Malaysian Madness!

The End

2006-06-11T05:43:00.000+08:00

I guess this is it. No more Malaysian Madness... it was a wonderful run and I will never forget the INCREDIBLE experiences the last 6.5 months have offered me. Malaysia will always hold a special place in my heart.

Alright, enough corny crap. The last week was pretty much non-stop action filled. I have tons of photos and stories. Interested? Contact me. I'm boarding my flight home in one hour!!! It's 5:30am in the Singapore airport on June 11. I get home at 7:05pm on June 11 and I will be exhausted. Already in transit for 20 hours +! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! I'm coming home!!!

Use my parents home phone number to get a hold of me as I have no cell phone and I'm a loser who still lives at home. See you all TOOOOOOOOOO soon!

Laos, is that even a country!?

2006-06-03T12:19:00.000+08:00

Hey all,
I have no photo updates yet because it's not as easy to do without my own computer. I am currently backpacking around Thailand, which is AWESOME. It's weird because I don't speak a lick of Thai so I've forgotten how frustrating travel is when you can't speak the language. I keep busting out my Malay and then there is never a response, because they don't speak it here.

I'm traveling around with my British friend Fiona, who taught English in Kuala Berang as well, and two others of my ETA friends, Megan and Amy Evers. We have been to Phuket, Ko Phi Phi, Krabi, Ao Nang, and Rai Leh down in southern Thailand. The beaches of Thailand are nice, but seriously, they have NOTHING on the gorgeous islands of the east coast of Malaysia! After that, we headed up to Bangkok for 2 days where we just relaxed and mostly wandered around the busy tourists areas. We spent the last day in Chiang Mai, which may be my favorite place on the planet. It's amazing here.

However, we are about to board a minibus which will take us to the Thailand/Laos border. We are going into Laos tomorrow morning where we will spend the next 3 days doing the Gibbon Experience. This is an ecotourist experience where you live in the rainforest canopy in treehouses. You use ziplines to get around from place to place. You do some trekking, and hopefully, you see some Gibbons. We'll see. So, I will be M.I.A. for the next few days, if you email me I will not respond. Just wanted to let you all know. Take care, see you in a week when I am back in OHIO!!!!

HABIS!! (Finished)

2006-05-27T16:00:00.000+08:00

6 months ago I left for Malaysia. Now I am leaving Malaysia. This is a strange feeling. I thought I would be so happy to go home and eat cheese and see everyone (which I am excited to do), but I'm feeling really down about leaving this place.

My last week of school is such a blur because it happened so fast. I had many farewell sessions with the students, teachers, program organizers, etc. I had been working with 30 students for about a month and a half to prepare a choral speaking presentation at the ETA sendoff, so that was taking a lot of my time. Choral speaking is when a group of people recite a script in unison while adding movements and noises to the presentation. I had never heard of it before I came to Malaysia, but I quickly threw myself into to experience it. In fact, I ended up writing my own script and organizing all the students myself to do the presentation. It was totally worth it because the students were AMAZING and I think everyone really enjoyed their efforts. The script is about a family that goes on a vacation to the jungle. They deal with a TON of culture shock, but find it hard to leave because they loved the people they met. Sound familiar?? Anyway, the closing paragraph was so appropriate to the ETA situation so I will share it now.

"We meet new people everyday in our lives. Sometimes we like them and sometimes we just despise. Sometimes we admire the way they talk or smell. And sometimes, their clothing makes us want to yell. The point is we are all different and on the differences we shouldn't dwell. But look for the similarities we all possess as human beings and become friends even though we have different ways of doing things."

Because the students performed at the ETA lunch they were able to send me to the airport. My host mom and mentor came as well as my friend Rohaniah who is one of the best teachers at my school. It was wonderful. I signed some autographs to my incredible students then we hugged and cried before a government official finally whisked me away onto the plane. It was so sad!

Ok, so now I'm in KL and I leave for Thailand tomorrow morning. I'm going to Phuket, Ko Phi phi, and Krabi for 3 days. Then I fly to Bankok for 2 days. Up to Chiang Mai for a day, head over to Laos for 4 days where I will be hanging out with gibbons in a tree house, then back to Chiang Mai for 3 more days. On June 10 I will fly to KL to retrieve my luggage. That night I fly to Sinapore for a few hour layover, before heading to Hong Kong to Chicago to Columbus. I'm going to be doing a CRAP TON of flying, so I will most likely be exhausted at the airport. Mom, I will be on the United Flight 1248 from Chicago. It lands in the Bus at 4:55pm.

Finally, I will still have a few more blog entries when the chance arises. I want to put one up about Kuala Berang and of course I will have some on Thailand and Laos. See you all in 2 weeks!! I can't wait to party at home... if you love me, bring CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Exiled in The 'Pore!

2006-05-18T09:46:00.000+08:00

I just typed a huge blog that somehow was deleted.... Now I'm upset and this one might not be as good :(

I have been a bad blogger. The reason I haven't updated in a while is because I'm really busy finishing up my time here in Malaysia. I'm saying goodbyes and attending meetings and hanging out with my AWESOME AWESOME students before we part ways, which is going to make me cry like a little girl for a few days. I've become so attatched to these kids here and thinking about leaving them now, with only 1 week left, already wells me up with tears. I'm never a really emotional person!! What is happening... Malaysia, what have you done to me?!! haha

Anyway, my visa extension expired and I had to high-tail my butt out of Malaysia before the police arrested me. I fled to Singapore on the advice of my program administration. However when going through Malaysian immigration in Johor Bahru, the border town by Singapore, I was detained... DETAINED! Apparently my visa from the Terengganu government was not valid and even if it were, it was never approved... according to the immigration officers. So I was at the counter and they pulled the classic line, "Sir, can you please follow us?" I freaked and my mom is proof because she was on the phone with me. (PS, mom, what are you doing calling so early in the morning. Ask Lindsay how I feel about people calling in the morning, haha). I was escorted to a little trailer on the side of the road where I was semi-interogated for about an hour. The immigration officers wanted to get to know me rather than do business so they began asking me the typical questions that Malaysian ALWAYS ask me. "Do you take rice?" or "Are you married?" or "How much do you get paid?" and so on. I was scared and angry but answered them anyway. Finally it turned out that one of the officers was from Terengganu, go figure. Even better, his fiance is from Kuala Berang, the town where I teach, go figure. He asked me to speak Malay and in a Terengganu dialect I answered "I don't want to speak Malay" (translated of course) and he and the other officers gave the same prescribed reaction everyone in Terengganu gives me when I use their dialect: shocked, surprised, laughter, clapping. The man was so impressed that he stamped my passport and sent me on my way! I was so happy I didn't even have to pay anyone off, which I thought was going to happen since my contact at the Terengganu governement would not answer my desperate calls for help. Thank god this is NOT Mexico!

Anwway, I crossed over Malaysia via the bridge in Johor Bahru. The traffic is so bad at this crossing that it takes 1 hour to cross a bridge which is equivalent in size to the Broad St. bridge in downtown Columbus, Ohio. 1 hour to cross it!! You have not seen traffic congestion until you have been on this bridge!

This is just the left side of the bridge where the motorbikes enter... madness!

So, here's the part where I give a little info on Singapore. Singapura, the Malay name, means Lion City. Singapore, historically, has always been a part of Malayisa. In 1819, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles came to Singapore and established it as a trading post for the British, which encouraged its development as well. Well, in 1963, Malaysia gained its independence from the British. A large concentration of Malaysian Chinese were in Singapore doing their thing. Malay Malaysians were afraid the Chinese were becoming too powerful, or at least had the potential, because everyone knows when it comes to business and restaurants the Chinese dominate with their work ethic. Malays didn't want the Chinese to become the majority so in 1965 Singapore was expelled from the Malaysian Federation.

This was scary news for Singapore because it's a tiny island that has absolutely NO natural resources. How could Singapore make it as a sovereign nation with nothing? Well, here enters the amazing leader Lee Kuan Yew. This Chinese man had his crap together and pretty much kicked butt whipping Singapore into shape. He believed Singapore had one potentially effective natural resource, its people. So, Singapore, a country with nothing worked hard and united to now have one of the strongest economies in the world. It's amazing that this island went from nothing to the sprawling metropolis of 4 million that it is today. Singapore now has income from oil refineries, tourism, and technology thanks to the Chinese.

This is a view of the business district in Singapore... that's where all the action happens

I spent the first of three days alone. I traveled around and explored the sights while orienting myself with the city. I also enjoyed some delicious delicious Subway. I had a Italian BMT on parmesean oregano and it was just like home!! So, here are some sites I saw.

This wonder is called the Merlion. It is part Mermaid and part Lion, in case you missed that. This statue has become the symbol of Singapore and some say it's as famous as the Eiffle Tower. I didn't remember it but when I was in Singapore I kept thinking to myself, "Isn't there some Lion thing I should see?" It's as if my subconcious took control and took me to this stunning piece. A vomitting merlion, who could ever ask for more?

Also, at the merlion statue a family from Indonesia approached me. They asked me to take a picture of them in front of the merlion. With nothing better to do I took the picture. Afterward they said to me, "Well, we really just want to take a picture with you." Haha. I was really flattered and of course I posed with them and the mother was hugging me in the picture. One thing I'm going to miss here is the attention. I will admit it, the attention is nice. I am a freaking celebrity here for doing nothing at all. I will have some serious culture shock when I move home and become nothing again. So, to ease the transition, just ask me for my autograph every now and then, haha.

This is the Raffles Hotel. If it doesn't sound at all familiar it should because this is where human creativity gave birth to the Singapore Sling.

This drink was $17 Singapore dollars which is about $11USD. It's expensive, but it's also complicated and it's classic. The original recipe is barely used outside of the Raffles Hotel. It's pretty much a Tom Collins with cherry Brandy, or so I'm told. It was good none the less and I'm glad I had one.

I don't know if you all remember this from my earlier blogs but it is HOT here. The HOT I'm talking about can't even be defined using English words. Unless you've been here you have no concept whatsoever how HOT it is. It's so HOT that you can be driving in a car with the wind blowing all over you, essentially cooling you down, but you end up sweating through it anyway. It is disgustingly HOT. After 6 months my body has managed to not adjust to the HEAT. I guarantee I will not sweat at all this summer back in the States. Well, Singapore is about 10 times HOTTER than Malaysia. It was insane.

Although Singapore is mostly made up of Chinese people it still has its own China Town. I swear the Chinese are EVERYWHERE, and you know what, thank god for that. Someone told me that the furthest restaurant North is a Chinese restaurant... I'm not surprised. What podunk town on Earth doesn't even have a Chinese restaurant? Even Podunk, North Carolina, where the name originates, has one.

My friends Katie and Amy P met up with me the second day I was in Singapore. Katie and I walked around the entire city hanging out. We went down to the Singapore Cable Car and just rode on it while eating lunch. Most people use it to go to Sentosa Island which is a touristy amusement island. Others go to Mt. Faber to see views of Singapore. Well, Katie and I just sat on it and rode it between both points enjoying delicious Subway subs and maybe a Heineken or 2.

After the cable car we went to this place called Haw Par Villa. The inventor of Tiger balm, from Singapore, was a devout Buddhist. He opened this village in Singapore for one specific purpose. To remind sinners what the consequences were for defaulting on moral values in the present life. This theme park's main attraction is a site called "The 10 Courts of Hell." How could I ever pass it up??

Before you make it to "Hell" you pass by lots of really funny paper mached statues.

I don't know... there's just something about giant pigs and crocodiles that I can't resist.

This picture just epitomizes Asia for me. When I think of Asia this is exactly what I imagine. It doesn't make sense. It's a tiger personified as a little girl with a giant balloon head. Who does that? But somehow it's fun and evokes a spirit of completely wild and unique. Asia just does that.

Once you make it past the landscape full of marvelous cartoon character statues you enter "Hell." There are 10 different tableaus depicting a different court of Hell. The all seeing and knowing judge of Humans is present in each court where he does not absolve anyone of their sins, but rather watches in a saddistic and gleeful manner. Each tableau is bloody and gruesome and specifically defines what sins will buy you a ticket to that court. For example, anyone stealing food from a local grocery store will be cut in half and tied up with their own intestines in court 4. All prostitutes are crushed by huge boulders in court 6.

I think this specific court was for anyone who has ever lied. You are thrown onto huge spikes in the side of the wall. You know, the inventor of Tiger balm must have an amazing research team to have found such specifics as hell. I mean come on, who would ever think religion is a joke when Truths such as these are revealed to humans?

This is Orchard Rd. It's the famous shopping road in Singapore and it's lined with expensive designers like Versace and really cheap outlet malls too. I hate shopping so I didn't really enjoy this, but it is a good street to walk down and do some people watching. I would advise a dark pair of sunglasses so you can stare at whomever you want.

This is a huge Buddha. This temple is called the Temple of 1,000 lights, for obvious reasons. One reason I came here was the fact that Buddha has a door in his behind that you can go into. I thought it would be wonderful to say I walked inside of Buddha, but it just so happend to be Vesak Day. This is a major holiday for Buddhists because it is the day Buddha was born, enlightened, and died. There were too many people to make behind Buddha, so I just snapped some photos and peaced out.

Singapore was nice and I had a good time. I had some culture shock as well. I went for a banana leaf (that's an Indian food meal where you each lots of delicous slop on top of a banana leaf) and I ate with my hand. I eat with my hand every single day here in Malaysia. However, I guess it's an anomaly when Mat Salleh use their hands in Singapore because an entire street stopped and stared at me in either utter amazement or disgust by my actions. Whatever, I think eating with the hand is the second best idea after beer.

The people of Singapore are very polite and respectful. As one taxi driver told me, "It's so easy to scare and control people here because the country is so little. That's why Singapore is such a great country." I don't know about all that but Singapore is fun. It is, however, just another city not different from any others. I would like to come back to Singapore to party one day when I have money. I am broke now, BROKE, and I had to spend so much money in this expensive shopping Mecca. So, if anyone wants to donate to the "Keep Zach alive in Asia before his return" your kindness would be appreciated.

I land in Columbus, OH at 4:55pm on June 11 and I couldn't be more exited to be coming home!! I'm going to miss Malaysia a lot because of the friends I've made here. One thing I will always give credit to Malaysia is the fact that the world's nicest people live here. People here will drop whatever they are doing to give a helping hand and the hospitality has been impressive. I'm going to miss my students so much!! But, there comes a time in one's life where he/she must make a decision. If a country does not have cheese you just have to leave. It's a tough call. Mom, please stock the fridge with 40 pounds of every single kind of cheese you can buy at Whole Foods... I'm coming home!!!!!

Back to Borneo (with some good news at the end)

2006-05-03T15:10:00.000+08:00

*Half the pictures in this blog are sideways. I don't know why. All I know is that I'm not re-uploading them, so turn your monitor or head sideways for an accurate look.

Borneo is fantastic! For me, it's a completely different country from Malaysia because so many different ethnic groups exist there and the blend of people and cultures is really exciting. There is just a feeling you get in the air when you're in Borneo, like it's alive and people are excited to be around. Sarawak is particularly my favorite. Sabah is nice and there is a lot to do there, but I just thought Sarawak was more beautiful, mellow, and unique. Sarawak has tons of little independent restaurants everywhere with delicious-but sometimes pricey-food, art galleries, cafes, bars, a riverwalk, and stores everywhere. Kuching, the capital, was really quaint and fun to be in.

You know the drill now. I show the pictures and elaborate in the captions. Enjoy.

This is a lone tropical island literlaly in the middle of the South China Sea. One day I will own this island. The flight over was beautiful because you could see the neon turquoise water of tons of little islands. The flight over also contributed to my liking Sarawak more than Sabah because the flight to Sabah takes 3 hours, while Sarawak comes in at only 1.5 hours.

The capital of Sarawak is Kuching, which in Malay means "cat." The town is covered in cat memorabilia and there is even a cat museum!! I didn't make it to the museum unfortunately. Anyway, when you read the Lonely Planet description on Kuching, not only do they rave about it being one of the best cities in South East Asia, but they also use a cat analogy the entire time. So, when Kuching digs its claws into you I can guarantee you'll be purring with excitement about the city!

This particular statue (above the above paragraph) is representative of the people of Kuching. Kuching has 2 mayors, represented by the big cats, and is made up of 7 different ethnic groups, the 7 kittens. They are playing together to represent the harmony of Kuching's people living together. I know, I thought the same thing, that symbolism might work if they didn't use a gigantic cat statue to illustrate it because all I can think is "cheesey amusement park."

I think this statue of cats is the most creative and worthy of praise. The personification of cats has been done throughout the history of film and TV, but no one gets it quite right like the people of Kuching.

This isn't the best picture of Kuching's city scape, but I forgot to take any good ones (I was so excited looking at everything and storing it in my hard drive that I just left my camera behind!). Anyway, the whole city is really colorful like this and check out the mosque! Even it's cool and artistic looking! We stayed at the best guesthouse/hostel that I have ever stayed in. It is called Singgahsana and if you're ever in Kuching, stay here for sure! The people were so friendly and genuinely intersted in helping us. Also, the place is so clean and is exactly like an IKEA catalogue. It rocked... it's also really close to the downtown and all the nightlife!

This is the town square so to speak. The photo sucks, sorry. But anyway, one day we decided to get a group of people together from the hostel and we went to play Ultimate frisbee. My friend Oceana played ultimate at her college for 3 years and has played in many places throughout the world. Although I was extremely exhausted after playing for a few hours, mainly from the heat, but probably the beer I chugged beforehand too, it was a lot of fun!

This is the tattooed arm of one of the guesthouse employees, Richard. He was awesome and helped us with all our needs, including renting us his own motorbike. He's covered in tattoos. On our last day, he saw us go into a restaurant where he knew the owner. The owner came up to me and said I had a phone call and when I answered it was Richard asking how the food was. A little creepy but funny. Plus, we ended up getting a discount on our beer!

I went to a nature reserve called Matang and they had all kinds of animals native to Sarawak. They included sunbears, crocodiles, these one really weird dinosaur looking birds, and the famous orangutan. Unlike the Sepilok Rehabilitation Center in Sabah, this one gives the visitor an upclose and intimate look at the great ape. I have to say that the practice of letting visitors touch and play with the apes is a terrible idea because of vulnerability of the orangutan to catch disease or to just be too comfortable with humans. This one's name is Doris and she's 6 years old.

Check out the hand on her!! I know she shares 96% of our genetics, but wow, it was so weird to see a hand so similar!!

Richard is the self-proclaimed boyfriend of Doris. I must say, she gave him a lot of special attention when he was around.

Hey Oceana, don't get too close to the cage... where did your hat go???

Ooh, a designer hat from Travatta. It looks better on her anyway.

On our last day, Oceana and I rented a motorbike and drove an hour outside of Kuching to go see 2 caves called the Wind and Fairy caves. They were sweet. Here is a path cutting through the middle of the jungle to the wind cave.

This is the entrance to the Wind cave... it's pretty freaky. It was nice because no other people were around and the only sound was the squealing of bats everywhere. One thing in particular I liked about Kuching was definitely the lack of tourists... it made it feel like an undiscovered place I could enjoy for myself only.

Inside the bowels of the earth...

