{"id":661445,"date":"2025-03-24T00:49:47","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T04:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=661445"},"modified":"2025-03-24T00:49:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T04:49:51","slug":"international-thoughts-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2025\/03\/24\/international-thoughts-4\/","title":{"rendered":"International Thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wow, life in Cambodia Phnom Penh is so good\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Too good!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/International-Thoughts-3.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed of International Thoughts 3.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-3712ab8f-eb32-4b28-bd6f-e80b457245f4\" href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/International-Thoughts-3.pdf\">International Thoughts 3<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/International-Thoughts-3.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-3712ab8f-eb32-4b28-bd6f-e80b457245f4\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Serviced apartments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So we just signed a three month lease, for a nice service department. This is kind of an interesting concept\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 In which you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re staying at a super nice floor to ceiling window apartment condominium, and twice a week, cleaners come in and clean your whole place?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thinking about life in Los Angeles\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m like a peon having to vacuum my own place every day\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Take out the trash, clean the windows etc. Here, life leverage is like a trillion times better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u00ef\u00bf\u00bcFirst, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve just recovered so much free time in the day! And also, \u00ef\u00bf\u00bc found a really wonderful international school year for Seneca, this play based, color based artistic free range \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Waldorf school\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (without the anti-VAXxers), and now\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Life feels infinite?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Labor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The big thing about being in Cambodia\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Labor is so plentiful and cheap. Typically in the states, we find most of our labor from like Central America, Mexico El Salvador Guatemala etc. Yet the problem is they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still being paid like $20 an hour, which means Labor is still so expensive in America! Triste to Cambodia, in which a laborer just makes like $150 a month, your US dollars goes a lot further here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thinking global<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So our current apartment is probably like 1000 times better than our apartment back in the states, in which we pay $3200 a month here it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like $1500 a month. But like at least 100 times nicer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Therefore think about the economic parity here; \u00ef\u00bf\u00bc\u00ef\u00bf\u00bc\u00ef\u00bf\u00bc\u00ef\u00bf\u00bc paying half the cost, for 10,000 times more service and superior facilities and lifestyle?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">is there anything I miss about the states?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Certainly living in America, you have the ultimate access to commercial goods and products. However beside this\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Nothing I really miss about this dates. I kind of miss my Texas power squad bar at home, and my 50 kg steel plates, but besides this\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Nothing I miss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like like 1 trillion times better; and even ironically comparing Phnom Penh to LA &#8212; \u00ef\u00bf\u00bc\u00ef\u00bf\u00bcPP is like 1000x better? In terms of walking around, the friendliness of people, and everyone here is just happy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My theory is that Buddhist countries, Cambodia Thailand etc.\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 People are just much happier! Much kinder, more friendly, more positive and optimistic!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Send call Sam made an interesting observation is that you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see many police officers in Cambodia, perhaps because there is less heavy theft and violence. Certainly there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably some crime that happened here like petty theft, but you won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be worrying about some sort of random talking in LA with a concealed gun?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Safety<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also a funny thing\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I feel like 1 billion times safer in Phnom Penh than Los Angeles. Once again here is again at the whole concealed gun thing; I have no issues getting into an argument with a random Angelino on the streets about him being an asshole smoker in public, but the only fear I ever get is that if I get into some sort of aggressive behavior with somebody on the streets in LA\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Once again they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re gonna pop out a gun and pop me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Living in a country without guns is better<\/strong>. \u00ef\u00bf\u00bc\u00ef\u00bf\u00bc<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pace<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even during peak rush-hour here in Phnom Penh, it is shockingly peaceful quiet, very very little honking. You get a lot more honking in Vietnam in LA that you do here in Cambodia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The country<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the problems about being in Vietnam or other countries, China adjacent countries is that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s some sort of fear that comes with social media Internet monitoring and censorship here in Cambodia I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel none of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also, the friendliness and kindliness of people. One of the weird things about being in LA and the state is that everyone is trying to size you up, people are very very suspicious in a bad way, and very antisocial? Here everybody smiles at you, greets you, does the hand together peace gesture and the subtle bow. People are far more respectful than even Koreans, and also genuinely kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">is there any good reason to not live in Cambodia?