Eruptions, Cupid, and the Malaysian Banking System

All is well here in Kuala Terengganu.  I have a strange week because all the girls in my school are taking exams this week and so there are zero classes to teach.  I still have to come in every day, which I was a little upset about at first, but it's good because I'm able to get a lot done while I'm here in the office.

The real purpose of this post, though, is to document three gems of conversations that I had recently with my foster sister, Hayati.

Incident Number One:

I was supposed to meet Hayati for tea at the canteen at 8:30 yesterday morning.  When I got there at 8:30, though, she was nowhere to be found.  No big deal -- I sat with some other teachers -- and one teacher told me that Hayati wasn't at the canteen yet because she had gone to the bank.  A little bit of an odd errand for 8:30 in the morning, but I thought nothing of it.  Then about ten minutes later Hayati showed up.

Hayati: "Sorry I was late.  I was at the bank."

Me: "Yeah, that's what I heard.  I didn't know the bank was open this early."

Hayati: (with a smirk) "Oh!  In Malaysia, when you have to go to the toilet to deficate, we call it 'going to the bank' because you make a deposit!"

So think about THAT next time you're at an ATM...

Incident Number Two:

Fast forward to this morning.  Hayati and I were driving to school, as usual, talking about Korean DVDs (one of her favorite topics), and all of a sudden she said, in an authoritative and very confident, knowing way, "Christians believe that there is just one angel, and he's fat and a child and his name is Cupid."

Silence in the car for a few seconds, as the following thoughts went through my head:  

-First, why are we talking about Cupid at all?  He has nothing at all to do with Korean DVDs.

-Second, where did she get this information?  Did scheming mat sallehs of her past tell her this little tidbit, hoping for just this moment when she would repeat it like she had to me?

-Third, this is hilarious and awesome.

I explained to her that Cupid, actually, was a Roman god of love and that we usually just use him as a symbol on Valentine's Day.  She looked a little disappointed to have her comment disproved, and that was kind of the end.

Incident Number Three:

Today at the canteen, I was sitting with Hayati and three other teachers and we were talking about Islam and America's impression of Muslims. People here are so anxious to let me know that Islam is a peaceful religion, and I completely understand, so this is a common discussion at my school.  Anyway, we were talking away and Hayati decided to contribute.

Hayati: "You are in a peaceful place.  Malaysia is a peaceful country.  This is the only country without any volcanos."

Pause.

Me: "Malaysia is the only country without volcanos in the whole WORLD, Hayati?"

She stops to think about it for a moment.

Hayati: "Yes, I think so."

I'm looking forward to many more wonderful conversations like this in the coming months, and if they don't happen regularly I will be seriously disappointed.

Lately

A short list of things that Malaysia (or at least Terengganu) loves:

Plastic bags. Here they put EVERYTHING in a plastic bag. Your take away drinks at KFC. One pack of gum from the 711. Each individual item you buy at Mydin (slight exaggeration, but it feels like it). A can of Coke that you get at a drug store. To-go noodles at a café (this one is actually a plastic bag within a plastic bag – doubly good for the environment).

Straws. This one makes me so, so happy, as I am a huge fan of straws. Straws abound here (maybe since they’re made of plastic…could there be a correlation here?) and even the tiniest little roadside stands seem to have an abundant supply at all times. Every time you order a drink in a can you get a straw, without even having to ask for it.

Nasi (rice). Malaysians love their nasi!  Almost every day at school, while I am eating at the canteen (cafeteria), a teacher will say one of two things: 1. “You’re not taking enough nasi!” (as I am filling a fourth of my plate with rice, a portion that seems generous to me) or 2. “Did you eat nasi at home, before coming to Malaysia?” (many people here seem to think that the only place you can get rice in the States is at Chinese restaurants). It’s so much fun to eat with the teachers, though, and everyone is so kind to me and is eager to tell me about the various Terengganu foods and how to correctly eat them. Many things here are made with peppers, making them “hot and spicy,” but I love the spicy things. This makes the teachers so happy, when they warn me that a dish is “hot and spicy” and I inform them that I love hot and spicy things. If you make an effort to try the foods here in Terengganu (and the majority of them are delicious, especially the things made with coconut milk) you will most likely be a big hit. Food is a huge deal here.

