Although it was only 2 years, living in Cambodia from 2003-2005 changed my life (it must have if we're so keen to go back!) but it was also a rocky ride. As an 11 year old, I was pulled out of year 7 in Perth and "dragged" from my friends to a country and culture that was thousands of miles and so different from my own. The next few years got better as i made new friends at HOPE International school and was welcomed into the expat community there. I enjoyed the freedom of the Khmer lifestyle and the cheap living. There, i could go off to the markets on my bike where i'd buy $1 DVDs, drink coca cola from a plastic bag and spend the afternoon at a local internet cafe. However, each year also came with it's pain, as missionary families would come and go, meaning a constant losing of friends and teachers whom i'd become close to and knew i would never see again. I also missed Australia a great deal and remembered simple things like McDonalds, kids going to the cinema, mobile phones and living 'normal' lives. Yet despite these 'hardships' faced by a young teen, something about that place stuck in my heart. For as much as i wanted to return to Australia (and just 6 weeks later we were off to Myanmar), something, SOMETHING, led to these tears of a 13 year old and her sisters on the plane that last evening as she said goodbye to her home, Cambodia.
That 'home' has been calling her back ever since... why? Could Phnom Penh be home once again? How much has it changed in 12 years? What will Ben think of it all? There are just 22hrs to find out...
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