to get a ride to church :) Hitch hiking baby!!!!  Who wouldn't wanna pick THAT up? lol

The new style of missionary work (coming Fall 2012)

Quick thought before I get outta here.....there are a lot of reasons to travel. I sometimes wonder why I travel. I always say how much I like it, but then once I'm doing it, it's always hard on me. I find myself in weird places in uncomfortable situations, so far away from home. I miss the comfort of home. I miss the comfort of my friends. One thing that is so great is Heavenly Father doesn't have limits. He is everywhere. He is in these remote places with me. If I need anything, He is only a prayer away. He is just a prayer away for you too. 

From Asia with love, 

Kory

Back in Camboland Baby!!!

Vietnam was great...but it is so nice to be back in Cambodia. Well, it's "nice" in a weird way. I guess I could start by explaining the bus ride over here. I was really looking forward to the language and people that I love. I was looking forward to walking down the streets and knowing what I was doing. Speaking the language is a huge advantage. I was looking forward to making the kids laugh and making families smile. I loved that about my mission...just making everyone smile. There was a lot that I was looking forward to. On the bus ride over here I fell asleep. I was just tired, so I slept. Well I woke up in Cambodia. I woke up in one of the areas I had served in....Kean Svay to be exact. At first I didn't know I was there; I was in the post-nap haze. Then I recognized the name of one of the pagodas, then a street name, then a village name. I WAS IN KEAN SVAY. Right when I realized where I was, I immediately started crying. Luckily Steven was sitting at the back of the bus so he didn't see me :)  "Don't cry Kory," I said to myself. Why was I crying? What did I have to cry about? I had a lot of happiness on my mission, but there were a lot of other emotions that diluted that happiness. I remembered all the homesickness, and illnesses, and heartache that I felt on my mission. Just being in the country brought a flood of emotions...heavy enough to bring me to tears. It was a weird feeling. Being here is great, but hard. The memories from my mission are still so fresh, even after a full year. This is a very special, sacred country. Cambodia helped me to grow a lot, but with that growth came a lot of pain.

The first day back we got to stay in the mission home which was great. It was so nice to see President and Sister Smedley.  I definitely made sure I shaved before getting there...had to make a good impression on the President. That first evening we went to the Sagemaster's house for dinner. Two of his daughters came and picked us up on motos....most uncomfortable thing ever. I am used to being a missionary here, keeping missionary rules and staying away from girls. It was so weird to be on a moto, but especially be on a moto with a girl driving. Setha said, "Just hold on to my waist." YA RIGHT! I clutched on to the back of that moto with all my strength. There was no way I was gonna grab her waist. Getting on a moto was enough for me....grabbing some girl's waist would have been pushing it.

A snapshot of the bicep in Phnom Penh...still lookin' good!

We got dinner at the Sagemaster's house. The picture of me as a missionary is still up in their living room...right next to a picture of Buddha lol We ate some fruit and then ate some rice and vegetables. It was great to be in their home again. They still won't get baptized, but it was another step closer :) This is their family.....

Oh ya, and somehow I got roped into teaching English class somehow....still not sure how, but I thought I would do some service :)

The girls just took us to us to some school and expected us to teach an English class lol

 Yesterday morning Steven and I went to the market and Steven got some clothes made for him. We are gonna pick them up at the end of this week. Steven dropped some serious cash at this place....so we got a free lunch out of it :) That's what I'm talking about. Right when we walked up, the tailor remembered me. I was a regular at his shop because I always got my white shirts made there. After lunch, we took a picture with his sweet family. 

 

After the market we got on the bus to come to the Kampot Province. Missionaries have never been to this province before, so people really freak out when we speak Khmer to them. Their reactions are so funny. We got here in the evening time so we just ate some dinner and went to sleep. The hostel we are staying at is.....nice? Last night was about 110 degrees in our room. Luckily we have a mosquito net here because with all this water around it makes for some serious mosquitoes. 

After a long night we rented some motos and decided to find some waterfalls that all the locals talk about. The countryside is so beautiful here. I can't even explain it. I wish I could have served as a missionary in this area. The people are all farmers, humble and loving. The weather is a bit cooler because we are closer to the coast so it was nice today. It was overcast most of the day, but somehow Steven managed to get roasted on his arms and legs. Everyone was saying that this place was about "20" kilometers away. Well after 20 kilometers, we stopped to ask. "Ya, it's just another twenty kilos down the road." That initial 20 kilometers quickly turned in to a long moto ride in the rice fields of Kampot. Here is a picture of the countryside, my moto, and my muscles a little bit too :)

Lakers shirt forever! It's my good luck shirt...and I definitely needed it on these roads

We finally made it to the waterfalls. It was so beautiful out there. This is a recreation spot for the local people, so tourists don't really know about it. It was really fun and the people were so sweet too. Here is some of today's action....

Mmmm.....crazy rice field chicken for lunch....nothing better :) I ate three plates full baby.

