READ THE POST BELOW THIS FIRST 5/18
5/19
Two weeks ago, the weekend of May 13 and 14th could not have come fast enough. I think the general consensus amongst the ETAs was that we were ready to go back to KL. We were told that midyear meeting amongst MACEE officials was to be held that weekend and that we were going to share presentations about our first half of the year and also be briefed on any other pertinent information. Yea all that "yadi yadi" sounded nice but what we wanted more than anything were hot showers, free buffets, plush pillows and sheets, soft beds, and AIRCON!! Boy we were in luck. We left there that Wednesday night from Terengganu and arrived in KL about 40 mins later. I think, and I could be wrong, but I'm willing to bet that everybody's first move was to lay in the bed for about 30 mins and just get acclimated to not having to worry about your feet hanging off the bed(me), not having to turn every 10 mins(me), and being able to spread your legs without hitting the wall or swinging off the bed(also me). This was much needed R & R time for us and we were going to take full advantage of it while it was there. I decided to take a shower before we went anywhere and ended up taking a 30 min shower while doing nothing but standing there. It was air to our lungs, light to our path, ground to our journey. The next day we went downstairs to the exquisite breakfast we had all grown accustomed to while there are first two weeks. I think everybody was there earlier than usual to let the first round of food digest then go back up for the next. Once we arrived at MACEE, we were greeted by welcoming and familiar faces. Mrs. Ponnusamy met us in the room with all the answers to our immediate questions, as usual on the ball, and Mr. Coffman followed with his comical personality which soon proved to have everyone laughing. A breath of fresh air to us all to see and be able to share our concerns and experiences with them. We were given a full schedule of events that we were to be involved in for the day. Mrs. Mary Chan(our Bahasa Melayu cikgu), walked in and it was wonderful to see her also. We spent 30 mins of the lesson talking in nothing but Bahasa Melayu. Now even though I didn't understand everything that she said, I understood enough to be able to answer questions. At the end of that period, she informed us that she had superlative awards for us. Yourrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Boi(me) received the Overall Best Bahasa Malaysia Speaker Award!!!!! All those mornings of talking to Qistina and Syafiqah, conversing with the students and teachers, and "shooting the breeze" with the locals paid off. Even though I didn't do it for the award, I am glad that my progress has been noticed and recognized. THANK YOU Mrs. Chan, Mr. Coffman, Mrs. Ponnusamy, Qistina and Syafiqah, students and teachers, and locals!!
That night we went to a theatre production where we supported a fellow Fulbrighter Jaki, who is in KL studying theatre and dance. Initially, I must admit, I didn't want to go being that we were in the city for the first time in months and wanted to take full advantage of its "resources". The production was held at the Publika Gallery in Kuala Lumpur and was the headliner for the gallery exhibit. It turned out to be a great event, I met some people, and I got a chance "jam" with the companies drummers. At first when I talked to the guy and told him that I play, he kind of looked me up and down and I could tell that he was reluctant to believe it.He asked me I wanted to play and I said how about we all play. So I picked the Djembe, put the strap around my shoulder, locked the drum in between my knees and proceeded to play. What I'm sure he thought was going to be a quick 2 or 3 minute lesson to me, turned out to be one of the "most intriguing jam sessions" he had ever been involved with. Never judge a book by its cover.
