I'm Back!

Next month will mark 4 years of living abroad and 2 years in Cambodia. Soon enough another year will go by. This past year has been a year of ups and downs but I've learned a lot this past year. I've learned you no longer have to put yourself in a relationship just because of someone else's expectations and that nobody is responsible for anyone else (aside if you have children of course). This year I went through the end of a long-term relationship and I'm happy to say it was the right choice. It forced me to get out and to challenge myself in ways I otherwise never would have. I managed to start a new recreational sport here in Phnom Penh, Dodgeball. Today marks our 1 year anniversary.

I wrote the paragraph above on July 22, 2015. Today is March 14, 2021.

I didn't finish the post, today I am back to finish it, nearly six years later.

It will take too long to write out 6 years of life's challenges and learnings in a short blog post. Therefore, I'll give a summary of my life's events since I wrote that paragraph.

Phnom Penh Dodgeball has ran for nearly 7 years now, and before the latest Covid-19 outbreak, we had 30 players coming weekly. The group has had it's ups and downs, but mostly ups. In the year 2020, when we could play, many times we paid out of our own pocket to keep it going as there were less players. Strangely enough, I used to always post in the Expat Facebook Groups about dodgeball every week and we still would only get maybe 1 new player a month. Out of decreasing motivation, increased busyness from my work, Dodgeball seemed like it was going to fade out. 

Then, early this year, I decided to give it one more push as my wife and I will be moving to California in less than six weeks! (More on that later). After I posted, the first night had nearly 20 new people come, I couldn't believe the turn out! The following weeks continued with more new players and some returning new players. It seems to be forming into a community again, and then 4 foreigners bribed a security guard to escape their quarantine and they spread covid-19 throughout Phnom Penh and the provinces....

We created a Messenger group now, so I hope that this will help keep the group more active and that it will continue to grow when we can throw balls at each other again ;) 

I got married! Well, technically engaged according to legal paperwork. My wife/fiance, and I applied for the K-1 visa, and she passed on December 31, 2020! It was an early Birthday present for her (she's a New Years Baby). It was a great way to end off 2020 and to welcome 2021. If anyone has questions about the application process, feel free to ask. We didn't hire any lawyers and did it all by ourselves. We saved thousands of dollars from what I've researched and were successful without any hiccups. 

As I noticed most people's attention spans are short, I'm going to keep this post brief and will continue to write other posts to make it better organized and easier to digest. Happy to be back here and can't wait to share more about what has happened with you!

Halloween Dodgeball 2020