I forgot to mention how we got into this place. So, for locals this place is free. When they saw two white guys show up, they tried charging us three dollars each....well this was before we spoke any Khmer to them. We noticed it is safer to speak only English first and see what happens. We listen to what they are saying back and forth, then we go in for the kill. Well, I told them that I was Cambodian. They asked how I speak Khmer so well, and jokingly I said that I was Khmer. THEY BELIEVED ME!!!! Free entry baby! The blessings of a mission are so apparent lol So all day I was the "White Khmer." Everyone from the village was coming out to see the white guys that speak Khmer. It was fun. We also wanted to go to this old Hindu cave that we heard people talking about, but it got too dark and I didn't know how safe it would be. We are hoping to rock that tomorrow morning.


K so a quick note for the adventurous readers....Mom, skip this paragraph. This place we went today is super remote. We went about 25 kilometers down this road into the jungle. So...you don't get the jungle without the animals, and we realized this today. We went off the beaten path in search of some waterfalls and cliff jumping. We found a waterfall, but we weren't the only swimmers. Today we saw a crocodile, some water snakes (which I hate a lot after seeing the movie Swiss Family Robinson as a child) and monkeys all over the place. Luckily, my limbs are all intact and no mishaps today. Mom, I'm sure you are still reading this paragraph so just remember that I'm fine :)

Well we need to get some dinner and hit the sack...big day tomorrow. The traveling days are surprisingly very tiring even though we are just sitting in cramped buses. Tomorrow we are headed south to Kampong Saom. I have made some good friends here in Kampot and I'm excited for all my new people to meet in Kampong Saom. I'm going to finish this post off with some more pictures.

From Asia with love, 


Kory

Vietnam....it's been a pleasure!

Well I need to apologize in advance for any grammatical errors I make in my writing. Many of you are better writers than me I am sure. I just want to keep in touch with those I love, and this blog seems to be a pretty good way to do so. These keyboards are goofy and I may misspell words. If so, please turn a blind eye. I just want to document this trip the best I can. Now....back to the good stuff!

Oh wait, another thing. Mama, just so you know, I'm not going to censor the stuff I put on this blog either. Nothing crazy has happened, but if it does, it's definitely going to be posted. That is the stuff people want to hear :)

So yesterday we went on a tour of Saigon. We hit up all the cool historical sites...and also some places that weren't really interesting at all.....like the post office. We went to Ho Chi Minh's old palace. It was a pretty cool place, but the best part was definitely what I found in his office.....

It turns out that Ho Chi Minh was a huge BYU fan back in his day....who knew?



I made a buddy to take us around the city named Manh. He was a really goofy guy, but super nice. My favorite part was the fact that he thought I was Justin Timberlake. Any guy that mistakes me for JT definitely deserves a picture :)

Bubba, do you recognize the hat he is rocking right here? Ya baby!

Outside of the post office, I was approached by this news reporter and camera crew. I always seem to find myself in interesting situations lol. This one was definitely interesting. They were interviewing me about the public restrooms in Ho Chi Minh. Do I speak Vietnamese? Nope. Did I give it a go on camera? You know it baby. Rocked it hard. This was the result...

Well finding food in a country like Vietnam is pretty easy....if you speak Vietnamese. I am not a fan of getting roped into eating at the tourist places that charge you 4x the local price. I make it a personal goal to get the local prices everywhere I go...even if it takes a little extra effort. The last two days I have been down every alley searching for the local hot spots for food. This lady even took me on her moto to one of the local rice places. The only problem with the local spots is that you get the local food...and on this particular food run, it was cricket legs and deep fried roaches. Ya baby!!! Steven was, umm.....pleased with dinner?

After a hard day's work, I always crave crickets and roaches baby.

While Steven is still sleeping, I sneak in a little early morning snack.....

Nothing better baby...papaya and mango.

Today we went to church. I gotta share a quick little miracle. All we had was 200,000 Vietnamese Dongs. That is about 10 USD. We had to get a taxi to church because it was on the other side of town for sure. Well it didn't take us long to find a taxi. Everyone in this city knows how to say "How are you?" or at least a simple "Hello" in English. I managed to find the one man in this huge city that doesn't speak even a word of English. It made the trip to church really interesting. Well after finally getting there, I realized what the meter in the taxi read...."195,500 VND." Another block and we would have been over our limit of money and not been able to pay. Cut it close for sure, but the Lord is mindful of His people in every country. It was a huge miracle for us. So we got to church with just enough money.....which made getting back from church, umm, interesting?

Well I gotta get to bed. This is the latest I have stayed up since being here. Jet lag is still a factor, but I am getting closer to Asian time. Tomorrow morning we are off to Cambodia. Home court advantage baby. We will be eating like kings soon :)

Quick little thought to end the post. These people are so sweet. They are more Christlike than I am and they don't even know who He is. They don't have anything, but always smile and laugh. So many people come to this area of the world to see the temples and eat the food, to drink the cheap alcohol and party late into the night. I come here for the people. Yesterday in the interview at the post office, the reporter asked me why I came to Vietnam. At first this question puzzled me; I didn't know what to say. It wasn't for the cricket dinners. It wasn't for the humidity. It wasn't to be sweaty all the time. It was for the people. I came back to Asia so I could be with the people. I learn so much from them. I learn so much about myself from them. I learn more about Christ just from being around them. I love just sitting down and talking to these people. I love hearing their stories. I love their facial expressions. I love their smiles. I love their humility. This is what I come here for. I am so lucky to have spent two years of my life with these sweet people.

Looking forward to homecourt advantage tomorrow!

From across the ocean blue,

Kory