This week’s Sunday Stamps bring us to the picturesque rural Cambodia. My feature is a First Day Cover from the Khmer Aspect series.
The FDC captures a common scene in the countryside: a farmer and his cows ploughing a rice field or transporting rice harvest and other agricultural produce. The palm trees complete the idyllic rural landscape. This simple image speaks volumes about the importance of agriculture in Cambodian life. Rice is a staple food source, and farmers play a vital role in making sure that everyone has enough to eat. (Years ago, my first job was with a Swiss International NGO working on food security in Cambodia. I met some amazing, resilient farmers (men and women) in four different provinces who were in our program. While I’m not a farming expert, I helped tell their stories and the challenges they faced.)
Something that surprised me (coming from another Asian country with carabaos, or water buffalos), was seeing cows used for ploughing. Apparently, it’s been a tradition in Cambodia for ages. Even though modern machinery exists, traditional methods are still used. Maybe it’s a simpler way of life, or maybe the farmers just haven’t gotten that fancy tractor yet.
Have you ever been to Cambodia?
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Before the Khmer New Year this year, my boss (who is based in Battambang province) swung by the Phnom Penh Programme Office for his regular check in. On his last night in Phnom Penh, we had a staff dinner and, unlike other well-funded NGOs, ours was a split-the-bill-evenly kind of situation. But hey, our budget woes didn’t stop the good times!
Southeast Asia has a fantastic tradition when it comes to beer: it’s all about camaraderies and laughter. Picture this: a bunch of people around a table laden with food, karaoke, mugs or cans of beer in hand, ready to clink glasses and celebrate. As an expat in Cambodia, one thing that really caught my eye (and my funny bone a few times) was how they toast here. It’s a whole different ball game to what I’m used to back home (and probably everywhere else!).
In Cambodia, for starters, beer comes with an endless supply of ice (genius in the heat!) and often a straw for, I don’t know, maybe some added fun experience. When it’s time to toast, or chol muoy (one sip), as they call it locally, forget the usual clink-sip routine. It’s a ritual that’s about more than just a drink.
Here’s the fun (and sometimes slightly overwhelming) part: cheering is a huge part of the beer-drinking experience. In Cambodia, saying chol moy with every sip is pretty much the norm. So, you take a swig, everyone else follows suit (and vice versa). But the twist? Every time someone raises their mug for a toast, you have to do the same – and it happens a LOT, which can be quite amusing (or slightly annoying) for a newbie in Cambodia. Imagine you just finished raising your mug and half-way through taking a sip when another one decides to chol muoy again, and so on – hah, you get the picture! And forget about a simple raise of your glass – those mugs and cans got to clink for a proper cheer!
Each clink is like an invitation to share stories, have a laugh, and build memories together. It’s a beautiful way of celebrating the sense of community that is at the heart of Cambodian beer-drinking culture. And, as I looked around the table that night, I saw this incredible mix of people and thought about how similar and yet different we are at the same time, united by the universal language of cheers.
So, as we sat down with our boss that night, we raised our mugs to the moments that bring us together, to the challenges that push us to do our best work, to the traditions that make us smile, and to the quirky customs that remind us – especially expats like me – that sometimes it’s the little things that make life in a foreign country truly delightful. Chol muoy!
