Relaxation and Rejuvenation in the Mountains of Sabah

                                         

                                         

I am gradually becoming accustom to my different pace of life here. I am enjoying the growing familiarity of Kota Kinabalu as it begins to feel more and more like a home. Although I do like the familiarity, I also like the fact that there is always something new to learn and experience just about every day. I am pretty certain this will continue for the entire year. (Photos: mountains surrounding the retreat center, Mount Kinabalu)

So I was pleased with the level of unpredictability that accompanied our journey to the retreat at the base of Mount Kinabalu. I had no idea what to expect which brought mixed feelings of excitement and a little bit of good anxiety. Would it be anything like what I considered a retreat to be? My experiences so far have taught me that it could be either extreme; either very similar to a church retreat back at home or so different that the same word should not even be used to describe it. Lauren (one of my roommates) and I were given a ride by a couple alsoattending the retreat. It was my first time meeting them and as with everyone I've interacted with here, they were so pleased to spend time with us and were very gracious. After about five minutes in the car, Shelley asked if she could pray for our journey to the retreat. I felt very comforted listening to her prayer. My mom always prays at the beginning and end of any trip we take. They pray aloud quite often here, especially before meals. This is something that certainly pushes my comfort zone, in a good way, and I hope to grow more comfortable with it through out the year. 

Although, there were differences between the retreat and a retreat we would have, the differences were pretty slight. Overall it was a very enjoyable weekend. For starters, it was 

absolutely beautiful. I know, I keep saying everything is beautiful, but I really feel that every new place I go is more beautiful than the last! We were up in the mountains and had a gorgeous view of the summit of Mount Kinabalu. On Sunday (my birthday) we had the whole afternoon free. For an hour or so it was raining, so we got a ride to Kinabalu National Park. Even in the rain, it was nice to see and I look forward to going back and exploring. When we climb Mount Kinabalu next year this is where we begin the climb. There are also many other trails available for your hiking pleasure. By the time we got back to where the retreat was the rain had let up. We were able to spend a couple hours hiking. This was definitely the highlight for me. It was so nice to be out in nature. Very peaceful and relaxing. It was also nice to spend some time reflecting on the month with the other YAGM (the five others doing this same program in Malaysia). (Photo: Kelsey, Ellen, Jacob, Erika, and me during our hike) 

The retreat itself consisted of four, two hour sessions with their guest speaker, a pastor

 from Australia. This retreat was family orientated so there were about eight young children under the age of six. We (the YAGM) were in charge of keeping them entertained during the sessions. We switched off going to sessions and watching the children, so we each were able to go to two of the four sessions. This was a very good happy medium because I enjoyed both playing with the kids and going to the sessions. (Photo: Me and Rachel, 3, one of the little girls I played with during the sessions. Although she looks shy in this picture she was extremely energetic and kept me on my toes). 

Leaving the retreat, even with my exhaustion (the beds were very hard and I didn't sleep too well) I felt quite renewed. It was a very good experience to get out of the city for a few days, to spend some time in nature, and get a chance to develop relationships with those at the retreat. It really had a camp feeling to it and we very quickly developed the camp family feeling. I particularly liked the length of the retreat. Until this point we have not had the chance to really be around the same people (church people that is) for three consecutive days and this made the development of relationships stronger. Now we have more of a church family as well as our work families. 

On our last morning there we were broken into five teams and did a scavenger hunt! It was actually pretty difficult, but lots of fun to work in a team. After finishing the scavenger hunt we had to finish a puzzle in order to win. I really enjoyed it and want to share it with you. If you are experiencing any boredom or need to procrastinate this should help!

Can you find the names of 25 books of the Bible in this paragraph? This is a most remarkable puzzle. Someone found it in the seat pocket on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu, keeping himself occupied for hours. One man from Illinois worked on this while fishing from his john boat. Roy Clark studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Victs mentioned it in her column once. One woman judges the job to be so involving, she brews a cup of tea to help calm her nerves. There will be some names that are really easy to spot... that's a fact. Some people will soon find themselves in a jam, especially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized. The truth is, from answers we get, we are forced to admit it usually takes a minister or scholar to see some of them at the worst. Something in our genes is responsible for the difficulty we have. Those able to find all of them will hear great lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation may help, books like! Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. And punctuation or spaces in the middle are normal. A chipper attitude will help you compete. Remember, there are 25 books of the Bible lurking somewhere in this paragraph.

