I deliberately changed my morning routine so I wouldn't find myself trying to better yesterday's timings. I stayed a bit longer on the balcony, watching the world go by. With being on the 3rd floor (Canadian), 2nd floor (elsewhere!) I see the tops of heads passing by below. It's interesting figuring out what the rest of the person looks like.
On the BBC I listened to the Arts Hour, which is always an interesting and often funny programme. Today they spoke to a black American artist about her attitude towards the police in Los Angeles. I started to think about life in our Yorkshire village with regard to the police. Constable Lascelles (otherwise known as 'lace 'oles) was always around but I was never fearful of him. We were more afraid of the black man, whomever that happened to be. Parents would often tell us, if we were doing something undesirable, "If you keep on doing that, a black man will come and get you." I don't know how old I was, but a black family did move into the village; they never did come to get me.
Because I hear programmes on the radio I have to use my imagination; who are these people they are talking to or about? I really enjoyed hearing about PJ Harvey - I bet many people have no clue whether the name is for a male or a female. She's actually a British song writer who is super famous and is doing the music for a new show based on the old movie "All about Eve". She must be amazing; she hums away at a tune and then records it. She said, "I can't stand faffing about; let's put on the kettle and have a cuppa tea." I just had to satisfy my curiosity so I looked her up and listened to her singing - to say the least, it's very dramatic. They also talked about Gillian Anderson, whom I didn't know from a hole in the wall. I must be a dinosaur as she is also very famous.
The world is in mourning - Karl Lagerfeld died. All the people said he'd passed so maybe he's gone to a different place. He did make an interesting comment that if an ugly modern car is advertised, people might want it because it's new but they'd wait a bit before buying it. With fashion, if an ugly bit of new fashion is created, people want it immediately. I'm surrounded here in Phnom Penh with clothing stores that spill out onto the sidewalk; people check the goods without even getting off their motorbikes or out of the rickshaw, but I blithely walk by as I'm not into buying, especially clothing.
We've just had a Buddhist holiday which is quite sacred but you wouldn't have known. All of the street noise was from groups of Chinese banging gongs and going on about something. They were even giving things away to people who stopped by to see what was going on. If I were a traditional Khmer I'd start worrying.
I've got a thing about soap - I can't throw it away, it has to disappear completely while in use. I was a bit ticked off with Oudom because he broke up a paper thin piece of soap that I planned on attaching to a new bar so now I have to use it as is - I think it'll last for one more shower and then it'll vanish into thin air. I think I'll buy a smelly bar next time. In the old days we had to get used to Carbolic soap, which was bright red and used for everything from washing our bodies and hair, washing clothes, scrubbing floors etc. Our family tended to use Fairy soap, which came in huge green blocks, for all the above tasks. I always find it mind boggling seeing all the "body" stuff that's available in shops.
Talking about cosmetics, I had dinner with Makara and Noch this evening. Both of them lived with me before Makara married and I moved into the apartment. Makara is job hunting at the moment and the agency sent him to a pharmaceutical company. He was there for over two hours, talking to a lady manager. Finally, he said, "Is this an interview or are you wanting my advice?" I don't think he came away with any thought of working there. Today he had an interview to work for Xerox; it's a Japanese company and, as he's fluent in Japanese, he was told he will most likely get the job - again, I'm not sure he wants it.
Noch works for the courts and has just passed some state exams. He's very shy so he refused to go home at Chinese New Year because he learned that his parents had found out about his passing the test and he knew they'd get emotional about it. Next year he'll be posted to Kratie, which is another province. He said others pay a bribe so they can have a more central posting. One young man he knows paid $16,000 to ensure a good posting and then the poor man failed the exam.
We went to a bbq place where we had our own waitress who did everything for us. There was a grill which was wiped with pork fat and then she bbq'd various vegetables such as carrot, onion, cabbage and okra. After that she bbq'd shrimp, beef, pork and an unidentifiable (but nice) meat roll. Because she stayed at our table the entire time, Makara decided to give her the tip rather than leaving it with the bill to be shared with everyone. He wrapped it in tissue paper!
Thus ended a lovely day except for the fact that Vuth has asked me to provide thoughts on how to deal with various types of people - dominant, talkative, peacemakers and structured. He needs it by Friday so I'd better put on my thinking cap. Right now it's after 9pm and I'm switching off.