This is the Fairy cave... my favorite of the 2. Why my favorite, well this is why. The cave is massive. I mean you could fit several huge arenas in the area that this photo depicts. That hole is big enough for a jet to fly through. You had to climb a gigantic staircase to get to the entrance of this cave. Once inside, the paths sort of end in the middle of darkness and you're free to roam wherever you want. It was eery. We were in pitch black darkness with cheap flashlights checking out stalagtites and stalagmites. It was the perfect day trip to kill a few hours before a flight.

The day before Oceana and I just rode around town checking out the scenery. We were also in Sarawak with 2 of our other ETA friends, Amy and Audrey. We ate at some awesome restaurants called Bla Bla Bla, The Junk, and Little Lebanon. We met some really cool people in the hostel as well. It was a great trip and I'm glad I went back to Borneo.

I decided to stay in KL for a day before heading back to Terengganu. I will be going to Thailand and Laos next month so I had to get a visa... a very expensive ordeal I might add. I ended up needing extra pages in my passport because it's so full (how awesome!) so I had to truck it over to the US embassy which wasn't open until 2pm for American Services. It was 9:45am. So, I decided to go to the Petronas towers and go up to the observation deck on the Sky Bridge at Level 41. I've been in Malaysia for a total of 7 months (if you include the last time I was here) and I have NEVER gone up the freaking towers I have seen a million times and that symbolizes the direction of this nation. It was about time to check it out.

Here is the Sky Bridge from inside. It might look familiar because it was featured in the movie Entrapment with Catherine Zeta Jones and Sean Connery. This bridge serves as a support for the twin slender buildings, but also as an emergency exit in case one building were on fire. You have to get tickets early to go up, they're free, but they only have 1400 each day. Once up there you only get 10 minutes to look out the windows and take pictures.

This is a cool shot I liked. Take a gander at my earlier pictures of the Petronas Towers if you're not sure what this is.

The view... well, one of many. I took video footage of the entire walk across the bridge with all the views. If you want to see it you can ask me when I get back... which, for the good news to some, maybe bad to others, will be on June 12!! I'm heading home folks!! If anyone knows of any good entry level jobs I could have to start saving money for Peace Corps or a world backpacking trip, I'd love the information!!

That's so Malaysia...

2006-04-27T11:36:00.000+08:00

I have been teaching the same 3 classes for the past month now. They have become favorite classes of mine. The teacher for these classes became ill and could not return to school, and probably will not for the rest of the year. So, I became their surrogate teacher. The students have really grown to like me. For instance, read the email that my student Fuad sent me:

Zach,

your style when teaching us was interasting, but sometimes it was boring too.Nevermind,i understand that u have to do it coz maybe thats only way u can teach us,if can,i most like when u was teaching,u makeit fun like u do at this day(monday-4.17.06)I like it and i hope u can do a fun activities that we can reliese our tension such as hands-up-7-up,right?For the education activities,u can do a fun activities too so we can put it in our mind. thats only my oponions for u.I only give it to u ,if u don't want it ,nevermind.if u accept it ,i hope u can do the best teaching in our class soon. I hope ,before u leave our (student 2p1)here(smktai) u will leave a big effects that can improve ourselves in english.

OK,BYE

(maybe ,there was wrong sentences.)

Haha, I think that is one of the best emails I've EVER received. One thing I have learned about Malaysia culture is no one is direct. If someone doesn't like the way you act or the way you talk, they would not tell you. You sort of have to figure it out yourself, unless you get on the gossip train. Anyway, I think Fuad is so awesome for just outright giving me his opinion.

I have really grown to like these kids so much! They are hilarious, intelligent, clever, and sometimes they're even bad. But they are my students and I learn so much from them.

So, to finish this story and to give insight into this blog's title, I will share this anecdote. I went to my 2p4 class today to practice parts of speech by using Mad Libs. I was very excited about the lesson because the students would really like nonsense stories that Mad Libs create. As I'm about to write the word "nonsense" on the board, a lady I've never seen before walks into the class. She told me she was the new teacher and she was going to teach the lesson today. I informed her I was the teacher and I already had a lesson, and these are MY kids, but she took over. It's obvious that I was embarrassed and upset. I'm mostly upset because NO ONE at the school even told me there was a new teacher!! I'm acting surprised by this news, but this is typical of everyday life here in Terengganu... EVERYDAY! So, as I try to remind myself not to be upset that I've lost my classes, I will just remember the cultural differce that is so Malaysia.

PS I'm going back to Borneo this weekend, so there will not be any new blogs until Tuesday next week (Monday in the States). Another thing, if anyone has a desire to send a package international, I could really really really use TONS of CONSTRUCTION PAPER! That stuff is gold here and it makes all lessons fun. Plus, I have a bulletin board at school where I do a weekly challenge on various topics. The students answer questions, sing songs, do tongue twisters for points and the class with the most points wins prizes every 2 weeks. They love it. Anyway, construction paper is excellent to help me make the board fun. I never thought the day would come when I dreampt of having construction paper! My address is:

Zach Garinger
SMK Tengku Ampuan Intan
Kuala Berang, Hulu Terengganu
Terengganu, Malaysia
21700

If anyone is interested, haha Thanks! Talk to you all soon

Tasik Kenyir Revisited... on a houseboat!

2006-04-24T23:58:00.000+08:00

Yes, I spent 3 whole days floating around on South East Asia's largest man-made lake, Tasik Kenyir, in a houseboat with 29 students and 7 teachers. My friend Amy P, another ETA and owner of the picture website I shamelessly promote Amy P's Photos, invited me to tag along with her school, SMK Ibrihim Fikri, for a photography/enviornmental field trip. Now, don't let the word "houseboat" evoke images of luxurious 30 feet long yatchs and private sail boats, but I'm talking a floating trailer home!! Haha, it was absolutely fantastic in just about every way. Despite getting severe sunburns, AGAIN, I had a great time and sort of wish I could always live in a floating trailer home.

Here is the houseboat on which the females stayed... Our destination was the edge of Malaysia's national park called Taman Negara which means "National Park" in Malay. It is the OLDEST rainforest in the world at 130 million years old because it was spared the devastation of the Ice Age. The boat ride to the edge of the park took about 6 hours.

Here is another kodak moment of the awesome houseboats... Seriously, I'm going to retire on one of these things... If these things can float I have faith in anything. They come equipped with a bathroom, kitchen, lounging area, and room for about 15 people to sleep comfortably. Plus, there is constantly a swimming pool in the backyard, frontyard, and sideyard!

The travel time was lengthy so it offered a lot of opportunity to relax and take in the scenery. Like this student, Ariff, I was constantly taking naps. It was a great way to catch up on some SERIOUSLY needed sleep.

Alright, so I'm obsessed with these boats, but here is another fun shot of me on the deck enjoying the fresh lake air.

I've been to Tasik Kenyir 6 times because I'm in love with the place but I've never really posted pictures of it. Everytime I go I feel like I'm on the set of Lord of the Rings. It's gorgeous. It's weird to be on a lake and see palm trees and tropical images because my hollywood image of a lake is just some quaint pond lined with pine trees in upstate New York where the rich go to escape whatever the hell they escape. I really could live at Tasik Kenyir for the rest of my life. It's very peaceful and the atmosphere is so mellow.

Oh yea, the lake is great! What a douche...

Our trip included 3 different stops on the Lake and near the entrance to Taman Negara. The first was called Gua Bewah, which is a GIGANTIC cave in the middle of nowhere. The cave is well maintained even though not a single person is around. It reeked of something that could have been any combination of mold, bat crap, Terengganu air, and whatever else, but it was a huge and interesting cave.

I don't have pictures of the cave itself because I figure you can all picture one yourselves. However, I liked this shot I took inside the dark because you couldn't see anyone at all, but the flash here exposes everyone. Also, I like the line of muslim students drifting into the darkness.

Everything is bigger in tropical countries and Malaysia is no exception. This is a gigantic leaf that was at the cave entrance and I had 12 year old Khaira stand behind it for perspective. By the way, Khaira is the normal size of a 12 year old girl, that leaf however, is not, haha.

Fish is absolutely not part of my diet, nor will it ever be. However, being on a houseboat for 3 days is good enough reason to be eating fish. There was a lot of time to fish and everyone caught a ton of fish, including this sucker. This fish, I don't remember the name, just call it ikan besar (big fish), sells for 50RM/kilo. It's expensive. However, because of the mistakes of the catcher the fish ended up escaping. I was secretly excited after watching the way it was handled. I think SCUBA diving is making me more sensitive to the rights of our underwater friends.

I preferred the less varietal aspects on the menu like cucumber, rice, and whatever was not fish. I love the composition of this photo.

I'm telling you, sleeping on these amazing boats was perfect. You coud just curl up anywhere and snooze as we putted along. I'm going to buy one, maybe I'll never come home.

Of course you can't travel anywhere in Malaysia without going to a waterfall. This is called Air Terjun Lasir and I visited it the second time I went to Kenyir. It's massive. this picture is only about a 1/5 section of the falls. And, as if I would not do so, I ripped off my clothes and jumped right into the water and swam for 2 hours straight.

There was a sweet rope swing at the falls that I spent a lot of time on.

The last stop on our journey was the Taman Herba (Herb Garden). It was a cool place to see a lot of plants I don't know the names of and just walk around and enjoy nature. Malaysia has an herb called Tongkat Ali that everyone loves to get me to drink because of its sexual powers for men. However, when you drink normally it is in teas and coffee. This herb garden had fresh shots of the stuff, just the herb in boiled water. It is NOT good, by itself. There is a female version of the herb called Kacip Fatimah for the ladies who might be interested in tasting it.

I thought this was a pretty exciting tree on the island. I'm sort of jaded by tall trees that are hundreds of years old anymore, but it's still nice to go back and admire the pictures.

Here is the top in case the cropped version was sort of unfulfilling.

Alright, the weekend ended up being a lot of fun because I was around new students who were fascinated by seeing me. It's nice to be a novelty every now and again. But more importantly because I was able to check out a place I love on a sweet HOUSEBOAT! I also taught the students how to play "I spy" "Truth or Dare" and I helped teach some how to swim! I was pretty much swimming at all hours of the day. On the last day I swam across the lake, about 1 km at the place where we were, to see a fish farm.

This particular farm was rearing Tilapia, the fish that's supposedly not so fishy, but I don't care, it's fish. The fish swarmed toward me when I approached their pen because they thought I was there to feed them. They were jumping out of the water they were so excited. It was kind of like eating in the school dormitory at night time for the bedtime snack. The students go crazy for the sweets they get.

I still have a blog about Kuala Berang coming. Also, I'm going back to Borneo this weekend to see the other state of Malaysia called Sarawak, so look for that blog. I also want to put blogs up about my students and what daily life is like here. I received an email from one student who said, "Zach, I like you but you're kind of boring." Yea, he is totally crazy because boring is the LAST adjective you could use for me as a teacher. I go to extremes to be exciting and I put a lot of time in my lessons. He's a cool kid and I thanked him for the email, but something's wrong with him, haha. Anyway, so I'm going to have some fun blogs about crap like that, and trust me, there's a ton of it! I'll try not to be boring (and I swear I'm not being defensive about his email, it's really humbling and funny so I'm just over-exaggerating it). Until whenever, bye

If paradise has a paradise...

2006-04-16T21:05:00.000+08:00

...then I definitely visited it this weekend! It's name is Pulau Perhentian and it's two friendly sized islands in the middle of the South China Sea here in Malaysia. Any Malaysian that reads this blog listen up carefully... if you have yet to visit Perhentian, drop whatever you are currently doing (reading my blog I suppose) and get your butt to Terengganu so you can visit the MOST beautiful place your country has to offer! Maybe one of the most beautiful places any country has to offer, at least in the way of tropical paradises!!

The two islands are named Kecil (little) and Besar (big). I stayed on Kecil the entire time, on a beach called Pantai Panjang (Long Beach). I have never seen more white people in Terengganu in my whole life (or my whole time here)!! The beach was gorgeous, like powder sugar, and it was rustically developed. All the chalets and hotels and bars and stores were made from bamboo and it just felt like the exact image of an awesome island get away (and trust me, nothing EVER seems like one imagines it, or else everything would be as wonderful as Perhentian). I went there on a program for the ETAs, so I didn't have to pay for anything which was wonderful. We had a dinner one night with every kind of meat imaginable including lobster, we drank wine, and had the best fresh pineapple. Fresh pineapple is a wonder in itself! So, to the exciting part, the pictures! By the way, any pictures I show from my SCUBA diving is courtesy of my friend Aaron, a fellow ETA, because he has skill and the underwater camera. Under all the pictures I'll have a link to his website where he has pictures from all over the world, check it out, they're interesting. He also gave me my SCUBA diving photos from Pulau Redang.

Here is the view of the beach as our speed boat arrived... our hotel is in the background. The water was crystral clear and you could see the bottom everywhere.

Here we are walking up the beach on our arrival... look at the wide white beach with clear water!!!

Right away I put my SCUBA license to use because I was only on the island for a day... with plans to return frequently.
Photo courtesy of Aaron J. Pratts

Here I am underwater...
Photo Courtesy of Aaron J. Pratts

This is called a swim through... it's not a cave because you can see the other side. It was awesome to swim under coral (profound thought, I know).
Photo Courtesy of Aaron J. Pratts

This is called an Angel Fish... it's neon orange and purple... I've seen them a lot here
Photo Courtesy of Aaron J. Pratts

Here is a grouper among a school of sardines
Photo Courtesy of Aaron J. Pratts

This fish is called a Bumphead Parrot Fish... it's huge! It was 3/4 the size of me! It's a vegetarian fish and eats coral. This is how white sandy beaches are made (or part of the way). Also, vegetarian fish tend to smell and taste more fishy, so people generally do not eat them. With SCUBA you learn lots of useless information if your career is not headed into
Photo Courtesy of Aaron J. Pratts marine studies!

Just floating around... I'm in the blue fins. The dive ended after 39 minutes because I guzzle air likes it's my job. I was at 30 bars while everyone else still had about 100... if you SCUBA, that makes sense, if not, just know I'm still panicky in the water.
Photo Courtesy of Aaron J. Pratts

Later that night the hotel had a "fire show" which pretty much amounted to burn out hippies throwing giant cigarettes in the air with only a 50% catching rate. It was still interesting to watch. Lindsay, I think they're accepting applications!

Finally!! A night where I actually felt like a 23 year old American again!! This island is 5 billion times better than Redang for the simple fact that it has an active nightlife!! Redang tried, but it just wasn't happening.

My friend Audrey and I decided to take advantage of having the world's 7th best bartender by ordering one of his flaming drinks... You can't see the flame, but trust me, it was there!

This symbol is great... I think it should be on T-shirts because tourists woul buy it up. It is the symbol that lets muslims know if something is edible, or Halal. The other ETAs and I want t-shirts that say "Tidak Halal" on it. Tidak means "not." I think it would be a huge success in the tourist industry.

Hey Matt, what's wrong with your government issued car back to your home??? Oh, it got a flat tire! That's too bad! It's just a hazard of the trade.

My tour of Kuala Berang is ready to go, but I'm not going to post for a few days so this entry can be read first. Check back to have a visual of the town I now call home! Talk to you all soon!!

I'm Illegal!

2006-04-10T11:41:00.000+08:00

Wow, it is official everyone... I am an illegal immigrant!!!

This program here is incredibly unorganized when it comes to important issues like someone's visa status. They have done the bare minimum to keep our status legal, but as of today, yours truly can officially experience life as an illegal immigrant! My visa was only good for 3 months and since I haven't left Malaysia since January 10, 2006, I am now the latest candidate for deportation. I think it would be interesting to experience the deportation process, and as of today, I can do so at no fault of my own. I hope no Malaysian officials catch wind of my blog... or else I'm coming home early!

I don't even have my passport... in fact, I can't even tell you where it is. I gave it to a program organizer here over 2 weeks ago and I haven't seen it since. That is the perfect example of all the reasons I have felt frustration over the past 4 months. Anyway, it's a new experience to add to my growing list.

Also, I just realized I haven't given a photo tour of Kuala Berang, the town where I live! I'm off to take pictures of the sights that occupy my time...

In the meantime, check out this website. This is my friend Amy's photo webpage. She's another ETA here and she traveled around Asia for 4 months before our program began. Her photos are amazing... make sure to look at the Malaysia section.
Amy P's Photos

Let's find Zach a job!

2006-04-09T12:32:00.000+08:00

I went to Pulau Kapas this weekend and I don't want to show any pictures because it was a bust. Take it from me, not Lonely Planet, it is not worth the Ringgit to go there, enough said.

Alright, I think I've been having a few epiphonies lately. I am ready to move on from Malaysia. I am ready to come home. I've been thinking long and hard lately and I heard another girl here say,

"You know what, we've been here and we learned about the culture and the customs. We know how life happens here. Now, we are no longer having new expierences, we are just living. It's time to go."

I pretty much agree with that 100% For me, life is about having experiences and encountering new ideas, adventures, whatever. I did that here in Malaysia and it was absolutely amazing. I'm extremely satisfied with my time here. But now it's time to go.

Sorry that I'm using my blog as one of those melodramatic "myspace" forums to analyze life and what not, but it is my blog and I want this for my memories :)

Anyway, I have to finish 2 more months here as part of my contracted committment. After that, I think I will stay here through the end of July, then I plan on traveling in August before coming home. HOPEFULLY, Tiger is going to come visit me in August to do some traveling with me! Come on Tig, we have Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Hong Kong and many other places to choose from!! Besides her, anyone else is MORE THAN WELCOME to join!

I really hate that I'm stressing about the future here in Malaysia, because I really should be enjoying the present. However, I cannot stop myself. I need to get it together and decide what to do, I want to. So, I'm going to begin the arduous process of wondering what my skills are and what I might want to do with my life. With that said, I have no f-ing ideas! Come on someone, throw me a bone, what should I do?? Haha, decide for me, my brain is fried.

My mind is set on one thing now... seeing my friends, hugging my mom, petting my dogs, eating cheese until I cannot pass a bowel for 2 weeks, going out to a bar and having a HUGE and COLD PBR, having a variation in the weather, seeing and actually enjoying the SCIOTO river (I know, I'm desperate), being a 23 year old, sweating with access to a washing machine, planning somehow to live in South America, being an ass, wearing my shoes in someone's house!, never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever eating RICE ever again, sitting down to use the bathroom (haha), did I say Cheese???... coming home!

If anyone knows of any jobs that I might find interesting, let me know! My options are unlimited because I really have no ideas and because I'm going to have bullshit my skills no matter what I do!

Updates and so on and so forth

2006-04-05T14:00:00.000+08:00

Mom, thanks for the package! I love it! I've been pigging out on baby ruths, butterfingers, girl scout cookies, specificially samoas, but I would LOVE some peanut butter patties if the chance arises, mac and cheese, microwave popcorn, and the best of all, cadburry creme eggs!!!! Any weight I may have lost in the past 4 months was quickly regained as soon as I opened that package. When my students ask for some of my goodies, I don't even have to feel guilty when I don't give out any of it, because I just drop the line, "Tidak halal." That means, "you can't eat it because it doesn't meet the dietary laws of your religion." I knew halal would come in handy one day :)

In other news, Malaysia is the hottest place on the planet! I cannot being to describe to you all how bad my ring-around-the-collar is on all my dress shirts. The sweat rings on my pillow after a night of sleep resemble the image of Christ on the shroud of Turin. And my brand new white t-shirts all have intense deep urine yellow stains in the armpits. I cannot even ride my bike anywhere because my ass sweat is such a problem that I don't want to stand up in front of anyone!

