:roll:

Come on mate, you're not coming all this way just to hang out with the same people you've been hanging out with for the last three years are you?

There are plenty of people around your age (I'm guessing early 20's?) all around town. I'm one of them. After all that studying of social work, perhaps you might feel like doing a little socialising of your own?

If so, send me a PM closer to the time you're arriving and I'll point you in the direction of some potential mates. If you still want to be around the Uni crowd, stay in Uni.

Just my thoughts.

Don't they teach students to spell nowadays?

where are all the social work students?

In uni where they belong.

Elsewhere first Friday party? I always wondered what most of the crowd do the rest of the month

Joff, to clarify what the others have been saying, there's plenty of people to mix with over here and it's easy to meet them when you're here, generally people are very approachable. You're copping some friendly flack because a lot of people come and stay within their small circle of known territory, and that sometimes disappoints/amuses/frustrates those of us who have been here long term, who can easily see how much you're missing out on. It's the same as Aussie backpackers going to London and spending every night in Aussie pubs drinking with Aussies. They're not quite getting the experience they could be. Don't take it personally, the weather's just changed from not-so-wet to very wet over here and that can make some people... less subtle. Overall we're a fairly friendly bunch over here, honest.

To get the most out of your short time here I'd advise you to go out of your way to meet people with different backgrounds and different expertise from yours - in Australia you will find it far more difficult to ever access such a broad cross section of people and get different perspectives on a given subject. You'll quickly discover that there's a lot of different ways to look at the same issue, and especially if you're coming here to focus on some issue in particular you'll find your research and personal views will benefit greatly from talking to people outside the social work student circle. Keep an open mind and expect that many of the people you talk to will disagree with your views, but realise they're entitled to their opinions too. Talking with them will help you to question, and either reinforce or develop your views.

The expats here cross all age groups as well as differing in the degree to which they've "gone native", and length of time they've been here, not to mention what they've done here (10 years drinking beer vs ten years working at an NGO change people in different ways. Ask people here which is better for the soul and you're into that many-different-opinions territory very quickly!)

Having said the above, do not start every conversation with people you meet with a barrage of questions about this and that. They may feel like you're treating them as an expatipedia or something. You'll quickly learn who's up for random questions, who prefers involved discussions on meaty topics, and who'd rather ignore you and focus on the meat in their burger...

To be honest, I can't say I've met many social work students over here, though they may be around. There's plenty of social work and related disciplines graduates, though, mostly working at NGOs or the UN. You can try to get people at your NGO to recommend contacts, but that may be difficult for them if it's a small local one. I would say that your best bet may be to network quickly when you turn up, it's easy to meet social workers and NGO workers out on the town. When you're here, go to meetings at the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia ("CCC") which tries to encourage collaboration between NGOs. If you're really keen, they have a directory on their website and you could email a couple of NGOs looking for contacts in your area.

You'll enjoy yourself, don't stress about not knowing people before you get here. Parting advice: pack light...

BC

BC...
PM me for a free lunch (or dinner) at Metro Cafe. Your advice is well worth feeding you.

lunch would be better, as dinner would involve alcohol and...hell...well why not.

Agreed. When I get there, I will also feed BC (considering his invaluable advice on housing, friends, and mindset).

Now that could be a great idea...

Wahoo! At this rate I'll eat free all week. Will get in touch with you, for sure, Anthony & DYang. Will be good to meet you f2f.

When/if I retire (gimme a couple of years), I might make me one of those. Nice excuse to travel the world meeting and greeting the aliens in all manner of countries!

BC

BC, thanks for your advice, I get what you mean about travellers sticking, to their own, with the Aussie pub thing. I myself kept well away from earls court, when backpacking through Europe in the 80's.
Drunken singalongs to Khe Sanh, no thanks. It was much more fun getting drunk to the local scene at that time.

Speaking of which, is there a band scene in Phnom Penh? I noticed there was a bar called Zombie Birdhouse, named after one of Iggy Pops more obscure Albums, does that bar still exists, I assume with a name like that they'd play some pretty reasonable music?

Anyway I digress. I do appreciate the others comments about being open to a variety of experiences, and thats one of the reasons I chose to do my placement in Cambodia rather than Camberwell. But I am there for a specific reason,and I do want to pass my course, and while I dont want to spend my entrie time in the pockets of other social workers, it would be good to touch base with some fellow SW's . So if you are out there, post a message.

Band scene, not a major one but slowly growing. These days you can find a variety of live music around (jazz, classical, rock, blues) and there are a few clubs that have regular gigs. A couple more opened in the last couple of months. And of course there's some Khmer clubs and restaurants that have regular live music played at them.

Zombie Birdhouse, I don't go there but I think it's still there on st 278? I only ever went past once when they had live music on the street outside, not sure if they had other live music going on or not...

memphis was a good place for live gigs until recently. I ended up there saturday night only to have a cheesy band playing BAD versions of BAB '80's music.