Posts by : Izy Berry

I’m chilling out in my hometown for a while. It’s easy to take home for granted, after all I spent the first 22 years of my life here before venturing off to bigger and better places. But the truth is, Chrstchurch is one of the best basis to plant yourself in if you want to explore more of New Zealand – which is exactly what I’m planning to do. Tomorrow I head up to Auckland and then I’m off to Mount Maunganui to enjoy some sun, surf and sand before summer fades into the distance.

This Sunday I bundled up warm and headed to the Chinese Lantern Festival. I still have a child-like fondness for anything that glows or sparkles. This was also the perfect excuse to get back into using my camera, because since it was stolen I’ve lost my groove.

Where have you seen the best lanterns before? I thought these were pretty awesome!

When you travel you are exposed to a great variety of people all experiencing entirely different trips. Some people go away for short breaks, some for longer adventures and some people seem to have traveled forever. It’s always interesting talking to people about where they’ve been, their favourite places and where they are heading next.

For my 25^th birthday a group of volunteers from New Futures Organization and I piled into a mini van and headed south towards Kep. Two years earlier I’d spent a weekend on this little island and had a great time, so it seemed like the perfect weekend escape from Takeo, in rural Cambodia.

It’s a very basic island, with a few huts, bucket showers and bucket toilets. I warned everyone that it would be really simple and that there wasn’t much development on this island. There are a handful of restaurants on the beach serving simple but delicious seafood. In all honesty there’s not a lot to do there, but that’s part of the fun. Our days were spent alternating between laying on the beach, getting massages, enjoying the local seafood, lounging in a hammock and swimming with the glowing plankton. To say it was relaxing was a complete understatement.
 

The island is beautiful, but the sand isn’t white – it’s more of a browny golden colour. In true Cambodian fashion there’s a little bit of rubbish lying around, but I wouldn’t call it dirty. The main strip of sand is maybe a twenty-minute walk, so it’s small. There’s only electricity for three hours a day.
 

Of the 10 of us who went to Rabbit Island for the weekend, two people were unhappy. One was a slightly older lady who simply wanted her creature comforts, which was understandable. But the other girl was my age and was absolutely miserable on this island.

Sorely disappointed with this island, she exclaimed, “It’s just not Fiji” and then proceeded to hold her hand high and say “Fiji’s here” before lowering her hand dramatically and gesturing “Rabbit Island’s here”.
 

Somehow she’d managed to let slip the fact that we were here, on Rabbit Island. 

It wasn’t Fiji, and really that was part of the charm of this island. It was only a two-hour drive and 20-minute boat ride away from rural Cambodia where we had been volunteering. Meals were cheap: ranging from $1 up to $7. Accommodation was a whopping $2.50 a night. 

In the past I’ve been to numerous beaches that I’d rate more highly than Rabbit Island, including my top five favorite beaches, but my favoritism of these other beaches didn’t impair my ability to enjoy a weekend away on an island with friends. I arrived with a clean slate, open mind and was excited about what the weekend would hold.

This girl, on the other hand, arrived directly comparing it to a beach literally half a world away. Because Rabbit Island fell short of her expectations and her experiences, she couldn’t let herself enjoy it and instead was mopey. The two women who didn’t like Rabbit Island promptly left and went to Kep, before leaving early and returning to Takeo.  

Those of us who stayed had an incredible weekend and it really felt like I was on holiday after volunteering for a month in Cambodia.

I’ve met a lot of people on the road who get so focused around finding the best beach, or the most beautiful temple that they cannot enjoy the beauty of the place they’re in. I’ve written about how important it is to live in the now and to really focus on what you have around you. Sometimes people who travel too much become spoiled and jaded.

I think it’s such a shame to let your adoration of somewhere else impair your ability to enjoy a perfectly wonderful place in the moment. 

I’ve written before about volunteering in Cambodia, but I wanted to talk a little more about what exactly I’m doing on this trip here. I’m based at New Futures Organization in Takeo, Cambodia and am currently volunteering as a teacher with a class of about 20 students.

The school is called Little Po and is located in a really rural village that is hovering around the poverty level. This village school was originally established four years ago to give the children a starting point in the English language and to also to give them a little break from their challenging lives. There is one class of 200 students, with one teacher called Team who is nothing short of amazing. He is constantly bursting with energy and has mastered some pretty impressive tricks to keep the children in line, despite being heavily out numbered.

