老外说——世界这么大，我不回美国啦！

【老外说】是一档以“采访”老外为主的节目，帮助大家更好的了解中西文化差异，一窥英国人、美国人日常生活。每周一更新。本栏目适合精听/泛听。可做听写练习。

很多人挤破头想拿绿卡，也有很多人并不想待在美国，颇有点“围城”的意思，今天采访到的这位“老外”，就离开了美国，到柬埔寨生活了。

Gwen

Biden won the election. So did you vote? Because you were so far away from America.

Personally, I didn't vote. My own personal belief is that we don't really have a choice. We were given the illusion of a choice. Because the country is gonna go either any direction the people who runs the country. It's my own personal belief and understanding that America as a country is no longer the America that was founded originally. It's now become a corporatize industry. Even the citizen is just part of their assets, the country's assets.

We've had the two-party system for you know how many years now. I'm more of a libertarian（自由论者）. When it was all said and done, for me, it's dependent upon our taxes. So the way I see it, like they're printing a bunch of money and they're bailing out big corporations, our taxes and everything else, like property taxes. My parents, they're hurting because of the property taxes. And it's just been very difficult like somebody from my generation—we’re the millennials(千禧一代)— so for us, homeownership and just being able to have a independent lifestyle has become very scarce due to the fact that education and the educational system is run by regulation. That's the government. They're the one who regulates all of that as well. And the cost of that, it's just ridiculous, and everything else. Anyway, I'm just going on about that, on and on.

Gwen

So Biden or Trump, it is none of your concerns.

Yeah, I'm just gonna be traveling, to be honest. And since I will be earning my income outside the United States, I will not be liable for any income tax. So that's a plus（优势） for me. And cost of living over here in Siem Reap(暹粒市,柬埔寨城市) is very affordable. When I was living with my ex, I was paying almost 1800 to 2000 dollars for a two bedroom apartment.

Gwen

You're that disappointed with the country with the whole system and stuff. Have you thought about immigration once and for all?

I'm in the part of my life where I'm just trying out new things. Cambodia was my first destination because of my parents. This is their home country. This where they came from, where they emigrated from. And I am a Cambodian descent as well, I was able to get a visa k, and so they treat me here like as a citizen. So I have dual citizenship here. If I did not have that, I would have to pay like a $3000 deposit to enter the country.

Gwen

So what triggered you for you to start traveling? Is that because Trump was the president for this several years, and you think that he has been doing a bad job...

I definitely do not appreciate what Trump has been doing during his terms, especially all of his anti Chinese rhetoric(花言巧语). Me myself, I'm about a quarter Chinese, but just being Asian in general, there's definitely…he has bred animosity(仇恨) towards that.He's just created a whole Asian discrimination. And just we've already gone past this over our history. And now he just resurrected(复活) something that has just should have been dead a long time ago.

Gwen

So what triggered you？

It was the virus. They closed the gym. I was a personal trainer for sometimes. And I was also working in the hospitality industry(招待性行业，如旅馆、饭店等). So they shut down restaurants. They shut down the gyms. And so I started to work for a factory for about a half a year. But I am just like what am I doing? I'm making so much less money. And everything is just shut down here. I just was not happy. And I couldn't stand the idea of staying in America during the winter, especially in Seattle, where the weather is just so gloomy and rainy all the time as well.

I also figure over here in Siem Reap, Cambodia, it's normally extremely crowded and packed all year round. So I figure this will probably be my only chance to come and have an intimate experience and explore the area.

Gwen

So you just wanted to get rid of America somehow.

Yeah, I needed a break.

Gwen

So what is your next destination?

I was looking at Bali. Bali seems like very nice and tropical. And it has a lot of places for sightseeing as well. And beautiful scenery. I do plan on visiting China sometimes. But I'm not exactly sure yet. I want to work on my Chinese.

Gwen

You've made up your mind to lead a life always on the way and never going back to your hometown ever again？

Yeah, to be honest, I didn't really miss much about over there. most of my colleagues and old friends, they work in the hospitality industry. And I'm not sure of you are too familiar with the culture over there. But it's a very heavily party and drinking culture, especially being young. So I'm just grown out of that. And I just want to explore and see a more adventurous kind of thing because the world is so huge and there's just so many things to see.

Gwen

Yeah, life should be full of options. You can choose to stay and you can choose to go away. Should be like that. But how about your parents?

My parents, they are still afraid to be as nomadic (漂泊不定的) as I am because of the pandemic. They have plans on coming to Cambodia and retiring. They have some properties down here. And also at the same time, they asked me to come and sort of oversee the property for a little bit.

Gwen

They have properties. Does it mean that they bought houses there? Lands?

Yeah, they have land. My uncle, my dad's brother, he's helping to raise cattle and sort of managing the farm there. My parents, they wanted me to just come and kind of take a look and make sure that everything is running smoothly. It was really nice, being out there in such an untouched land, coming from such a concrete jungle like in the city, and just experience. It was really remarkable, the fresh air and just the untouched nature.

如可以选择，你想去哪个国家生活？

大家还想听“老外”说些什么？欢迎留言哦

-等你很久啦！-