Simple Living

                 

                                   

On Wednesday we went to Madam Ha and George's durian farm and it was even more beautiful than KK. Of course, farm here is not in any way close to what a farm in the Midwest is like. It's practically the jungle. Very lush and green with trees bearing fruit all over the place. Raising durian is actually quite a lot of work. Once the durian get to a medium size (right about now in the season) they have to tie the durian to the tree branches so that they do not fall too early (see picture). This requires someone to climb up in the tree. We were able to see this and it is so much work that it must be a never ending job.

I did try durian again and am pleased to say that it's beginning to grow on me! I could finish a whole part of one (which really isn’t too big) and it really didn't taste that bad. I think after about two more tries I'll actually really like it. I tried to savor the taste and try to come up with something that it tastes like but am still at a loss for words. Although, I did realize that it does have a weird sweet taste to it. The texture, kind of like soft stringy chicken breast, is also something that I think makes it unappealing at first. Just a fruit that takes some getting used to... it's definitely an acquired taste and I'm on my way to acquiring it!

 Another part that I liked about the durian farm was seeing the workers and their lives there. VERY simple and living in huts. They were all smiles and happy to have visitors. From my brief observation they seemed quite happy with their simple life there. I walked away from the farm thinking, although I doubt I'll ever live so remotely in the country like that, or quite that simple, I really hope I am always able to be thankful for the gifts I have, small or large.  I hope I am always able to be happy and content with my life... never wanting more.

One of the biggest adjustments for me here has been getting used to not being in such regular contact with my friends back home, struggling to keep up to date with all of them, and manage my time to stay in touch. I thought about how the workers on the durian farm probably didn't have very many friends aside from the family they were living with. If they did have friends I'm sure they had no way of staying in touch with them. Although I love my friends dearly and hope they are all part of my life for a long time, I am beginning to realize the reality of living your own life and letting go a little. There is something to be said about being in the moment, in your own life; to really getting to know yourself and being content with that.

In about an hour I will be leaving for a weekend church retreat at the base of Mount Kinabalu. I am really looking forward to seeing the mountain up close and to hopefully developing more friendships with the people at the retreat. I will return on Monday afternoon.

I will leave you with another meaningful passage from “Beyond the White Noise”  which corresponds to my previous post and can be applied to the idea of living simply as the workers on the durian farm do.

“Sometimes I felt like a gecko in Laog. I had tremendous energy and desire to move, and I did. I was busy, but it all seemed meaningless. During one of these frustrating periods I remember reading Masao Takenaka’s God is Rice. He helped me better understand the limits of modern “Western” culture.

We live an increasingly hectic life and we are busy with much busyness. The character for “busy” in Chinese writing, which Koreans and Japanese also use, literally means “to destroy one’s heart.” If we are too busy we forget what is most important. It is interesting that the same components of the character for busy are used to indicate forgetfulness. Both mean the destruction of one’s heart. “

The Importance of Relationships

I recently started reading the book, "Beyond the White Noise" by Tom Montgomery-Fate. The book was given to all six of us journeying to Malaysia by the ELCA. The author writes about his experience as a missionary in the Philippines, where Christianity is not the main religion, similar to Malaysia. So far I am really enjoying the book and would like to share an excerpt with you.

"Do not depend on the hope of results... the big results are not in your hands or mine... they suddenly happen and we can share in them; but there is no point in building our lives on this personal satisfaction, which may be denied us and which after all is not that important... In the end it is the reality of personal relationships that saves everything." quoted in the book by Thomas Merton. The author continues, "Merton suggests a different focus: that our task as missionaries (and as human beings), is not to impose, but to share- both the risks and joys of the host culture- to realize that "human relationships save everything."

