We’re moving to Cambodia!
Most people who personally know me have gotten the information, but I realized I’ve never posted the news here. You may have guessed; I think readers here won’t be surprised.
I find myself pausing, recently, and thinking about our journey these past eight years in Japan. Sometimes Hitomi and I just stop and say, Wow (or Sugoi). The twins were born in year one. We suffered a lot more than we’d anticipated during our first few years here, between pregnancy, culture shock, language learning, $10/pound hamburger, and more than doubling the size of our family. I began to change then, and I just kept changing.
We made a temporary move to the other side of Tokyo in 2003, and two years later we came to Hachioji. We were drawn by the mountains hills. Before deciding where to live, we connected with our kids’ future preschool/outdoors school while camping near the base of Mount Fuji. I saw some kids kayaking and having a great time, so I talked with one of the fathers. Later, I blew up a picture on the computer, to get the name of the school. We searched on Google and discovered it was within a triangle we’d already drawn on the map (two hours from where we’d met at the campground). One thing led to another. Today I stopped by the preschool to drop off a couple things, and I felt like I was with my people. A mother gave me a card written by her daughter for the twins, another gave me a gift, and one of the teachers got all teary as I turned to leave. I know we’ll be back to visit, and I know we’ll be treated like long lost family.
It’s fitting that our experience here started with a human connection — a gift from God, I think.
We developed Global Adventure. Our first event was a trip to the USA, but the next summer nobody signed up. We thought about taking groups of Japanese to the mountains in Japan. I also thought about taking groups to India or some other place where they could see how the two thirds world lives. I had a connection in Cambodia, though, and he introduced me to the director of a Children’s Community there. Eventually, we focused all our efforts on the trips to Cambodia. That has led to rich relationships in Cambodia and a small but growing community in Japan. I’ve been part of some wonderful communities in the past, and they all have their own internal momentum. This community is just starting to stir up. We’ve been in constant communication all week with volunteers who are patching together an accounting plan and discussing purpose statements and logos (designed by a woman I took to Cambodia two years ago). Hitomi met with two past participants today just to talk. She’ll meet another briefly tomorrow at a nearby train station, and another two or three are coming for dinner.
It’s funny, but our plan to leave stirred the water more than almost anything else we’ve done. It looks like we’ll miss the best part, but, of course, we won’t. We have a growing list of people who have promised to visit us in Phnom Penh. We’re looking forward to a community developing in Cambodia, and we trust the relationships here can endure (and thrive) despite the distance.
Anyway, we’re just following the road as it opens up before us. I have a wonderful image of this from a book called the Sacred Romance that changed (or crystallized) my view of following God. Our “plan” is to move to Cambodia for two years and establish Project Friends (the new name for Global Adventure). After two years, we hope we’ll have a good idea whether to return to Japan or stay longer. We really care about the Japanese participants and the community that will grow in Japan, and we’ll probably have a growing love for people (including Japanese) in Cambodia by then. We’ll see where this road leads as we travel further on it.
I’m pretty excited. Before coming to Japan, I spent time in Soweto, South Africa. I lived in East LA in a neighborhood full of wonderful and broken people. I spent time in Mexico learning Spanish. To put it simply, I may feel a better “fit” in Phnom Penh than amidst the wealth and rush of Tokyo. Then again, I’m learning that I can be at home anywhere. I could stay in Japan and be happy; and I can also take these two years as a gift.
Well, that’s my news. I don’t know how many of “readers” I have who will take notice, but for those who are paying attention, stick around and enjoy the show.
Finally, here’s a few details for those who want to know:
We’ll live in Phnom Penh. The city used to be called one of the jewels of the orient (though a quick search on Google reveals just about every prominent city in Asia all the way to Cairo claims that honor). Anyway, now it’s a dusty jewel, not exactly the kind of place you go on vacation (that would be a few hours away in Siem Reap). Every country has it’s “dust” though, except perfect places that exist only in dreams, or somewhere in New Zealand. (Respectful pause)
The kids will go to an international school. We actually wanted to switch them to international school, and we couldn’t have afforded any of the schools in Japan, so we’re grateful for this timing.
We’ll visit the USA first, and we’ll head for Cambodia in July. I’m getting to the age when time starts to move more quickly. Right now it seems like each time I blink I find myself getting ready to leave for a different country.
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