Eating with spoons. This one is tough for me sometimes since American manners are so engrained in me (thanks for that one, Dad). In Malaysia, the cutlery consists of a fork and a spoon; knives are essentially nonexistent except for food preparation. I tend to eat mainly with my fork, using my spoon to cut things into smaller pieces. Two times this past week, two separate teachers have asked me why I’m not using my spoon more. Each time I told them that it was completely out of habit, because in the U.S. we eat most of the meal with forks. I’m trying to incorporate spoon usage into my mealtime routine, though, because it seems like I’m not doing things quite right yet. Sometimes, too, I just eat with my hands, and that helps to get rid of the problem. The teachers here are so cute and many have told me, “I eat with my hand…original spoon!” Even eating with your hand here is difficult at first, though, because you only eat with the right hand and also because getting the rice and meat into your mouth without getting food all over your face or dropped back onto your plate takes some real skill. You have you push it just the right way, with your thumb. I’m still working on perfecting my technique. 

For some reason, eating in the canteen is when I’m most aware of differences between schools in the U.S. and schools in Malaysia, but also when I'm most aware of the similarities. When I look around and find myself at a table surrounded by talkative Malay teachers, happily passing around a Korean DVD that they are all anxious to watch, I think about how this same scene, more or less, could easily happen in a teacher’s lounge in the States. Then I see the Malay women eating whole fish (which I have grown to like, actually) and rice with their hands, wearing their baju karons and tudongs and I’m reminded of what a different place I’m in. Then we talk about purses and I ask about their children and we’re back again to a place I identify with. It’s a strange feeling, this pendulum swing between feelings like I understand and feeling like an outsider, and I kind of enjoy it.

Here is a photo from right outside my office door, and you can see the canteen in the background.

Seatbelts and helmets. Oops, no, this should be listed under the “Things That Don’t Really Matter Here” category. As cute as it is to see entire families piled onto a single moto (and it really is adorable), toddlers without helmets squeezed into the space between the driver and the handlebars, it makes a part of me cringe every time. Also, no one wears seatbelts in cars, and so it’s very common to see cars absolutely packed with people or with children crawling around in backseats. Interestingly, though, I haven’t seen a single car wreck since I’ve been here, and it makes sense to think that if there were accidents happening frequently more people would be safety-conscious.  

Now on to the update stuff.

I love teaching. It’s a wonderful feeling to go into school every day and see so many girls that are excited to wish me a good morning. I try to sit with a group of girls each morning and just make some small talk before classes start, but sometimes I make it to school too late and they are already in the process of reciting the Quran.  

This is a picture of two blocks (buildings) at my school.  

Most of my classes are with older girls, Forms 4 and 5 (so they are 16- and 17-year-olds), but I have one Form 1 class as well (13-year-olds). I really enjoy the older classes because the girls’ English is more advanced and because they are more mature so we’re able to get more meaningful activities done. The younger girls, though, are so energetic, and they make me happy to be around them. Whenever I am on my way to my Form 1 class, I see little covered heads peek out the door and then, when they spot me coming, I hear chairs squeaking and 

girls whispering loudly, “Miss Anna’s coming, Miss Anna’s coming!” Then when I enter the room, I’m greeted by cheers and laughter. What could make a person feel better than that? The girls are truly wonderful.

Interesting fact: I was planning to do a Valentine's Day activity with the girls last week, but luckily my mentor advised me to skip that plan because many Muslims disapprove of Valentine's Day and its focus on romance.  I changed it to a "Friendship Day" activity, though, so everything worked out well and I made it through another day without an Islamic faux pas.