I was playing around with my 2 and 3 year old host siblings the other day and I sweated so much I could pour drinks from my brow. It was sick. I noticed that my pants were so saturated that I had to back up against a wall because the ass sweat was so embarrassing. When I teach class my upper lip is constantly dripping with salty fluid and I can't even stand to move because my wet clothing brushes against my skin and the sensation just sucks. I didn't even know this was a possiblity, but EVERYONE here is sick because of the HEAT! I thought people only got sick in the cold, but I guess it doesn't matter what extreme it is, the body still breaks down. I thought I adapted to the heat, but apparently not. I have the onset of laringitis and I've had cold/fever symptoms for days. The heat is unbearable.

Teaching is going ok, I suppose. Before I was just assisting teachers, but now I am really a teacher. I used to teach every Form 1 and Form 2 class once a week. There are 11 classes in those 2 forms (grades). They each have English for 5 40 min periods a week and I would teach them for 2 of those periods a week. However, one of the teachers at school needs to have an operation so she has been gone from school for a few weeks now, with a few more months to go. I was asked if I wanted to teach her classes and I said yes. So now I teach 3 form 2 classes and 2 form 3 classes 5 times each every week. It is not easy!!!!! Especially the form 3 classes because they are so bad and dealing with the behavior problems usually takes up most of the class time. I'm so stressed out trying to think of fun and exciting lessons all the time. Ugh, teaching is such a challenge!

Alright, school was unsurprisingly cancelled for 2 days this week and I just found out, because that's the way they do it in Malaysia and I just don't ask questions anymore. So, now I'm trying to find out what I'm going to do for my surprise 4 day weekend... maybe go to another tropical island or maybe I'll go to KL and go wild. We'll see, I'll let everyone know with pictures later on. Take care!

I found Nemo!!

2006-03-30T13:12:00.000+08:00

Alright alright, I am officially licensed to SCUBA dive! This past weekend I spent three amazing days on Pulau Redang finishing up my SCUBA training. The island is pretty much the MOST beautiful place I have ever been in the entire world. Alright, close your eyes for a moment and imagine paradise...

Ok. Did it have white soft sand like powder sugar? Was the water multiple shades of TURQUOISE? Were there no other people around on the wide beautiful beach? Was the beach surrounded by jungle and palm trees? Was the water the perfect bathtub temperature and the sun a-shining? Well, I would say you just imagined Pulau Redang! I'm not kidding... gorgeous, just gorgeous.

There I am in Paradise... I have tried time and time again to find a place like this, and finally, it happened. Sorry to rub it in because I know Ohio is cold and a little miserable now, but I'm pretty excited that I only live an hour away from this place!

Here I am getting to know my regulator... having a piece of rubber shoved in your mouth for 45 minutes while your lips get all salty and raw is made ok by the fact that this very important piece of equipment will keep you alive while under.

Here I am practicing in the pool before my big dives... a month later. I would not recommend staying upside down while SCUBA diving because it's already weird enough for your body to undergo the pressure changes, let alone having to regain its bearings when your blood is full of nitrogen.

On Redang, me and the 4 others working on their certification completed 5 different dives around the marine park. We did 3 on the first day, and 2 on the last. When your dive master tells you not to drink the night before, I HIGHLY recommend that you heed his advice. Diving while still being slightly drunk is the most nauseating experience I can imagine :) After the first 2 dives I vomitted a total of 23 times, it was not pleasant, but the fish were happy. I got myself together and the last dives were great, no problems.

The water is merky here because I was feeding the fish some bread that I brought down with me... this photo is just to prove that I was actually under water.

Here are some of the things you see when you SCUBA dive in perfect conditions. There are little Nemo fish everywhere... they're actually a lot smaller than you would think too. In fact, everything you see underwater is 25% bigger than in real life, so, in fact, Nemos are incredibly tiny! When you SCUBA in a marine park you aren't supposed to touch anything because it's protected. Really, whenever you see coral you're never supposed to touch it at all because it dies instantly and it is the lifesource for anything that lives underwater. So, I held out my hand and the little Nemos swam to me and bit me. It was awesome! I didn't touch them, they touched me.

Also, while underwater I saw a baby shark and tons of fish I can never tell you the name of. They were every color imaginable and every shape and size. I didn't touch anything because 1) you aren't supposed to and 2) there are so many insanely poisonous things living in the deep sea. Then, after some time, I saw a giant sea turtle! It was so calm and graceful while I was swimming with it! It was just like the turtles in Fining Nemo, swimming in the current, they even had the narly accent. However, chasing the turtle made me use up my oxygen really fast so I had to quit the dive 10 minutes before the rest of the group, which sucked. However, what sucked more was the fact that I ran out of air 30ft under water and didn't realize it until I couldn't breathe anymore. I swam to my dive master for emergency air, doing the hand signals and everything correctly, and he shooed me away!! So I surfaced immediately, and thank god, I didn't die.

Here is a picture of everyone that took part in the SCUBA class. Fiona, Ismail (he works for the Economic Planning Ministry in the gov't and pretty much accompanies us on all trips. He's sangat (very) awesome.), Oceana, Mansor (the dive master), Matt, Yours Truly, and Ahzman (the dive master's assistant and my personal tutor when I can't keep up with the rest of the group.)

Finally, a lasting shot you all can borrow to give your computers a new wallpaper... It can be your secret escape from the nasty weather of Ohio, and you can know it's a REAL place and not photoshopped on someone's computer.

After Redang, I headed over to the district of Setiu for a 3 day English camp. 90 students from all over the state of Terengganu came and it was a lot of fun! Myself and 5 other ETAs helped facilitate the camp. We sang songs, played games, divided the students into groups where they named themselves, came up with a chant, a motto, and then did a skit. My group was called Final Fantasy, our motto was "The end starts here," our chant was "Do not fear, as the end starts here. Final Fantasy is who we be, and winning is our strategy. Make way for the best and save losing for the rest." The skit was a news reporter and camerman interviewing 4 groups of people involved in different activities during an earthquake, ie running, drawing, eating, and reading. It was good fun to watch my kids shake for 5 minutes while acting.

This is a picture of my group! The names of the kids are Luq, Faiz, Amirul, Izwan, Anis, Hidaya, Mimi, Eja, and Farah. Azzizi is not pictured and I just realized that.

I was in charge of facilitating 20 questions and Hot Seat... so for 8 hours on the second day of camp I played the same games with 8 different groups. It was agonizing but fun. Only one student from my school was allowed to attend the camp. I really want more of them to experience such an event, so I'm thinking about organizing my own English camp at school.

One of the other groups did a skit about space travel and here are their Alien members. Nice stuff.

Alright, I've had enough of blogging for now and you've probably had enough of reading. I still have loads and loads of stuff I could talk about, but school is ending and I have stuff to do... take care!

Backtracking on Borneo

2006-03-21T08:46:00.000+08:00

I'm a few days late with this posting, but between surprise meetings in KT, getting a new class schedule, and the internet not working, it's a wonder that I even have time to do this now. So, I'm just going to show some pictures I took and explain about my trip to Sabah that way. I'm not feeling very motivated to write blogs right now. Enjoy.

This is the capital of Sabah, it's called Kota Kinabalu (KK). This town has been destroyed several times over the years by both the British and the Japanese, but despite all that, it's still a bustling little city that is now my favorite in all of Malaysia. The Lonely Planet guide book paints a picture that KK is boring and unlively, while saying another city on the East coast of Sabah, Sandakan, is the polar opposite. Well, Lonely Planet needs to edit the 10th edition by swapping those viewpoints. KK is awesome, Sandakan is dirty, the people are aggressive, and it's no fun. KK reminded me so much of a European town, but with great weather and nice water. Also, KK is pretty liberal and more relaxed than Terrengganu, so it was a relief to escape for awhile!!

Here I am at Kinabalu National Park. Mt. Kinabalu is the highest peak in SE Asia at a wopping 4,101 meters tall. It's fairly easy to climb, even a 74 yr old Japanese woman did it while I was there, but I didn't book enough in advance, so I just enjoyed the views from the ground.

Here is a view of the mammoth piece of granite. It actually grows about 5mm a year, which geologically speaking, is a lot. This is also the only place in Malaysia where I have been able to utter the phrase, "I'm freezing cold!!"

Near the mountain is an area called Poring Hot Springs. This is a site that has natural springs and the Japanese developed the area into a tourist stop in the 1960s while occupying Malaysia. Now, the idea of getting into STEAMING HOT water in an area where the temperature is like 35C (95F) and humid is not what I call brilliant. But as you can see from the picture, that is not the only reason I didn't get into the tubs.

For those not interested in bathing, Poring Hot Springs offers a variety of other activities. One is the Canopy walkway built for researchers and tourists alike. The Canopy walkway is a series of bridges linking tree tops. It's awesome being up there seeing the view. I think the highest point is 41m tall.

If you don't like heights, you can explore the jungle trails around Poring. And of course there are several waterfalls, and in true Malaysian spirit, I ripped off my clothes and jumped in. The water was freezing, which was wonderful. If I were given a dollar for everytime I've jumped into a waterfall in Malaysia, I would be rich.

The world's largest flower, the Rafflesia, only grows in Borneo and Sumatra (Indonesian island). They are parasitic plants that have no stems and root systems of their own, they just overtake vines in the middle of the jungle. These plants only bloom for 3 to 4 days, so seeing them can be quite rare. Also, the flower, when blooming, emits a smell of rotting meat to attract flies who will pollinate it. I was lucky enough to stumble upon 2!! The largest known Rafflesia was 9m in circumference and a replica of it is at Kinabalu National Park.

Here's the replica, it's big folks, big.

The world's most intelligent flower is known as the ZACHinASIA but there has only been one reported sighting of it blooming.

After the rock visit, I headed back to KK for some plain old fashioned relaxation. I walked around and took in the sights that are KK. One place I highly recommend is the GINORMOUS fruit market along the waterfront. There are fruits of all kinds of colors and flavors. I bought some pineapple and had the man cut it up for me... it was DELICIOUS! Above is my coveted melon shot.

KK offers a varitey of islands that one can visit. There are boats everywhere because fishing is so important to people's livelihood. There are entire groups of nomadic fishermen who only live in communities on their boats. It's incredible.

I went to Pulau Gaya to see a stilt village. There are literally thousands of homes built on top of the water, while the land on the island is not utilized. You can wander in and out of the wooden walkways for hours, but be prepared for stares and yells. Just put on some sunglasses and pretend not to notice!

Dude, the stilt village even has a stilt school! This school is so beautiful and the fact that it is above water is incredible. The cafeteria, the library, the offices, EVERYTHIHNG is on the water. The school field and playground area is the beach and the school has its own dock so students can roll into class on their boats.

I went to 2 other islands, Manukan and Sapi. I went snorkeling at both, but on Sapi I conquered a feat by walking around the entire island. It was remote and peaceful. Also, the first ever US Survivor was filmed in Sabah, so on the way to these islands I could see the island where Richard Hatch paraded around naked! I saw a Survivor island, how cool!!!!!!!

The last thing I did was fly to Sandakan on the east coast of Sabah. About 45 minutes from the city is the Sepilok Orangutan Reserve Center. This is one of only 4 Orangutan reserves in the entire world. Orangutans are the only great ape that live outside of Africa and they are humans 3rd closest living relative, sharing 96% of our genes! If they are found as pets or abandoned by their mothers, or whatever reason under the sun, they are brought to Sepilok. Here they are rehabilitated to enter the wild again so they can fend for themselves. They are trained to climb and find food. Eventually they are released into the wild. However, they still have the option of returning to Sepilok for food, at one of the various feeding platforms as seen above. Sometimes they never come back, sometimes they never leave. Anyway, it's a rare opportunity to be able to observe them in the wild, but at Sepilok, you do just that. One minute you're standing there seeing nothing, and the next minute about 20 orangutans appear from the jungle to come and eat some grub. They swing in via the ropes, and after eating, they disappear again. Final note, orangutan is Malay. Orang means person, and hutan means jungle. The translation is "person of the jungle." Interesting stuff!

Finally, the week before holiday, my school had a district wide track meet for 4 days. They did every event from hurdles, long distance, the javelin, shot put, and even high jumping. The heat was exhuasting. After each race, stretchers were waiting to carry off any students that collapsed. Let me tell you, hundreds of them collapsed... it was HILLARIOUS! They were totally ok and I feel it was definitely a dramatic performance that only happened because it was sort of expected, well, with stretchers waiting and all. There was a tent near the finish line that was the TRIAGE area for heat stroke and whatever else. Students were collapsing all over the place!! Sometimes in the middle of the track while relay teams were trying to pass over their limp bodies. At one point, I watched a teacher grab a students arm and drag her off the track, leaving her passed out and lying in a field because all the stretchers were occupied. I didn't take pictures, but I'm sure another event of that sort will take place, and let me tell you, I will be up in their faces snapping away!

My school didn't dominate this sport like we did for volleyball and cross-country, but it was still good fun. To escape the heat, some students and I went off into the jungle to go swimming in a river. Swimming in a jungle river is one of the most exciting activities I've ever done. There were no people around and you could here the sounds of Tucans, Parrots, monkeys, and whatever else was out there. I think the fear of being swallowed whole by a crocodile enhanced the experience too. The past 2 weeks for choc full of fun!

Business in Borneo

2006-03-15T14:54:00.000+08:00

The island of Borneo is the world's third largest island, nestled in the South China Sea, and its borders are shared between three countries: Indonesia, Brunei, and Malaysia. I have a week off from school and I decided to fly my butt over to Borneo!!

Malaysia has two states in Borneo, Sarawak and Sabah. I'm in Sabah. Sabah is home to Mt. Kinabalu, which is the tallest mountain in SE Asia, and I'm lame and didn't climb it, but I plan on coming back to do it. Anyway, i just wanted to let everyone know that I'm not dead or neglecting my blog, I just have been traveling throughout Sabah. I've done some jungle trekking, snorkeling, island hopping, white water kayaking, swimming, canopy walking, hot springs relaxing, and others to name a few activities that have been keeping me busy here.

I plan adding pictures and a detailed summary of my time here... it's coming on Sunday when I get back to Kuala Berang. Until then, take care, talk to everyone soon!!

First weekend in Kuala Berang

2006-03-05T10:03:00.000+08:00

Alright, so this weekend "alone" wasn't at all bad... I have to admit, I kind of like hanging out in Kuala Berang on the weekend. I have been here for over 3 months now, and that was the first weekend I've actually spent in the town!! Speaking of being here that long, I have set a new milestone in my life... Malaysia is officially the ONE country in which I have spent the most time, and in fact, this is the most time I have ever spent out of the United States. 3+ months with 9 more to go!! Ecuador was my leading nation, but Malaysia has battled it down to second.

In other news, I really like a meal here called Masak Merah. That means "red cooked." It is a spicy sauce that you can drizzle on rice, chicken, fish, or anything that you wish. I usually take mine with chicken, and some Nasi Minyak... NOTE TO ALL WESTERNERS, did you know there are different kinds of rice?? I know that sounds really dumb and condescending, but I did NOT know this. To me, rice had always been rice. In Malaysia you can get Nasi ayam, nasi goreng, nasi minyak, nasi lemak, nasi kerabu, nasi putih, nasi berani, and the list goes on my friends! (Nasi means rice) Well, my favorite is nasi minyak which is oily rice. It is soooooo good! It is a breakfast rice and it comes with a curry dish that is delicious... I have plans to learn to cook it so maybe you'll get a taste in the USofA. Anyway, I've been eating masak merah like it's my job, and I've had it for the last 3 meals. I think it is seriously messing with my gastro intestinal track big time. It's like eating a lot of garlic times 500! But like all things that end up being bad for you, it is just so goooooooooooooood.

Back to business. This weekend I spent hanging out with my host family. I usually always refer to them as my step family, by mistake. I'll say, "Yea, I went to KL this weekend with my step-dad" or "My step-mom made me dinner last night." I don't mean to, but it really is sort of what they're like. That, and they are awesome. First of all, there is my step-dad, Mustafa, and my step-mom, Aini. Aini is a biology teacher at my school and she is in charge. When something needs to get done and no one is doing it, I just tell Aini and it's like a genie snaps his fingers and poof, it's taken care of. She's great! Then they have 8 children. 8 kids is a normal size family in Malaysia which is incredible to me. Anyway, there oldest son, Zahid, studies in KL. He is preparing to move to Japan to do his undergraduate degree. They're oldest daughter, Aisha, goes to boarding school in KL. The third oldest daughter, Rosana, goes to school about 10k away from Kuala Berang. So, I usually end up hanging out with Mustafa, Aini, and the 5 other kids. They are Zakinah, a form 1 student at my school so I teach her class and it's kind of awkward because she is essentially my sister, then Wahadi, Liyana, Sallehuddin, and Zahira. The children in this family have so much energy, but because I'm half ADD, I can safely keep up.

Well, this weekend we decided to go on a picnic to Tasik Kenyir, and this time I didn't forget my camera. Tasik Kenyir is gorgeous. I don't think I could possibly say that enough. I'm just going to end that rant here and tell you all you must see it for yourselves. Anyway, we went to a waterfall, did some swimming, ate some lunch, then headed back home. We met up with some family friends who went to the waterfall with us, too. After the day was done, we headed back to their house and just hung out. I love hanging out at their house because I get to eat meals with them and I think Aini's food is some of the best I've had in Malaysia. She always makes so much food and a wide variety too, enough to feed her small army! Well, I always stuff my fat face and it's great... it beats eating at the dorm with the students because the food there is pretty, eh. After eating, I played tennis with Mustafa. Mustafa just started playing tennis about a year ago, but he is a natural. He's really good and playing with him is fun. Of course I have to use a borrowed racket that I'm not used to, and I'm really nervous to play because I feel like eveyrone is watching my every move, so I screwed up a lot. I did make some pretty sweet shots that were substantial evidence of my greatness, haha. We played a doubles match with some of Mustafa's tennis buddies, and they beat us 6-3. Whatever, I'm going to bust them up next time. Mom, if you're reading, send my racket!!!

So, that ends my spiel for the day. I am just going to leave you all with some pictures of the waterfall at Tasik Kenyir.

Here we are packing up and getting ready to go. Liyana is in the front, with Zahira and Sallehuddin already in the car

Here's the waterfall, well, all of it that fit in the frame... it's massive!

Here's a picture to show the immensity of it. That's my host dad Mustafa standing in the yellow shirt

These are man-made pools so you can go swimming. Well, the man who made these was a little too concerned with authenticity, because man-made rocks were added to the pools to give them an astethic value of sorts. Well, as I was sliding from pool to pool, I fell and was stabbed in my pubic bone by one of those nice little "accessories." I now have a beautiful blood blister bruise right below my belly button!

Faizul, a family friend, and Liyana enjoying the churning sensation of falling water

The picnic area... a bridge right in front of the falls, ah, Malaysia

How to do a picnic Malaysian/Small family army style

I really liked the sun shining through the jungle in this photo. From the left is Zakinah, my step-mom Aini, and Liyana.

