S4E15: Seattle Colleges Conversations with! International Student Pannhapor Sim of Cambodia

In this our 15th (fifteenth) episode of Season 4, Seattle Colleges host Evan Franulovich interviews international student Pannhapor Sim of Cambodia about her experience here at South Seattle and about life in the United States. 

1:19 - Meet Poa!

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Transcript

Evan Franulovich  0:05  
Welcome to Seattle Colleges International Programs and our show Conversations with! where we talk to people that help you understand how you too, can be an international student in the United States and why Seattle Colleges should be your first choice. We'll talk to students and staff and agents and government folks, all kinds of people about what you can expect when you're getting ready to apply or travel here, what you'll experience while you're with us, and how it can all lead to an amazing life. Don't forget to check out the Seattle Colleges International Programs website at intl.seattlecolleges.edu where you can find a treasure trove of information about the school, the programs here and best of all, fill out and submit your application. Again, that's intl.seattlecolleges.edu.

Evan Franulovich  1:04  
Hey everybody, welcome back to Seattle Colleges Conversations With! here at South Seattle College. Man, I finally made it out to South Seattle this season, so I'm happy to be here. I want to welcome my guest, the second guest we've had from the great country of?

Pannhapor Sim  1:27  
Cambodia. 

Evan Franulovich  1:28  
Cambodia. A beautiful country in Southeast Asia. We're going to check it out. But first, let's have everybody know who you are. Maybe what you're studying, how long you've been here, and where exactly in Cambodia are you from?

Pannhapor Sim  1:43  
So okay, I'm starting with my name?

Evan Franulovich  1:48  
Yeah, start with your name, or what people call you.

Pannhapor Sim  1:51  
My full name is Pannhapor Sim, and I go by Poah. Right now, I'm doing an Associate in Business Administration and Management.

Evan Franulovich  2:05  
Cool.

Pannhapor Sim  2:06  
And I'm from Cambodia, Phnom Penh.

Evan Franulovich  2:09  
Phnom Penh, so the capital of the country. Big city, do you miss it?

Pannhapor Sim  2:14  
A lot.

Evan Franulovich  2:14  
What do you miss the most?

Pannhapor Sim  2:17  
I think the food and family.

Evan Franulovich  2:20  
The food family, of course. Now, has your family ever been to the United States?

Pannhapor Sim  2:24  
My dad has been here. 

Evan Franulovich  2:25  
Cool.

Pannhapor Sim  2:27  
But my other sibling, they haven't.

Evan Franulovich  2:31  
No, how many siblings do you have? 

Pannhapor Sim  2:33  
I have two other siblings. 

Evan Franulovich  2:35  
Oh, okay, younger?

Pannhapor Sim  2:37  
I'm the middle child. 

Evan Franulovich  2:38  
You're the middle child. So is your older sibling a student in the United States as well?

Pannhapor Sim  2:43  
No, he's in Cambodia. 

Evan Franulovich  2:45  
Okay, so you're the only international student in your family right now. Cool. Well, I want to get into that story in just a second, but first, let's do 'getting to know you'. I'm going to ask you a series of questions, and all you have to do is tell me which one you prefer. All right, so it's really easy. So first one, coffee or tea?

Pannhapor Sim  3:09  
Like, what kind of tea? 

Evan Franulovich  3:10  
Well, whatever, would you prefer to have coffee? Or would you prefer to have tea? Like, if you go to Starbucks, what would you order? 

Pannhapor Sim  3:18  
Okay, maybe coffee.

Evan Franulovich  3:19  
Coffee. That's interesting. It surprises me. Okay, mountains or the beach? Which do you prefer?

Pannhapor Sim  3:26  
Beach.

Evan Franulovich  3:26  
Ah, nice. They have good beaches in Cambodia, don't they? 

Pannhapor Sim  3:29  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  3:30  
Yeah. Do you ever go?

Pannhapor Sim  3:33  
Yep, I've been around kampong.

Evan Franulovich  3:37  
Cool, all right. Can you surf in the beaches in Cambodia? Are the waves big enough, or are they smaller?

Pannhapor Sim  3:46  
I think you you're able to if you go to, like, Koh Rong or something.

Evan Franulovich  3:50  
Cool, all right. I did not go to the beach when I was in Cambodia, but someday. Okay, are you an early bird or a night owl? 

Pannhapor Sim  3:59  
Night Owl. 

Evan Franulovich  3:59  
You're a night owl. Okay, like a lot of young people. Books or movies?

Pannhapor Sim  4:05  
Movies. 

Evan Franulovich  4:06  
Cool, me too. Texting or phone calls?

Pannhapor Sim  4:13  
That's mostly depends on the person. 

Evan Franulovich  4:15  
Sure. Which do you think you do more of? 

Pannhapor Sim  4:18  
I think phone calls.

Evan Franulovich  4:22  
See, this is so surprising. I just started this in season four, and I thought everybody would say texting, but that hasn't been the case. A lot of people do phone calls, which is encouraging. I love it, all right. Cats or dogs? 

Pannhapor Sim  4:35  
Cats.

Evan Franulovich  4:36  
Yeah, do you have a cat back home? 

Pannhapor Sim  4:37  
No, I own a dog. 

Evan Franulovich  4:39  
Oh, you do? 

Pannhapor Sim  4:40  
I have a dog. 

Evan Franulovich  4:40  
What kind?

Pannhapor Sim  4:42  
A husky.

Evan Franulovich  4:43  
In Cambodia, doesn't it die of a heat stroke. It must be so hot. I think of Huskies in the snow.