Lately a big hit with all my classes has been Miss Anna Says (Simon Says). We have been playing at the beginning of class to get them up and moving, and they are really getting the hang of it and love when I make them do silly things, like meowing like a cat or giving each other high fives.

I have enjoyed making lesson plans as well, and it is rewarding to see the girls respond well to things I have prepared. Right now many of my classes are working on a simile poetry project, and they are coming up with some wonderful poems.  It's fun to watch them be creative.

Below are photos of one of my Form 4 classes working on their simile projects, my office (my desk is the one on the far left, and my office is great because it's large and is one of the few rooms in the school with air conditioning), and my foster sister's car, which she takes me to and from school in each day.

George's Visit: Kuala Lumpur

Even though our bus ride from KT to KL was long (10:30 p.m. to 6 a.m.), George and I had a good trip and enjoyed watching episodes of The Office on my laptop and listening to music on our iPods. Gwynne was on our bus as well, and Kevin, Len, and Len’s girlfriend Shamsia were already in KL so we were excited to get together with them at some point.

We arrived in KL bleary-eyed and groggy, but were able to get a cab to our hostel and the three of us ate breakfast at a 24-hour café while we planned out our day. Since we were already up, we decided that our first stop should be a visit to the Petronas Towers to wait in line for tickets to visit the sky bridge. The Petronas Towers only give out 1400 tickets a day, and they are usually gone by 11:30 each morning. The good news is the tickets are free. You go, wait in line for a ticket, and then come back later at a designated time to go up to the sky bridge. Our ticket time was for 2 p.m., so we had a few hours to kill before we had to be back.

This picture is of us getting excited for Chinese New Year. Unfortunately, we discovered that all the Chinese New Year festivities started the day AFTER we left KL. We were so sad because we had been looking forward to seeing a lion dance or two!



















We decided to go to the Lake Gardens, an area of the city with a variety of gardens, animals, and a planetarium. Since some things cost money to visit, we checked out the orchid garden (free) and the butterfly garden (which had an admission fee). The orchids were gorgeous, and everything was so lush and green and tropical.















In the butterfly garden, all George and I kept thinking was how much both of our mothers would love the experience. There were thousands of butterflies of many different varieties flying around, landing on flowers, and playing with each other. Everywhere we looked there was a new kind of butterfly.

































Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the towers for our 2:00 sky bridge tour. We were first in line and were given passes, then we watched a seven-minute 3D movie all about the Petronas petroleum company. I was really excited about the 3D aspect, but it turned out to be disappointing because no cool 3D effects happened and the movie was all about endorsing Petronas. I guess it makes sense, since they own the towers and all, and the tickets were free so I can’t complain too much. On the sky bridge, we loved looking at the view of KL from the towers. Each group gets 10 minutes on the sky bridge, so we wandered around for a while, took pictures, found the Batu Caves in the distance, and then it was time to head back down.



















Later that night we met up with Kevin, Len, and Shamsia in Chinatown and spent some time walking through the Petaling Street Market. George bought some fake Ray Bans, and we also got a pirated copy of the movie Stardust which came in handy later on in the trip. We enjoyed hanging out with everyone and spending a relaxing evening together.

On Friday morning, George, Gwynne, Len, Shamsia, and I started our day by visiting Merdeka Square (Independence Square) – the place where Malaysia declared its independence from Britain – and the national court, a beautiful building across from the square.

That afternoon we headed for the Batu Caves (or, as the woman on our bus was calling it, “BATUCAVESBATUCAVESBATUCAVES!!!!”) The caves are 13 kilometers ourside the city and are a series of caves and Hindu temples within the caves. Here’s a little info from Wikipedia about the caves’ religious origin:

"Batu Caves is said to have been discovered by K. Thamboosamy Pillai, an Indian trader, in the 1800s. He was inspired by the 'vel'-shaped entrance of the main cave and was inspired to dedicate a temple to Lord Muruga located within the caves."





















We enjoyed seeing the temples, but actually the most interesting part of the caves was watching the dozens of monkeys in the caves wander around and fight with each other for food.





















