Howdy y'all! A little introduction seem in order. They call me Jack. My little family and I (Self 37, Wife 36, Daughter 5) have relocated from Bloomington, Indiana, USA to the lovely(?) land of Sihanouk. The past two weeks have been interesting (to say the least) but we do enjoy it here and -perhaps against our better judgement- we have a 12 month lease.

My wife was a teacher in the US, as well as a student of languages and linguistics- so her hope is to open a small international school here in Sihanoukville.

I am an artist, gardener, and chef, so I plan to do what ever comes my way- Maybe open a business or two... maybe just spend a lot more time with my daughter. I grew up "off the grid" in the USA, which means pioneer style, homesteading in the woods with no electricity, phone or running water so I thought I had a handle on Cambodia- whoa was I wrong!

My daughter mostly wants to turn into a fairy with butterfly wings when she grows up. For now, she would accept either a giant parrot or small dragon as a pet.

Well, that's us. I am sure we will have lots of questions from U guys as we get started in our new lives!

welcome to snooky, hopefully u will enjoy the beach life here

Welcome!
Just watch out for security and you will be fine

phuketrichard wrote:wow, well
ur sure to know this already, your not in Kansas anymore,
must admit i would never have raised my daughter in Shitsville. Best of luck as ur going to need it

why not? juz need to buy a small plot of land, build a small house, grow ur own food, alternative energy, enjoy the beach while u can, when grown tired just sell the whole lot, pack up and leave, almost forget, home school ur kid, and self medicate for small medical issues. (so it aint that different than living in US)

i think it is fine for a young family.

Welcome to Ess Haych Vee mate
feel free to ask any questions im sure there will be some posters around
watch out for the trolls ing under the bridges here, just bring a long stick, give em a poke if they get too close

Welcome to town we have been here coming on two years now.

We run an online employment services business (I write CVs and cover letters) and just love the lifestyle here.

I can't imagine what it would be like to raise a child here though - you're in for a big adventure, that's for sure!

Feel free to ask any questions, I'll help where I can

I've just started going to Brunch Club every Monday - we go somewhere at about 10am to eat, if you'd like to join in, there's a couple of girls that go. Your wife may enjoy meeting some other women


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Hello 'Hoosier'. Snooky is nice enough although I don't know anything about the schools.
one things for sure, you won't be needing your winter flannels while here!

cheers

Bertros

Its always nice to see people that get out of the "cookie cutter" life stay in America (or elsewhere)(I'm a fellow American) and try something different, although growing up off the grid may have helped your thinking. A Chef? Please open a good Pizza place. As a past Chef I wish you luck on any restaurant you would open here. You have to be ready to not make money for at least a year, deal with the government corruption, trouble sourcing good ingredient's, staffing/culture problems, etc.

Being a chef you have probably pretty well looked over the food scene. Lots of same/same restaurants run by Cambodians/foreigners either for tourists (tons of terrible pizza places) or Cambodian hole in the wall stands with minimal equipment/dodgy sanitation/limited food choices. If you go to the food section here there are a few good recommendations. I personally love the massive steak at Monkey Mark's, the whole calf spitted at the place down by the Golden Lyons Circle, fried chicken at Pizzana (don't bother with their pizza), the baked goods at the French bakery on the main drag by Samudera's, and the dim-sum at Holiday Palace, to name a few.

If you buy a moto be very careful as you have probably seen they drive crazy here. A step up in price from a moto (and keeps you out of the rain) is one of the little used Korean cars, which can be had for under $4000. (try to find one with airbags.) The "bigger vehicle has the right of way" is a way of life here and a moto is on the bottom of the stick. A used Toyota LandCruiser (like mine) can be had for a decent price and haul a lot, have a lot of weight to throw around in traffic, take the shitty roads here very well, but gulp a lot of gas (petrol as the Brits say.) A step up from there are the Toyota Camry's at around $10,000 to start, but don't take the shitty roads a swell as a Cruiser. Toyota's are the easiest to get parts for/worked on.

Have fun exploring your new land and beach's and ignore some of the trolls that do here.