My step-brother Wahadi managed to find a freshwater crab, then he actually picked it up... braver than I'll ever be, haha

And the most adorable 2 year old on the planet, Zahira. I think she should really be the next Welch's Grape Juice kid, that or a gymnast. This little girl is so active and she might be the epitome of the "terrible twos." One day I watched her climb a bookshelf that is taller than me, and she did it in 3 seconds. She swings on anything she can reach and the other day I taught her how to walk up me and flip. So, now I hold her hands and she climbs up me and stands on my shoulders. She is amazing... she might be Malaysia's first Olympic gold in Gymnastics.

Finally, side note, the past 3 times I got in a car in Malaysia I have seen terrible things. You'll remember the man and cat from previous blogs. Well, this weekend I saw a baby goat smashed to bits while his family stood about 10 feet away, waiting for him to get up and move. It was awful. I needed to get that out, it is freaking me out to keep thinking about it inside. Alright, take care!

Malaysian B-L-U-E-S

2006-03-01T10:45:00.000+08:00

Boredom is slowly setting in... Kuala Berang is a town barren of nightlife. There is no where to go to meet people. No bar, no movie theater, no bowling alley, no minature golf course... haha, as you can see, I'm getting desperate. I was complaining to my roommate Zairu about this last night and he just laughed. He moved here 9 months ago, so he has already adjusted. We decided to go for a drive and I saw a horrible event. A cat got hit by a car and lost its poor little head!! As if seeing that man the other day wasn't enough, I had to watch Fluffy die a horrible death too. Its body was like a balloon full of air. When you let go of the balloon it goes flying everywhere as the air escapes, thanks to pressure. Well, when the cats head fell off it went zipping across the ground and hopping into the sky as its blood shot out everywhere. Sorry to be vivid, but you didn't have to watch it.

Zairu is going to take me to Kuala Terengganu soon so we can go play snooker and pool at an all night pool hall. I went last weekend with some other friends and it was pretty entertaining. This weekend all the students are going home and my roommate is going to KT for a conference. That equals me sitting alone in a house that smells like cow dung because of the rubber factory across the street, all by my lonesome... I need to find an escape.

I went to Tasik Kenyir the other weekend but I forgot my camera and have no pics. It was GORGEOUS!!! It is the largest man made lake in all of Asia and it has thousands of islands. We stayed on a remote island with nothing but a resort... it was complete isolation but I loved every minute. I went swimming in a massive waterfall, Air Terjun Lasir, and just hung out with mother nature. I did some kayaking too, and a TON of eating. It was a great weekend.

Alright, life is still good here, just a little uneventful lately. I hate being sluggish and boring, but sometimes it just happens. Next week is spring break, so at least I have that to look forward too!

Scuba Steve Training

2006-02-26T10:59:00.000+08:00

Hey All... I decided to get my SCUBA certification this weekend!! Yep, I did it in Malaysia. My friend Joanna previously told me, "Zach, there are some things in life you just don't bargain for. Your SCUBA certification is one of them!" That's when she was thinking of coming to Malaysia to visit me and get her own. So I bargained away and did it here! :)

All weekend I was submerged in a pool learning the ins and outs of SCUBA equipment. My body was covered in a wet suit, which is a whole lot of fun to wear!, and now my hands, feet, and neck are fried because they were the only parts exposed! I used sunscreen, but the sun is intensified at a few meters depth. Anyway, it was awesome! It was me and a few others, including one girl named Fiona who is from England but is also teaching at a school in Kuala Berang like myself. At first I was a little nervous to do it here because the certification is from Scuba School International, SSI. Most people I know have the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) certification. The only other one I've ever heard of is the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI). So, as an American brand whore, I was a little unsure of getting SSI or not. I decided to in the end. The program was totally legitimate and it's based in Colorado. If anyone has any feelings otherwise on the SSI certification, please let me know.

My certification is not complete. I had 2 days of in-pool training and now I will be going to Pulau Redang next month to complete my certification by doing 5 different dives. One might even be a night dive which would be really freaky but cool also. I'm hoping to see turtles, tons of Nemos, reef sharks if I'm really lucky, and coral. Sharks are rare here because they are harvested for their fins to make Shark Fin soup. Regardless, Redang is going to be like paradise and I'm so excited that my first ever SCUBA attempt will be off the coast of an exotic island in Asia and not some slimy, freezing cold, lifeless quary in backwoods Ohio.

On a final and sad/terrible/horrific note, I might be suffering from post-traumatic stress. When I was coming home from Kuala Terengganu after my SCUBA classes, the driver yelled "Mati." That means "dead" in Malay and I was thinking, "Is he going to kill us??" But no, he said "mati" because as we were driving there was a dead body lying in the middle of the road. A motorbike driver had fallen from his bike and killed himself a few minutes before we drove up. There was blood in the street and his body was covered with newspapers while waiting for the squad. As soon as I realized what was happening it was too late. The damage was done. I saw the image and it is forever seared into my brain. I am totally overreacting but I have never seen a dead body like that. I felt sick to my stomach and I wanted to cry. I know it's the reality of life, but it was way too real. Motorbike deaths are the number 1 killer in Malaysia, so I have heard of it happening a lot, but to actually witness it was disturbing. Sorry to depress everyone with that spiel, but I was/am upset by it and I needed to comfort myself by talking about it. Life is fragile, so in case you didn't know and in case something awful might happen, I love you all!! (KNOCK ON WOOD A THOUSAND TIMES THAT NOTHING EVER WILL!!)

Malaysia, Truly Asia

2006-02-20T12:09:00.000+08:00

The title of this blog is Malaysia's tourism campaign... Malaysia truly is Asia. After going to Thaipusam in KL I finally realized this. I swear I could have been transported to India and would have never known, except my passport didn't have a stamp from India. Thaimpusam is a huge Hindu festival to celebrate thanks to God for granting prayers. It is a time that make sacrifices to Lord Muruga. They do this by carrying pots of milk on their head, by shaving their heads, or by piercing themselves in the face, back, and chest with giant meat hooks. Then they walk to the Batu Caves from Chinatown... a walk that begins at midnight on Friday and goes all day until Saturday morning... for like 13 hours. This festival is incredible. I have no other word for it. My mouth was agape the entire time as I watched devotees pay respect to their God. There were something like 1.3 million people in attendance and it is the largest Thaipusam celebration in the world. I have never experienced anything like it. So, here are some pictures to illustrate the day...

These are my friends Jida and Ash. Jida and I went to OU together and she and Ash let me and two other ETAs, Amy and Audrey, crash at their houses for the night. Thanks Jida and Ash!!

Jida's friend Balan, an Indian man, took us to the Batu Caves for the celebration. We went by train and here is everyone fighting to get on.

Here is the train pulling into the Batu Caves station... it inconveniently cuts right through the parade route, but as it did, I snapped a picture of all the people... people everywhere!! If you're clausterphobic do not come to this festival!

Here's a picture of a little Indian baby girl I saw on the train. I was panicked by the crowd and she was just so calm.

Like I said before, some devotees choose to just carry a bucket of milk on their heads, while some choose to....... WARNING, DO NOT LOOK IF YOU ARE QUEASY!!

...to pierce themselves with giant meat hooks!! This looks painful but the devotees go into a trance and claim they do not feel pain. In fact, afterward, there are no scars, no swelling, and during, there is absolutely no bleeding!! It is incredible, the only word to describe it.

Here is a close up for those of you could not get enough!

Here is a devotee in a trance... I thought the colors in the photo were really weird.

Here is a female devotee who ended up being in all my pictures. It turns out I was following her group and now I have their experience documented on film if they ever want to find me and check it out.

That is the world's largest statue of Lord Muruga... I think it is 140ft high. The other 2 statues depict the most beautiful Greek God and Goddess named Zachadonis and Audreyvenus

Here is a dad and his son shaving their heads to give thanks. I'm glad they didn't opt for the meat hooks this year!

Finally, this man is holding a Kavadi. They are personal floats that people make and decorate themselves. Then they carry them for thirteen hours+ from Chinatown to the Batu Caves. The men get up and walk for about 20ft then have to sit again immediately. All the while their friends and family members who have walked with them are cheering them on and giving them water. Personally, walking for that long is a pretty challenging task in itself, but enhace that with meat hooks and fishing poles through your face, and wow, you've got one devout person.

Alright, I'm a terrible updater these days... look for more very soon!

Wow, I haven't posted in 7 days...

2006-02-09T09:15:00.000+08:00

Ok, I'm still alive. I've been really busy with school and hanging out with students that I didn't really get to the internet to post a new blog. I'm sort of overwhelming myself by being way too willing to take on any and ALL projects that people want me to do here. I'll talk about them as they happen though.

So, I was helping out with cross-country at the school... and by helping out I mean I went running with the kids during practice and usually ended up beating all of them (all 600!!!). So, I get the "Jerk of the Year" award for that one. However, there was one kid who I could never beat... I named him "Mesen." That's Malay for "Machine." It's funny, because now EVERYONE calls him that. This kid is fast. He runs a 6 minute mile without the slightest trace of fatigue. One teacher told me he's the most kampong (country) a boy can be... meaning, he's damn hardcore! So, yesterday was the Hulu Terengganu district cross-country meet and I went to support our team, go Intan! As you may have predicted, Mesen came in 1st place and of course I was standing at the finish line cheering and hollering for him... I made one heck of an Orang Putih scene! He ran 9k (5.5 miles) in 31 minutes!!!!! Let me tell you, for a 17 year old boy who hardly ever practices that time is amazing... for a 23 year old who was running everyday for months that time is IMPOSSIBLE! He ran each of those miles in under 6 minutes each. My school dominates the sports scene of Hulu Terengganu and I'm so proud to be here!

Alright, enough of that obnoxious blabbering... This weekend I'm headed to KL again. I went there last weekend with my host dad to drop of my host brother and sister. They go to school in KL so I volunteered to help drive them back. Well, this week I'm going for the Hindu celebration of Thaipusam. This festival is supposed to be intense... people fast for a month beforehand so they can go into trance like states. Once in that "special place" they put giant meat hooks through their backs and face, then pull huge heavy carts for like 13 miles to the final location of the Batu Caves (see previous blog). Check out the pictures on that link... I plan on having some wicked ones too!

I'm keeping this one short and sweet. I just wanted to check in but now I have to go finish up some lessons and get myself ready for the weekend!

Mal-iz-Asia

2006-02-02T10:41:00.000+08:00

So much happens here and I forget to tell everyone about it on my blog because I only have access to the internet Sunday through Thursday, 8am until 2pm. I know, that’s an abundant amount of time, but I also work during those hours, so in reality, it’s hardly ever. Also, I’ll let you all convert those hours to your local times if you ever want to catch me on AIM (HolaBob01). I was just going through my photos and found some I wanted to share and I’ll just explain what each means.

Ok, so the Fulbright program here in Terengganu is being run by UPEN. I’m not sure what UPEN stands for but I do know that it has something to do with economics and the state government. The go-to man is named Tun Faizal and he’s a very funny Malay man. Anyway, so last weekend he took us to a university called TATI (also I have no clue what the acronym means) where we walked into a giant auditorium full of university students. Apparently we were a special panel that was going to be answering questions for these students and of course, we were never told about the situation. But these kinds of things happen to us every time we do something with UPEN. Anyway, there was a man there that I was sure was Brad Pitt. He is the director of Industrial Technology at TATI. Here’s his photo and the other one is me with a HILARIOUS "caution" sign in his workshop. You have to love signs in foreign countries, they’re always a good laugh. And check out the skull head!

Speaking of random events with UPEN, we were later escorted to an English Theme park. Basically a place where English is made fun and students come on field trips with their school in the hopes they will be motivated to pursue English. The park was actually pretty cool and one device used for fun learning was called the “Giant Mushroom.” As you can imagine, it was a giant piece of fungi where students would go in and hear animal sounds then have to identify what they were in English. At the theme park were some students who were demonstrating the materials. Well, I don’t know what they were told about us, but whatever it was, and I’m sure the news cameras helped, they thought we were American celebrities and they lined up for our autographs!! I loved “being famous!”

Ok, at any given time of the day there are 50 students hanging out in my house with me. I allow it because I’m incredibly bored if I’m not interacting with the students and because they ALWAYS speak or try to speak English when they hang out with me. Anything I can do to encourage them is worth it. So, here’s a photo of some of them occupying my living space.

The one looking at the camera is Qori... the cool kid who fixed my bike from the last entry

Ok, I have to brag, my school, SMK TAI, pretty much dominates the sports scene in Hulu Terengganu! Go TAI!! Last week was the district volleyball tournament for boys and girls and my school became the champions in BOTH categories! Here’s a shot of the girls in action and one of me with the team.

There's some randomness for you to enjoy. Now, I will recap Langkawi with photos and captions... that seems to be the easisest way to handle this thing, especially when I'm feeling challenged with my diction.

There's the main island of Langkawi from the airplane. That beach is Pantai Cenang where Megan and I stayed. The beach was perfect, exactly from a dream, but the water could have used a good run through a purification system. It was merky, but not disgusting like Lake Erie. Oh, and jellyfish or something were shedding their tenacles so the water had greenish brown flakes floating around that would sting the crap out of anything they touched.

Paradise baby, paradise!

My Corona Beach shot

The island's circumference is 70km so we rented a motorbike and took that bad boy around the whole damn thing! I know I know... I look like a tool, but in Malaysia, that's the cool look... maybe :)

And of course the stupid thing had no gas, but hey, can anyone that reads this blog honestly say they've gotten gas from a 70 gallon drum that just sits on the side of the road!?? Yea, filling up is even an experience here.

This is the Langkawi Cable Car... it takes you up a sheer rockface height of 710m (2343ft) and that may not seem high but when it is straight up from sea level, it is HIGH! I was so tense the whole way up and I yelled at anyone daring enough to even blink an eye in the gondola... it was intense! Click on the pic to see it bigger and look at the drop the gondola goes down... I was on the phone with my mom while this took place and I think she can testify to how afraid I was... not that anyone doesn't believe me anyway.

Ok, so the views from the top were well worth the fear in getting there... look at that blue Andaman Sea. The object to the right is a suspension bridge that connects two mountain tops. You walk across it and it moves and bounces and it enhances the terrifying experience you've already had getting up there to cross it.

Megan and I went island hopping one day and one of the stops is an island that has a huge crater in its center. This crater is now a fresh water lake that is said to have a legendary giant white crocodile living in it... I think that's him diving in the water! Also, this lake is called the something of the something Pregnant Maiden. Infertile women who swim in this lake are supposed to become pregnant after a dip or two... that crocodile must be magic!

Finally, this is the senior picture I never had! God, I might have been Prom King if everyone had seen this piece of art! This waterfall has smoothed down the surface of the granite it rolls over so much that you can slide down the rocks into pools of water. I would have done it if my butt wasn't so fried from suntanning and I was a little bit less bitter about the sun and water in general.

Alright, that is enough ranting now... I still have tons of things I keep forgetting to mention on my blog, like my wonderful one-night stay at the Hulu Hospital when I was so sick. It'll come soon, I swear. Take care everyone, leave comments because I love reading them, and enjoy. Oh yea, Uncle Matt and Aunt Jill... if you read this, send me your email address at zgaringer@gmail.com

Happy Chinese New Year!

2006-01-29T11:04:00.000+08:00

Hey Everyone,
It's Chinese New Year, so pretty much everyone in Asia is on holiday, including me. I decided to head to western Malaysia with my friend Megan. We're chilling on Pulau Langkawi. It's absolutely beautiful here... tropical, sandy, sunny, hot, and laid back. The entire island is Duty Free so I plan on buying some delicious chocolates for everyone back in Kuala Berang.

It's nice to be on vacation again... Malaysians have more national holidays than any other country in the world. So, I think I picked a pretty good place to come. I must say that the past 2 months have been incredibly difficult for me as far as adjusting goes. I wasn't falling in love with Malaysia and it the culture is completely different from my own. But now that I've been spending every waking minute with my students and my mentors at school have been so helpful and wonderful to me, I think I can say I don't want to leave this place. I'm even craving rice and spicy slop when I don't have it to eat! A lot of the difficulty in the transition was getting over my cravings for chocolate milk and bacon, to accepting the food I had available to me here. But whatever, the past is behind me and I'm flying smoothly in Malaysia, it's nice.

At any given minute of the day I have 50 students in my house watching my TV or going through my magazines. I love it. They're so enthusiastic to learn and they're just wonderful people. Here's a story to illustrate how great they are. I bought a bike to get around town. It's a piece of shit. The brakes don't work and I was using it the other day to go grocery shopping when I got on a busy road and the pedals fell off the damn thing. That's right, I had to walk it, myself, and all my groceries back to my house at 9:30pm at night on a busy highway. When I got home I threw the bike in my front hard hoping someone would steal it in the night and I wouldn't have to think about it again.
Well, the next day, one of my favorite students, Qori (Corey), asked to borrow my bike. I told him it didn't work but he asked again. So, I said, "Sure Qori, take it, but it won't get you far." He left and I was distracted with the other students at my house asking me about every detail of American culture. For the record, they're very curious about skinheads but I think I've turned them off that obsession. Ok, so an hour and a half later, Qori comes back to my house with my bike in perfect condition. He had the brakes and the pedals fixed at the bike shop. Qori is a local and everyone knows him, so he just took it to the shop for me and had the guys fix it for free. I couldn't believe that he did it. He's such an awesome kid and I owe him now. BUT that's EVERYONE in Malaysia. Anyone here is willing to do anything for you and everyone is always looking out for you. The culture here is very communally based. I love it.

Alright, I have some tropical island hopping to do and some sun to be soaked up. I'm already third degree burned in some places, including the backs of my thighs, but whatever, it's paradise! I'll post pictures later, take care everyone!

Some things to check out

2006-01-22T13:43:00.000+08:00

So, we, the Fulbrighters have been in the press a little here in Malaysia. I was on a plane from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Terengganu when a lady leaned over and asked me, "Are you one of the ETAs?" I was really excited that she even knew! Also, we have had multiple press appearances and conferences and photo opps... I feel like a celebrity, especially the other day when a group of 25 students came up to me asking for my autograph!! It's really really funny. So, I'm just posting some links of newspaper articles we have been in and a website for Fulbrighters where they can post pictures of their experiences. Enjoy, talk to you soon.

Fulbright Website for creating a Photo Gallery

One article from The Star

One article from The New Straits Times

There was another where I had several quotes which were quite manipulated and funny, but I can't seem to find it on either "news" sources' website.

Another NEW blog entry below this one!!

2006-01-19T08:31:00.000+08:00

Welcome to SMK Tengku Ampuam Intan! That’s the name of my school and it’s also where I live. There’s my house.

It’s a decently sized 3 bedroom house that I call the “Ant hill” because it’s the color of an ant hill and its inside is infested with the dang things. My house is located right next to the road that goes back to the student dormitories, so there are constantly crowds of energetic youth passing by, peeping in the windows hoping to catch a glimpse of the orang putih. It’s enough to make me feel like Boo Radley. Also, my house’s neighbor is the Surau. A Surau is a small mosque, but it’s equally as loud at prayer time. I actually enjoy the sound of the mosque though because 1) it’s good for keeping the time and 2) it’s soothing to hear. The only neighbor of my house that I don’t particularly like is the rubber factor which makes the air smell like it’s brought in from a dairy farm in the tropics. I still haven’t adjusted to the smell.