That next day I shared my presentation, in which of course, I had technical difficulties. I thought besides that it went smoothly. Our task was to create a presentation about our experiences in our schools, Terengganu, and Malaysia have been like so far. In my presentation, I made a movie where I had students and teachers asking me questions about my experiences. I even put music to the movie and set it up so where it looked like I was being interviewed but I also interacted with the students and teachers as they were a large part in the making and completion. * I'm going to try and load it on here also. Throughout our stay in KL, MACEE so graciously paid for our lunches and breafkasts'. That only means onnnnnnnnnne thing(well not really but it sounds good).....we ate gooooooooooood!!! There was sooooo much food at some points we were close to turning it down. We ate at TGIF and the most elaborate buffets, and often felt bad for letting some of the food go to waste. Our last day in KL proved to be equally relaxing as I got my favorite, KRISPY KREME donuts and saw The Furious 5. Maybe it's because I had not gone to a movie in over a month but that movie was GREAT!!! Non-stop action, surprises, and clutch punch lines kept me intrigued. I also got watch the M16 competition. The M16 is a B-Boy(break dance) competition where you dance for the right to represent Malaysia in Korea for the world championships of break dancing. While watching them dance I couldn't help but think, " You know what, I can do this." I decided to go down and dance as a independent in the competition. Since I had never break danced before, I just thought what would Turbo do?(reference from the movie Breakin') Soooooooooooooo....I started pop lockin' and....ok ok ok, just joking. I didn't really go and start dancing BUT I think I could've done alright in the competition lol We had a great weekend and looking forward to the return!! THANK YOU MACEE
Selamat Hari Guru or Happy Teacher's Day. Whoever heard of a day where they celebrate teacher's the whole day by playing activities, giving them food, and presenting information about them. Well I haven't until I arrived at SMAASZA. I was told that Selamat Hari Guru was a national holiday and that all teacher's are celebrated. I participated in COCONUT Field Bowling, Apple Eating Contest, Tug-o-War, musical chairs, and helped DJ the event at school. I was unaware how competitive the teachers were with the games but soon made aware. I was told by a teacher "you are in 6th place and I am in 1st, you lose!" as a participant in COCONUT Field Bowling. I was pushed out of a seat while playing musical chairs twice. I even almost choked in astonishment on a apple, because of the teacher next to me SWALLOWING the apple to try to beat everyone else. Ohhhhh but I know now...I know now..There had to be a reason why these teachers were so competitive in these friendly games with nothing to win. I couldn't have been more wrong. While in the presentation, the announcement was made for the winners and 2nd place participants to come up to the stage. As their names were called one by one, the winners and runners-up received these GIANT gift baskets with fruit, chips, cookies, office utensils, and sometimes money inside. I couldn't believe it. If I had known that we were playing for such lucrative prizes I might have pushed a little harder or rolled a little more accurate. As we sitting down one of the teacher's who at this point had three 1-meter high baskets looked back and winked. All I could do was laugh. At the end of the presentations, I walked back to my office to find my own 1-meter high basket along with a slew of other goodies that students had bought or made for me. THANK YOU SMAASZA I tell you what though, next time I know lol
Ohh yea, how could I forget...at the ceremony one of the prizes that were being handed out were COMFORTERS!!! Can you believe that??!?!?!?! It's 98 at night and the prize.... is....a.........COMFORTER!! How?? WHY????
As the mid year date comes and soon will pass, looking back on past experiences have only brought about two thoughts: 1. Where did the first 5 months go? and 2. Looking forward to the next 5! I look at my progression as a person here in Malaysia and I can honestly say that my perspective on life has not changed. I still look at people with an open mind. I still approach most situations with an inquisitive platform. I hope that these qualities continue to make me a better person. Each day, something new, but with that a new level of understanding of life and not only how I fit into that puzzle but how can I improve on it. THANK YOU GOD
5/19
Two weeks ago, the weekend of May 13 and 14th could not have come fast enough. I think the general consensus amongst the ETAs was that we were ready to go back to KL. We were told that midyear meeting amongst MACEE officials was to be held that weekend and that we were going to share presentations about our first half of the year and also be briefed on any other pertinent information. Yea all that "yadi yadi" sounded nice but what we wanted more than anything were hot showers, free buffets, plush pillows and sheets, soft beds, and AIRCON!! Boy we were in luck. We left there that Wednesday night from Terengganu and arrived in KL about 40 mins later. I think, and I could be wrong, but I'm willing to bet that everybody's first move was to lay in the bed for about 30 mins and just get acclimated to not having to worry about your feet hanging off the bed(me), not having to turn every 10 mins(me), and being able to spread your legs without hitting the wall or swinging off the bed(also me). This was much needed R & R time for us and we were going to take full advantage of it while it was there. I decided to take a shower before we went anywhere and ended up taking a 30 min shower while doing nothing but standing there. It was air to our lungs, light to our path, ground to our journey. The next day we went downstairs to the exquisite breakfast we had all grown accustomed to while there are first two weeks. I think everybody was there earlier than usual to let the first round of food digest then go back up for the next. Once we arrived at MACEE, we were greeted by welcoming and familiar faces. Mrs. Ponnusamy met us in the room with all the answers to our immediate questions, as usual on the ball, and Mr. Coffman followed with his comical personality which soon proved to have everyone laughing. A breath of fresh air to us all to see and be able to share our concerns and experiences with them. We were given a full schedule of events that we were to be involved in for the day. Mrs. Mary Chan(our Bahasa Melayu cikgu), walked in and it was wonderful to see her also. We spent 30 mins of the lesson talking in nothing but Bahasa Melayu. Now even though I didn't understand everything that she said, I understood enough to be able to answer questions. At the end of that period, she informed us that she had superlative awards for us. Yourrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Boi(me) received the Overall Best Bahasa Malaysia Speaker Award!!!!! All those mornings of talking to Qistina and Syafiqah, conversing with the students and teachers, and "shooting the breeze" with the locals paid off. Even though I didn't do it for the award, I am glad that my progress has been noticed and recognized. THANK YOU Mrs. Chan, Mr. Coffman, Mrs. Ponnusamy, Qistina and Syafiqah, students and teachers, and locals!!