Pannhapor Sim  4:51  
Mostly, he just jumps in the water and stuff.

Evan Franulovich  4:53  
Oh, yeah.

Pannhapor Sim  4:54  
It's hot.

Evan Franulovich  4:55  
Oh, nice. City or country?

Pannhapor Sim  4:59  
Hmm. I like both, but okay. If I have to choose, maybe city.

Evan Franulovich  5:05  
All right, cool. Adventure or chill at home?

Pannhapor Sim  5:11  
Based on my mood, maybe chill at home.

Evan Franulovich  5:13  
Okay, cool. Summer or winter?

Pannhapor Sim  5:16  
Summer.

Evan Franulovich  5:17  
I knew you were gonna say that, and then, cooking at home or eating out?

Pannhapor Sim  5:26  
I like both. 

Evan Franulovich  5:27  
You like both. Are you a good cook? Do you do cook? 

Pannhapor Sim  5:30  
I do cook some food. 

Evan Franulovich  5:32  
Yeah, all right. One thing you guys should know, which I'm really excited to get into. Is that Poah is a High School Completion Plus student, so maybe you could take a second to explain to the listeners, what does that even mean?

Pannhapor Sim  5:49  
Basically, you can get your high school diploma and also get your associate degree at the same time.

Evan Franulovich  5:57  
At the same time, that's right. So you were back in Cambodia, you were going to school. And then how did you hear about our high school completion program?

Pannhapor Sim  6:08  
I went to an agency.

Evan Franulovich  6:10  
Ah, and they told you about it.

Pannhapor Sim  6:14  
Yeah, they recommend me, yep, to go to Seattle.

Evan Franulovich  6:20  
Right on. Was it a good experience working with an agent?

Pannhapor Sim  6:25  
I think they help out a lot. 

Evan Franulovich  6:26  
Oh, good. Do you want to give them a shout out?

Pannhapor Sim  6:32  
I think it's Springboard. 

Evan Franulovich  6:35  
Nice, thanks Springboard. We appreciate that. Yeah, High School Completion is great. So they recommended it to you, so you were going to a high school in Phnom Penh, right? 

Pannhapor Sim  6:46  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  6:46  
Was it a private, public?

Pannhapor Sim  6:49  
Private.

Evan Franulovich  6:49  
Okay, and you decided to just up and leave and come here to finish up your high school and get your University? 

Pannhapor Sim  6:58  
I was thinking of going after the 12th grade.

Evan Franulovich  7:01  
Right, which is what most people assume or want to do, but you thought it was a good deal to just pick up and go?

Pannhapor Sim  7:09  
Yep, I think because at my school, I do learn a lot of English and stuff. Mostly American programs, so I think I can handle it.

Evan Franulovich  7:19  
Okay, cool. So when you heard about the program, when the agent told you about it, what did your parents think? Were they like, 'I'm not so sure about sending my young daughter off to a big American city'. Or were they like, 'Yeah go. We think it's a good idea'.

Pannhapor Sim  7:36  
I think my dad is more kind of, 'Oh, okay. That's great, okey'.

Evan Franulovich  7:40  
See you later. That's funny. Had you ever been out of the United States? I'm sorry. Had you ever been out of Cambodia when you were that age? 

Pannhapor Sim  7:50  
Yep, I think I've been to a few countries. 

Evan Franulovich  7:52  
Oh, you had. Okay, so you were already a veteran. You'd already experienced going to other countries. Like, where did you travel?

Pannhapor Sim  8:00  
I've been to Thailand and Japan.

Evan Franulovich  8:03  
Ah, which of those two? Which did you prefer?

Pannhapor Sim  8:08  
I think I do like Japan a lot.

Evan Franulovich  8:10  
Japan's cool, right? What time of year did you go to Japan? 

Pannhapor Sim  8:13  
It was like, I think, three, four years ago.

Evan Franulovich  8:16  
Okay, nice. How long were you there? 

Pannhapor Sim  8:20  
Maybe a couple of weeks. 

Evan Franulovich  8:22  
Oh, you were there a long time?

Pannhapor Sim  8:23  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  8:23  
So did you go with your father then?

Pannhapor Sim  8:25  
 Yep, as a family trip.

Evan Franulovich  8:27  
Nice, cool. And so you did touristy. Did you go to Mount Fuji? 

Pannhapor Sim  8:32  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  8:33  
Yeah. Did you climb it? 

Pannhapor Sim  8:35  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  8:35  
What? That's cool. Okay, so you're at your high school, you decide to leave and come here to do your degree plan. How old were you when you left? 

Pannhapor Sim  8:46  
I was 18. 

Evan Franulovich  8:48  
You were 18 already, okay, so you can apply as long as you're 16 years of age. By the first day of class, you can start our High School Completion Plus, you had said to me before we started rolling, that you really are only missing one year at your high school in Cambodia, right? So you don't have to do both years here. You can just come whenever you're ready, which is what you did, and you just work on those first two years, then you get your diploma. So you had to go through a visa interview while you were in Cambodia. What was that like? How long did it take you to get the appointment? Once you got accepted to our school, how long did it take to get the appointment? 

Pannhapor Sim  9:34  
I think it does take a couple of months. 

Evan Franulovich  9:35  
It took a couple months, and then once you got in, how long did the appointment take? Like, how long did they interview you?

Pannhapor Sim  9:45  
I think,  30 minute to an hour. 

Evan Franulovich  9:49  
What? 

