Same, Similar and Different
By CARE
Here we go... Dara's first walk around Bonn (photo: private)
It is not the end of the world: a 22 year-old Cambodian guy travel abroad for the first time to do an internship and live independently in a student dormitory. He temporarily sets up a new life in Bonn/ Germany. Today is his first day working for CARE-Deutschland-Luxemburg. “How do I get to the office?” I had this question in mind while catching the train to work in the morning. Holding a map in my hand, I tried to remember the place where I need to get off the train.
Another question was popping up in mind again when I was walking toward the office. “What will I do during my two-month internship there?” I could not answer to this question because I hadn’t yet entering to the office. It was my worry.
Why did I feel more worried to work abroad rather than in Cambodia?
It is not the first time for me to be at work, but the first time for me to work abroad. I used to be a young freelance journalist for the LIFT magazine, a supplementary for the Phnom Penh Post Newspaper and last summer I did internship at the UN-Habitat office in Cambodia for more than two months and completed some other volunteer tasks in various NGOs. Those were pretty interesting for me. Comparing this to Germany, I was worried about the culture of work and the working environment because it must be something different.
Nevertheless, some of it is true: I usually get up at 6:00 am and leave home later on traveling to school in Phnom Penh. The streets are already full of people travelling. Quite interestingly, people in Germany start work later, at 9:00am or even 10:00 am, when some people in Cambodia almost have lunch. Normally, Cambodians have a long lunch break so that we can have a nap after eating. Here in Germany, people only have a short time for lunch.
I only needed to start the engine of my motorbike and could go anywhere I wanted in Phnom Penh, at any time. Now I got used to the public transport here in Germany. I travel with people of all ages and backgrounds in one train to the same direction. I rarely see a motorbike on the street, but then again people can reach their work place just as good as we can do in Cambodia.
I expected this country in Central Europe to have cold weather. I bought an insulated jacket to protect myself from the cold though I know it is summer. Because it is my first time abroad and in Germany, I have to be prepared for everything. But actually, the weather is very nice. People often tell me I am lucky to come here during the summer.
I was prepared for casual dresses for working. Yet, I found most people even wearing jeans to work and many others wearing shorts on the street. When I was on the train, I saw some people look at me as if I was a stranger to them. Maybe that is because I looked so modest in my Cambodian school uniform.
The Same Unforgettable History
Cambodia used to be under the nightmare of Khmer Rouge for more than three years; the regime killed approximately 1.7 million people. Germany also experienced a genocide before and during World War II. It is interesting for me to temporarily live in a country which shares a similar history with Cambodia.
The Bridge of Communication
It’s the same: it is face-to-face communication, why don’t we understand each other? Language is a big issue for me while living in Germany. In the office, I do not understand when my colleagues talk in German. Fortunately, I can say all of the CARE staff has a good command of English so that I don’t have to worry about the barrier of communication and misunderstanding.
Dara in the CARE office. Luckily, all the colleagues speak English (photo: CARE/Wilke)
On the other hand, when I go to the market, I do not understand what people are talking about. All the information of the products is in German. I have to buy some food and products for a test because I do not know exactly what they are.
I can only understand English and Khmer, the language of my country. Thankfully there is Michael, he was the first person I met in Germany who picked me up from the airport- He helped me with a lot of things and communication for my accommodation and other issues. He was an intern at CARE for around 4 months just before I arrived.
The first minute I saw him, he was holding a logo of CARE at the Cologne-Bonn airport. He looked so funny when he tried to have a look for a person he has never seen before. I expected him to be much older than me, but he is about my age.
Reunited the Differences
I remember the phrase; “we are the world”. We can work together so that everybody in the world can enjoy better living conditions. CARE is playing an important role as an assistant to make the world a better place for people. Despite not having a very huge office, CARE has enough staff who can work worldwide – almost 15.000! I am now part of them.
While sitting in the office of CARE and reading about CARE’s work, I feel I like working with this organization. CARE works for all ethnic groups of people and fights against discrimination.
Having finished this first blog entry, I feel that I know now what is expected of me. This weekly blog is one of my responsibilities. I also have some more tasks for tomorrow and the next day. It was interesting to write this blog because it reminded me of how a blog differs from an article like the kind I wrote during my freelance work as a journalist. A blog is always a lot more personal. I am hoping to have achieved this. What do you think, dear reader?