I found this passage to be a very important reminder as to what my time here is all about.  As somebody quite focused on results, this brought the issue to the front of my mind and made me realize it is something I need to work on through out the year: less on the outcome and results and more on the people and relationships. Although, I do hope to see results, and I feel I can't help that as I am teaching the children and am responsible for their progress learning, the more important part is the relationships I form. Being here in Sabah to teach kindergartners English is just a stepping stone to building these relationships; to learning about the culture through the people I meet and simply listening and letting them teach me.

Only about two and a half weeks have passed since I've arrived and I've already begun to build these relationships, and I have done my best to listen and absorb the information that has been shared with me. I've been overcome with gratitude for the warm welcome we've received and the amount of hard work and planning that has gone into our life here in Malaysia. Everyone has been going out of their way to make sure we are comfortable, happy and understanding the new culture we're surrounded by. 

During our first week here, we went to a pot luck dinner hosted by Pastor Laura (country coordinator). Everyone who was part of the planning to bring us here attended the dinner, such as our bosses, BCCM (Basel Christian Church of Malaysia) pastors and more. It was a wonderful experience getting the chance to sit down and talk with everyone who had put so much work into our life here and had heard so much about us. After dinner they had a brief meeting to discuss the next few weeks for us. This was one of the most defining moments I've had thus far in my time here in Malaysia. It was so moving to sit and observe as they discussed each of us and showed all of the work they had put in and were going to continue to put in through out the year. I suddenly felt as though I was more of a burden than a help. There is no way I would be here right now, in a place that's beginning to feel like a home, with out these people and their daily efforts to assist us. It was a pure example of the people here teaching me and again reminding me of the purpose that they are here to serve me just as much as I am here to serve them. I could simply feel how passionate they are about this program, how committed to it they are and how much they want it to work. 

I am gradually beginning to build my family here and am very pleased with the relationships I've begun thus far. I look forward to seeing where the year leads my relationships and to watch as my family here grows.

***The picture is of me with Madam Ha (pronounced Madam Ho) and George. They are the owners of the apartment building we live in and they live two floors above us. They have quickly become our host family and are like parents to us. They always seem to have us in mind, stopping by with treats or taking us to run errands and buy local fruit. They often take us out for dinner to introduce us to new foods. Madam Ha will be teaching us Chinese through out the year. On Wednesday (no school, public holiday), I believe we are going out to the country to see George's durian (smelly fruit) farm. Much more to come on them later. 

3 Important Things to Know About the Malaysian Food Experience

Aside from the tropical climate and surroundings (lots of coconut trees!) the first main difference I noticed after arriving in KK (Kota Kinabalu) was the food (I refer to it as the food experience because the food is so different it is an experience in itself). We went out for lunch after being picked up at the airport. As we sat down I realized there was no knife, fork or spoon. Just chopsticks. (I am slowly becoming good at using chopsticks to eat. Luckily they do use forks quite often too. However, I like the challenge and try to use chopsticks whenever possible). By recommendation we all ordered a local version of cold green tea. It was very good but I was pretty dehydrated so I requested a glass of water. I was asked (by Pastor Laura, our country coordinator) if I would like the water cold. I responded, "Yes" thinking that was a pretty odd question. I was then informed that if you order water at a restaurant and do not specify that you want it cold that you will be served hot water. I have been reminded of this several times through out my time here when I ordered water, while breaking a sweat from eating soup and drinking coffee in high humidity only to receive hot water like we would drink with tea. So lesson #1: always order cold water.

After taking about five days to adjust, I now think the food here is amazing and I can already tell it is something I will miss when returning to the States. I am trying so many new foods… I always try everything (no matter how strange it looks) and if I don’t like something (which has only happened a few times) I try my hardest to take a few bites to make sure it really is not appealing to me. They have such a wide variety of food (Malaysian, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indian, western and more) and it is so fresh, not processed like many of the food is in the States. Very broadly I would say I currently enjoy the noodles, rice and fresh fruit the most. I also surprised myself by liking the Indian food we had last week. They also really like spicy food here and food is typically not that sweet, which I like a lot. They always have some kind of chili/hot sauce or peppers on the side of every meal to add as needed… kind of like we use salt and pepper. I do think it’s pretty humorous how much soup they eat. Many of the restaurants are not air-conditioned. It’s so hot here that at most any time through out the day you can break a sweat just simply sitting. So do Malaysians try to make the heat more bearable by drinking cold water and eating cooler foods? Oh no, they regularly drink hot water, hot tea, and hot coffee and eat soup with many meals.