Pannhapor Sim  9:49  
I think maybe around 30 minutes. I think, it wasn't that long. Maybe 15 to 30 minutes.

Evan Franulovich  9:54  
Okay, and they talked to you, they asked you questions that whole time?

Pannhapor Sim  9:59  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  9:59  
Wow. Okay, so what kinds of questions did they ask you? Just out of curiosity.

Pannhapor Sim  10:05  
I think they asked, what is my plan going there, and am I going to stay there? They asked a lot of questions. I think, like 15-16 questions. 

Evan Franulovich  10:17  
Wow. That's a lot, that surprises me. Everybody has such a different experience. So were you nervous when you went to your appointment?

Pannhapor Sim  10:25  
Very. 

Evan Franulovich  10:26  
And was it in English, or was it in Cambodian? 

Pannhapor Sim  10:30  
English.

Evan Franulovich  10:31  
It was in English, cool. And did you know right away whether you got your visa or not?

Pannhapor Sim  10:38  
No, they just say, wait, I think. I think, yeah, they gave me a card and they said to come and grab it in a few days.

Evan Franulovich  10:48  
Okay, so they approved it, but they give you a card so they have to process your passport. Very cool. So you must have been excited. And then, how long after you got your visa, before you got on an airplane?

Pannhapor Sim  11:03  
Oh, it was quick, yeah, 

Evan Franulovich  11:05  
It was? 

Pannhapor Sim  11:06  
It was like, maybe, I came here in December.

Evan Franulovich  11:10  
Okay, so you got here in December, when it was getting colder. So you came from very hot Cambodia to cold Seattle. What was the weather like when you arrived?

Pannhapor Sim  11:24  
It was raining. It rains a lot in Seattle.

Evan Franulovich  11:28  
It does rain a lot. But you've been here a year now?

Pannhapor Sim  11:31  
Yeah, almost a year. I did go back home for two months.

Evan Franulovich  11:36  
Oh, you did?

Pannhapor Sim  11:36  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  11:36  
When did you go home? During the summer?

Pannhapor Sim  11:39  
Yeah, during the summer. In the middle of summer. 

Evan Franulovich  11:42  
Okay, some people are asking 'If I start studying at Seattle Colleges. If I go home and then come back, is it difficult or easy when you come back?'.

Pannhapor Sim  11:53  
Since I think it's a bit difficult. My advisor they told me, by the time that I go back to Cambodia, they don't have drop off visas anymore. I have to interview every single time, if I have to go to Cambodia or out of the U.S.

Evan Franulovich  12:10  
Okay, so you had to go back and kind of renew your visa in order to get back into the U.S. So what was that like? What was that interview like? You're the first person I've talked to who's experienced this.

Pannhapor Sim  12:22  
Oh, so they are going to ask you a couple of questions, mostly similar question to the first one.

Evan Franulovich  12:32  
Okay.

Pannhapor Sim  12:33  
They are a bit more strict, and they will also check your social media and everything.

Evan Franulovich  12:39  
Oh, okay, yeah. For you listeners, some of these are new changes. Used to be where you could go home and get back, and that wasn't a big deal. But now, sometimes, if you leave the country, you have to renew your visa again. Now, I've been told it's an easier process the second time, because they know you're already a student. They know you've already been doing it, but you said it was a little little strict. 

Pannhapor Sim  13:03  
Yeah, I think it was a little more strict.

Evan Franulovich  13:06  
Were you nervous the second time?

Pannhapor Sim  13:08  
Very because I don't, I don't really know the answer. If I got it or not.

Evan Franulovich  13:12  
Right? 

Pannhapor Sim  13:12  
They have to check my social media and everything first.

Evan Franulovich  13:15  
And how long did it take for them to do that process?

Pannhapor Sim  13:18  
Maybe four days, four days.

Evan Franulovich  13:21  
So you need to plan ahead a little bit, right? You just can't zip over there and come right back. You might need a little time. So for those of you who are listening, who are already existing students. If you're planning to go back to your home country, definitely talk to your advisor, which I'm assuming you did. What did the advisor tell you?

Pannhapor Sim  13:41  
He did not advise me to go. 

Evan Franulovich  13:42  
He said, 'Don't leave'. Was this Francis?

Pannhapor Sim  13:45  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  13:46  
Okay, don't leave. Don't do it. But you said, 'No, I'm going home'. But it was a good trip? 

Pannhapor Sim  13:51  
Yeah, it was.

Evan Franulovich  13:52  
 Okay, cool. Do you have other trips in the future planned, or do you think you'll just stay here now?

Pannhapor Sim  13:57  
I want to, but I guess it's based on my vacation quarter, because I'm still holding an F1 visa.

Evan Franulovich  14:04  
Right, right, right. Well, maybe your family will come visit while you're here. Is there any plans for that? 

Pannhapor Sim  14:11  
Yeah, my dad is planning to come.

Evan Franulovich  14:13  
There you go. So you get to see family maybe. All right, so you got to Seattle. You got here in the winter, but now that you've been here for a while, overall. How has the weather been for you?

Pannhapor Sim  14:26  
It's really cold, and the weather is very unpredictable. Sometimes, we're going to have a lot of rain here.

Evan Franulovich  14:35  
It does rain a lot in the winter. It's true, but not too bad. Tell me, were you here during the summer? Or is that when you were gone? 

Pannhapor Sim  14:42  
I was gone during mid summer. 

Evan Franulovich  14:44  
That's the best time to be in Seattle. Was it nice before you left?