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think so. A subtle nuance, I really don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like Siem Reap, I prefer \u00ef\u00bf\u00bcPhnom Penh 10000000x better. Why? Too many degenerate expats in Siem Reap, and also, my theory is that because PP is a real city, much more built in joy and optimism here!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Developing growth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So also a big thing\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I think people tend to be happier when there is optimism, upward growth. For example here in Phnom Penh there are so many new skyscrapers and condominiums currently being built, which is a very optimistic site! The reason why it is so wonderful is that we are still in the earliest stages of capital and capitalism here, the downside of being in America that already feels tapped out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Therefore as a principal: the idea is that, upwards growth is an idea? \u00ef\u00bf\u00bc<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Towards what ends?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is where I started to get interesting\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Once you no longer really really need the wealth, but if it becomes more of like kind of a philosophical thing or a principle, then what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, a happy thought\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I could live like 1000 years in Cambodia and never run out of money without even digging into my principal. \u00ef\u00bf\u00bc<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I think the poverty mindset that we get an America\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because once again\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Everything is so expensive, everything then feels untenable?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The irony is even for the rich, life in America kind of sucks. For example, even for the super rich, most people do not have full-time nannies, or full-time living in with them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I think if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re wealthy, at best you might have like a cleaner who comes in pretty frequently and cleans up. But ideas of like having a private driver or stuff like that, a non-concept in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thinking Asian \u00ef\u00bf\u00bc<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also what I like about here is that when it comes to labor, cheap labor, the standard worker, there is not a strange sense of indignation that you get from people in the states. For example that American mentality is that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153this work is beneath me\u00e2\u20ac\u0153, But here in Cambodia\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 None of that. Everyone is happy grateful, and far more joyful!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even the sense of optimism and striving here, much more positive. Everyone certainly wants a better living condition, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not in this angsty way that you feel like in America. \u00ef\u00bf\u00bc<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">So now what?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So now, assuming that you live in a happy optimistic place, then what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For myself\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Then it comes down to pioneering and experimenting with new modes of innovation. <strong>Autotelic innovation<\/strong> &#8212; creating new things and innovating for the sake of it? Rather than having to innovate in order to earn more money or whatever? \u00ef\u00bf\u00bc<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ERIC<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Things on my plate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Revamping arsbeta.com:  perhaps with the assistance of ChatGPT, and Grok for the coding stuff?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Getting back into social media, specifically the blue check paid premium X &#8212; I very much like the ethics of a paid social media service, no hidden catches.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Building an X bot, in the voice of ERIC KIM<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">ChatGPT composition checker<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One thing I encourage you to check out and experiment and play with is this ChatGPT bot I made, called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153composition checker\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m pretty sure\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 It has like over 1000+ conversations so I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s assigned that having some sort of AI Chatbot that can help you get instant feedback on your photos how to improve, this is a good idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also something that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m kind of working right now towards is heat map searching and mapping for images. This will be a new arbeta.com function I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to try to add. \u00ef\u00bf\u00bc\u00ef\u00bf\u00bc<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Now what?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You got Grok, and ChatGPT pay\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Infinite opportunities here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ERIC<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/\">BLOG<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/start-here\/\">START HERE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">**<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Choose audacity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The closing thought:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When in doubt, become more hard-core, audacious, reckless?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ERIC\u00ef\u00bf\u00bc\u00ef\u00bf\u00bc<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Get (human) feedback on your photos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Upload your best photos to <a href=\"https:\/\/arsbeta.com\/rate\/\">Arsbeta.com &gt;<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/books\/\">BOOKS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wow, life in Cambodia Phnom Penh is so good\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Too good! Serviced apartments So we just signed a three month lease, for a nice service department. This is kind of an interesting concept\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 In \u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ek_photo_artist_note":"","_ek_photo_thesis":"","_ek_photo_camera":"","_ek_photo_place":"","_ek_photo_human_moment":"","_ek_photo_sequence":"","_ek_photo_question":"","_ek_photo_canonical_claim":"","_ek_photo_ai_summary":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-661445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661445"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":661447,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661445\/revisions\/661447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}