Here is the view from my front door

My house is on a street with no name. So, one day I was feeling a bit bored so I made a street sign and created a name for the street. Drum roll please… I Hereby declare the name of this fine avenue Jalan Putih (White Street, as in Orang Putih). I think I did a pretty good job with the street sign. It should make my uncle Bruce proud. Maybe it's just me, but the word "putih" (poo-tay) makes me laugh.

Here is the sign above my front door.

When you walk into the house you must first take off your shoes in good Malaysian custom and you will enter the living room. My roommate has Astro, which is the local cable, so I can watch a lot of good programming like the Food Network.

Next to the living room is a little sitting area where I keep my bicycle and the refrigerator (only because the kitchen has one plug so I couldn’t keep it in there.)

Here is the kitchen/bug and critter epicenter. This is where I found cockroaches crawling in my tea and spiders spinning on my gas tank. The kitchen has everything I need minus an oven which stinks because if there is anything I can cook it’s boxed desserts! I will learn how to make brownies on a gas cooker, I swear by it!

Here is the hallway that goes back to the bedrooms and bathroom.

Here is the first bedroom. It sits empty because only 2 people live here, me and my roommate Zairu. He’s a Bahasa Melayu teacher which is a perfect fit. He can help me with my Malay and I will help him with his English, although I must say his English is much better than my Malay.

Here is my bedroom. It’s still completely unorganized and plain. I have to sleep under a mosquito net just to reduce the chance of any unwanted medical conditions. It’s a pretty big room and suits my needs.

Here is Zairu’s room.

And finally, what you’ve been waiting to see the most is the bathroom. Now, when you see the toilet don’t panic. Yes, it’s not a western toilet and as a result I am developing some bulky thigh muscles, and possibly some bad knees. Just be glad you aren’t the one using it at 3am when cockroaches are crawling out of it around your feet to avoid a death of fecal suffocation. It’s not pleasant, but it’s definitely making me a better person. Oh, and notice the orange hose. That has replaced the TP I will never use again. The rest of the world has it right with the hose business. It’s so much more hygienic. The other picture is of the shower room. I don’t have a sink in my bathroom which is kind of weird, but there are 500 spickets for whatever reason.

So, that’s my house. Feel free to come by anytime ANYONE! It’s not everyday you’re going to know someone living in Hulu Terengganu, Malaysia!!

Cambodia, Malaysian Living, and other Topics of SE Asian Interest

2006-01-19T08:02:00.000+08:00

Rather than blab-a-doodle-do about Cambodia I have chosen to express my feelings through photos I took. Enjoy!

Sunset in the countryside

If you're not sure which roaming beasts are your own, just round up any ole' ones you can find. This man was taking in his water buffalo for the night. I like the blur of the one on the left because it shows how fast that damn beast was going and almost mowed me down!

Oceana and I took our last day with our motorbikes not to go to the ruins, but to go drive around Siem Reap and experience real life there. We went to a Buddhist temple where we found 3,000 kids getting out of school. We started giving them rides on our motorbikes and I took this photo of one of the kids. It's so cliche but it's totally National Geographic.

Yes, that man is delivering giant blocks of ice, on a bicycle, in a tropical country, to a restaurant where I was eating.

This was the New York International English Language School across the street from our guesthouse. These kids would wait by the gate until their family member on a motorbike came to pick them up.

Despite what this picture may make you think, Cambodia is not a desert. This is just a dusty dirt road like so many in the country.

Humans aren't the only vain species! (Oceana took this photo... with my camera!)

"Fanta Fanta, want a Fanta..." because that monkey sure did. Her male counterpart was drinking Coke given to him by a Chinese tourist. 2 monkeys ended up on my back and started grooming me after I gave them bottled water... my friend Megan has a copy of the picture to prove it, I'll post it later.

These workers were cleaning the moat around Angkor Thom and I just happened to be hanging over the Buddha lined bridge when the took a break. Someone made that woman laugh and I caught it on film. I love this picture, one of my favorites!

Oceana riding her motorbike through the entrance to Angkor Thom

This little boy, like so many around the ruins, was trying to sell us anything from postcards to cold drinks to small brass replicas of the ruins. I asked if I could take his picture not even realizing that Angkor Wat was in the background... I think it's a pretty good shot.

I call this one "Dog and Coconut stand"

Me climbing one of many intense and nerve-wrecking staircases... it is at an 89 degree angle... it almost feels inverted and looking down is not an option

One example of the MANY MANY sandstone carvings all over temples in Cambodia. The carvings are precise, detailed, and consistent. It amazes me that someone had the patience to even consider a project as such

Lone broken Buddha statue I found off in a corner... I loved the lighting

Buddhist and Buddha

Angkor Wat in all its Full Frontal glory

My Address

2006-01-18T17:45:00.000+08:00

Here it is, as requested by so many, so I'd better be getting some pretty awesome presents! :) I would really appreciate Butterfingers and any other unhealthy goodness from the United States. Thanks people,

Zach Garinger
SMK Tengku Ampuan Intan
Kuala Berang, Hulu Terengganu
Terengganu, Malaysia
21700

When you feel a little fat, and then you hear a big splat...DIARRHEA

2006-01-18T12:25:00.000+08:00

Sorry about the terrible attention I am not giving my blog... I swear it will get it one day but the internet time here is not happening... plus I just got out of the hospital! I was hospitalized on account of severe dehydration from the unexplainable diarrhea I was/am having. I will explain the horrors of the Hulu hospital at another time, after I talk about Cambodia, and finally get up pictures of my house. With that all being said, I have 10 minutes to plan a lesson on contractions and WH questions... it's going to be a nightmare. Please keep checking the blog, I promise it will come together eventually... I'm a frantic mess in Malaysia

When the going gets tough, go to Cambodia!

2006-01-11T09:48:00.000+08:00

I decided that I needed a break from Malaysia, so I went to Cambodia. Yep, I'm in Cambodia right now, just hanging out, trying to find Angelina Jolie, and I will find her. The Muslim holiday Hari Raya Haji was this week, it's a 2 day break where they celebrate the Hajj. That's where Muslims go to Mecca on a pilgramage. So, seeing that we had some days off (5 in a row with the weekend), me and 3 other ETAs picked up and came to Cambodia.

I love Buddhist countries... Cambodia is so awesome. I will elaborate more later on, but I have to go pick up my motorbike in 10 minutes so I can drive myself to the ruins of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom (google those, because I know half of you ain't never heard of either, but have probably seen them in countless movies, like Tombraider). Anyway, I'm having a blast and it couldn't have been better timing. Lindsay, tell Bunak that I'm in the motherland!! Alright, check out a few photos I took while at Angkor Wat watching the sunset!!!! I never thought I'd say I did that!

Megan, Leslie, Oceana, and Zach hanging out at Angkor Wat

The sunset from atop a viewing hill at Angkor Wat... check out the jungle and rice paddies!

Hulu = Awesome

2006-01-03T14:22:00.000+08:00

So, I'm in Hulu and I have to say that the world's nicest people must live here. Everyone is so generous to me and offers to help me with whatever I need. I just wanted to let you all know that I made it safe and sound.

The weather is so hot here. I feel like I'm melting all the time. The students are so shy around me and it takes them awhile to talk to me, if they talk at all. I wonder if it's because I'm a giant, sweaty orang putih (white guy) or if it's because they are just nervous. However, I have worked with 2 classes so far, Form 4 (equivalent to juniors in high school) and Form 1 (8th grade). They went pretty well and the Form 4 students were really curious about my life. They asked a lot of questions. But everyone here asks a lot of questions from "how much do you get paid" to "what is the average interest rate of a savings account in the US?" Uh, I'm not sure how to even answer some of them. I hope I'm representing the USA accurately.

Anyway, I'm still settling in here, but I plan on taking pictures of my house, the school, teachers, and students for you all to see. Oh, and despite what Malaysians outside of Hulu told me, this is not the remote jungle. It's actually a good size town with anything I might need... minus a disco. Hulu is great, come visit, I highly recommend it! I have an extra bed in my house!!

Off to Hulu...

2005-12-31T11:00:00.000+08:00

Today I leave for Hulu... I'm insanely nervous! I really have no expectations of this place because everyone has pretty much painted the most sour image I could ever imagine. To top it all off, last night, someone told me I live right next to a horrifyingly smelly rubber plant...AWESOME! I will not be blogging for about a week's time because I need to adjust to life in Hulu. And, I don't want to say anything I may regret. So, I leave you all with some of my favorite pictures from the past month and a half, and until I get my bearings in Hulu, jumpa lagi! (see you again).

Entrance to the Batu Caves), from inside looking out

Dead fish I found strolling along the beaches of KT

A Rambutan stand, this fruit is so good! Also called "pubic" fruit. Take a close look

A pile of Muslim hats that men wear, they're called Songkot

A group of Asian tourists in Melaka, held together by their lovely yellow hats

We went to a turtle sanctuary and we saw TONS of sea turtles! It was brillant!

I personally enjoy Islamic architecture and this window is pretty beautiful... simple geometric shapes

The world's largest beer mug made entirely of Pewter... and who would've thought, you don't even have to go to Germany to see it!

Rice and spicy slop... YUM?

Monkeys and monkey babies at the Batu Caves... they're EVERYWHERE! And they steal.

The Floating Mosque in KT... it's built on stilts in the middle of a man-made lake, right next to the South China Sea, pretty sweet

The Petronas Towers at night, I think they're beautiful buildings... even after seeing them everyday for a solid month!

Alright, those are the ones I had the patience to post... I tried to put up ones of me on the elephants, but the files are too huge. I'll do it next time I'm not about to have lunch with the Chief Minister of Terengganu... I'm nervous! Vote for your favorite photo in my COMMENTS section, peace out folks!

Goodbye KL, Hello KT!

2005-12-27T12:01:00.000+08:00

We've just arrived in KT yesterday and it didn't stop raining until late this morning. It really is Monsoon season here. Deep down I was hoping that everyone just exaggerated the fact that it doesn't stop raining, but they weren't kidding.

Oh yea, Merry Christmas everyone! Christmas is really weird with no snow and in tropical heat weather conditions. I really missed home but everything was much better when I called home.

Ok, so I walked down to the beach yesterday and it was fantastic! The beaches here are completely undeveloped and completely lacking in Orang Putih (white people). I walked along for quite a bit, with the definite fear of Tsunami consuming my mind, afterall, it was the one year anniversary of that craziness. The water reminded me of a meat churner. It's not a nice place to swim here because the waves are huge, the undertow strong, and the drop off steep. So, I put my toes in, got scared, and just kept searching for sea shells. There was a huge ship crashed along the beach and I had visions of being on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. Then, it started to rain again, so I walked back to the hotel. We had a decent dinner at a floating restaurant, it was nice.

Ah, gotta run, time for lunch with the Public Affairs Manager of Exxon Mobil... talk to you all soon!

Call me Tarzan

2005-12-22T16:23:00.000+08:00

Alright alright alright, stop the presses, my future has been determined. There were 3 different locations where I was going to be possibly be placed in Terengganu. I will discuss them in the order of my favorites. First, there was Marang. Marang is a quaint little fishing village on the coast. My homestay family, the ones from Kuala Terengganu, say that Marang is the best place to go for beautiful beaches on the coast. An obvious first choice. My second choice was Kuala Besut. This town is 2 hours to the north of Kuala Terengganu (KT) and is pretty much nothing. However, the town is the transportation hub for tourists heading to the the Perhentian islands. These islands are some of the world's most beautiful and offer some of the best SCUBA diving around. An obvious second choice. Then there is Hulu Terengganu. Hulu is located 40km of KT in the middle of the jungle. It sits beside a man-made lake, Tasik Kenyir. The town is subject to terrible floods and is considered by most Malaysians to be "backwards." There is even an expression in Malay for being backwards, and yes, it is "Hulu." The joke among the group was that whoever got sent to Hulu would be going to Hell and everyone would feel incredibly sorry for them and we would do whatever we could to console them.

So, I'm going to Hulu. Yep, you read it right, I'm going to Hulu. I argued my case for Marang, in fact, one of the members of the Chief Minister's office in Terengganu was calling me "Zach Marang" because he knew I wanted to be placed there very badly. So, needless to say, I was in complete shock 2 days ago when I was told that I was going to Hulu, not Marang like I had already so confidently believed.

The new joke is that I will be able to rip open coconuts with my teeth, build a complete 3 story house from palm fronds, and I will end up looking like Tom Hanks from Castaway. In fact, I'm heading out after this blog to try and find a Wilson volleyball. I have to admit that I was pretty irate and upset and hateful and everything else when I found out. My host mother was even praying to Allah that I wouldn't be in Hulu! I was being quite childish about it too. I actually was pretty disappointed in myself for acting as upset as I did. I said from the beginning that I am so happy and grateful to be here that no matter where I was placed I would be happy and the experience will be amazing. I am going to stand by that. I am going to love Hulu. It so happens that the things I end up hating the most in life from the get go are the things that turn out to be the best ever. That coincedence better not fail me now!

So, here's what life in Hulu is going to be like: Hulu is in the paper everyday here because it is under water. The monsoon has caused residents of Hulu to flee their home and I even saw a photo of a road being washed away. I will be working at a secondary school with three grades. Grades are called Forms here and I will be teaching Forms 1, 2, and 4. That is the eqivalent of 7th, 8th, and 10th grades. I will not be teaching Forms 3 and 5 because students in these Forms have to take huge exams at the end of the year and they don't want us ETAs to screw up that process. Anyway, my school has 1600 students who are all farm kids. I was told by my host mom that everyone in the town will follow me around and stare and laugh for the first 2 months. They will ask to touch my skin because they will think that white skin feels different. I will have a 3 bedroom house all to myself in Hulu as well. That is the consolation prize apparently, because the MACEE director kept reminding me of it.

Anyway, I have to honestly say that I couldn't be more excited. At first I was infuriated. But now, I am stoked. It is everything I wanted from this experience... It will be completely different from my normal life and I will be completely alone. I will have to put others first and be sensitvie to their cutlure. I am going to sit back and be an observer and a learner. I cannot wait to get there! It's going to be so good for me to be pointed at and laughed at constantly. God, I'm going to be screaming inside and I expect to have breakdowns every 5 minutes, but the outcome will be totally worth it. And you know what, if I learn to rip open a coconut with my teeth, well damn, that is a skill I'm putting on my resume!

Pearly and George

2005-12-19T13:35:00.001+08:00

Everyday I have Bahasa class for a solid 3 hours. 3 hours of anything is a difficult task for me to sit through, especially when it begins at 8am. However, Bahasa isn’t too bad, and not because I enjoy learning language. It is because my teachers are named Pearly and George and they are the cutest little Chinese wife and husband. Here is their picture. Go ahead, have a look, take a gander, form an opinion.

Aren’t they sweet? I think so too. At first, they seemed really shy. They would give us vocabulary words and have us repeat them back. But then we became more comfortable with them and they with us. Pearly would flat out tell us, “No, that is not right,” when we butchered the sound “nge.” That sound is almost impossible for native English speakers, I swear!

I’m going to get back to Pearly and George in one second, but I have a tangent. I’m sitting in a passenger van right now, headed to Melaka and I’m scared for my life. This van is driving incredibly fast, and one girl, my friend Megan, told me how these vans are illegal in the States because of their unreliability, plus they have a tendency to roll! Well, there are signs on Malay roads that alert you when to slow down because of huge wind gusts and already I’ve seen one giant semi crashed in a ditch and another huge accident where a car completely turned around. It’s difficult to concentrate at the moment, and I just wanted to share that experience with you all. As I finished this sentence, we just passed another car that rolled off the side of a cliff and a salvage truck was trying to lift it back onto the road. And then we saw another wrecked semi in a ditch.

So, back to Pearly and George. Well, Pearly insists on perfecting our pronunciation, which is totally ok by me. George insists on perfecting our syllables. He constantly goes to the board to write words, spaced by syllables, then he does a “follow the bouncing ball” type loopty-loops from one syllable to the other as we slowly say the words. But this isn’t why I love them. I love them because they let us ask them anything we want about the language or the culture. They are not Muslim, Pearly and George give us answers to some of our questions that are more honest and from a non-bias perspective. Oh, and Pearly says the most hilarious comments ever.

Pearly also likes to tell us stories. For example, she told us not to pee when we go hiking in the jungle because we might anger the jungle elves. Her uncle didn’t heed her advice and did it, but the jungle elves got him back by making his penis swell.

Our driver just pointed out a “horrible driver” and then sped past him.

Pearly and George are great. I wish I could hang out with them the whole time here. They’re great teachers. In other news, I got my camera back! I just need to figure out how to get pictures to post to my blog! It hasn’t been working lately. The other day I ordered a “big water” or air besar at lunch because I was really thirsty. The man started laughing at me and then I realized what I forgot. “Big water” means to go number 2 here. Luckily, he knew that I was just a dumb orang putih (white person) so he gave me water as I ordered.

I went to Batik class the other day to create my masterpiece, as George swears it will be. Not George, Pearly’s other half, but George the flamboyant artist from a previous post. He is our Batik professor. So, I did 2 pieces. One is an abstract something or another, while the other one is my favorite. It’s a tribute to Weezer. It’s wonderful, wait until you see the photo. We go back to George’s on Monday to get the final products. We have to boil them in water to get off the wax.

Other than that, not too much is happening in this part of the world besides hurricanes, floods, and other disasters. The picture published a photo of a road that pretty much cracked under the pressure of heavy flooding from the monsoon. The road looked like a bomb was dropped on it. Oh, and it’s one of the three possible places I might be teaching! The other day I was so hungry and I began to get a craving. That’s news because it wasn’t a craving for a salad or a juicy hamburger, but I wanted rice and spicy slop! I can feel the transition beginning, this is going to be a feast of six months!

Homestay, Clubbing, and Food

2005-12-15T08:03:00.000+08:00

Nothing new is really happening over here. I’ve just been going to class everyday to learn about Bahasa Melayu, English as a Second Language (ESL) skills, and various lectures on Malaysia, Islam, and Terengganu. It’s pretty tiring because it’s 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. But, I’m learning a ton, which is the most important factor.

I had a home stay with a lovely family this weekend. Their names were Zainal and Aida, but they have no surname because no Malaysians do. Names here are the first name, followed by bin (son of) or binti (daughter of) then the father’s first name. So, I would be Zach bin Charles. Phone books are even arranged this way which makes it pretty impossible to find anyone! Anyway, the family was incredibly nice. They were open to me asking them any questions I wanted about Islam or Malaysia or food or any topic I could think of. They have a son and a daughter who are both studying in England. Their daughter is coming home this week for break, so I am going to dinner with them to meet her. I met a lot of the extended family as well and we pretty much just ate all weekend. They have a cat named Wilbur who is a spitting image of Garfield. He loves yogurt so I lied on their floor with yogurt on my face so he would lick it off. As you can see, we became very close and comfortable with each other this weekend. They took me to eat traditional food from Terengganu (which tastes like everything else!), to eat durian, which is an incredibly smelly and strangely tasting local fruit, and to the world’s largest covered bird sanctuary. I saw a gigantic bird that could have eaten me and it made me think of Howard the Duck. The family was great and I’m glad I met new friends here in KL.

