Tomorrow is my last day in Malaysia. I am still having mixed feelings about leaving. I am more than ready to be home, be hugged by my friends and family and enjoy the comforts of "normal" life. But I will miss this beautiful country. I will miss meeting new people and traveling around, not really being sure if we're headed in the right direction. I came here not really knowing what to expect. I wanted to be challenged, I wanted to teach in another country, I wanted to figure out if I would be comfortable enough to live and teach in another country. I was challenged, I taught in another country, and I'm still not sure if I could teach in another country.
This has been the experience of a lifetime, and I know I will continue to have reflections and lessons from it. I have learned again that being challenged is a good thing. I was taken out of my comfort zone and forced into situations I was not familiar with. In return, I learned about a new culture and how to communicate beyond a language barrier. I learned to enjoy, and even crave at times, a new kind of food (rice will never be the same at home). I was able to be a part of another family, and even get so attached that tears were shed upon parting. It was heartbreaking to see my 5 year old sister crying when I left. And it's those moments that will always bring a tear and love to my heart. I am continuously trying to process everything that has happened here, everything I have learned and everything God is teaching me. It is overwhelming to say the least. Six weeks has gone by so fast, yet it seems like so long ago I was saying goodbye to my dad at the airport. I hope I will continue to update on life back home. It is my plan at least to keep this blog updated with my adventures of student teaching, but who knows how busy I will be. My first week home will already be a busy one with moving in to a new house, cleaning my old house, preparing to start student teaching, and getting ready for my maid of honor duties for my best friend's wedding. I am excited for it all. Change is coming quick and I only hope I can rely fully on my God to get me through it all.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Top 10
As I sit in the last hotel room I will be at in Malaysia, I have created several top 1o lists. The items appear in no particular order and do not include everything I thought of. Here goes:
Top 10 things I miss from the U.S.
1. hot showers
2. fajitas
3. hugs
4. clothes dryer
5. full closet of clothes to choose from
6. diet coke
7. the English language
8. comfortable beds
9. good conversations
10. straightening my hair
Top 10 things I will miss from Malaysia
1. spicy food
2. mountains
3. hospitality
4. cheap prices
5. my host family
6. visiting beautiful places
7. bright colored beautiful clothing
8. being with my classmates
9. amazing fruit
10. being challenged and taken out of my comfort zone
Top 10 things I will not miss from Malaysia
1. squat toilets
2. being stared at
3. high school boys trying to hit on me
4. UPSI photographers and videographers
5. rice
6. intense temperature and humidity
7. not being able to communicate
8. durian (the one seriously gross fruit)
9. rose syrup juice (aka pink torture juice)
10. wet bathrooms
Top 10 things I miss from the U.S.
1. hot showers
2. fajitas
3. hugs
4. clothes dryer
5. full closet of clothes to choose from
6. diet coke
7. the English language
8. comfortable beds
9. good conversations
10. straightening my hair
Top 10 things I will miss from Malaysia
1. spicy food
2. mountains
3. hospitality
4. cheap prices
5. my host family
6. visiting beautiful places
7. bright colored beautiful clothing
8. being with my classmates
9. amazing fruit
10. being challenged and taken out of my comfort zone
Top 10 things I will not miss from Malaysia
1. squat toilets
2. being stared at
3. high school boys trying to hit on me
4. UPSI photographers and videographers
5. rice
6. intense temperature and humidity
7. not being able to communicate
8. durian (the one seriously gross fruit)
9. rose syrup juice (aka pink torture juice)
10. wet bathrooms
Monday, August 04, 2008
Coffee dates
One of my favorite things at home is to go on a coffee date with a good friend. Sitting for a while, surrounded by the smell of good coffee, the site of life going on around me and the sound of a good conversation will always be one of my favorites. Yesterday, I got to have a great, unexpected, coffee date with my host mother.
I don't know if I've explained the enormous amount of food that is typical to eat on a daily basis here in Malaysia. For all of us that thought we'd come here and loose weight, we were definitely wrong. Traditionally, there are 6 meals in a day. Breakfast in the morning, tea time around 10ish, lunch around 1ish, coffee time around 4 30ish, dinner around 8ish and supper around 10. Yes, they eat at 10 o'clock at night...and the kids stay up till around 11. My host family doesn't usually have that many meals, but we don't finish dinner until around 9:30 sometimes.
All that was a long preface to the fact that after some after school activities (batik to be exact), I went to a coffee shop across the street from my school for a late coffee time with my host mother. Usually these times don't last more than 30 minutes, but yesterday we got to talking and had a great conversation about life and love. She has shared many stories with me about her previous boyfriends and dating stories from when she was studying in the states. And then we started talking about relationships and sacrifice within relationships. She asked me if I thought a relationship could last if only one person was sacrificing and constantly putting him/herself aside for the other with no reciprocal action. My response was, it could last, but it would be incredibly difficult. She agreed and then we continued on, talking about the need for equal sacrifice and the ability to see how the other is sacrificing in the relationship. She told me that before she got married, there were 4 qualities she was looking for in a husband.
