Cambodia, a country of great encounters

First of all, we would like to appreciate that this month’s issue marks the 3rd anniversary of Phnom Penh Press Neo. Thank you all so much for your great support and subscription.
I have had a lot of opportunities to know people from all over the world, having worked in Cambodia. Working in Cambodia doesn’t mean that I work only with Cambodian people or Japanese people.
The other day, a friend of mine introduced me to a man from Lebanon and we had a little conversation. I think that I had this kind of opportunity to talk to someone from a country I didn’t really know about especially because I lived in Cambodia. Not only this person but also I can meet many people from all over the world who I would never encounter in Japan. I have been able to meet so many people from all over the world including America, Canada, Nepal, England, India, Korea, Germany, and more in Cambodia.
Looking back on my childhood, I would often play with an American man who was a colleague of my mother, which led me to visit overseas for the first time at the age of 14. I also visited Brazil in the next year. Since I started working, I have visited many countries both for business and holidays, and I can’t say that Cambodia has a great environment to live in comfortably, but I have lived in this country for 4 years somehow.
Why I have been able to live in this country for so long time, besides the opportunity which brought me here, would be because I was blessed with great people I have encountered in this country. I make friends with somebody, and his or her friends will be my friends, and their friends will be my friends, which makes a wide circle of friends, and we get close here faster than in Japan.
Who I work with has been more important for me than what I do.
It’s not only for work. I’ve often mentioned in this column that when I go eat out or go drinking, who I go with is very important to me. If I go to a really expensive restaurant but with someone, I don’t really like, the dishes wouldn’t taste good to me. On the other hand, if I’m with my good friends, anything would taste great. The taste of the dishes itself doesn’t change at all, but it’s like when we have a good time, time flies so fast. The time when I can talk to people sincerely regardless of nationality or position is very meaningful in my life, and that’s what makes my life wealthy, I suppose. In terms of it, I’d say that Cambodia is an ideal country for me to live in, even though I can’t say the convenience here is good at all.
If I live in another country, I’d feel the same way there, but I’d not be able to meet who I could meet here.
I’m not sure how long I’ll be staying in Cambodia. I haven’t particularly had a plan to go back to Japan, but I wouldn’t spend my whole life in this country either. However, I get excited imagining that there’ll be more people I’ll be able to encounter in Cambodia in the future. I’m looking forward to meeting more people, sharing a lot of time with them, and experiencing more and more things. I also would try to be someone who’s appreciated by people for being within the 4th year of my life here.