Also, I went partying at a local nightclub with a few other ETAs. The club was called Rum Jungle and it only let us in after some smooth talking because I was wearing shorts and sandals, which is a no no here. Well, let’s say this place compared to nothing at home. It was gorgeous and elaborate with fish tanks and jungle décor everywhere. Even the transvestite hostess/entertainer was wearing a 6 foot long boa constrictor around her shoulders for decoration! The club was pretty low key so the other ETAs and I busted a move on the dance floor to get the party started. It was hilarious because everyone started copying our dance moves and clapping for us! Yea, I got people to do the pop!! (For those of you who don’t know, it’s where you grab one ankle, placing our other hand on the back of your head and thrust your hips while turning in a circle). There were 6 people that kept dancing with us the entire time and they soon told us they were the cast of Fear Factor Malaysia, how funny! As partying goes, I stayed out way too late and felt like crap the entire next day, but I was so happy to hang out with some ETAs who turned out to be really cool people. I’m glad I’m bonding with some of the others here.

I need to vent on food. I think I’m incredibly adventurous in life, especially towards food. I ate cockroaches in Thailand and a jam made from pig skin in Italy. Food doesn’t really bother me unless it is, tastes like, or smells like FISH. Everything else is fair game. Everyone in Malaysia raves about the food. Well, no offense Malaysia, but the food is RICE AND SPICY SLOP. I find NO variety here. I’m so bored with it already, but I will not go to any American places (minus that splurge at CPK). I have to develop a taste for Malaysian spices so I can differentiate between the tastes, then I’m sure I will rave too, but until then, I’m getting so bored of it. My stomach is always gurgling because I never meet my cravings. I’m complaining here so it doesn’t become a problem later on. I’m sure I will have blogs raving about Malay cuisine, just not yet. I can't add any pictures to my blogs because the blogger thing has not been working. So, until I figure that out, I don't know when I can show you what I'm seeing. Alright, talk to you all soon and hopefully I can be funnier and more detailed in a future blog! Until then, goodbye from the future!!!

Asia Asia Asia

2005-12-09T00:02:00.000+08:00

Clarification: I’m not depressed or all strung out as my previous blog might have implied. Yea, it’s a little rough being here without my chocolate milk, but I was just expelling those feelings before they developed into a bigger problem. My ETA friend, Megan, actually has a Master’s in Psychological Counseling, so she’s been incredibly helpful with advice, free of charge! Also, funny story, she was trapped in the hotel elevator today for 15 minutes… oh, Asia!

Anyway, just random thoughts to help paint a picture of life here. This is going to be in no logical order, so bear with it. It rains every single day here. The humidity is so intense that the moisture in the air builds up until it bursts from the sky. One Malaysian described the weather to me as being “pregnant.” I loved that explanation, but then I made it literal in my head and it was not pretty getting caught in a rainstorm if you catch my drift.

I bought linen pants and I’m so excited about it. I wanted them for the weather, but I spent a little too much on them (for Malaysian standards). I’m hoping to get a better bargain at a hawker market, maybe Chinatown, we’ll see.

Food is unbelievably cheap here. I spend about $1 USD on lunch and I’ve never spent more than $5 for a meal, to date. I’ve heard that it’s going to be 10 times cheaper in the state of Terengganu, which is insane. (I paused when writing this, and since my last bit of typing I have cheated and broke down. I ate dinner at California Pizza Kitchen spent $15… outrageous, but damn it was good!)

Speaking of living arrangements, I will NOT be living in Terengganu (pronounced TREN GA NOO) like previously believed. I will be in one of 3 smaller towns, Kuala Besut, Marang, or Hulau Terengganu. Everyone I tell that I’m going to Terengganu laughs in my face and pretty much reminds me of how different and conservative it is. I’m looking forward to such an opposite from KL because I used to think I liked cities and I don’t. I hate people. I hate lines. I hate crowds. I want a slow-paced, chilled life. Whether my teaching efforts are futile or not, Terengganu here I come and I’m going to love you! At least the expectations have been dropped to nothing, so it can only get better.

I’m having my first bout with Montezuma or should I say Ghengis Khan’s revenge… yes, I may be reliving my Ecuador days of intestinal infections! I’m pretty sure that whatever it was has passed, but I’m being incredibly cautious, hence the breakdown and the delicious meal at CPK. Man, I can understand eating western food, but why did I go to CPK?? That’s so lame. Speaking of diarrhea, I decided to give up toilet paper in the spirit of the local ways. Yes, I no longer wipe, I spray! Alright, I’m about to be totally frank on this subject, so if you’re not interested, skip to the next paragraph. So, using the bathroom here, the local way, really takes one back to being 2 years old and screaming for their mommy because you’ve finished. I’m not kidding. I need a serious hands-on tutorial on using the bathroom. It is beyond my capacity how it works… I can understand the hose, but when the hose isn’t available I don’t get the random bucket of stagnant water and a plastic ladle floating on top. (Refer to my friend Sunny’s blog on the various types of toilets in Malaysia here). WHAT DO YOU DO? Well, so I took a pro-active approach and I’m doing it by trial and error. Error number one: don’t spray from the back because you can’t see what you’re doing and the water shoots out from under you and the lid all over the back of your pants. Error two: don’t hold the hose handle down all the way because it has the power of a small fire hose, it’s serious. Error three: be prepared for the rush of freezing cold water!! Anyway, I must say that I have NEVER felt cleaner and more hygienic in my whole entire life, no joke. I mean it sucks to pull up your pants and be all wet inside, but it’s like a shower over and over again! Not to mention zero contact with your nether regions! I’m a big fan, mom and dad, get the hose installed before I come home or else I’m dragging the one from the backyard up the side of the house into the bathroom window.

I swear to Allah that people don’t work here. This city apparently has 2 million people. Ok, I would have guessed 10 million, but I’ll go with the experts. Well, 2 million people, huh? The shopping mall at the Petronas Towers, the world’s biggest mall, has about 1 million people in it at any given hour and the roads are seriously jam packed with cars of another million people all day long. So, this scientific study concludes that absolutely no one in KL works. It’s impossible. There are people EVERYWHERE here! It is absolutely insane. If I didn’t have my own hotel room I might have gone Looney by now. It’s nice to be able to have the solitude of my hotel room because people are reproducing like rabbits here, even the damn sky is pregnant!

Speaking of the Petronas shopping complex… Imagine the most crowd laden place you can think of, Times Square on New Year’s Eve, Mardis Gras in New Orleans, Children’s Hospital in Columbus on a Friday night, and take that number and multiply it by 10, ok, then there are about 10 times that amount of people at this mall. My hotel is literally a 2 minute walk from the mall, so I’ve spent way too much time there because of convenience. Everything you can imagine is there, and I’m not talking everything like Wal-mart everything, I mean EVERYTHING. You can get your Gucci and Versace while you’re out picking up some bread and spicy slop. However, no one is ever in any of the stores. There are 6 floors of abandoned stores and everyone is crowding the corridors of the mall! It’s pretty sad that these companies are here trying to globalize and westernize this part of the world. No one can afford anything. The Burberry and Coach stores have models dressed in wool sweaters, plaid scarves, and giant puff jackets, all items that are physically impossible to wear here, let alone afford. I don’t understand it, but then again, I don’t really understand anything in Asia like the craze for Christmas despite this being an Islamic country. Christmas music is everywhere, like people. In Thailand, Christmas trees (an anomaly in themselves because it’s a Buddhist country) are crowned with black cabbage patch dolls sporting afros instead of the glorious north star that led the three wise men to baby Jesus. I just take pictures and think about chocolate milk. (I can ask for chocolate milk in Malay now, so I’m set!)

Malaysia is currently involved in a public campaign. This campaign doesn’t deal with the dangers of drugs and alcohol, or the concern of illiteracy. No, it goes a step further in solving the social dilemmas that a nation must face. It is a campaign to stop PORN! Yes, it’s true. I took a picture of the propaganda myself. Have a look, and remember to Hold down Alt + F4!

Another random tidbit… I think I said this before, but I wanted to make sure. I think it is so interesting that all hotel rooms come with an arrow on the ceiling here. At first, I wasn’t sure what it meant, but I later found out. The arrow points in the direction of Mecca so that when Muslims who might be staying in the room pray, they can face the Khabar. Muslims pray 5 times a day and every time they face Mecca, the location of the Khabar. This is the spot on Earth where it is believed that Mohammed ascended into heaven. Mohammed is the prophet who God told his story to and chose to relate the wisdom of the Quran (equivalent of the Bible, but just the old testament) through Mohammed for humans. Mohammed is not worshipped like Jesus, but is just highly revered. Many people have Mohammed in their name and it is the world’s number one most common name for a baby boy! And, for a certain uneducated few who might be reading this blog, Islam is the religion, Muslims are the followers. Islam is actually a word derived from the word for “peace.” The Quran mentions no acts of violence and Islam should not be confused with terrorism as many Fox News watchers may be inclined to believe. Extremist groups are common in every religion and corner of the world. Christians have David Koresch of Waco, Texas, and Jim Jones and the kool-aid. Islam, unfortunately, has Al-Qaida. There is a quote that goes something like, “The tree of fear grows in the land of ignorance.” I’ll get the exact quote, but sorry to preach, I just want people to understand.

So, about the past couple of days. Tuesday was a pretty normal day with Bahasa classes kicking off the morning. But then the day got completely Asian thereafter. I shall elaborate. A local Batik artist came into to describe the importance and process of Batik. Now, I’m going to need you to close your eyes and visualize with me. (of course, after reading the visual) Picture the sleaziest used car salesman you can think of. Now, picture he’s Asian and he has blue contacts to color his eyes because it’s his favorite color. Not just eye blue, but a completely absurd and brilliant shade of blue that is not natural. It’s a blue that’s the product of mixing regular blue with active nuclear waste. Ok, now idealize the most flamboyant mannerisms you can possible imagine. This man had enough of a grasp of English that he could clearly and quickly carry out his message, but it was just lacking the wee littlest bit that he screwed up the colloquialisms he was trying to use. He referred to one ETA as James Bond. Then, he talked about the various students he’s had in his Batik classes. He recalled examples of “the Japs” as he said. He showed us their work, we oohed and ahhed and praised them. He then said, “No, these are lousy. But I say that because I am a master of the art.” Then, his presentation was a multimedia spectacular. Here is the best part. He wanted to set a little mood music to his slide show. So, what type of music would be most suiting? Well, if you said Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass followed by Engelbert Humperdinck then you’re absolutely correct! He then showed us example art pieces, but was adamant in pointing out the ones that “girls” did! He told us, a group predominantly of females, that if women could master Batik, then he had all the faith in the world in us. He was hilarious. It might be my favorite part of Malaysia, above swimming with elephants!

Well, later that night, I decided to do some late night bonding with some other ETAs. We headed down to the hotel bar where D’Mystique plays 6 nights a week. OH JEEZ… they’re poster graces the inside of all four elevators, so naturally I had to check them out. They’re a Phillipino group who only does cover music, covers of the worst wedding/karaoke American songs you can think of! They were dressed in matching red and black outfits. But, to backtrack, as we were walking to the bar when we saw a man wandering around and playing an electric guitar about the lobby. Yea, he was in the band and just decided to liven up the show by interacting with the audience in the lobby! We, the five of us, ordered one beer each in hopes that we wouldn’t wake up from our dream. Well, one thing led to another and we ended up on the dance floor. We were the only people in the bar, besides maybe 4 others. The band was acting out their coordinated moves, mostly with the 2 women thrusting their heads toward the ground and whipping them back up so their hair did a sort of archy wave motion while conga-ing to Gloria Estefan and shaking their butts to the Black Eyed Peas “My Humps.” I’m not kidding, Asia is fantastic! The band performed one last song, a request from us which was “I will survive.” We chatted with them after the show, and now they wave to us when we walk by at night. Our bill came to 96 Ringgit for 5 beers, about $25 USD!! It was worth every penny.

We also talked to some other westerners staying at the hotel. The Malay name for westerners is Orang Putih (White People), which I will use here on out. And yes, that is Orang as in Orangutan. The word is Malay and translates to “person of the forest.” Just so you know. We met another America from Northern Idaho who is not at all surprisingly the dumbest person on Earth. He is an oil man who lives in Bolivia who ended up telling us that life is all about finding a woman that will rub your feet and wash your car when all you have to do is give her a couple of bucks a month. He was pretty sure that it was a 50-50 operation… I do not have the time to fully illustrate the conversation, but let’s just say that it trumped anything else that happened that day. Ask me about it later.

The next day I felt like butt all day because I only had 4 hours of sleep. However, I made it through, but ended up passing out in my room at 4pm and not waking up until 10pm. So much for adjusting to the time change!

In other news, we were given more cultural lessons by hanging out with a local professor. Her name is Asma and she’s a wonderful lady! She took us to lunch at an Indian restaurant for a banana leaf. Eating a banana leaf is rebelliously fun. You get a giant leaf in front of you and it comes stocked with rice, veggies, cucumber salad, fried bitter gourd, curry, chicken, roti canai (a doughy bread), and whatever else you could want. Well, you use your right hand and dig in, eating with your bare hand! The restaurants here are all complete with sinks near the tables for easy clean up. After you’ve finished you just fold the leaf up or else the food keeps coming. Then she took us to her house, for a second time, we’ve hung out before. We pretty much just relax and do whatever we want at her home. It is a beautiful house! It’s huge and decadent. We lounge around on her couches, eat and drink, listen to music, dance, talk, climb fruit trees, play hacky sack in the living room (the traditional way though), and whatever else. She teaches us about culture and answers any question we could want to ask. It’s the most relaxed and meaningful classroom I could ever learn in. She’s brilliant.

I’m preparing for a home stay this weekend. Also, my camera is being repaired, so more pictures will accompany my future blogs. And, for a few interactive pieces I would like to get some comments. I have 9 days in March for a spring break, any ideas on where I should travel?? More importantly, we get to create our own Batik pieces and have to come up with a design for a 1meter by 1 meter piece of silk. I want to create the most asinine Batik ever, what should it be?? Alright everyone, until next time, jumpa lagi! Below are some pictures I got of the elephant experience.

Doing it to it

2005-12-06T08:09:00.000+08:00

So I swam with elephants this weekend. Yea, I said ELEPHANTS!! Wow, we went to an elephant sanctuary in Kuala Gandah, which is in the state of Pahang. This place houses working elephants… Square one: Malaysia barely has 1,000 wild elephants left. The elephants that are still wild wander onto farms and in local people’s gardens, destroying everything in their path. This is a problem for people who’s livelihood or well-being depends on the crops that they grow, and to solve the situation they kill the elephants. It’s unfortunate from both perspectives. So, the elephant conservation centre rescues wild elephants and relocates them into a national park called Taman Negara, one of the world’s last remaining untouched rainforests. The elephants at the sanctuary help calm and transport the wild elephants, once they are subdued. The second purpose of the sanctuary is to create awareness of the elephant situation in Malaysia. So, as a way to raise money visitors can pay to come play with the elephants.

Here’s how the process works. You pay and show up. The elephants begin the day with eating. We got to feed them a variety of fruits, with preference going toward the papaya. There were 5 altogether. 3 babies, a young adult, and the Matriarch mama. After feeding, we were allowed to ride the 2 older elephants around the yard, with a trainer. Then, the mama elephant was taken to the river where everyone rides her again in the water. Well, the kick is, she’s trained to walk into the middle of the river then fall over on her side!! So, while you’re on her, you go plunging into the water! Then everyone is invited to come into the river and just splash around with the elephant. She sprays muddy water at you with her trunk and you take pictures. It was pretty amusing and a bit surreal. The other kicker was that I was asked by the trainer to ride the elephant back to the housing area without a trainer! There were about 50 people present and I got to put 2 tons of gray meat between my legs and park it in the garage (I know how it sounds, but whatever!) It was so cool, for lack of an intelligent vocabulary. The elephants are such beautiful animals. They’re so intelligent and patient, but at any time they could just kill you if they wanted. Luckily, they didn’t feel like it that day.

Before the elephant park I went to the Malaysian Philharmonic Symphony with the other ETAs on Friday night. The symphony is a pretty big deal here. The show was soothing and sophisticated. I had to borrow a jacket from the music hall because no one is allowed in unless properly attired. It was great though because tickets were only 25 Ringgit which is equivalent to about $6.50! The prime minister was present as well so the red carpet was rolled out and the local paparazzi brightened up the place with an onslaught of camera flashes. Speaking of cameras… I was having my picture taken, looking sharp in my suit, when my camera was dropped in the return process. It bounced off the ground and I caught it but the lens was cockeyed and screwy. So, I had to take it to the Sony shop where it is being repaired, for a very large sum, and I won’t have it for a week. Therefore, it’s going to be awhile before any elephant pictures appear, or any others for that matter. Don’t be angry with me, mom… it was not my fault! It was a simple accident and it really sucks. Anyway, the symphony was nice. They played music by Brahms, Haydn, and some other guy. An apparently famous musician was the guest player with his little cello. His name is Jian Pan or something like that. I guess he’s a pretty big deal, but I wasn’t very interested, unless he can spew out some Weezer on that piece of wood, I’ll just take a little nap during his fourth movement.

In other news, I’ve been spending time with my friend Jida. She had a nice little get together at her house on Saturday night. I met some of her friends and ate some really really good food. She’s pretty much the reason I’m staying sane here in KL (see below for my rant on being slightly depressed). We then played some board games and just chatted. Her friends are really cool and I love it because they all have British accents despite being Malay. One of them sounds like he just moved here from France. The next day I went to a traditional Malay wedding with Jida and her boyfriend Ash. It was in Melaka so we had a couple hour drive to get there. The wedding was insane! There were so many people coming and going and so much going on. Everyone was dressed in beautifully decorated clothing, robes and head scarves for the ladies. The bride and groom were accompanied by a parade and mini drum-beating band. The food was excellent, although I’m not totally sure what I was eating or else I’d give you names. I received a hard boiled egg, as is customary to give to all guests at a Malay wedding. It is wedding season here in Malaysia because of school holidays. It’s easy for families to get together and have huge bashes so weddings are happening EVERYWHERE! We must have passed 10 different ones in a few block area on the way to ours.

On Sunday night I went to a barbecue at Jida’s friend Mims’ house. Another one of Jida’s friends, Fairy, invited me to go along with her. It was a lot of fun hanging out with Fairy. I think we have a lot in common and she’s easy to get along with. The food was so good too! It was almost like a cookout at home with the chicken and bbq sauce and coleslaw! Ah, it was so good that I visited the food table on 4 different occasions.

