I never thought I would...

 Now that I’m halfway through my grant in Malaysia, I’ve realized in these 5 short months I’ve surprised myself time and time again with things I never thought I would do.

1) Speak/dance/sing in front of a large audience (500+)

The first day of school, I was asked to address all the students, teachers, and administration. My speech was short and sweet, but little did I know it was only the beginning of my many appearances in front of large crowds. Now every Thursday morning I organize and carry out an English activity with all 500 students. I also never thought I’d have the guts to sing or dance in front of so many people, but after conducting a few English camps and being the “VIP” at various events, I’ve had to be the spectacle on stage where I sing and dance while not showing any sign of fear . I’ve done the chicken dance, the funky chicken dance, the shuffle…among many others. I never loved speaking, dancing, or singing in front of an audience, but it really does become easier the more I do it.

Speaking of dancing, here is what my students will forever remember me for: (which Holly and I recorded in the middle of a mall, which drew quite the crowd)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcSBRyPRA70&feature=youtu.be

2) Eat gross animal parts

Well, this was only a one time thing, but I’m still shocked I did it. In Vietnam, traditional dishes include pigeon (yes, the whole thing), frog’s leg, and eel. Everyone knows I don’t even eat seafood, but since our new Australian friends invited us to dinner that evening, they really encouraged me to try these exotic dishes. So, I did. I ate eel, a pigeon’s toe (toenail and all), a pigeon’s brain, eel, and frog’s leg. I can’t say I enjoyed any of it, but I'm pretty proud that I did it.

Frog's leg

Slightly terrified before eating a toe

My next victim

There, I did it! I ate the back of its head!

I look happier than I should be for just eating his brain

Now, to see what the next 5 months will bring! 

Indonesia (March Holiday)

Yes, I know I am extremely behind in blogging, but better late than never, right? For our first one week holiday in March I traveled with 6 other ETAs to the island of Java and Bali in Indonesia. I can sum up our trip by two words: BAD WEATHER. We hiked up many mountains and craters to witness beautiful sunrises only to be stuck in freezing rain and strong winds. However, we made the best of our trip and had a great time nonetheless! Here are some pictures:


Pictures from Indonesia

What's Life Without a Joke? Part 3

The jokes keep coming in good ol’ Malaysia. I wrote this a few months ago but never posted it…

I had been having no problems with my motorbike. Sure, I ran out of gas here and there, but that’s become the usual. This particular day I was on the way to the bus station to buy tickets for the upcoming weekend. As I slow down to the biggest intersection in Kuantan, my motorbike dies. I try to start it. It doesn’t work. I keep trying. A man on a motorbike in front of me sees me at the stop light frantically trying to kickstart my bike without any success, and he offers to help. He can’t do it either. He tells me to get on his motorbike and drive through the intersection, and he will walk my bike to a nearby shop. What a fine gentleman. We get to the shop and the guys there try to fix it, and can’t. The whole time his man is waiting for me, I keep telling him I’m okay, he can go back to work (which was where he was headed before he stopped to help me). He insisted he stay with me until my bike was fixed, because he was worried people would take advantage of me (because I’m white). Eventually I call my bike shop who came to tow it away and it was fixed the next day.

Fast forward to last night. Holly, Owen and I are on our merry way to get dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant, and as we pull up to the same intersection, my bike dies, again. Some people manage to start it, but it doesn’t stay on. So I walk it through the intersection and to a nearby gas station. I fill it with gas, and it starts. Must have run out of gas again. Oops.

So today is a new day. It’s a great day because we don’t have school. Holly and I decide to make the drive up to Cherating, a nice beach about 45 minutes north of us. Once we’re there, I notice something is off with my bike. I look at my tires and find my back tire is flat. I slowly drive it down the road, looking for a motorbike shop to fix it. I find one, but it’s closed because it’s a holiday. Of course. I find another one a bit down the road and hooray! It’s open. As soon as we get there, it starts pouring. Typical Malaysian weather. So the man fixes my tire, and we wait around for about 45 minutes for the rain to stop. It stops, and I hop on my bike to leave, just to find that my tire is flat. Again. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. So we wait around some more for someone to drive somewhere else and get me a part I need. It’s fixed again, I leave, and this time with no flat tires!

At this point, it was too wet and too late in the day to go to the beach, so we just decide to find a place to eat and call it a day before heading back to Kuantan. We do that, and on the way home, my chain comes off my bike. I can’t go anywhere. It’s getting dark, and we had no idea where we were. So Holly and I split up and each of us are on the opposite side of the road, trying to flag down passing by motorists to see if they can help. It works—a few people manage to put the chain back on, and one of them goes to find an open motorbike shop. He comes back, and tells us to follow him. On the way there, my chain comes off again. More people help to put it back on. We eventually make it to the shop, they fix the chain, and we made it back to Kuantan. Such is the life of a second-hand motorbike owner in Malaysia.