Pannhapor Sim  14:50  
Yeah, I got to wear anything I want. Most of my clothes from Cambodia are summer clothes. 

Evan Franulovich  14:55  
Okay, cool. Yeah. We just want people to understand summer's the best time, if you can do your vacation quarter during winter, that's even better. Because the weather is, you know, gray and rainy. So this would be a good time to take your vacation quarter. Go back to Cambodia when it's cold.

Pannhapor Sim  15:12  
Mostly because I got offered a job here. 

Evan Franulovich  15:16  
Oh yeah.

Pannhapor Sim  15:16  
At school.

Evan Franulovich  15:18  
People ask about jobs all the time. Let's, before you tell me about your job, tell me how you found it?

Pannhapor Sim  15:26  
I found it through flyers around the school, and also through emails. 

Evan Franulovich  15:31  
Okay.

Pannhapor Sim  15:32  
They sent out emails to international students.

Evan Franulovich  15:34  
Yeah, check your email guys. Some people don't check their email. All these are usually listed, so you saw the job posted and you applied. And did you do an interview? You must have done it.

Pannhapor Sim  15:49  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  15:50  
How many times did you interview?

Pannhapor Sim  15:52  
It was a one time interview. 

Evan Franulovich  15:54  
It was one time interview, and then after you interviewed. How long before you knew whether you got the job?

Pannhapor Sim  16:01  
Maybe a couple of weeks. 

Evan Franulovich  16:02  
Oh, that's not too bad.

Pannhapor Sim  16:04  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  16:04  
So that's great. So you got your job, and then you started. No, did you have to go get a social security card?

Pannhapor Sim  16:11  
Yeah, I did. It was a messy process. 

Evan Franulovich  16:15  
Really?

Pannhapor Sim  16:16  
Really messy.

Evan Franulovich  16:17  
All right, tell me about it.

Pannhapor Sim  16:19  
So I went to the Social Security Office. Like, three times already, and they weren't able to deliver it to my home. I had to call them again and again, even now I still haven't got the card.

Evan Franulovich  16:33  
Oh, you still don't even have it, but you have your number?

Pannhapor Sim  16:36  
Yep.

Evan Franulovich  16:37  
Okay, so that allows you to work, but the card still hasn't arrived? 

Pannhapor Sim  16:41  
Yep. So I had to contact them again and go for an appointment. To book an appointment, it would be two weeks later

Evan Franulovich  16:50  
Right.

Pannhapor Sim  16:51  
It took me like two months or something to get it.

Evan Franulovich  16:55  
Oh my gosh. So plan ahead. I mean, if you can get a job fairly quickly. So you arrived, started your program, then how many months passed before you were able to find your job?

Pannhapor Sim  17:08  
Oh, it was maybe, I think six seven months. Six seven months.

Evan Franulovich  17:13  
Well, that's not too bad. So yeah, a lot of people think they can get off the plane and they'll have a job. That's not usually how it works. Usually takes a little time to find it, interview, get hired, go to the Social Security office. And where is the Social Security office?

Pannhapor Sim  17:29  
It's in Burien, so it's like an hour and a half bus ride away.

Evan Franulovich  17:35  
But isn't there one downtown? 

Pannhapor Sim  17:36  
Downtown, I don't know. Mostly, I don't really want to go to downtown.

Evan Franulovich  17:42  
Oh, right. But I think downtown would be closer for you. You would just get on the 125 bus. It's not too far. So Burien, just so you guys know Burien is kind of south of Seattle, a little bit, right? So this brings me to your housing question. What are you doing for housing? I know that a lot of students at South Seattle Colleges, they'll either usually do a homestay, especially high school completion plus students, or they'll get an apartment. What's been your or maybe they live with family. What's been your situation?

Pannhapor Sim  18:14  
Right now, I'm living in a rented home.

Evan Franulovich  18:18  
The whole home?

Pannhapor Sim  18:19  
With some other people.

Evan Franulovich  18:21  
Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. Other students?

Pannhapor Sim  18:24  
No, more around middle age or older.

Evan Franulovich  18:28  
okay, and how did you meet, or how did you find this place to rent?

Pannhapor Sim  18:33  
One of them is my dads friend.

Evan Franulovich  18:35  
Nice. So that's nice to have that connection, so is your house in Burien?

Pannhapor Sim  18:42  
No, it's in White Center. 

Evan Franulovich  18:47  
Where?

Pannhapor Sim  18:47  
White Center.

Evan Franulovich  18:48  
I don't know where that is.

Pannhapor Sim  18:49  
I think it's like, maybe 20 minutes from here, with the bus.

Evan Franulovich  18:54  
That's not too bad. 

Pannhapor Sim  18:55  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  18:55  
Okay, so that's pretty close, cool. And you like where you live?

Pannhapor Sim  19:00  
Not really. I would prefer to be around more Asians.

Evan Franulovich  19:05  
Oh, right, right. Well, you know, during different events, you can meet other students. Sometimes it's a great way to make connections with other students. Some people are looking for roommates, so ask around or put it up on the board. Maybe I'm looking for a roommate, something like that. But when you arrived here, you were already 18, so you didn't have to worry about a homestay. Most homestays, or sorry, most High School Completion Plus students that arrive, if you're 16, you pretty much have to do a homestay. Then you can transition to a home setting like that, or whatever, but you didn't ever do a homestay?

Pannhapor Sim  19:42  
No.

Evan Franulovich  19:43  
Cool. So when you arrived, did they pick you up at the airport? Your friend, your dad's friend? 