My class are beyond charming – whenever I go away from a break mid way through the afternoon, I’ll return to sweet messages on the back of the whiteboard. The school was set up to offer English classes to children who would otherwise go without education and instead be working all day in the fields. Volunteers come by to supplement Team’s teaching and to take the more advanced students away so they can get authentic exposure to the English language.

The bike ride out to Little Po is incredible – fiery red roads, bright green rice paddy fields and stray cows and pigs wandering the streets. As you enter the town children run out to the road to give you high fives as you cycle past and while shouting “hello” sometimes even the adults get involved and enthusiastically welcome you to their village. Often my students bring their younger siblings along to class because there’s simply no one else available to look after them.

Life is different here; and that’s part of the reason I’ve fallen in love with this provence within Cambodia. Their happiness is not bound to the latest smartphone, a new car or buying new clothes – in fact, many kids only have one outfit. Sometimes kids will just wear their pajamas as clothes because it’s simply all they have. Their priorities are different; focused around family and simply having enough to get by.

The surprising thing though, is whatever the kids have they’re more than happy to share with you. They’ll muster together their pocket money and buy volunteers small candies or stickers as a token of their affection. These kids who really have nothing, give all they can and it’s beyond humbling.

This is the place I come to reset myself, to align myself. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the every day rat race or working towards buying something or getting somewhere, so that you can finally be happy. These children in Takeo have taught me, and continue to reteach me, that I already have absolutely everything I need to be happy – I have my health, my family and my friends.

Each day the children sing a number of songs to welcome us volunteer teachers – before and after each break they sing us a “Thank You” song to show their gratitude. I’m not really sure how I can thank them for all they’ve taught me, but I guess coming back time and time again says enough.

I’m home in just over two weeks – time is coming around fast, but in between I’ll be visiting Rabbit Island, Phnom Penh and heading back to Singapore. I know it’s going to fly by, so I’m trying to savor every day and every moment here.

It’s almost my 25^th birthday which is kind of exciting and a little bit terrifying. It’s funny, because I can remember being five or six and thinking the kids who were 11 or 12 were so old! I was never really fussed about turning 18 or 21, but for some reason 25 feels like a real benchmark; a turning point. It is, after all, a quarter of a century, which is a pretty impressive feat. To celebrate my upcoming change of age I decided to write 25 random facts about me… 

1) I can’t swim. I can make movement in the water but it’s horribly inefficient. I am, however, an excellent floater.

2) If I’m really drunk I pick up a fake English accent.

3) I can tolerate spiders but am terrified of rats.

4) The taste of cucumber used to always make me gag, until last year – now I quite like it.

5) I’m not ticklish.

6) I have a heart shaped freckle.

7) I was vegetarian for four years throughout my teenage years, but bacon made me quit.

8 ) Every time I find a song I like I will listen to it on repeat for days or weeks until I’m sick of it and can’t listen to it for a few months.

9) When I was small I wanted to be an airhostess or pilot, now I don’t know what I want to be.

10) I once licked a spider for $50, but I was worried I didn’t actually lick it, so licked it again.

11) When I first went traveling I didn’t set an alarm or wear shoes for two months; it is one of my proudest life achievements.

12) I am terrified of needles, but try to donate blood whenever I can, especially at the Angkor Children’s hospital in Siem Reap.

13) I love taking photos of others, but hate being in photos.

14) I am a decent driver, but I always prefer to be driven than to drive – even when I had my own car.

15) I am a hopeless romantic, but I don’t want to be.

16) I believe in some kind of fate or destiny: that things happen exactly as they’re supposed to.

17) I’ve wanted to get the same tattoo for the last two years, but have commitment issues.

18) I’ve had my belly button pierced for almost 11 years.

19) I really don’t know if I’ll ever live in New Zealand again long term. 

20) I think gifting flowers is stupid; I’d much prefer to receive a plant.

21) I get really anxious before I fly, but love being on a plane.

22) I pronounce “i” as “e” and vice versa. I’ve been teased numerous times for how I say “bed” “head” “leg” “six” and so on.

23) I don’t like people touching my elbows. I will freak out if people try.

24) I commonly get mistaken for being younger than I am. Just the other day a few other volunteers thought that I was 18 (score!).

25) My real name is Christine but I prefer my nickname Izy. Christine seems just far too serious for this stage in my life. 

So there are 25 random facts about me!

