So, interesting things have been happening lately, and I just can't hold it just to myself; I'm a sharing type of guy. Sorta. Here's the story.
So my institute, which "graciously" grants me ten days of unpaid vacation days a year, has our vacation coming up during the final week of July, first week of August. Now for those of you unfamiliar with how things work here in South Korea, allow me to enlighten you. Students in elementary and middle school stay in school pretty much year long, with a few scattered breaks, mostly 1 month off in summer time, and 1 month off in the winter months, right before their school year starts again in late February. My students complain about it, but they're just a bunch of whiny over-spoiled kids....(they are, and i'm not just being harsh) Regardless. For a country with over 50 million citizens, nearly everyone has vacation time off during the same months; and trust me when I say that there's not a lot of airline's that fly in and out of Seoul, the only international airport accesible to me. It makes for scheduling vacation flights out of the country a two-months in advance adventure...
Now, I'm not that type of guy (pre-planning? what's that...? Is that something people do if they're bored?). If you remember my last trip to China (see "here"), then you'll remember that I'm not one for preplanning beyond an airplane ticket, much less anything beyond a week; why bother? Well, this year was no different, and after possibly trying to drag my faithful cousin Peter with me, I decided that cousin or no cousin, I was going to Cambodia, the land of 10 million land mines, courtesy of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. I'm going for reasons besides the aforementioned, but I'm hoping to hit up Phnom Phen, Siam Reap, and Kampot. I was originally hoping to visit the Eastern side of the country, however, I'm hampered more by my flight than anything else. Here's where the providence comes through. Due to my laziness and pathetic ability to remember how hard it is to book flights in this country, when I tried to book my flight, I was dismayed to discover that I was currently on a waiting list of over 80 ppl to get on a plane that had only 140 seats. My roommate scheduled me to get on the waiting list, and that night, both of us looked online for alternate routes to Phnom Phen; things weren't looking good, with ticket fares over 400 Can more than my first option (a direct flight from Seoul to Phnom Phen) and with an average of two connecting flights, a wasted trip. I prayed right after my roommate got off the phone, for direction on where I should go if Cambodia is not for me. The Next Morning at 9am, when their offices opened, they called my roommate on his phone, and told him that I had the reservation, and I could pick up my ticket at the air terminal twenty minutes from my house. Is there anything cooler than our God? I really feel like He's watching over me; good thing He's everywhere too, because knowing myself, I'll need all His help come Cambodia, and I'm not even there yet.