Pannhapor Sim  19:49  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  19:50  
Nice. Got you settled in, and then did you come to orientation? 

Pannhapor Sim  19:54  
Yeah,.

Evan Franulovich  19:55  
So tell us about your orientation experience.

Pannhapor Sim  19:58  
When I came here, my experience was kind of different  because I thought there would be a lot of like, different international students but I mostly saw Vietnamese students.

Evan Franulovich  20:12  
Yeah, a lot of Vietnamese students. You also started your first quarter, would have been winter then?

Pannhapor Sim  20:18  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  20:18  
Winter Quarter is probably our smaller intake of students. So usually there aren't very many new students that are starting in the winter. We have three campuses: North, Central and South. South right now currently has the fewest number of international students, which we would like to change. We'll talk about some reasons why you might want to consider South. But yeah, we'd like to grow that population so there's more students. But they fed you, right? Did they give you lunch?

Pannhapor Sim  20:49  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  20:51  
Was it over here in this building? 

Pannhapor Sim  20:53  
Yes, it's in the Casket Hall.

Evan Franulovich  20:55  
Casket Hall. Yeah, that's a nice building. Do you have any classes in that building? 

Pannhapor Sim  20:59  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  21:00  
No. Okay, so you're a business major?

Pannhapor Sim  21:02  
Yeah, only the ISD200.

Evan Franulovich  21:06  
Okay.

Pannhapor Sim  21:07  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  21:08  
All right, so which building are most of your classes in?

Pannhapor Sim  21:13  
Mostly I would be in the Olympic building. 

Evan Franulovich  21:17  
Down this way? 

Pannhapor Sim  21:18  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  21:18  
Yeah, that's a nice building. 

Pannhapor Sim  21:19  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  21:20  
Have you been up to the top? And then you can see downtown.

Pannhapor Sim  21:24  
Oh, really?

Evan Franulovich  21:24  
Yeah. So if you're at South I highly recommend going up to the top floor. There's a beautiful view of downtown in the mountains and Puget Sound. It's really nice. Check it out. So you can stop by Alki cafe. Do you go to Alki? 

Pannhapor Sim  21:40  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  21:40  
It's a great cafe. I wish we had one at our schoo,l at Central. And I say our school, meaning that's where my office is. I actually belong to all three campuses, but I don't come to South, to Alki. Get your coffee and then go up there. There's tables. It's really nice. So you you've had a number of classes as a business major. Tell us about your favorite class so far.

Pannhapor Sim  22:05  
I think I really like economic class.

Evan Franulovich  22:09  
Is it macroeconomics or microeconomics? 

Pannhapor Sim  22:13  
Both.

Evan Franulovich  22:13  
Both of them? Yeah, they're back to back, right? 

Pannhapor Sim  22:15  
Yeah. I have to take both of them. 

Evan Franulovich  22:16  
You have to take both, and so what's so great about that class?

Pannhapor Sim  22:21  
I think I like the way the teacher explain it and everything, and he's strict at the same time.

Evan Franulovich  22:28  
Yeah. 

Pannhapor Sim  22:28  
But I think it does help me understand more.

Evan Franulovich  22:32  
Cool, and who's the teacher?

Pannhapor Sim  22:35  
I think I forgot his name. 

Evan Franulovich  22:37  
You forgot his name, but shout out to the economics professor. That's really great. Cool. Are they an older professor, younger professor? Are they like retired from a career and now they're teaching at a community college, or is it a professor that also teaches at one of the other local schools?

Pannhapor Sim  22:57  
I'm not sure, but I know that he's from University of Washington (UW). He has taught at UW before.

Evan Franulovich  23:02  
See, there we go. Taught at UW too, which is a great school. So which brings me to the question, you know, once you're finished here, you'll probably transfer right? Where do you think you might go, since it's cold in Seattle, are you thinking about going to the desert? Going somewhere warmer? Or do you like Seattle enough to stay in the area?

Pannhapor Sim  23:24  
So right now, I'm still thinking about if I should transfer or do an OPT, but maybe I want to transfer more. 

Evan Franulovich  23:34  
Transfer, okay. What is OPT? Just so people know if they haven't heard this term before.

Pannhapor Sim  23:39  
I think OPT is optional program training.

Evan Franulovich  23:45  
Yeah, it's optical practical training, which means working in your field of study. So you're in business, so you could find a job at a business to get work experience, and then go and do your junior senior year at another institution. You don't have to do OPT but some people do because they want the experience. You haven't totally decided, it sounds like. A lot of times things depend on money. You have applied for scholarships, yeah? 

Pannhapor Sim  24:14  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  24:15  
And you've received some scholarships?

Pannhapor Sim  24:17  
Yeah, I did.

Evan Franulovich  24:18  
Cool. So you applied for one of the Foundation Scholarships. We just can't remember which one exactly. Cool and when you did the application, what kinds of things did you have to do for the application? 

Pannhapor Sim  24:32  
I had to write a letter.

Evan Franulovich  24:37  
Okay.

Pannhapor Sim  24:38  
And I have to tell them a lot of information about myself, my achievements, and also get some recommendation letters from a professor.

Evan Franulovich  24:50  
That's a good idea. That's great. How many did you have to provide? 

Pannhapor Sim  24:56  
Two or three.

Evan Franulovich  24:56  
All right. What about grades? Did you have to submit your grades?

