The smell of change - Phnom Penh - Koh Rong - Cambodia

When I arrived in the capital "Phnom Penh" what awaited me was exactly what many others had already told me. A strange Asian city, with lots of high-rise buildings, wide streets and somehow everything felt deserted. The city's social classes were quite clearly separated by the Mekong; to the east of it were slums and houses in need of demolition that were deprived of the sun by the financial high-rises on the other side of the river. The main reason for stopping here was primarily to visit the S-21 camp and the "killing fields", which are timeless reminders of the mass genocide of the Cambodian population by the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot in the late '70s. Cambodia is once again an example of how quickly a fascist system can put down its bloodthirsty roots in an undemocratic constitution and use widespread poverty without prospects as a breeding ground to thrive. Like the promises of Stalin or Mao Zedong, Pol Pot could in no way move the country forward. Economically, things continued to go south, starvation killed hundreds of thousands, and the system began to devour its own most loyal supporters. As quickly as the regime of terror arose, it disappeared again after Vietnamese intervention, while the traces and scars can still be felt in some cases today.

In my hostel I tried to make contact with other people twice more because I thought it would definitely be good and could put me in a better mood, but in the end I had two well-intentioned conversations that felt forced and then preferred to move on Made the bed so I could fall asleep with a David Attenborough documentary. The next morning I took a bus and a boat straight to Koh Rong, by far the most beautiful island I have been to so far. The beaches look like something out of a “Ferrero Roché” advertisement. Palm trees form a nice promenade, while the fine, white sand between your toes squeaks like poor quality grilled cheese and bright turquoise water slowly laps up.

I booked one of the few hostels on the island, which was a pretty popular party hostel, but still had a very nice charm. I spent the first two days vegging out on the beach, thinking, reading and looking for who I might want to talk to, even though there was this blockage the whole time. On the evening of the second day I received an email that briefly caused me to fall further into this hole, but then actually pulled me out completely like a trampoline.

It was the university's cancellation for the summer semester of 2023. I was a little stunned that, firstly, it came so early and that it was canceled like that. Something inside me really wanted me to get this place and not, as originally planned, travel another six months. But the permanent subliminal feeling disappeared that same evening. It simply arose from uncertainty about the not-too-distant future. Will I be taking a flight home in a month so that I have to look into the housing market and the BAföG documents or think about how I will spend the next six months abroad?

From second onwards, returning before the winter semester was not an option for me. On the one hand, I longed to go home, but arriving without further education would feel like a standstill and would destroy me. Especially now I have the time, the geographical and financial possibilities and, above all, a renewed desire to throw myself into the next adventures, cultures and landscapes.

This return of the desire to travel, or the general desire or joy, came simply because a decision was made. Even though it wasn't necessarily the decision I wanted, that's just how it was. Now I could concentrate completely on the here and now while I was able to think about a perfect strategy for the application process for the winter semester 2024/25. My prospects looked, or look, very good. With my qualifications, which I only now have together and can have credited, I would have gotten 17 study places in winter semester 2020/21, 15 study places in winter semester 2021/22, 14 study places in winter semester 2022/23 and 8 study places in winter semester 2023/24. There is a stagnating trend, but even with the reduction from winter 2022/23 to winter 2023/24 with around 50%, I would still get 4 acceptances in the coming winter semester. With another 50% deterioration, still 2!!

There will only be a lot of speculation and knowledge in the fall :)