1. A best friend. 2. A teacher. 3. A lover. 4. A brother.
That last one may seem confusing, but it basically means your families become one. You treat each other's parents and extended family as your own family. I thought this was a beautiful picture and was even more interesting when she told me she didn't know she had found all these qualities in her husband until after they were married. It was just a refreshing conversation. The type of conversation I crave, where the things talked about are real life issues, matters of the heart. I may have nothing currently to say on the relationship front, but I can still understand and talk. Our conversation yesterday reminded me how much I cherish the friends I have who talk to me about real life issues and challenge me to continue growing, even in the tough moments. So if you are one of those great friends to me, thank you. I love you. And I can't wait to have so many more conversations when I get back.
I don't know if I've explained the enormous amount of food that is typical to eat on a daily basis here in Malaysia. For all of us that thought we'd come here and loose weight, we were definitely wrong. Traditionally, there are 6 meals in a day. Breakfast in the morning, tea time around 10ish, lunch around 1ish, coffee time around 4 30ish, dinner around 8ish and supper around 10. Yes, they eat at 10 o'clock at night...and the kids stay up till around 11. My host family doesn't usually have that many meals, but we don't finish dinner until around 9:30 sometimes.
All that was a long preface to the fact that after some after school activities (batik to be exact), I went to a coffee shop across the street from my school for a late coffee time with my host mother. Usually these times don't last more than 30 minutes, but yesterday we got to talking and had a great conversation about life and love. She has shared many stories with me about her previous boyfriends and dating stories from when she was studying in the states. And then we started talking about relationships and sacrifice within relationships. She asked me if I thought a relationship could last if only one person was sacrificing and constantly putting him/herself aside for the other with no reciprocal action. My response was, it could last, but it would be incredibly difficult. She agreed and then we continued on, talking about the need for equal sacrifice and the ability to see how the other is sacrificing in the relationship. She told me that before she got married, there were 4 qualities she was looking for in a husband.
1. A best friend. 2. A teacher. 3. A lover. 4. A brother.
That last one may seem confusing, but it basically means your families become one. You treat each other's parents and extended family as your own family. I thought this was a beautiful picture and was even more interesting when she told me she didn't know she had found all these qualities in her husband until after they were married. It was just a refreshing conversation. The type of conversation I crave, where the things talked about are real life issues, matters of the heart. I may have nothing currently to say on the relationship front, but I can still understand and talk. Our conversation yesterday reminded me how much I cherish the friends I have who talk to me about real life issues and challenge me to continue growing, even in the tough moments. So if you are one of those great friends to me, thank you. I love you. And I can't wait to have so many more conversations when I get back.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Penang
What a weekend I had! We left early on Thursday for a long weekend on the island on Penang. It was an incredible trip filled with orangutans, the Indian Ocean, digging for clams and prawn fishing.
On Thursday, on the way to the island, we stopped at an orangutan sanctuary 
where they take orphaned or sick orangutans and nurse them back to health, raise them for a bit, then introduce them back into the wild. The only place in the world that orangutans naturally live is Borneo (on an island to the east of peninsular Malaysia). It was soo much fun to see them swinging around and enjoying life. There is even an infant care unit with 4 infant orangutans, in diapers. So cute!
Once we got to Penang, we checked into the hotel and went down to relax by the pool. Thursday night started with a great Chinese dinner and was finished with a walk through the 3 mile long night market. I think we all just about ran out of money there...but don't worry, we bargained everything down to get great deals.
Friday was spent touring around a few Buddhist temples, one with one of the biggest Buddha statues in it. We also tried to make the trip up Penang Hill, but got cut short when we got there and realized it was closed for 2 months. I guess we'll just have to survive without seeing the entire island of Penang and onto the mainland from the highest point on Penang. After we got back, we had the rest of the afternoon to relax, so we went for a swim in the Indian Ocean and then went back to cool off in the pool. It was definitely too hot to stay on the beach for long. Friday night we went to the promenade for dinner and got a nice chance to experience a massive amount of food stalls and delicious food.
Saturday morning we left for a fishing village on another island close to Penang. We took the bus back to the mainland and a jetty over to the island. The day and night we spent there pretty much put me out of my comfort zone. It was a wonderful time, but I'm glad it was only one night. There were very few people who spoke English on the entire island, so communication was rough, to say the least. And it was incredibly hot and humid the
drenched in sweat, felt dirty and probably smelled bad too. But all inentire time, so we were all all, it was a fun trip and we got to really be a part of the daily life on the island. I helped dig for clams on the shore Friday night and Eric, one of the students on the trip, was able to go prawn fishing with some of the men of the island. Everyone was so hospitable to us, and they even gave us sarongs as gifts before we left! It was an incredible time.
