SE Asia Day 8 (part 1): The Road to the Choeng Ek Killing Fields

On day 7 I went early to the Choeng Ek Killing Fields, just outside of Phnom Penh.  Sunday Guest House made the arrangements and I rode with a couple Brits in a tuk-tuk for a few dollars.  The road there was interesting.  We went from the city out into the “suburbs” with more homes and textile factories, and then further out where the only sign of development were the “People’s Party of Cambodia” signs that were posted on the side of the road.  (Picture from In Search of Siem Reap).
Because I’m a history teacher by training, and since many don’t know much about the Khmer Rouge and their auto-genocidal actions, a brief history lesson.
Its been argued the the bombing of Cambodia by the US during the Vietnam War destabilized the Cambodian government, paving the way for the Khmer Rouge to come to power.  The Khmer Rouge were a Marxist guerilla group under the leadership of former high school teacher Pol Pot to take control of the country.
Pol Pots goal was to, get this, put his country back in the stone age!  Yes.  In Cambodia there are constant reminders in the stone wats (Buddhist monastic temples) and statues of the Khmer people’s might under the ancient Khmer Empire.  So, since the Khmer Empire was a stone-age empire, Pol Pot thought it would be the best way to recapture Cambodia’s glory days.
His communist ideology also fed this idea.  “Khmer” is the name for ethnic Cambodians and “Rouge” is French for red (aka communist.)  Instead of following an industrial model of communism that that the Soviets had followed, or even China was beginning to adopt at this time, Pol Pot believed that true workers paradise was not an industrial society, but an agrarian society (imagine the sickle and hammer symbol, minus the hammer).
And since educated people knew differently, he had them killed.  Here’s a list adapted from the Wikipedia article on the subject of those targeted for killing:

• professionals and intellectuals - in practice this included almost everyone with an education, or even people wearing glasses (which, according to the regime, meant that they were literate)
• ethnic Vietnamese, ethnic Chinese, Cambodian Christians, Muslims and the Buddhist monks
• Homosexuals
• "economic sabotage" for which many of the former urban dwellers (who had not starved to death in the first place) were deemed to be guilty of by virtue of their lack of agricultural ability.

Their policy of genocide--both via execution and starvation--left up to 2.2 million people dead, or about 20% of the population!
We we neared the memorial, the cloudy skies and quiet off the country helped prepare me for the sobering site.

Korea's Revenge

Twenty-six hours after heading to the airport in Busan, Korea, I am home.  Its 6:30 am here in Missouri.  Those that know me know that I would never get up this early by choice.  In a way, Korea chose for me.

The meal they served on my Korean Air flight from Busan to Tokyo made me very sick.  Sparing you the juicy details (Ha ha get it?  Ewww), I had to make constant trips to the bathroom, had a fever, and chills.  It left me hundled beneath my blanket most of my flight from Tokyo to Chicago.

Despite repeated dosage of medicine, it was the after effects of this Korean Air meal that got me up at this inappropriate time in the morning.  By my count, this is the fourth time in my life that I've gotten food poisoning, and three of those times were caused by Korean food:  1.  raw oysters/ gaebul, 2. donkkaseu, 3. the mystery fish lunch served on my Korean Air flight.

Korea, I know you're sad to see me go, and don't want me to forget you, but surely there are less painful ways to remind me.

The Last Goodbye

I just passed through Korean passport control and had my passport stamped for what may be the last time here in Korea.

Last night, I returned from my travels through SE Asia and stayed with a couple friends in Busan.  One of those friends was really the first friend I made in Korea.  We noted last night how our conversations are always weighty—not necessarily serious, but about substantive things.  He challenged me a lot in my faith and my worldview.  He’s Canadian (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and he constantly challenged the American-centric views that I brought with me when I arrived in Korea.

He was also the one that opened my eyes to Geoje’s amazing beauty.  With his car, we were able to explore the nooks and crannies in Geoje that I would have never been able to find or experience if it hadn’t been for him.

We discovered a dead whale on a deserted Geoje beach, ate whale meat (not the same one we found), and ate dog-meat stew.  There was actually an ongoing joke comparing him to John Locke from Lost for his connection to “the Island.”  Geoje would have been entirely different if it wasn’t for his friendship.

Then, I got to know his girlfriend who became his fiance and then his wife.  The past two weeks, I’ve been so overwhelmed with the experience of travel, that I haven’t reflected much on what I’m leaving behind.  Late last night we were catching up, my friend asked how I felt about leaving Korea.   It really made me think about it.