Pannhapor Sim  25:00  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  25:00  
You did okay. So they usually look at all those things, right? Letters of recommendation, the essay, yeah. And then they were like, 'Yeah, let's give this girl some money'. So that helps. What about Phi Theta Kappa? Do you know what Phi Theta Kappa is? 

Pannhapor Sim  25:17  
I don't. 

Evan Franulovich  25:18  
So Phi Theta Kappa is an honor society, and if your grade point average is at a certain level.

Pannhapor Sim  25:25  
Oh, I just recently got in.

Evan Franulovich  25:28  
Yeah, there's a lot of great reasons to join Phi Theta Kappa, but one of the reasons is they do have some financial support at time, so you can apply for their stuff as well. So keep an eye out any other sources of funding. Besides your job and the foundation, anything else you've applied for? Did you apply for the Lewer Mark scholarship?

Pannhapor Sim  25:51  
Lewer Mark? I haven't yet. I checked and I'm not sure. Yeah, most of the scholarship here is a bit hard to find as an international student.

Evan Franulovich  26:01  
It's true, but we do have quite a number of them to apply for, and you can usually apply year after year. So if you don't get it one year, remember to do it again. And we were talking about the foundation, one of the main reasons you might want to consider South Seattle College is that they actually have two foundation scholarships available. There's the one foundation that's available at all three campuses. You apply for it between January and March. And then there's the South Seattle foundation. You have to be a student already, which you are, and that usually is open from March until May. So yeah, that's great. So if you come to South you can apply for both of those. Keep trying, because it's good money for sure. All right. Well, great. So you have work, you've got Foundation Scholarship, that's really awesome. But let's talk about what you do for fun. Big City. Do you go out at all? Do you have any clubs on campus that you're involved in?

Pannhapor Sim  27:00  
Right now the club that I'm involved in is a ceramics club.

Evan Franulovich  27:04  
Oh, I didn't know there was a ceramics club.

Pannhapor Sim  27:07  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  27:07  
Here itself?

Pannhapor Sim  27:08  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  27:10  
That's really cool. So where is the art department? Where they do have, like, ovens to fire your ceramics?

Pannhapor Sim  27:17  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  27:18  
Where's that at?

Pannhapor Sim  27:19  
They are in that the same building as where you're making it.

Evan Franulovich  27:24  
Ah, okay, right. So what, it's just a bunch of people that get together. Tell us about the club, what do they do? 

Pannhapor Sim  27:32  
Mostly everyone just gets together and they make their own thing.

Evan Franulovich  27:35  
Like pots?

Pannhapor Sim  27:37  
Pots, plates, anything they want to make.

Evan Franulovich  27:40  
That's so cool. I didn't know. So, hey, if you're into ceramics, check out South Seattle's club. How many members are in that club?

Pannhapor Sim  27:50  
I'm not sure, because sometimes when I go there's only some people, but at times there's a lot.

Evan Franulovich  27:56  
Wow. Okay, great. Well, I interviewed a couple seasons ago, I interviewed one of our students at North who was doing a short-term certificate. She was focusing on ceramics, but that was at North. I didn't realize we had the same kind of setup here at South. So I need to come out here. That's cool. So yes, you're involved in that club, and you work. How many hours a week are you working?

Pannhapor Sim  28:22  
I think I'm working around maybe 14 to 16.

Evan Franulovich  28:26  
Perfect, right, right. And you are in, what's your job title?

Pannhapor Sim  28:35  
Right now, I am an international student assistant.

Evan Franulovich  28:39  
Okay. Cool, and what do you do while you're doing that job? Like, what are your duties?

Pannhapor Sim  28:44  
Mostly, help them with Francis drop-in advising, helping them through any technical issues or anything with SCD global.

Evan Franulovich  29:01  
Cool. If you love to meet people, this is a great job to have. Because you get to know everybody, right?

Pannhapor Sim  29:08  
Yeah, mostly international students.

Evan Franulovich  29:10  
Right, right, and occasionally a domestic student will come in. We ran into a Filipino student. I mean, he's American, but Filipino descent. So that was cool, or is he from Philippines, or he's from LA? I don't know what his background is.

Pannhapor Sim  29:26  
I really don't know. I met him a couple of times. He's one of my front desk friends.

Evan Franulovich  29:31  
Okay, gotcha. Super nice kid. He's in the automotive program, I think. Yeah, sorry. So, yeah, really cool. Well, really great. So we wanted to also find out about, if you know, you talked about maybe doing OPT or maybe transferring. Are there any schools in particular you're thinking about more than others? 

Pannhapor Sim  29:53  
UW, the most. 

Evan Franulovich  29:55  
UW, is the most. Okay, and you know, there's three campuses. So would you go to Tacoma? Would you go downtown Seattle? Would you go to Bothell? Is there one in particular you're kind of thinking about?

Pannhapor Sim  30:05  
 If I want to, maybe, the Seattle one.

Evan Franulovich  30:10  
Right. They have the Foster School of Business, which is really great. Now, I think you had mentioned to me before we rolled that you're going to dual major. You want to get two majors, and that was business and what was the other one? 

Pannhapor Sim  30:23  
An apprenticeship.

Evan Franulovich  30:26  
An apprenticeship.

Pannhapor Sim  30:27  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  30:28  
What does that mean?

Pannhapor Sim  30:31  
It's like creating your own business, learning.

Evan Franulovich  30:35  
Oh, entrepreneurship, that kind of a business. So do you want to make your own business eventually? You want to own a start a company?

Pannhapor Sim  30:43  
Mostly, I want to help my parents and start with their business. But I think that one is also related to my parent business.