Sunday we left the fishing village and drove back to Tanjong Malim. We even got to enjoy a wonderful dinner at Renee's host home, cooked by her mother. I even got to learn how to make roti jala! Maybe if you're lucky (or unlucky, depending on your point of view), I'll make some when I get back.
And now I sit in the staff room at school, Monday morning, my last Monday morning at school. It's hard to believe this is my last week at school and in a week and a half I will be on a plane headed back to Michigan. Already I'm having mixed emotions about it. I want to be home so badly. I want to see my friends and family (soo sad that I missed the time my sister is in Michigan) and I want to bask in the comforts of home, but the feeling of being somewhere unknown and having the unknown become known is great. I wish I knew the language better, but there is so much English spoken around me that it's not hard to get along. I miss being surrounded by a Christian community, going to church every week. I am learning that most religions are similar in the way that they have certain symbols to express their beliefs, but most of the faith is expressed personally. I wonder though, with so many religions occurring right alongside of each other (Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu and a little bit of Christianity), what do they think about eternal life? How can they not question their own faith and beliefs when there are so many contradicting beliefs surrounding them every day? I make no claims to pass judgment on who does and does not go to heaven, but I do know my own beliefs and am certain in them. Just some thoughts going through this little head of mine. I think God will use the time that I am here in ways I don't even know about...and I'm excited to find out how.
On Thursday, on the way to the island, we stopped at an orangutan sanctuary 
where they take orphaned or sick orangutans and nurse them back to health, raise them for a bit, then introduce them back into the wild. The only place in the world that orangutans naturally live is Borneo (on an island to the east of peninsular Malaysia). It was soo much fun to see them swinging around and enjoying life. There is even an infant care unit with 4 infant orangutans, in diapers. So cute!Once we got to Penang, we checked into the hotel and went down to relax by the pool. Thursday night started with a great Chinese dinner and was finished with a walk through the 3 mile long night market. I think we all just about ran out of money there...but don't worry, we bargained everything down to get great deals.
Friday was spent touring around a few Buddhist temples, one with one of the biggest Buddha statues in it. We also tried to make the trip up Penang Hill, but got cut short when we got there and realized it was closed for 2 months. I guess we'll just have to survive without seeing the entire island of Penang and onto the mainland from the highest point on Penang. After we got back, we had the rest of the afternoon to relax, so we went for a swim in the Indian Ocean and then went back to cool off in the pool. It was definitely too hot to stay on the beach for long. Friday night we went to the promenade for dinner and got a nice chance to experience a massive amount of food stalls and delicious food.
Saturday morning we left for a fishing village on another island close to Penang. We took the bus back to the mainland and a jetty over to the island. The day and night we spent there pretty much put me out of my comfort zone. It was a wonderful time, but I'm glad it was only one night. There were very few people who spoke English on the entire island, so communication was rough, to say the least. And it was incredibly hot and humid the
drenched in sweat, felt dirty and probably smelled bad too. But all inentire time, so we were all all, it was a fun trip and we got to really be a part of the daily life on the island. I helped dig for clams on the shore Friday night and Eric, one of the students on the trip, was able to go prawn fishing with some of the men of the island. Everyone was so hospitable to us, and they even gave us sarongs as gifts before we left! It was an incredible time.Sunday we left the fishing village and drove back to Tanjong Malim. We even got to enjoy a wonderful dinner at Renee's host home, cooked by her mother. I even got to learn how to make roti jala! Maybe if you're lucky (or unlucky, depending on your point of view), I'll make some when I get back.
And now I sit in the staff room at school, Monday morning, my last Monday morning at school. It's hard to believe this is my last week at school and in a week and a half I will be on a plane headed back to Michigan. Already I'm having mixed emotions about it. I want to be home so badly. I want to see my friends and family (soo sad that I missed the time my sister is in Michigan) and I want to bask in the comforts of home, but the feeling of being somewhere unknown and having the unknown become known is great. I wish I knew the language better, but there is so much English spoken around me that it's not hard to get along. I miss being surrounded by a Christian community, going to church every week. I am learning that most religions are similar in the way that they have certain symbols to express their beliefs, but most of the faith is expressed personally. I wonder though, with so many religions occurring right alongside of each other (Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu and a little bit of Christianity), what do they think about eternal life? How can they not question their own faith and beliefs when there are so many contradicting beliefs surrounding them every day? I make no claims to pass judgment on who does and does not go to heaven, but I do know my own beliefs and am certain in them. Just some thoughts going through this little head of mine. I think God will use the time that I am here in ways I don't even know about...and I'm excited to find out how.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)