Monday was pretty uneventful with school. Malay classes are really helpful but at the same time I don’t really have the attention span for them. In the afternoon we were give a tour of KL. We were taken to a traditional batik shop (Batik is where wax designs are placed on silk fabrics. The designs are then filled in with dyes, the wax removed, and then the unique fabric is unveiled), a leather shop with goods produced from stingray skin, and a chocolate boutique. All were semi-interesting but were mainly touristy type traps where the tour guide gets commission on goods bought. It was kind of a waste of time because it’s nothing any of us really wanted to do. We were then taken to Putrajaya. This is a city about 40 minutes from KL. It’s the new administrative capital. All government positions were moved there about 3 years ago and the city is being rapidly developed because KL is out of space. It was pretty much the equivalent of Easton or Polaris: totally fabricated and man-made and not so pretty. However, the mosque there is absolutely gorgeous and huge. It sits at the edge of a man-made lake, but it’s really nice. It was the third time I tried to go into a mosque but was denied because prayers were happening. Muslims pray 5 times a day, for those of you who do not know, which makes it difficult to visit the mosque as a tourist. I think it’s interesting though that Cathedrals are always crawling with tourists despite there being mass and private prayer going on, but whatever, I can wait. I’m not in Kansas anymore. We also toured a rubber plantation in Putrajaya. Malaysia is a huge exporter of rubber and it’s pretty important to the local economy here. We saw all kinds of fruit such as jackfruit, rambutan, durian, little cherries, mangos, kiwi, mangosteen, and others at the plantation. I love rambutan. It’s called that because rambut means hair in Malayisa. The fruit looks like it’s very hariy because it has prickly spines all over it. I’ve also heard it called pubic fruit, but we don’t have to elaborate on that. Anyway, it’s delicious. It’s like a giant grape, but not as sour. I’ll try to sneak some home when I come back.

That’s pretty much what I’ve been doing when I’m not in class (which is about 8 hours a day!). The rest of this blog is just going to be me dumping some weight off my chest, so to speak. I have to complain to maintain sanity, so if you’d like, go ahead and read, but it’s mostly for journal purposes that I’ve included it. Until another exciting adventure, jumpa lagi!

Ok, before I turn into a real Sally Sourpants, I need to unleash some feelings I’ve been harboring. I really really enjoy being here and I’m totally grateful, but everyone who has traveled abroad knows about the culture shock “ride.” It’s like a roller coaster; sometimes you’re going up, but then you have to go back down. In other words, I’m sort of plunging into depression from my adrenaline rush of pure excitement and I’m slowly settling into my role as a person who lives in Malaysia.

Here’s the problem(s): I want to find authentic food and gorge myself with it. But, I ALWAYS end up eating rice with some sort of curry sauce and chicken that is mostly just bone. I want to find linen and/or cotton pants so I’m not wearing jeans that vacuum seal themselves to my thighs because of the sticky humid induced sweat bursting from my pores. Instead, I keep going to cheapo malls that sell trendy western styled clothing and useless junk! I want to be an independent, brave person who goes out and explores the city. However, I usually end up following the ETA crowd and doing something that I’m not totally pumped about. I don’t feel like I’m really bonding too well with the majority of the ETAs either. No one is really of the “let’s be friends” mentality because we’re all splitting up in 3 weeks anyway. I’m just sensitive and want to be friends, haha. There is one girl that I get along so well with because we both joke around about everything and she laughs at my ridiculous antics and jokes, thanks Megan! I just feel like all I’m eating is rice and different kinds of spicy slop, dodging chunks of bone! I’m facing culture shock! I miss my chocolate milk! I miss TV! I miss variations in the weather!!!! Everyday I watch world CNN and they always have the same weather report, 33 Celsisus (which I don’t even know!) and rain!! AHHHHHHH! I want cold milk and cheese and hamburger helper and boneless chicken breasts!! MOMMY!

Ok, hopefully I’ve purged my system. Seriously, adapting to a new culture is probably the equivalent of withdrawing from heroin, or so my twisted version of reality assumes. KL is completely westernized, and one can get away with pretending like they’re in NYC or something because it’s totally the same, but at the end of the day, it’s not home and I think I really miss home. There is so much traffic here in KL, it’s ridiculous. I waited in line to get on the subway for 15 minutes the other day, and that was just to buy a ticket! I think I’m just really exhausted and still dealing with jet lag. I’m overwhelmed with the idea of having to teach in a month and with learning a new language. There is so much happening to me physically and emotionally right now. But, to be quite honest, this is what makes traveling so much fun. I’m testing my parameters and seeing if my character can measure up. In a weird way it’s a confidence booster as much as it is a self-esteem destroyer. I’m sure I’ll be facing the same situation in 6 months or so, but in reverse… ah, what have I done?

Housekeeping

2005-12-04T08:23:00.000+08:00

Alright... a few things... I don't have a very reliable connection to the internet. With this in mind, it's very difficult for me to reply to emails and comments... but I just want you to all know that I will try my best and I love hearing from you!! Thank you! Another thing, when I do have time to get on the internet, it's for a very limited time and I have to be considerate of the other ETAs who need to use it as well.

So, here is a MAP of Malaysia. I will be living in the Northeast, Terengganu, but am in the west now, the capital, KL. If you go to WORLD ATLAS you can see where Malaysia is in reference to all of Asia.

Alright, I just wanted to get that map up since I said I was going to 10 blogs ago. I have to go to class... a blog is coming soon about the elephants. Here's a tease... it was AWESOME!! I got to ride the elephant from the river to it's pen with no trainer on it!! I also drank some of the river water by accident, yuck! I'm awaiting parasitic reaction. I'm also going to a wedding in about 3 hours, so I'll blog about that too. Take care everyone, from the future, I bid you adieu!

Life in KL!

2005-12-02T13:55:00.000+08:00

Warning, this blog may be quite long!

Ok, so the past few days have been jam packed with adjustment of the physical, emotional, social, gastro intestinal, and pretty much everything. I will just start at square one.

Flying over was nice. It didn’t feel like I was in transit for 37 hours mainly because of the quantities of adrenaline being pumped into my bloodline. I sat next to a man from Vietnam who entertained me with conversation. I let him know that I am slightly fearful of the unnatural act of flying. Then I told him I was going to Malaysia, specifically Terengganu. So, he comforted me with quite the quip (Mom, do not read the following quote), “You’re afraid of flying and you’re going to Terengganu? Flying shouldn’t be your fear, arriving should be. They have Al-qaida there.” I thanked him for the insight and tactfully slipped out of the conversation and roared up my iPod, but it died after 2.5 minutes. The little man then informed me that we would be flying over Russian and Chinese airspace, but not to worry because the Boeing 747 wouldn’t be flying fast enough to be detected as a missile. It was amusing. We flew over Siberia and I got some pretty good shots of a river frozen. It was really neat to see where the river has come and gone over the years because its path was frozen on the ground next to it. I’ll have to show you pictures to explain it better.

I met all of the other ETAs (English Teaching Assistants) in Singapore. I must say that they’re quite the group! Between us, I believe almost every country has been visited. These people have resumes jam-packed with internships, NGO and International Aid Organizational experience, reputable schools, and everything that makes a regular person like me ahh and ooh with amazement. So far I enjoy being with them and our time together is short. On December 26, we head to our teaching destinations in Terengganu. It was decided that the men, 3 of us, will be sent to schools approximately 2 hours outside the capital, KT. We will be completely isolated from the others. At first, I was frightened to hear this. However, I know that this will enhance my language skills as well as develop my character. I’m pretty thrilled to have the opportunity.

So, we, the ETAs, have been taken Bahasa Melayu (Malay) classes since our arrival. We have convered so much of the language already and it’s quite simple because there are no conjugations, tenses, and the Roman Alphabet, with many of its sounds, is used in script. The main task is to grasp the new sounds, mostly nasals that I cannot pin down, and to memorize vocabulary, a forte of mine! We have also been receiving cultural lessons as well. For example, we had a local journalist come in today and educate us on the media in Malaysia. Freedom of expression is not a right here, but nor does it seem like a priority. We learned interesting facts. For example, anyone born Malay is legally Muslim. Backtracking… Malayisa is made up of Indian, Chinese, and Malay people. The Malay people are governed by the constitutional law, but also by the laws of Islam. So, if a Malay marries any other ethnic group, that person must convert to Islam (statistically, but not for real) and their children will legally have to be raised as Muslims. If they are not, the religious police can and will persecute the individuals. Yes, they have a regular police force, the Royal Police, and also the religious police. It’s pretty intense. We opened bank accounts and the application asked us to list our race and religious affiliation! I was so shocked, but apparently racist practices are part of regular life here. I need to investigate this further before I apply anymore ethnocentric spins to it, stay tuned.

Moving on, I eat so much here but I haven’t really felt full until today. The food is really spicy but delicious. I mostly eat Indian curries. I have managed to stay away from anything Western, with the exception of an occasional snack here and there. I think I’m going to begin pursuing a vegetarian diet for two reasons: 1) it’s incredible easy and accessible here and 2) I don’t like eating meat off the bone and all meat comes on the bone here. Boneless chicken breasts are a thing of the past for me. Also, there is so much fruit here that we don’t have in the states. For example, rambutan. It’s a plum sized fruit, either yellow or red, with giant spikes on it. The spikes are really soft. You crack it open and inside is a soft, but firm jelly like tissue. It has a huge seed in the middle but the fleshy fruit is good. I like it a lot. There is more to come on fruit, but I’ll keep it minimal here.

KL is located in the Klang valley here so it rains everyday. Not to mention, it’s monsoon season. The rain isn’t bad though. It always occurs midday and doesn’t last for more than an hour. It cools off the air and helps to minimize smog. I haven’t been caught in a downpour yet, but I’m sure it’s inevitable. I bought an umbrella, but it sits in my hotel room, we’ll see. I haven’t really wandered around the city yet. When you know you’re going to be living in a place for awhile, in my case, a month, you become sedentary. I need to break this trend and get out there! I’ve seen a few places, but they’re mostly malls and touristy sights. I ventured to the old palace today and the Islamic courthouse. I’m going to get out more, but I’m still doing a lot of adjusting, just in case I didn’t emphasize that enough.

Today, we went to a local cultural anthropologist’s house to gain cultural insight, funnily enough. She, like everyone else, kindly reminded us that Malaysia doesn’t get much more conservative than the state of Terengganu. Mmm, I love conservative! Talk about being completely out of my element, this is where it is. I’m strangely attracted to that fact though, because it will test my capacity to adapt and become independent, not to mention that it will greatly expand my perspective, open-mindedness, and cultural insight. At here house, we received authentic clothing such as a sarong and a Muslim hat. This garb is to be warn for special occasions such as visiting one’s home or weddings. I really like the sarong. It’s comfortable and breezy!

The other day we went to the American Embassy for a briefing. They pretty much told us everything common sense like don’t stay out at night alone and use discretion at all times. A major problem in Malaysia is purse snatching and credit card fraud. If I fall victim to either you will be informed. The security offiicer who briefed us was definitely an employee of Fox News, or so I swear. After hearing a few things he had to say it’s not wonder the United States is not respected pretty much everywhere. He was explaining the religious conservatism of Terengganu to us, then proceeded to discuss how it’s “even worse” in the state of Klantan. He then encouraged to not drive. But, if we have to and accidentally hit someone we should keep driving and report it later. And I’m talking about hitting a human being, not a car! Then he proceeded to scare us as much as possible with propaganda, but I’m not willing to bow down to his American perspective. I know how to maintain humanity and observe another culture. I was really disappointed with his apparent lack of sensitivity and concern. He helped me to rethink a career in the Foreign Service.

Anyway, I’m having a fantastic time here. I continue to be amazed and humbled every turn I take. I cannot believe any of this is happening to me and I am thankful for it everyday. I’ve been here for 5 days and I already feel changed and fulfilled… I have 6 months left of pure adventure! This weekend I am going to an elephant sanctuary to swim with elephants. Then, I’m going to a traditional Malay wedding. Both should be a grand time! I’ll keep you posted and I promise I’ll try to reduce the length of these blogs, but I just wanted to get everyone up to date. I hope you’re enjoying my rants and if not, too bad. Talk to you soon folks!

My Address

2005-12-01T08:07:00.000+08:00

11th Floor, Menara Kemayan
160, Jalan Ampang
50450 Kuala Lumpur

This is only my address until December 25. On the 26th, I fly to Terengganu and move into my apt, of which I do not have the address! Peace, update coming soon!

I love Malaysia!

2005-11-30T07:50:00.000+08:00

Wow... I have sooo much to write and not very much time. I start my second day of Bahasa Malay language classes in approximately 10 minutes... I'm already learning so much.

Ok, so each of the 10 of us were given our own hotel rooms and an incredible gracious amount of money. The hotel rooms have a view of the wonderful Petronas towers (the world's tallest twin towers and also the glamourous backdrop for the movie Entrapment, starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones). Our next month is pretty much booked for us. We will be taking language classes and learning about the culture, politics, history, and all that good stuff of Malaysia. The food is wonderful, the people are so nice, and everything is more than perfect, if that's even possible! I can't express how grateful and happy I am right now.

So, the weather is so beautiful here. It is SUMMER! I went running this morning, in a park that is right next to the Petronas Towers, at 5am I might say! Anyway, at 5am, it was hotter and muggier than the hottest most humid day in August in Ohio. I could not believe it! However, my training will go on! Another Fulbrighter, Matt, wants to run in the Hong Kong marathon in February, and I may try to do it with him... we'll see.

I'm so excited that I don't even know what to type here! I'll just blab... The people are so neat and diverse here. I took a picture the other day of Muslim women shrouded in robes, but in the background you can see an old Chinese man and an Indian couple passing by. I love it! The food is so good too!! I go from eating Indian food for breakfast (I love anything curry and Roti Chani) to Malay for lunch, with a combo of Chinese and whatever else for dinner.

I'm really overwhelmed with everything right now... food, learning, new people, blah blah blah. The other day, I went out to dinner with my friends from OU, Jida and Sonny. Jida lives in KL (Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia) and Sonny has a research Fulbright here. It was nice to see some familiar faces, and it's really comforting to know I'm not truly alone over here. Speaking of alone, I am definitely going to be isolated in a small small town when I teach... so, I'm going to be insanely independent and conversationally fluent in the language when I'm done!

Ok, I'll collect my thoughts and write another blog soon. I plan on getting up a map and address and all that, I swear... class is starting, Jumpa Lagi!

Singa What?!

2005-11-28T07:54:00.000+08:00

Ok, so I'm hanging out in Singapore! My flights were totally safe and on time. I just spent the past 2 days of my life in transit... it's so strange that it's 8am on Monday morning when I left on Saturday morning. Anyway, this is just a short little posting to let anyone who cares know that I made it to ASIA! My flight to Malaysia leaves at 10am, and I'm hoping I can get on despite leaving my plane ticket in Chicago, whoops! If you haven't seen the movie, Lost in Translation, please do... I feel like Bill Murray and I swear I'm on the set of that movie. Alright, I gotta go fight my way onto that plane! Bye everyone,
Zach

This is truly Malaysian Madness

2005-11-24T06:10:00.000+08:00

So, I have 3 days, cough cough, 2.5 days to get my life together to leave! My list of "Things to Do" has grown in length and nothing has been crossed off. I will be posting some vital info in the next few days, before I leave, like a map of Malaysia, my address if anyone desires to send me anything ;) , yadda yadda yadda.

One good thing happened today... my visa came!! I can now enter Malaysia legally!

Here is a picture of the visa stamped in my passport. Notice the red lettering at the very bottom... yea, I also thought it said, "Welcome to Malaysia!" Nope. It says, "Trafficking of Illegal Drugs Carries a Death Penalty." Where the heck am I going?? Geez oh man, this is going to be a wild ride!

Follow the Red Painted Brick Line

2005-11-22T11:54:00.000+08:00

Today was a busy one. I didn't wake up until 11:30 because I stayed up until 3am reading all about serial killers (inspired by fears that the Boston Strangler was going to get me as I slept) on Wikipedia (my favorite website in the entire world). However, after getting up and showering and putzing around for a bit, I met Robyn at Pier 1 around 2pm. She works there and had to put in an hour before she left for Thanksgiving break.

So, we headed straight into the city via the Red line on the T. We went to Beacon Hill which is a super yuppie neighborhood right along Boston Common. The architecture there is really old and everything is made of bricks. Our reason for venturing into such harsh conditions was to find the one and only Boston Real World house. This is the sixth city I've visited with a Real World house, but the first that I've ever seen. It was a monumental event, as the picture illustrates.

Afterward, we walked about a 2 blocks over to the Cheers bar. It was originally called Bull and Finch, but later changed its name to appease tourists. Anyway, the exterior is the one used in the filming of the show, but the inside is not at all similar, other than being a bar. So, another cheers was built next to Faneuil Hall (incidentally not where Wheel of Fortune films as I suspected!) where the interior is exactly as the one used on the show... tourists have been appeased. Of course we went in and took pictures, ate some appetizers, and I enjoyed a crisp glass of Boston Ale. I have fallen in love with dark beer... just in time to be moving to a Muslim city in Malaysia (it's a dry city).

Then we headed over to the Freedom Trail. For those of you who may not know, the Freedom Trail is a giant red line painted on the street, or sometimes just made of a double row of red bricks, and passes along various sties that were important to the American Revolution. Some highlights being the site of the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere's grave and home (his home in the photo directly below), and the Old North Church where the famous 2 lanterns alerted Mr. Revere that the blimey British were in fact coming by sea. To clear a few bits up, Paul Revere was not the only messenger that night, "The British are coming" is an inaccurate phrase as many colonists still identified as being British, and the British did come by water, but not sea. They used the Charles River. Anyway, it was still neat to stand in the presence of such historical treasures, knowing that so many of these places were the exact same spots where our Forefathers stood, fought for, and won our political independence (there are other independences waiting to be won, but that's a whole other blog entry).

Finally, we headed to a seafood place to get some lobster. Robyn and I settled on lobster and crab ravioli which was extremely delicious. After dinner, we caught "Walk the line" with our free movie passes. The movie is long, and if you've seen Ray, you've seen this one. It's good and the actors do a great job, but it really wasn't anything you didn't already expect anyway. A storm caming rolling up the east coast and it is now raining and is expected to last through tomorrow morning. Hopefully our flight will not be delayed so I can get home and prepare for Malaysia which I leave for in 5 days!! I'm going to leave you all with a few pictures I took today that I especially liked.

This is a street light in Beacon Hill.

Robyn posing with the Cheers Indian... anyone know his name??

Me, riding the true symbol of freedom in this country (haha)

Me, lying on some pyschedelic interactive mat on the floor in the movie theater (in this one you jump on the popcorn cornels and they pop. Others include playing soccer, cars driving on a road that you can cause to crash, and other various fun times)

PS click on any of the photos to see a larger image!

I pahked my cah in Hahvid Yahd!

2005-11-21T09:33:00.001+08:00

I must say all cities are pretty much the same. A city is a city, there, I said it. You have your ethnic neighborhoods, your underground public transportation, your architectural onslaught by Starbucks, McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts, and your various forms of entertainment such as theaters, street performers, and homeless drunks who sleep on the stairs that go down to the subway. With that said, I have to say that I really enjoy being in a city. I like the buzz of what's happening and just aimlessly wandering around.

Boston is no exception. It's a very small town laden with pretty much all the history the United States has to offer. Everywhere you turn is a sign saying, "This is the location of the first (insert whatever you want)." "This is where Samuel Adams lived." "Here is the spot on Boston Common where Ben Franklin liked to stop and think when he was brewing up a big one." It's pretty neat.

Well, Robyn and I started the day by heading over to Harvard Yard to check out the most elite college campus in the United States, and pretty much the world for that matter. Well, let me boil it down for you folks. It's EXACTLY like Ohio University, beautiful and full of foilage. The only difference is about $30,000/year, so if you ask me, only idiots go to Harvard. Oh yea, and Harvard had no signs of a buritto buggy, how tragic. I actually decided that I'm going to go to Harvard for grad school when I've decided what my life calling is. I think it's going to be my safety school. This is a fun picture of Robyn at Harvard's career services building... uh, is that not the biggest oxymoron you've ever heard of?

