They took away the passport, shot down on a bike, fired from the casino: how the Russian woman lives in Cambodia
'05.03.2019'
Source: e1.ru
The Internet is full of stories about how people leave to spend the winter from cold Russia to warm countries to the sea, but most of them seem to be written with a carbon copy: I work as a programmer, I can write code remotely from anywhere in the world. Anastasia Elikova, 25-year-old Ekaterinburg, has a different story - to go to hot Asia, she had to sell a ready-made business in the Urals and find a new (rather unusual) job in Cambodia.
What came of it, the girl said in an interview E1.RU for the heading "Run away abroad."
- Why precisely Cambodia?
- I have been thinking about living abroad for a long time, but there are not so many options for working where no perfect English is needed. My girlfriend worked in a casino in Cyprus, I asked her if it was realistic for me to work there too. She replied: "Of course, come, I will help you!". It was still in the summer.
But then I made one mistake - when I sent my resume, I wrote that I was in Israel. This could not be done, because there may be problems with the visa. Therefore, in the summer I did not go anywhere. But I learned a lot about what it was like to work in a casino, read about it, watched blogs of people who work like that. Once I stumbled on Instagram on an agent girl who recruited people for this job in Cambodia. She asked her how to get to them. She threw me a minimal questionnaire, where it was necessary to specify only your height, weight, attach a photo - and that's it. It was a new casino, they recruited a large number of staff, so they took almost everyone who wanted - there was not even any serious selection in appearance, which is surprising because it usually is. A month later I went there.
- Was it difficult to decide?
- Yes, there were a lot of doubts, because in Asia it is customary to select passports. If you are settling in a casino, then you hand over your passport to your employer. So they do everything, even if you rent a bike, you are asked to pass either a passport or 700 bucks. I was a little bewildered. For us, more or less Europeanized people, it is unusual for someone to give their passport. I almost stopped because of this, because it seemed to me that this was some kind of garbage. But I was reassured by a friend who has been living in Cambodia for three years now. She said that this is a completely normal story, there is nothing terrible in this. Even if you are at work somewhere deceived for money, or you have good reasons to leave, but you are not allowed to go, then you simply apply to the Russian embassy and say that your passport is being held. This is very bad for an employer, it will be a serious trial. Or as a last resort, you can simply say that you have lost your passport - you will be given a certificate and you will fly home - there is no problem.
- Who did you go with and how did your parents react?
- At first, I wanted to take the guy with me, but he was not taken to work, we had to leave. I was ready to leave alone, but in the end my girlfriend went with me.
My parents reacted normally, they are hardened in this regard. I left 18 for years to work as a conductor, then as a counselor, I just traveled a lot. They had no objections, we talked with them, everything is pretty calm. The most that they did, and it was very funny, - Dad went to the fortuneteller, she said that everything would be fine. Mom cried a couple of times, but they generally managed.
But my girlfriend's parents had a different situation. She is younger than me, and for the first time left to work so far. Therefore, of course, she had to persuade her parents for a long time.
- What is the job at the casino? What to do, what conditions, how much they pay?
- The city in which I live is called Sihanoukville. There are a lot of Chinese living here who love to play in casinos and are very fond of Russian girls and Ukrainians. We do not know Chinese, we cannot work in offline casinos, so we invented an online casino. The meaning is this: you learn 24 games, sit in front of the camera, smile and play, enter the results into the computer, the Chinese who are playing the same game are watching you on the video at this time. Every hour 20-minute break.
Work, frankly, very stupid. It is interesting exactly the time while you are taught, the rest of the time is not interesting.
The employer pays a round-trip ticket, accommodation and sometimes meals. Salaries in different casinos have different conditions. We had this - as long as you study, you have a salary of 700 dollars a month, and then you go out to work and receive a thousand dollars. From the first four salaries, you need to give 25 percent to the payroll that you are paid after the end of the contract - this is the payment of your tickets, visas and work permits. Well, the guarantee that you just will not run away, arriving in Cambodia.
In principle, for Russia, the salary is normal, plus you do not need to spend money on housing and the way to work. You can search for a place with a bigger salary, or work on 12 hours. Then you will receive 1500 dollars. But this is not my story a bit, it's hard for me to sit at the computer like a robot on 12 hours - it's super-colored, you smile at the camera, you play, that's all. But someone so earns good money and then leaves with them to Russia or remains then to live here.
- In Instagram you wrote about the accident on the bike, what happened to you then?
- In the city where I live, there are no pedestrian sidewalks, it is very dusty, there are a lot of construction projects, therefore it is absolutely impossible to walk, everyone moves on bikes. We also rented a bike and, of course, helmets. The movement here is a little "crazy", but we tried to drive carefully.