The local fresh fruit is also fairly different from the states and is delicious. Similar fruits that we buy fresh and really enjoy are pineapple and banana. I also really like the dragon fruit, star fruit, mango and I have a papaya in my kitchen that I have yet to eat. I have had several other local fruits that are not like anything I’ve seen before but I can’t remember all of the names. However, I have finally learned the name of my favorite fruit so far: talap! It is pictured above. Trust me, I know it does not look appetizing and I was very skeptical the first time I had it. It is actually quite sweet and delicious. It is only grown and found in Sabah (the state of Malaysia I am living in). Lesson #2: Don’t judge food by its cover! Try everything… you may be pleasantly surprised. And then again you may not…..I have also tried the fruit called durian. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian The fruit is known for it’s horrible smell. It is so pungent that the fruit is not allowed to be sold in the city. In order to by durian you have to drive out of the city and there are stands along the road selling it. Honestly, I cannot put into words what it tasted like… it is incomparable with any other taste. However, I can tell you that I did not like it at all and was only able to stomach one bit. The texture is best comparable to chicken. Of course, Malaysians love it and they have many different foods flavored durian… even ice cream. I have been told that if you try it twice you will then like it. So I may try it a second time… we’ll see.

Not only is the food very different but the eating style and rules are quite different too..  Lesson #3: You must eat all that you are served. Otherwise it is perceived that you don’t like the food and that you’re being wasteful. This was extremely difficult at first but after about a week and a half I am pleased to share I became a pro at cleaning my plate.  I had a few experiences where I was questioned about not liking the food because I simply could not stuff another bite in my mouth. Further clarifying the rule: You must finish all the food on your plate if you are eating at home or are a guest at someone’s house. When at all possible serve yourself so you can take small portions if necessary. However, when at a restaurant you do not have to finish your whole portion, but if at all possible it is strongly advised to finish everything. It can still be viewed as wasteful by not eating all your food. 

We also learned very quickly that Malaysia’s eat sizable portions and they eat them quite often. They have breakfast, then tea (with a “snack”…. comparable size to what I would have for lunch in the states), lunch, another tea/snack in the afternoon, then dinner… and if they’re up late they’ll have another “snack” around 10 p.m.  Although I know that we snack in the States the difference is: I feel they eat more and there snacks are more routine and scheduled and most everyone has them at the same time.

This morning I feel I passed my final test and have officially adjusted to the food here in KK. Mr. Lo Vun Ken took me out to breakfast on the way to school. The specialty of the restaurant was their fish ball porridge. ---Honestly the two foods that I’ve struggled with finishing and disliked the most have been fish and porridge...but I’d never had them together. Their porridge is not sweet at all, instead I have had chicken porridge that tastes heavily of chicken broth and has bits of chicken mixed in. I didn’t like it. Some fish I’ve had to eat has been all right; however probably my least favorite food I’ve had here was some kind of fish. I debated ordering noodles instead for breakfast. However I decided that I would give it a try. What was the worst that could happen? Surprisingly enough, it was quite good! The fish balls looked similar to our meatballs but they’re white. I’m not sure how to describe the taste but it was certainly edible. I’m not sure it is something I would order on my own but I was pleased I didn’t have any issues eating it.

Last example of the different foods… Tonight I tried a special local “drink”. I have no idea why it’s called it a drink because it was soup. It was sweet potato and yam mixed in coconut juice. There were small cubes of yam and sweet potato in the coconut juice and it was slightly blended.  I don’t know who would ever think to mix those three foods together but it actually isn’t too bad. It has a very unique taste and was very filling.

The most important lesson that I've learned is lesson #2 about waste. Be thankful for the food you have to eat (even if it isn't fish ball porridge) and do your very best to only take the amount of food you can eat and finish it all. 

