8/18/2019 BNB - A Monsoon Meal

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Iwalked in rst.

Unashamed by my earliness, Iclimbed up the white, wooden porch

stairs to the front house on Pratt Street,ustered and a little out of breath forbeing 8 minutes early. I swung open thefront door, eager to nd my friends fromthe Southeast Asian Students Association(SEASA) at Ohio University, snuggled on

couches or perhaps snacking on deliciousnger-foods.Tere was no one inside.I looked at my watch and frowned. I was

early but not decidedly early. Where waseveryone else? My hostess smiled andlaughed away my worried glance, sayingsomething about “southeast Asian time.” Isat on the couch and waited.

And I’m so glad I did.About a full 45 minutes later, right about

the time the couch beneath my seat hadturned into an indented cocoon, the restof the guests arrived. And arrive they did!Teir armloads of pad thai (rice noodles)

and veggie-stuff ed spring rolls emitted anaroma my hungry stomach couldn’t deny.Te cat on location swarmed around my

ankles, desperate to feast with the rest ofus.

For the remainder of the evening,American-born university studentslike myself lounged and ate dishes oftraditional Indonesian and Tailandcuisine with our international universitycounterparts on the Monsoon Magazinestaff . It was one of the rst times for many

of us to meet each other face-to-face --even if it took a little longer for everyoneto nally arrive.

Plucking a still-fresh spring roll ontothe tip of my tongue, I glanced aroundthe room, now swollen with happy,hungry bodies. Here were studentsfrom all over Southeast Asia -- fromCambodia, Malaysia, mainland China --sharing stories and lamenting over thesispreparations, just like any other college-aged cluster of students in America.

I smiled at the diversity, embraced thediff erence, and realized that we’re all on asimilar path of discovery -- we’ve all just

happened to intersect with one anotherright here, right now.Tis summer, I’ll discover the other

By: Bethany N. Bella

side of the Pacic Ocean -- Phnom

Penh, Cambodia, to be exact. When Ipurchased my plane ticket last January,the reality only registered with my bankaccount; I still can’t believe that I’ll behalfway around the world for almost theentire month of May.

In the meantime, I’ve taken everyopportunity to immerse myself inthe culture, tradition, and history ofCambodia -- taking travel lessons fromsome of the Cambodian-born studentsin the room and becoming involved inSEASA this semester -- if only to satisfya curiosity within me.

When I became a certicate member

of the Global Leadership Center hereat Ohio University last spring, I didn’tanticipate I would be jetting off  on

a plane at six in the morning and

reconnecting with the earth 8,837 mileslater. When one of the now second-yearstudents informed me of the program’strip to Cambodia in May 2015, Ihonestly couldn’t recall where in theworld Cambodia was. East Asia? Africa?South America? I was stumped.

Now, I can’t stop thinking aboutthat elusive, enticing “Pearl of Asia.”Cambodia.Te word doesn’t feel quiteas foreign anymore, doesn’t feel quite asabstract. Afer reading and watching,studying and understanding, I feel like Iknow Cambodia, can already feel its hotsticky summers calling out to me across

the Pacic.It already feels like home.

“It already feels like home”Photograph: Hannah Schroeder