On Thursday night, George and I set out on an adventure to find the Firefly Park Resort, a place we had read about and were anxious to see. The trip was a little complicated, because the park is about two hours outside of KL and we were risking a pricey taxi ride home (the bus services stopped at 7:30 p.m., so we wouldn’t be able to take a bus back into town), but we took the risk and never regretted our decision. The bus ride up flew by, and when we reached Kuala Selangor we met up with three Chinese girls from Shanghai and shared a taxi to the firefly park. After waiting for tickets for a while and negotiating prices with our taxi driver for a ride back into KL, our firefly experience began. First of all, the night sky was absolutely incredible because we were so far outside the city. I don’t think I’ve ever seen more stars, except maybe in the Western U.S. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and George and I couldn’t stop looking up. Then, we boarded a boat with about a dozen other people and slipped quietly away from the jetty. The water was smooth and silent, and the engine on our boat was barely a hum. Everyone naturally fell silent, and we began to float along the shore, looking at thousands of tiny twinkling lights in the bushes lining the water. The fireflies looked like blinking white Christmas lights, so much so that George wondered if the whole situation was fake. A firefly flew into our boat at one point, though, and one of our new Chinese friends caught it, so the validity was proven. Riding on that quiet river with George, surrounded by the magical glow of the fireflies and the amazing, starry sky was one of the most special moments of my life. Unfortunately, we don’t have any photos from the event because we weren’t allowed to take pictures, but I don’t think George and I will have any trouble remembering the experience!

We ended up being able to ride back to KL with the three Chinese girls, and were even able to find a cab driver that had a van, so we were able to fit comfortably. George and I had brought my laptop along, so we spent the ride home happily watching Stardust in the back row of the van. As a close to a perfect evening, we walked around near the Petronas towers (possibly the most beautiful buildings in the world at night, we decided) and the busy new Pavilion area of the city with tons of outdoor cafes, coffee shops, and ice cream stands.



























Saturday was our last day in KL, and our last day together. George and I started the day by getting our favorite Malaysian breakfast of roti canai (a delicious bread served with curry) and teh tarik, and then heading to an area of town called Kampung Baru, which is basically a collection of small outdoor cafes, similar to ones you might find in more rural areas of the country but with an urban backdrop. We got some lunch but it was cut short when George found a large, unidentified, black bug thing in his rice. Yuck. We enjoyed our time in Kampung Baru, though, and think we saw a wedding about to start, so that was interesting.

























Next stop was Chow Kit market, and at first the area was so smelly that we just wanted to leave – it was awful! Eventually, though, we made it into the heart of the market and it turned out to be one of our favorite market experiences. We loved wandering around looking at the bajus and strange fruits, and George picked out a sarong that I got him for his birthday.

To finish our wonderful trip, George and I treated ourselves to 45-minute foot massages (absolutely incredible, especially after walking all around the city for a few days) and then to lattes at Starbucks, something I had been really craving in Terengganu.

Then came time for goodbye, which is always the hardest part. I rode the bus with George to the airport, about an hour outside of the city, and we were able to eat dinner together and spend some precious time with each other before he had to head through security to board the plane. I got back into the city with plenty of time to catch my 10:30 night bus, and met up with Gwynne at the station. George was supposed to have an extra day in Singapore, but he was able to bump up his flight to Seoul and get home Sunday morning, which was great. We had a great time together and are looking forward to more dual Malaysian adventures in the future!

George's Visit: Kuala Terengganu

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve updated my blog. It’s been hard not having Internet access in our apartment yet (we are crossing our fingers that will be fixed soon), and also I’ve been busy spending time with George! We were able to spend six days together, some in KT and some in KL, and it was a magical time. I’m going to write two entries, one about each town, to keep things from getting too long.