On New Year's Eve, we went with a girlfriend to a party in the jungle, danced there and went home. We were warned that a lot of drunks could drive in the New Year, so we drove slowly and carefully. I was driving, because of the entertainment I used to drink only Coke.
We were wearing helmets, but we didn’t think about things and were traveling with backpacks behind our backs. There was not a soul around. Suddenly, abruptly and unexpectedly, right out of the dark, a bike flies at us. Ships time. We scream. Then with a vengeance. Two. We are falling. I remember that I tried to keep my balance. I remember the wicked smile of one of those guys. I remember the noise, crackling, our screams. I remember how Marianne flew through me. I remember a few seconds of silence. I remember how I could not get my leg out of the bike. I remember how we then repeated to each other the mantra: “Are you alive? Have you got anything broken? Are you alive? Have you got anything broken? ”
These two tracked us down from the party. They were only interested in a backpack. They traveled with their lights off, so we didn’t see them. When they pulled the first time, they did not succeed in ripping off their backpack. Then they pulled at the second one, jerking so hard that the straps came off. When we fell, they didn’t even look back. We were lucky, the bones were whole, we got off only with dislocations and abrasions, including on the face.
- How then to work with such a person?
- I had a weekend of 1 and 2 in January, I didn’t say anything to my superiors, and 2 realized that I had serious injuries, called the manager and asked if I could take a sick leave because I could not walk. After 20 minutes I was told that I was fired. The official reason is noncompliance with subordination, although no one understood where I did not observe her there. I heard a lot of stories about girls getting sick, and they just got fired.
But I was fired on good terms, did not charge me any money: neither for the ticket, nor for the accommodation, I paid my entire salary. Only 180 dollars have been deducted for a semi-annual visa.
I had an injury, for two weeks I could not walk at all. And then I started looking for a new job. I didn’t want to go back to the casino, I didn’t like to work like a robot. As a result, through my acquaintances I found a job as an administrative manager in a hotel, I will live on an island. Work in English, the salary is more than one and a half times.
- What are the living conditions in Cambodia?
- At the first job we lived in a hostel in small rooms for four people. Some girls had a shock when we first arrived: “How can I live here?”, But I am hardened, for me it was all normal. Dormitory and dorm: shower, toilet in each room, kitchen on the first floor, refrigerators, water heaters, air conditioners. Spartan conditions, but you can live.
At the second job there are completely different conditions - you live in a bungalow for two people, big, good. Although you, of course, pay for it.
Cockroaches, ants - all this is here. Moreover, snakes, tritons and skin worms. And still on the streets go cows and mules, devour the garbage, which is everywhere. Cambodia is very different, each city is different. In the capital it is very civilized, but here it is very dirty and dusty, everywhere construction. In two or three years, Sihanoukville will become a cool resort.
- Expectations and reality from moving you have coincided?
- You don’t need to go to Asia with expectations. Some people think that here is like in tourist Thailand, but this is not at all the case. This is Asia, you have to get used to it and it’s better to prepare for the worst when you go. Shot for me were all sorts of small moments. For example, local people are Khmer when they talk, all the time trying to grab your hand. The first time I was scared, and still can not get used to it. In addition, there is constantly no light, water disappears somewhere. Locals joke that if you didn’t turn off the lights and water for two or three days, it means that something goes wrong. It was a shock that there was absolutely no place to walk here. I never thought that I would sit on a bike, but here you can only move in this way.
Another shock - here beer is cheaper than water and it is very easy to get drugs. You can go to any dude in dreadlocks, any bartender and buy, cant worth four bucks. It was very strange for me. But at the same time it is forbidden to smoke hookahs in a public place, for this they can even plant some strange logic.
- How about the food? She's completely different, adapt? Do not pull on a puree with a chop?
- On this occasion, I was very afraid, I have a weak stomach. But there is a lot of European food here, it is in every institution. The only thing - you need to be careful with local water. Once I was poisoned with something, for three days I didn’t want to look at the food at all, but then it passed. I really want a regular Russian puree! But it is not tasty here, do not eat it!
- Did you regret that you went, after all these adventures with a bike and dismissal?
- Not! This whole life is all about adventure. Here, time is completely different, as if you are on another planet. You are constantly among people, you leave for breakfast at a cafe, you dine at a cafe - it's cheap and tasty here. The Russian guys are quite friendly, so you constantly communicate with someone, and it does not bother me at all. There is no such thing that you are tired for the day, you want to watch the series, not to see anyone - no, you just live.
In Russia, you go home after work in the cold, go to a store, take food, cook at home and do something else ... Camping with friends in a cafe is an event once a week. And here it happens every day!
