Cambodia: Happy Khmer New Year!

My favorite part of the Chinese New Year celebrations, back in February, was how my co-workers would refer to it. Always the Chinese Happy New Year. I like how they would insert the "happy" right into the middle of the phrase. I was told it would be pretty uneventful, and it was. Yes, sure, there was the odd drumming sounds at all hours of the day, the sudden emergence of dragons dancing through the streets, and of course, the firecrackers. Oh, how I disliked the firecrackers. But, for the most part, the pace of the city was uninterrupted. This is not the case with the Khmer Happy New Year. It is upon us, and anything, but uneventful.

The holiday is officially three days long, running from April 14th through the 16th and represents the end of the harvest season. Its a time for farmers to enjoy the fruits of their labor and relax before the rainy season begins. I equate it to Christmas at home. While the government holiday is only 3 days, most people take a full week, if not 2 full weeks off. Everyone returns to their province to celebrate with their family.

When we celebrated the Chinese Happy New Year, I think someone asked me every single day what I would to do celebrate. I always had the same answer. "Uh. Nothing?" I mean - I will probably do the same stuff I do on any weekend; hang out with friends, read, go shopping, ... you know - the regular stuff. Often this was met with a very saddened look. "Ooooohh, you have nowhere to go?" The statement would drip with pity. I was never sure how to respond. I didn't want my new friends to feel sad for me, personally a weekend of reading, relaxing, and socializing with friends is all I could really ask for. But, I felt that I needed to find a response which would translate that sentiment while not discrediting the importance of returning to your province to visit with family. For the Khmer Happy New Year I was more prepared. I bought a ticket to Singapore for a long relaxing weekend in the world of malls, Starbucks, and movie theatres. I felt guilty about this for a long time. I mean, is it wrong to leave during the biggest holiday of the year and not soak up the culture?


Early in the week, you could see the changes. Strange structures being erected, signs, lights, all over the city. I started to get into the spirit, and I discuss the Khmer Happy New Year with everyone. What province are you from? How far is that? When will you go home? Kandar, Srey Rieng, Pursat - everyone is excited to talk about their home, their family, and a time to relax. It started to feel like Christmas. Its traditional for people to give gifts of money to their families, especially those who live in Phnom Penh and have so much more than their relatives in the countryside. I've been getting into the spirit of it, wishing everyone good luck in the Khmer Happy New Year. And as of yesterday, I started overpaying all of my moto drivers. I mean - it is the Khmer Happy New Year after all!

As the week has progressed, I realize I made the right choice in leaving. The city is slowly grinding to a halt. I'm not actually sure what I would do here, if I did stay. As near as I can tell, no one is actually from Phnom Penh. Everyone is from the provinces and everyone is leaving. I noticed it first on Wednesday when the woman who does my laundry had the gate pulled closed. On Thursday morning I was awakened to loud Khmer music. I thought perhaps it was coming from the structure in the park across from me. The strange new structure that appeared last weekend and is still a mystery to me. I looked out the window. No, the music was actually coming from a loudspeaker mounted on a van parked directly outside of my apartment and pointed at me. Oh happy Khmer New Year. On Thursday afternoon my regular moto driver left town and a few of my favorite restaurants were already closed. Today, Friday, I got kicked out of my favorite internet cafe. This is the first time in 3 months that it actually requires a little effort to find a moto driver. At night there has been an inordinate amount of loud techno music and dancing in the streets, which has been fun - unless you live next door to the loud techno music, and then sometimes you lose the Happy Khmer New Year spirit.

So, tonight I will abandon my new city, on the eve of the biggest holiday of the year. Although - I've been told that the boat festival in November, is when everyone comes from the provinces into the city. I hope I still live here then. That one I will definitely hang around for. In the meantime, I'm going to try to find one more open coffee shop, one more moto driver for a trip to the airport, and overpay everyone in the process. And, hope for a little good luck, in the happy new year.