Evan Franulovich  30:51  
Right, right, right. What do your parents do? What is their business?

Pannhapor Sim  30:56  
Mostly, they own hotels and a few others.

Evan Franulovich  31:02  
Cool. Do they have just hotels in Vietnam, or do they have hotels in other countries as well?

Pannhapor Sim  31:09  
They have a hotel in Cambodia.

Evan Franulovich  31:15  
So just Phnom Penh, or do they also have them in Siem Reap?

Pannhapor Sim  31:20  
Phnom Penh and Kampot.

Evan Franulovich  31:23  
Okay, cool. I could be saying these names terribly. So sorry if I'm butchering your language. That means it's Trivia Time. So this is the part of the show where I ask you a series of questions. This is just for fun, so don't stress. If you get anything wrong, just do your best to answer them. If you get them all right, you're on our wall of fame. If not, you'll cry yourself to sleep tonight. We'll we'll send some Kleenex home with you, so you can wipe your eyes. Okay. First question is, you are in the city of Seattle, what state is Seattle in? 

Pannhapor Sim  32:03  
Oh, Washington.

Evan Franulovich  32:04  
Yes, we're in the state of Washington. Good answer. Now, question number two. If I drive north from Seattle, I will eventually run into another country. What country will I run into? 

Pannhapor Sim  32:19  
Canada? 

Evan Franulovich  32:20  
Canada. Very good. Nice job. Okay, in the city of Seattle, we have a baseball team that recently lost to a Canadian baseball team in the playoffs. What is the name of our professional baseball team? 

Pannhapor Sim  32:36  
Oh.

Evan Franulovich  32:38  
It's the Seattle?

Pannhapor Sim  32:41  
College?

Evan Franulovich  32:44  
The Mariners, The Mariners. So one of the things the International Programs department does is that they take students to a baseball game in the spring. So this next spring, you should definitely sign up and go, because it's super cheap. Because they get a deal as students, and you get to go watch a game. Now, you may not understand baseball, but that's okay, it's a cultural experience. I definitely recommend it. Super cool. All right, good enough. Question number four. If I wanted to travel to Canada as an international student, what do I need to do with my I-20 before I leave?

Pannhapor Sim  33:25  
I think you should have it with you.

Evan Franulovich  33:27  
Should definitely have it with you. But there's something you need to do to the I-20 before you leave.

Pannhapor Sim  33:32  
Oh, asking for Francis signature. 

Evan Franulovich  33:34  
Yeah, you gotta get a signature. Nice, good job. Yeah, don't forget, guys. If you're gonna go out of the country, like, go to Canada. Get that I-20 sign before you go for sure, and you might need a visa, depends on where you're from. That kind of stuff. Okay, last question. Earlier, you mentioned that you liked movies. What was the last movie that you saw?

Pannhapor Sim  33:57  
I did watch White Chicks with my friends.

Evan Franulovich  34:02  
 No, cool. How was it? 

Pannhapor Sim  34:03  
It was good. 

Evan Franulovich  34:04  
That was good, nice. Well, check it out. Yeah, I'm a big movie fan, so I haven't been, I don't remember last time I was in the movie theater. Do you go to movie theaters? Do you mostly like watch Netflix or something? 

Pannhapor Sim  34:17  
Watch at home.

Evan Franulovich  34:20  
Are you a popcorn eater? Do you like popcorn?

Pannhapor Sim  34:23  
So, so, but I went to the movie once. They gave me a really big popcorn. 

Evan Franulovich  34:27  
So big.

Pannhapor Sim  34:28  
Yep, unable to finish it.

Evan Franulovich  34:30  
Oh, it's so, yeah. Buy the smaller size, and it's kind of expensive. 

Pannhapor Sim  34:35  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  34:36  
Yeah, watching a movie at home is a great, great choice. Well, great job. Didn't make the Wall of Fame, but almost. You were this close. Nice job. Go see a Seattle Mariners game. Really good. Well, we're at the part of the show now where I usually ask you to do just a couple of things. Some people, some of our listeners, may never have heard your language. So if you don't mind, maybe speaking like 15-20 seconds worth of your first language. Which is?

Pannhapor Sim  35:00  
Khmer.

Evan Franulovich  35:01  
Khmer? 

Pannhapor Sim  35:01  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  35:01  
So yeah, I always say come here, but that's obviously wrong. So yeah. So you can either just say hello to your family back home, or you can offer encouragement to students or whatever you want to do.

Pannhapor Sim  35:25  
(Speaks in Khmer)

Evan Franulovich  35:28  
It sounds very similar to say Thai or Vietnamese. When you hear those guys speak, can you understand them at all? 

Pannhapor Sim  35:36  
Um, Thai a bit. Some word are similar.

Evan Franulovich  35:40  
Oh, okay.

Pannhapor Sim  35:41  
But Vietnamese, I don't.

Evan Franulovich  35:44  
Not too much. Okay, very cool. And the last thing we always ask now, you've been through the process. You are a veteran, you've applied, you've been accepted, got your visa, gone through the whole process, traveled over here. What advice would you give to some student back in your region? Could be Cambodia, could be Laos or Vietnam. What advice would you give to those kids that are kind of thinking about coming to the United States? Maybe they're considering a community college, coming to Seattle. What advice would you give them?

Pannhapor Sim  36:17  
I think coming here did give me a lot of experience, good and bad. I did experience a lot of things, being on my own and doing everything by myself. I want them to also know that they are really privileged in their country.