After that, we rode the T (Boston's subway and incidentally the fisrt in the USofA) into the financial district. We checked out the campus of Emerson College, where Robyn attends grad school, walked around Boston Common, hit up Chinatown, went to Tufts Medical School (where Robyn takes classes) and then headed to a giagantic movie theater to see Harry Potter.

The theater was experiencing tecnhincal difficulties and caused the movie to be delayed about 30 minutes, so we all got free passes. We're using ours to see "Walk the Line." Tomorrow we're doing more tourist activities in Boston, the culmination of which will be seeing the Boston Real World House (sorry history buffs, I've sold out!). It'll be the first one I've seen besides having visited 5 other cities where the show was filmed. It's pretty ironic because the Boston cast was pretty much my least favorite ever, and quite possibly the dumbest ever. I don't really watch the show anymore since it stopped being real and only picks 7 strangers to get wasted in a random town... anyway. The weather was unseasonably beautiful today and the forecast calls for even better weather tomorrow... it's going to be a grand time in Beantown folks!

Hello Boston!

2005-11-20T00:37:00.000+08:00

I'm in Boston!!

My flight was smooth and early... I made it. I got here last night and my friend Robyn was in the hospital. She is doing better and was released earlier this morning. Her roommate Kat picked me up at the airport and was very kind to me. She got me back to their apartment, helped me find food, and got me situated so I could sleep comfortably. She is very kind.

This is Robyn in the Somerville Hospital.

Funny story... on my flight from Baltimore to Boston I sat next to an ex-marine who told me all kinds of cool things about being a marine as far as experiences and benefits. He was really cool and I admire everything he's done because I could never do it. If any of you have ever seen the movie Jarhead (if you haven't DO!) he told me about being in Desert Storm and walking through flat, hot deserts while it was raining oil, intense! The funny part of this story is that I was sitting between him and his ex-wife who were taking their children to New Hampshire for Thanksgiving. It was completely uncomfortable because I was at the epicenter of their tension and then my new marine friend insisted on telling me about all their drama, and I knew the wife could hear! They're still legally married because it benefits their taxes. A random bit he told me: A lot of marines will have a "contract marriage" where they're legally married to someone beause they get more money if they are. However, they do not consumate the marriage and after their time in the marines, the marriage becomes annuled. Well, while they receive that extra pay they split it with the "contract spouse"!! I need to find a marinette who needs a stud husband, haha!

Test 1 2 3

2005-11-15T11:10:00.000+08:00

I got an early Christmas present today! A brand new digital camera that I'm taking to Malaysia... So, I've tested it out and I've taken a picture of myself and my dog Ramses for the blog. Max could not be reached for the photoshoot. This will be the quality of the images from Malaysia. Enjoy!

Also, I have been told the location of the hotel where I'll be living for a month in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It's pretty f'in' sweet!! Check it out HERE I will be by that pool as often as I can and I especially like the description of the one restaurant as "a perfect place to have a drink before a long night out partying!" or something along those lines!

Also, funny story about work... I served the Schottenstein family! They tipped 20% even though I screwed up about 10 times, so I was very thankful. It was pretty awesome... I guess Eric Clapton ate there (my CPK) about 2 months ago and one of the servers took home his unfinished pizza!

Holiday Cheer and Going Away Sadness

2005-11-13T23:02:00.000+08:00

Last night our friends Ann and Adam hosted a Thanksgiving day meal at their house. The premise was only to bring a bottle of wine and holiday cheer. Well, Tiger and I brought 7 bottles of wine and gallons of holiday cheer! We discovered the joys of Schmidt Shone Riesling... oh so good, but the hangover is a bit hellish! Anyway, it was so good to hang out with my OU friends and see them (most of them) all in one place at one time before I leave, which is 2 weeks and counting!

I have 2 weeks to get IT together... I have to buy and pack practical and professional clothing. I have to collect materials for teaching. I have to find a digital camera. I have to figure out what is going on with my student loans (unless any of my readers would like to write me a check for $23,979 then I'll be ok). Pretty much, I have to do a ton of things and I only have 2 weeks to do it and I'm getting a bit worried.

I told work that I'm leaving and I'd say that it went over well for the most part. Maybe I'm paranoid or maybe I'm not, but I've never stuck around at a job long enough to experience the "2 week notice" period, but the atmosphere has definitely changed. Oh well, I'll be gone before I even know it. Funny story... I served a lady and 5 11 year old girls the other day and they sucked. They're total was $28.63 and the woman gave me $28.75 and told me to "keep the change." So, the grand total of times I've been stiffed is a whopping 3. I think the government needs to subsidize servers who get screwed... it happens for farmers! Maybe I'll work on that legislation when I get back from Malaysia.

3 weeks and counting!!

2005-11-07T11:29:00.000+08:00

So, in Malaysia I will be teaching rural teenagers between 13 and 18 years of age. The Fulbright commission, or the Malaysia Association of Educational Exchange (MACEE), has advised me to think of ideas to use in the classroom. (They have also only given me 24 days to obtain a visa!!) I will be teaching conversational English. Here's the deal, these brats (haha, jk) have been learning English for quite a few years and now I'm going to be their native speaker reference. I'm pretty much teaching them the practical aspects of the language. For example, "What's up, how's it going?" instead of "Hello, how are you today?"

Anyway, I have to do this in a fun and exciting way. So, I need some advice and ideas from my readers (if I even have any). Please tell me some fun activities to do in the classroom in the form of listening, reading, speaking, and writing activities. Like having the students listen to a pop culture song and fill in missing lyrics on a worksheet (ie listening skills). Also, think of some junk I could round up pre-departure that may come in handy, for example, Scategories! That's a fun game that will help with vocabulary! Send me some ideas, folks!

Also, serving is AWESOME! I like it a ton and I'm making pretty decent money (who needs a Fulbright!?) Anyway, two women I was serving the other day told me I look like Michael Bublé. He's a Canadian jazz singer... I dunno, I'll let you folks be the judge.

Up to the minute

2005-10-29T06:38:00.000+08:00

Just a quick little blog...

I really enjoy serving, a lot. I thought it was going to be impossible, but as it turns out, I'm pretty good at it, I think. I make decent tips so far, sometimes good, and sometimes just ok. I've only been stiffed one other time, and the service was good! They didn't use a credit card though, or else we'd have another Sokhan Kong.

I'm getting more and more excited about going to Malaysia... I can't wait for the warm weather and the new culture! It's going to be soo different from life here. I received my plane ticket itinerary the other day... I leave at 10:30am on Nov. 26 from Columbus. I fly to Chicago, then I get on a 16 hour flight to Hong Kong. Once there I bored a plane to Singapore (a 4 hour flight) where I will spend the night before flying to Kuala Lumpur the following morning. So, I will finally arrive at 11am on November 28... which will be 10pm November 27 EST. It's going to be a lot of traveling!

Anyway, I really like the song "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds. There is a line that goes, "And in white sea of eyes, there is one pair that I recognize." I just like it, folks. In this paragraph of random information I'd also like to add that I'm speaking TONS of spanish at work. The back of the house workers (all spanish-speakers) found out I speak spanish, so they no longer address me in English... it's kind of cool to be belittled in spanish, haha. Peace

Eh, Bad luck is still luck, right?

2005-10-24T10:44:00.000+08:00

...and Paul Konerko just hit a grand slam in the 2nd game of the world series... WOW!

I was just thinking about my past travels as my last month in the United States begins. It's actually pretty funny once I tell you about the history with them. First, I'd like to say that my mom has always told me, "If you didn't have bad luck, you wouldn't have any luck at all." This was most often heard from her on Friday nights while waiting in the Children's Hospital emergency room whether it be from one of my broken bones, a time I needed stitches, or that time I got mono when I was supposed to be on my way to Florida

Ok, so about those travels. Just about every place I have traveled to has suffered some sort of freakish event after I left. Coinencedence? I think not. I guess I never really thought about it until I came back from New Orleans, LA 4 days before Hurricane Katrina unleashed an ass whooping on the Gulf Coast. My friend Elaine pointed out that no place is ever the same after I leave... let me illustrate this further...

When I was a freshman in college I decided that I would take off spring quarter and backpack around Europe with my best friend from high school, Ben. We had a ton of fun, as expected, but after we left in June, Europe faced the worst heat wave in years, and hundreds of folks ended up dying. It happens. Then, I traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico as a sophomore in college (and to Puerto Vallarta which was pummeled by a hurricane right before I got there), but after I left, the city was rocked by a decent Richter rated earthquake. Ok, shifting tectonic plates build up tension which eventually needs a release, it happens. The following year I traveled to Thailand and Malaysia for about a month. Well, then there was that tsunami that hit and pretty much put life to a standstill in a large portion of Southeast Asia. Then I studied abroad in Ecuador for three months my junior year of college. Now, Ecuador is a country that doesn't really make the news, ever, but after I left it managed to have political upheaval and President Lucio Guitierrez was ousted... but that's just a result of a fickle populist nation that takes the bait of the latest savior's pretty speeches... it happens. Then, as I mentioned before, New Orleans. I guess I don't really need to elaborate on that one.

Well, I suppose the Bahamas was spared because the airline I was going to use went bankrupt right before my scheduled flight and I never made it. So, to my mother I would say, "I really don't have bad luck seeing that I never was present for any of this destruction, even though it came close a few times, but damn if I don't plant the seed for tragedy!" This is just a random thought in this rant... I specifically remember having several conversations with locals in New Orleans about hurricanes and they were so sure that New Orleans was safe and sound and there was no need to worry. Even if one was going to hit, they still had Bourbon St. to wait it out. I wonder if they remembered me and our conversations after the fact? Anyway, all I have to say is that Malaysia better watch out, because I'm on my way... or should it be the United States that should be prepared, because I am leaving!! :) Take care folks.

CPK's White Slave Trade Uncovered

2005-10-22T11:51:00.000+08:00

I worked my first day as a server... and I did a double! That's not only because I'm really ambitious, but because I'm broke and I need the cash! It went surprisingly well because no one left stained. I enjoyed the lunch shift much more than the dinner shift because the dinner shift had a woman named Sokhan Kong in my section. I only know this because she used a credit card, and yes, I looked her up. The story is... she was incredibly demanding, terribly rude, and did not tip me one bit despite my perfect and friendly service. To top it off, she stole my pen. She sucks. Anyway, here is a picture of her house. If you every drive by, please honk and be obnoxious for me. (I'm an excellent stalker and if anyone from the CIA is reading this, I'd like a job)

Other than that, life is grand! I went to Athens and visited a lot of friends who still reside there (I'm jealous of you all!) It was a good time and I wish I could make it back for Halloween, but I'll be working. It's probably best for not only myself, but Athens as well that I'm not down there :)

Ok, I don't really have anything of interest to say. I'm watching Larry King right now, and frankly, I don't care that Robert Shapiro's son died of a drug overdose. Call me uncompassionate, but there are sadder issues in life, say uh, war in Iraq or killer hurricanes (of which none are named Zach!). My bones ache, but it's good for me! I will try to be more entertaining, but my head is numb and I have to be back at work in 10 hours... take care everyone!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

2005-10-15T04:39:00.000+08:00

Well folks, it's official... as of November 26, 2005 at 10:30 am I will be leaving the United States of America for 7 short, but adventure-packed months! I think it's incredibly ironic that this date is my sister Lindsay's birthday. She is only 11 months older than me and as kids we always wished and hoped for the other one to disappear or move away... well sis, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Haha, just kiddin'. I'm pretty excited about the news because I finally have substantial evidence that my Fulbright grant is going to happen! Anyway, if I have a going away party it's probably going to be the night before, Friday, November 25. Since everyone is going shopping that day anyway they can buy me going away gifts... haha.

CPK was great today! I served my own tables and no one left wearing their drinks!! A pretty big mistake did happen, but it wasn't my fault, despite the fact that CPK does not allow blaming... this guy is pointing all 10 fingers at the kitchen! A Hindu family came in and ordered all vegetarian food (which CPK has a good variety of with great choices). So, I bring out the classic caesar salad, with NO chicken, and come back after the first 2 to 3 bites (sometimes 2 minutes according to CPK standards) to ask how it is. Well, it was good despite there being CHICKEN in it! I was so embarrassed... but they were ok and I got them a new salad. Small stuff, really. Also, I started befriending the spanish speaking kitchen staff. Hopefully I'll get in some español practice before I head out to a non-spanish speaking country. All in all, I enjoyed the experience and I think I'm going to do just fine... so stop in... and TIP well.

Random side note... Did anyone know that the word "tip" was originally an acronym? Waitresses in England, many many many years ago, would leave a jar at the front of a restaurant with a sign on it that read, "To Insure Promptness." Thus, the word "tip" was coined. That's your fact of the day, enjoy!

I recommend the raspberry iced-tea... IN YOUR LAP!

2005-10-14T03:47:00.000+08:00

As you might have guessed from the title of this blog, I pretty much suck at my new job. Ok, so I've only completed 3 of 5 days of training. After each day, one has to shadow a server to get a feel for the job. Well, each day I've been entirely overwhelmed, but that is supposed to dwindle the further along you are... not in my case :) I have shadowed amazingly patient people who have helped me a lot, but I just don't have the capacity for the job... I think.

Well, today, this great server, Renee, had me carry drinks to a table of 4. I carried them through the entire store, left-handed mind you, and I went to sit them down on the table and basically ended up throwing the raspbery iced-tea all over the table-top and laps of the people. Luckily, they were very kind and understanding and laughed it off... but I wasn't laughing... that was a harbinger to my future as a server. I mean, I think I can do it, but I'm not sure... Serving isn't for everyone and I might be living proof of that!

On a side note, people, please, ALWAYS tip your server. There is never a time when it's ok not to unless your server completely ignored you and never came to your table, like Paul from the New Jersey Olive Garden my family visited. If you've never served, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW DIFFICULT IT IS! I swear, those idiots at NASA might be rocket scientists, but seriously, they don't understand difficult, haha. Even if the service is a little crappy, you still gotta tip because a little crappy is still good in my newfound opinion... it's not easy! Also, if you've never served, get your butt off your couch and get a job doing it! It's definitely going to be a character defining moment. Despite all this, I'm REALLY REALLY excited to be doing it, it's a great challenge for me socially, physically, and mentally. We'll see!

Malayisan madness, for real

2005-10-13T10:11:00.000+08:00

August, December 1, November 25. What do all these dates have in common? Well, they're all dates that the Fulbright commission has given me as potential dates for my departure. The Fulbright commission, or MACEE, is driving me INSANE! None of the information regarding my grant is decided. It's sort of frustrating not knowing anything, like vaccinations I need, dates of the grant period, when my flight leaves, where I'll be living, etc. I do know that I'll be living in a remote village on my own, which is going to be incredibly exciting!

So, the latest info is that I'll leave on the day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 25, and I'll return at the end of June. Well, good thing I postponed all my plans for my future endeavors because I thought I would be there until the end of September 2006. Whatever, it's ok, I don't need a future... ugh! I'm trying not to complain (haha), but if you only knew the torture that this anticipation is causing me... I've been stressing about my future since June 11, 2005, the day after graduation. This incompetency by MACEE is not helping the situation.

So, this news also presents the joy of me telling my new bosses at CPK that I'm quitting only a month after they've spent numerous hours and tons of resources on training me... and I won't even be helping during the busy busy holiday season... that's responsibility folks! But that's ok, because I have a Fulbright...right? It's ok though because I'm not even sure how successful I will be as a waiter... I have a new found respect for ALL servers from Denny's to the Four Seasons (well, maybe not those jerks :). I am sort of conflicted with the job... I'm ADD with Type A personality, yes, it's possible! So, I'm obsessed with detail but I'm too distracted to notice! I haven't actually served yet, but we'll see how it goes... Hopefully, I'll get everyone I know to stock my tables so I won't have to deal with strangers!! COME EAT AND TIP!!

I promise this blog will become more interesting as 1) I screw up time and time again at serving and 2) I actually go to Malaysia, if ever, and do some AMAZING things like live in a hut in the middle of a jungle while eating termites for protein and holding down my hut with every appendage so it doesn't blow away during the Monsoon season! Check back often, peace!

Why am I always broke?

2005-10-11T03:48:00.000+08:00

So I was supposed to be a substitute teacher until I left for Malaysia but due to the lack of efficiency and competency of the Columbus Public Schools office staff, my file sat on a desk for 3 weeks before ever being processed. So, I finally received my sub license almost 2 months after being hired... but I'm not starting right away because I got a job serving at California Pizza Kitchen.

I'm workin at CPK (as it shall now be termed) for a few reasons: 1) Because it's fast cash 2) Because I've always wanted to give a shot at serving 3) Because it's not an outside job like valet parking, which can be miserable this time of year 4) The most important, because my friend Rian works at CPK. It's always more fun to work with friends because when you bitch to someone they completely understand. But I don't think I'll be complaining too much because I've liked the people I met and I think it'll be a good time. Come visit and tip well!

Finally, I bought a plane ticket to Boston today. I'm going to visit my friend Robyn (check out her blog, the link is to your right) before I head to Malaysia. I won't be going until the weekend before Thanksgiving and then Robyn and I will fly back to Columbus together. I'm pretty excited about it because Robyn is going to plan a great itinerary for us, with a heavy emphasis on free activities! I will have been to New Orleans, New York, Chicago, and Boston within the past 3 months... now I can actually tell my Malay students some cool stuff about the US and I'll have recent photos!

This picture shows how excited stupid I am for Boston and Robyn!

Blogs are a lot of fun

2005-10-10T09:42:00.000+08:00

I'm really excited to be the proud owner of a blog. So, I'm just posting a fun picture of me from the other night of going out with friends. I have almond eyes that make me look like Mr. Magoo. So, in this picture I've tried to hold them open and it turned out pretty funny. Oh, and I really like posting random stuff on my new blog!

The XYZ Affair

2005-10-10T04:11:00.000+08:00

I'm pretty upset about this year's hurricane season. Every year there are several hurricanes that make the news. Ok. Well, this year we finally have a gazillion that are making/have made the news and the entire list of names is going fast. How cool because there can finally be a storm blowing through named ZACH! However, the weather controllers have ended the list with a W name, Wilma. Why can't there be a Xavier, then Yvonee, and then a Zach? Why are they going to use Alpha, Beta, etc. That's pretty lame. It's not like this sort of phenomenon happens each year. Whatver National Weather Service, you're stupid.

What's the point...

2005-10-08T23:43:00.000+08:00

This blog will document my adventures living in Malaysia for 10 months between December 1, 2005 and September 30, 2006.

I'm hoping it will be pretty entertaining because random events usually follow my life. Most importantly, this blog will be the means by which I mass communicate with family, friends, and creepy online strangers so that I do not have to send 1,000 emails a day.

If anyone has any specific requests, such as a photo of the view from my bedroom or an entry discussing the objective of my lesson plans (haha), just add a comment and I'll try to get around to it.

Most importantly, please enjoy and keep in contact! I'll be missing everyone the entire time I'm abroad, but at least you can enjoy the experience with me via this BLOG!!!!!! ALLLLLGGGGGGGG!!!

Zach