I know there are a lot of people that lurk on my blog and I’d love for you to introduce yourself so I can learn a little more about my readers  
 

It wasn’t really the plan to go to spend New Years on Koh Phangan, a big part of me knew it wasn’t my thing. I came to Koh Phangan for the first time over two years ago, during off season. The island was bland, it rained a lot and seemed to be a western’s playground rather than anything authentic. Two years on, not much has changed although it’s considerably more built up. There’s a lot of the island I haven’t explored and there are definitely beautiful sides of it to be found, but I ended up here on New Years just wanting somewhere to party and say goodbye to a year that was full of a lot of highlights and a lot of heartache. And Koh Phangan was my drug of choice. 

So it was decided: I would spend New Years on Koh Phangan. 

New Years Eve was one of those days where it felt like everything was a challenge. I was staying on Koh Samui at a luxury resort (the result of an accommodation miscommunication). My friend and I had decided to rent out scooters for two hours and drove around the island soaking in some serious sunshine and some local markets. We came home to have a nap and then to get ready to head to Koh Phangan. As we were walking to our room, I turned to my friend and said “it’s going to rain soon” before pausing for a second and continuing “it’s going to really rain” and not a second later it was as if the clouds separated and oceans fell out of the sky.

It was late evening and the rain hadn’t subsided, so I decided to call my hotel’s reception to ask for more information about ferries to Koh Phangan, when I was told it was simply too dangerous and there would be no ferries, period – unless the weather cleared up. So, I waited an hour and called back, same story. But this time I decided to stress to the hotel staff that I had to get to Koh Phangan because my friends were there. They suggested we head down to the “Fisherman’s Wharf” to take a speedboat across, but emphasized it was dangerous and they wouldn’t suggest it. 

We were dropped off at Fisherman’s Wharf and the rain belted down, the roads had flooded mildly and both our clothes and shoes were drenched right through. I hadn’t even arrived at the full moon party and I was a mess! After some confusion, we finally found the guy selling tickets to the boats and parted with a cool 1,500 baht.

The boat ride was terrifying, I’ve never been on a boat where the journey has felt more like a severe cause of turbulence than a ferry ride. As thunder roared and lightning shook the sky, there were a number of times where I questioned my decision and wondered if the little boat would actually make it. As we pulled up to the dock a policeman photographed the boat – any captains who were crossing during the stormy weather were losing their licenses. We were soaked, but we’d made it to Koh Phangan by about 10.30. 

We headed straight to Mellow Mountain to meet up with some people – If you’re not familiar with Koh Phangan, Mellow Mountain is a seedy bar perched on the edge of the water, a steep staircase up the side of the hill. This is where you can buy mushroom shakes (legal) and one of the seediest places on the island, but most people end here at some point or another.

After a few shared shakes, we set off to explore the rest of the party. Walking along the beach there were hoards of people, crammed in front of zones playing their favourite music. There was fluro Koh Phangan shorts, girls wearing bright bikinis, fire poi, painted people and almost everyone was carrying an obligatory bucket filled to the brim with their poison of choice. I couldn’t help but think this was some kind of twisted theme park for 18-25 year olds who like to drink a lot – it didn’t feel real. 

As midnight rolled around, a clock counted down the end of 2012 – a deal breaker of a year for me. As the clock flipped over to 2013, I began to feel excited about the possibility this year will hold. Then started a fire work show quite unlike any other, that lasted for a solid five months, before being mimicked at another location further down the beach. 

It was just like any other beach party I’ve been to before, but times a thousand. By about 5am things got a little seedy; the hoards of guys who hadn’t managed to pull yet seemed to focus their attention more aggressively and the ocean washed up a thick belt of bottles and buckets, drawing a sharp line between the sand and the sea. Regardless, I danced right through as the golden sun clawed it’s way back into the sky, marking the first day of the year. While New Years on Koh Phangan was never a great priority for me, I’m glad I did it and it will probably go down as one of the craziest New Years of my life. 

I’ve been in Thailand almost a month and I’m done! I’m really struggling to maintain a good work/life balance and I’m feeling really disconnected from myself, which means it’s time for one of my favourite places in the world: Cambodia. 

Tomorrow will see me heading back to my Kingdom of Cambodia, via Bangkok. Taxi. Ferry. Minibus. Train. Train. Minibus. This is all that stands in the way from being back to the place that changed me most. 

And next month I’ll be home.  

How was your new years?!