Evan Franulovich  36:37  
For sure. Yeah, that's funny that you say. Did you experience a lot of nervousness? Because you were off by yourself in a big city. What was that process like, arriving in Seattle and experiencing America for the first time?

Pannhapor Sim  36:56  
I think mostly culture shock. 

Evan Franulovich  36:58  
Culture shock. You've probably seen a lot of movies back home that took place. Like, what was the one thing that really sticks out in your mind? That was really the strangest or funniest, or whatever.

Pannhapor Sim  37:16  
Mostly the food.

Evan Franulovich  37:17  
The Food.

Pannhapor Sim  37:19  
Mostly. I think American food is too sweet and salty for me.

Evan Franulovich  37:25  
Super sweet. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand.

Pannhapor Sim  37:29  
And they don't use a spoon.

Evan Franulovich  37:31  
They don't use spoons? We use, I have spoons. Who doesn't use a spoon? Use a spoon out there guys, yeah. Well, so do you end up just cooking for yourself most of the time? Or does someone else cook?

Pannhapor Sim  37:44  
Most of the time I just cook for myself. 

Evan Franulovich  37:46  
Okay, right on. Have you found any restaurants? I mean, Seattle has a lot of Asian people, not just Cambodia, but Vietnam, Thailand, whatever. Lots of restaurants. Have you found a Cambodian restaurant?

Pannhapor Sim  38:00  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  38:00  
Where is it?

Pannhapor Sim  38:04  
Most are around my area, in White Center.

Evan Franulovich  38:08  
 Okay. 

Pannhapor Sim  38:09  
But mostly, I still prefer making my own food.

Evan Franulovich  38:12  
Well, you save a lot of money that way. But it's good to know every once in a while, if you want to go out, there's a place to go. Is it a pretty legitimate, like, it's real Cambodian food? Or is it kind of Americanized Cambodian food?

Pannhapor Sim  38:26  
Maybe in my household, we eat things differently. Mostly I like a lot of flavours. 

Evan Franulovich  38:36  
Sure, sure. What's your favorite thing from home? What's your favorite dish?

Pannhapor Sim  38:42  
Oh, mostly I like seafood from home. I do miss all the seafood I had.

Evan Franulovich  38:48  
Well, we have a lot of seafood in Seattle, but it's just different, right? I mean, do you ever go down by the water, by Pike Place, there's a lot of seafood down there. Maybe you can find something I don't know. Well, yeah, seafood is really good, but Phnom Penh is not on the coast, right? It's up river. But there's still a lot of seafood?

Pannhapor Sim  39:13  
Most of the time my family likes to go to the countryside for fresher seafood.

Evan Franulovich  39:22  
Ah, yeah, gotcha. Cool. Well, I recommend you visiting the capital. It's really great. Lot of great food there. Very beautiful. I really liked it. Well, so great to meet you. Thanks for agreeing. So you guys got to know, Arthur and I, we both worked on her for a long time to get her on the show. She's a little nervous about it, but you did great. Was it all right? 

Pannhapor Sim  39:47  
It was okay. 

Evan Franulovich  39:49  
It was okay. Well, I'm glad you're not too traumatized. That's awesome. Thanks for being on the show. You guys out there, thank you for joining us. We're here every Wednesday. Offering up information about the different programs that we have, learning about being an international student. Don't forget to Like, Share and Subscribe. Thanks again. Have a good holiday. What are you gonna do for Thanksgiving? Have you thought about that?

Pannhapor Sim  40:16  
Oh, I did meet some Khmer people and they invited me for Thanksgiving with their family.

Evan Franulovich  40:22  
Cool, that's great. Yeah, we want you guys to experience Thanksgiving and Christmas. Do you guys celebrate Christmas back home?

Pannhapor Sim  40:29  
No, not really. 

Evan Franulovich  40:32  
What'd you do last Christmas?

Pannhapor Sim  40:34  
Last Christmas, I just decorated the home and stuff. It was my first time decorating a home and celebrating Christmas. 

Evan Franulovich  40:41  
Nice. And this Christmas, do you have Christmas plans?

Pannhapor Sim  40:45  
I think, with my friend. She's from the Philippines, so she celebrates Christmas. 

Evan Franulovich  40:50  
Cool. 

Pannhapor Sim  40:51  
So maybe I'll try it.

Evan Franulovich  40:52  
There you go. And what about travel? Because that's a pretty big break. Two weeks, three weeks? You plan on, like, doing any touristy stuff during the break? Are you just gonna hang out in Seattle?

Pannhapor Sim  41:05  
I think my friend and I will travel to another state if we can. But most of the time we have work.

Evan Franulovich  41:13  
Yeah, that's true. You're working. That's right

Pannhapor Sim  41:15  
It's hard not to since we're helping the newcomers.

Evan Franulovich  41:19  
Sure. Yeah, orientation is coming up, so you'll be a part of that. 

Pannhapor Sim  41:23  
Yes for sure.

Evan Franulovich  41:26  
All right guys, thanks again. Take care. Bye bye. 

Evan Franulovich  41:31  
Conversations with! is painstakingly crafted for you by the Seattle Colleges International Programs department and supported by the lovely folks here on our campus. This show is produced and edited by me, Evan Franulovich. We welcome your emails and questions about coming to Seattle Colleges. Please reach out to us via our website or just give us a rating and a review on Apple podcasts as this helps others discover the show. Also, don't forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or YouTube at Seattle Colleges Intl. And be sure to check out all the shows here on Conversations with! Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week.