It’s too easy to say that I’m “going home” in returning to America.  Korea has been my home for the past two years.  My heart has become attached to my friends, my students, my co-workers, and my church family.  I’ve become so used to the green mountains surrounding Gohyeon, and seeing the sea almost everyday that its hard to adjust to life on the plains.

Korea will always be some sort of home.  No, I’m not simply returning home.  Instead, it might be better to say that I’m returning to my first home.

I Like Mike (and John)

As I've noted in the past, I have a dismal record of supporting losers in elections. The only break from that was in 2004 when I voted for Bush for President, and Matt Blunt for Missouri's governor.

In the past, I've waited long and hard before deciding for whom to vote--usually at least past the primaries. But I did my homework early this year that in most election seasons.

When I get my ballot in the mail for the upcoming primary, I'm going to vote for Mike Huckabee. There's lots of information out there, but here are the main reasons "I like Mike":

• He's not a millionaire. I'm tired of people like Mitt Romney and John Edwards (and even Obama) saying they know what the working man is feeling with their multi-million dollar bank accounts.
• His support for the Fair Tax (I like the idea of getting rid of the IRS)
• He's pro-life
• He has 10+ years experience as a governor
• His support for a pro-active "health" system to prevent problems instead of just an healthcare program to respond to problems
• He has a primary goal of energy independence. Renewables and cleaner technologies are vital for the environment, but it is hard to argue that America can prevent many foreign entanglements if we didn't rely on OPEC for our energy. Huckabee said it best, "I would love to be the president to tell the Middle East we need their oil as much as we need their sand."
• He showed real crisis management skills after Hurricane Katrina. Its actually one of the few shining examples of what happened well. His state absorbed 75,000 evacuees and handled the change much better than northern Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi did.
• Last but not least, I trust him

Huckabee won Iowa primary, and McCain looks like he'll win New Hampshire. However, McCain isn't ahead anywhere else. It looks like Huckabee has a good chance at this. I can't wait to see what happens, and I can't wait to cast my ballot.

[Edit 4/15/2008]
Huckabee is long out of the race. Most of the attention the past month and a half has been in the Democratic candidates. Without hesitation, I will vote for John McCain in the fall. He has the most experience, shares most of the same views as I do, and I trust him the most.

American Perspectives

While in America, I had some interesting things said to me or near me. I'm not making these up.

Josh, I'm sorry I left you here, but tonight I saved a man's life. I saved a man's life. Well? Well? Aren't you going to ask me how?


I don't give a damn whether I see you or not.

Who's going to save me from myself...


I saw a woman comb her hair with her cellphone.

I'm all retricated.

Why, does she look like one? Well, she's bisexual.

See, my roommate had to start prostituting herself because she retroactively lost her job because of Hurricane Humberto three weeks before the hurricane didn't strike here.


Well, they opened up a location in town, but if we didn't drive all the way out here, we would have missed the atmosphere.

Yeah, I sell insurance too.

The tree broke the back windshield and caved in the roof, but I kicked the roof back out with my foot.

I'm so glad you're coming back to us.

I'm a f*$%@# Native American! I own this country! I have rights! I have rights to sleep everywhere I want! This is public property! F2#%@# you! (Said near me not to me).


The cats are puking everywhere because they see the suitcases.

Well, there are rules of engagement we have to follow. If they throw rocks at me during the day, and they are young, then I just shoot them with a BB gun. They're just playing around. But if its night time, I shoot out their knee caps. That whole country's football game is ruined.

(After an incoherent shout in a Discount Smokes and Liquor) "Um, that means duck."

Cause all I know is I'm nothing to you...

MCI Again...

I'm a week and a half into my furlough in America. I have spent some great time vegging in front of American TV, driving around the wide streets, not being stared at, and not walking around with the label "foreigner" over everything I do.

I just got back from a roadtrip that took me to St. Louis (how could I pass up an invintation to a theology department kegger) and back to my old home of Columbia.


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I was surprised at the things that had changed in Columbia--two huge Walmarts (notice proper usage of Walmarts) anchoring the south and west sides--and by the things that haven't. It was great to visit with old friends and to spend an evening drinking $1 pints a McNally's without leaving smelling like an ashtray thanks to the new anti-smoking ordinance.

Now, I'm back in that cheesy bar/grill I visited a couple weeks ago waiting through my layover on my way to Michigan to visit family.