George flew into Singapore last Saturday and then, poor thing, had to fly from Singapore to KL, spend the night there (in the freezing cold airport), and then fly from KL to KT on Sunday morning. For future reference, it’s much easier to reach KT from KL than from Singapore. We learned the hard way. Anyway, Len picked up George at the airport and took him to my apartment, so all day at school I was anxious to get home and see George. Finally the day ended and it was so fun to run up the three flights of stairs to my apartment and find sweet George waiting for me inside!

We spent a couple of days in KT, since I had to be at school Sunday through Tuesday. Since it was Chinese New Year, my school had Thursday off and I was able to get Wednesday off as well. While I was at work, George did some exploring around town, and then when I got home we would spend the evenings walking around Chinatown, partaking in KT’s many delicious snack foods, and hanging out at Mydin. One of the highlights of our time in KT was our visit to the beach, where we flew a kite, got root beer floats at A&W, and then joined in on a beach soccer game with a group of Malay teenage guys. Also, George was finally able to get the straight-razor shave that he’s been wanting for months (they don’t do them in the U.S. anymore, we found out), and so he was really excited about that.





























We did have some disappointments, though. Unfortunately, February is one of the worst times to visit the east coast of peninsular Malaysia because monsoon season is still going, and so all the islands are typically closed until after Chinese New Year. Also, George and I had hoped to spend time at Taman Negara, a state park with the world’s oldest rain forest. We discovered that it takes about seven hours to get to the park from KT, though, and since we already had our bus tickets to KL we had to save the rain forest for another time.

Our bus for KL was a night bus, Wednesday night, and so we had all day Wednesday free. We decided to rent a car from the KT airport (a new experience for both of us) and go to Tasik Kenyir, the largest man made lake in Southeast Asia, and explore other areas of Terengganu. It turned out to be the best day! We got an early start and the car rental process went very smoothly. Our car was a Proton, the only type of Malaysian-made car, which we felt was definitely appropriate for our Malaysian adventure. George drove first and, since Malaysia was occupied by Britain, he had to drive on the left side of the road. He did wonderfully, and I was so impressed. We felt so free having a car, and set off to explore.















First stop: breakfast. We passed many little roadside cafes, and finally saw one that looked like a good place for us to stop. We wanted to get an authentic Malay breakfast experience, and we certainly did! The café where we stopped was family-run and the three kids (twin girls and a boy) couldn’t quit looking at us. We got a coconut bun, nasi ayam (chicken and rice) and teh tarik (pulled tea), and all three were delicious. Teh tarik is my favorite Malay drink, and I knew George would love it so I was excited to share it with him.





























After about an hour we arrived at Tasik Kenyir and found a Malay guy to take us on a two-hour boat tour of the lake.















He drove us around to three different stops: an herb garden, a waterfall, and a fish farm, and at each stop we got out and walked around for about 30 minutes. We loved all the stops, and each had unique characteristics. At the herb garden area we drank little cups of tea made from roots, and women drink one type and men drink another. My female tea was good, and very mild, but George’s (he let me taste his) was really, really bitter and hard to get down. Next, at the waterfall, we enjoyed wading in the cool water and hiking along the shore. At the fish farm, our guide gave us a bowl of food and we were able to feed the fish (tilapia and catfish). I have never seen such hungry fish in my life! There were groups of fish in different pools, and when we threw food in they would splash around like crazy trying to beat each other to the pellets.

































Riding on the lake was wonderful, too, and the sky reflected off of the lake in an amazing way. The day was clear and beautiful, and we were surrounded by mountains and rainforest-looking landscape.















After Tasik Kenyir we drove a little further south to check out Sekayu Falls, but since it was pretty similar to the lake we didn’t end up staying too long. We got back in our Proton (I drove this time!) and headed north to Sutra Beach, near Kevin’s school and the beach our group had visited a couple of weeks ago. We enjoyed flying our kite on the beach and looking for shells in the soft sand. Soon, though, it was time to head back into town to return our car and pack for KL, since our bus left that night at 10:30.

































Stay tuned for the Kuala Lumpur chapter of George's Malaysian visit!