Genesis 1: 29-30

 

 

Finally... the first of many to come

Greetings from the beautiful city of Kota Kinabalu! I am pleased to report I have arrived safely and am adjusting quite well. I have now been here for almost two weeks and it is gradually beginning to feel like home. Thank you again for all of your support and prayers. I apologize for my lack of correspondence, as I have been without Internet since I arrived. So much has happened in the past 14 days that I feel I could right a short book. I don't quite know where to begin...

After 44 hours of traveling, 22 of those hours in the air, I arrived on Friday, August 28th in the sunny, hot and humid city of Kota Kinabalu. Although I was fairly worn out from traveling I was very happy to finally reach our destination. We immediately began our activities for the week of orientation but were given quite a bit of down time the first few days to rest. I was pleasantly surprised that the jet lag was not too bad for me. After about a day or so I felt pretty adjusted to the time difference, which is 13 hours ahead of Central Standard Time.

This week I began my job placement at Kindergarten Petagus. It was a great feeling to wake up on Monday morning and know I had to get ready for work… and then to walk out the door towards my job for the next year. Not having a regular job this summer was difficult for me and it was especially hard not working with/seeing children regularly. I had been ready for this day for quite awhile.

Kindergarten Petagus is about a 15-minute drive (sometimes a bit more depending on traffic) from my apartment. Every morning I am picked up by Mr. Lo Vun Ken, a board member of the kindergarten and he transports me to the kindergarten. One of the teachers gives me a ride home after school. I am picked up at 7 a.m. and school starts at 8 a.m. School ends at 11:30 a.m. and I am home by around 12:30 p.m. I have the afternoon free to work on lesson plans, work out, read, journal and do just about anything that my heart desires. It is a very relaxed schedule and so far I am enjoying it quite well.

Although on Monday I was happy to be at the kindergarten it was not too eventful. I spent most of the morning meeting with the principal and going over the different classes and different materials that need to be taught. I spent a brief period of time at the end of the morning peeking into each classroom. I did get to see and English class being taught to the 4 year olds, which was very helpful. This is one of the smaller kindergartens in Kota Kinabalu, which I am thankful for. This way I am able to make more of a connection with the children and hopefully will know most of them. There are approx. 130 children and they are split into 6 different classes. In Malaysia, kindergarten is age 4, 5 and 6. So at Kindergarten Petagus there are two classes for each age.

Tuesday was my first day teaching! I was surprised at my lack of nerves but it made sense as I had prepared well and am comfortable teaching young children. The biggest problem I could foresee was the language barrier. Malay is the first language of most children at this kindergarten. At school they learn Malay, Chinese and English. However, it does not seem to be a problem. As long as I talk slowly they understand pretty well. The 6 year olds understand just about everything I say and with the 4 year olds I have to concentrate on using very simple English. But so far so good. This is quite a blessing as know very little Malay right now (but I am learning). On Tuesday I taught 4 classes back to back (with a half hour tea break in the middle). I taught Phonics lesson and then English lesson to the same 6 yr. old class. I then taught the same English lesson to the other 6 yr. old class and my last class for the day was an English lesson for the 5 yr. old class. I was a little tired by the end of the morning but very pleased with the way the lessons had gone.

Today, Wednesday went even better. My first class of the day was the same as Tuesday (6 year olds). On Tuesday I taught this class to say “Good Morning”. Today, when I walked into the class and started getting my stuff ready for the lesson almost every student came up to me individually and said “Good Morning!”  That made my day right there! J  The rest of my classes went well.

It seems that my 5 year old classes are going to be the most difficult to teach. The 5’s are in a weird medium between just the beginning stage of learning (4’s) and the stage of understand the overall concept (6’s). The 5-year-old classes are also always my last class of the day and by that time their attention span is pretty short.

I feel I have been placed in a wonderful job where I am really needed and where I will excel. So far I look forward to work every morning and enjoy challenging myself by adding some uniqueness to the lesson plans and not teaching straight from the book. At this point it has been a wonderful week and I look forward to getting settled into the school and really impacting the children.

 Through out the next week I will make several posts on different topics and try to catch you all up on the past two weeks of my life in Malaysia.

 This is the day that the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.  –Psalm 118:24