That night we went to a theatre production where we supported a fellow Fulbrighter Jaki, who is in KL studying theatre and dance. Initially, I must admit, I didn't want to go being that we were in the city for the first time in months and wanted to take full advantage of its "resources". The production was held at the Publika Gallery in Kuala Lumpur and was the headliner for the gallery exhibit. It turned out to be a great event, I met some people, and I got a chance "jam" with the companies drummers. At first when I talked to the guy and told him that I play, he kind of looked me up and down and I could tell that he was reluctant to believe it.He asked me I wanted to play and I said how about we all play. So I picked the Djembe, put the strap around my shoulder, locked the drum in between my knees and proceeded to play. What I'm sure he thought was going to be a quick 2 or 3 minute lesson to me, turned out to be one of the "most intriguing jam sessions" he had ever been involved with. Never judge a book by its cover.
That next day I shared my presentation, in which of course, I had technical difficulties. I thought besides that it went smoothly. Our task was to create a presentation about our experiences in our schools, Terengganu, and Malaysia have been like so far. In my presentation, I made a movie where I had students and teachers asking me questions about my experiences. I even put music to the movie and set it up so where it looked like I was being interviewed but I also interacted with the students and teachers as they were a large part in the making and completion. * I'm going to try and load it on here also. Throughout our stay in KL, MACEE so graciously paid for our lunches and breafkasts'. That only means onnnnnnnnnne thing(well not really but it sounds good).....we ate gooooooooooood!!! There was sooooo much food at some points we were close to turning it down. We ate at TGIF and the most elaborate buffets, and often felt bad for letting some of the food go to waste. Our last day in KL proved to be equally relaxing as I got my favorite, KRISPY KREME donuts and saw The Furious 5. Maybe it's because I had not gone to a movie in over a month but that movie was GREAT!!! Non-stop action, surprises, and clutch punch lines kept me intrigued. I also got watch the M16 competition. The M16 is a B-Boy(break dance) competition where you dance for the right to represent Malaysia in Korea for the world championships of break dancing. While watching them dance I couldn't help but think, " You know what, I can do this." I decided to go down and dance as a independent in the competition. Since I had never break danced before, I just thought what would Turbo do?(reference from the movie Breakin') Soooooooooooooo....I started pop lockin' and....ok ok ok, just joking. I didn't really go and start dancing BUT I think I could've done alright in the competition lol We had a great weekend and looking forward to the return!! THANK YOU MACEE
Selamat Hari Guru or Happy Teacher's Day. Whoever heard of a day where they celebrate teacher's the whole day by playing activities, giving them food, and presenting information about them. Well I haven't until I arrived at SMAASZA. I was told that Selamat Hari Guru was a national holiday and that all teacher's are celebrated. I participated in COCONUT Field Bowling, Apple Eating Contest, Tug-o-War, musical chairs, and helped DJ the event at school. I was unaware how competitive the teachers were with the games but soon made aware. I was told by a teacher "you are in 6th place and I am in 1st, you lose!" as a participant in COCONUT Field Bowling. I was pushed out of a seat while playing musical chairs twice. I even almost choked in astonishment on a apple, because of the teacher next to me SWALLOWING the apple to try to beat everyone else. Ohhhhh but I know now...I know now..There had to be a reason why these teachers were so competitive in these friendly games with nothing to win. I couldn't have been more wrong. While in the presentation, the announcement was made for the winners and 2nd place participants to come up to the stage. As their names were called one by one, the winners and runners-up received these GIANT gift baskets with fruit, chips, cookies, office utensils, and sometimes money inside. I couldn't believe it. If I had known that we were playing for such lucrative prizes I might have pushed a little harder or rolled a little more accurate. As we sitting down one of the teacher's who at this point had three 1-meter high baskets looked back and winked. All I could do was laugh. At the end of the presentations, I walked back to my office to find my own 1-meter high basket along with a slew of other goodies that students had bought or made for me. THANK YOU SMAASZA I tell you what though, next time I know lol
Ohh yea, how could I forget...at the ceremony one of the prizes that were being handed out were COMFORTERS!!! Can you believe that??!?!?!?! It's 98 at night and the prize.... is....a.........COMFORTER!! How?? WHY????
As the mid year date comes and soon will pass, looking back on past experiences have only brought about two thoughts: 1. Where did the first 5 months go? and 2. Looking forward to the next 5! I look at my progression as a person here in Malaysia and I can honestly say that my perspective on life has not changed. I still look at people with an open mind. I still approach most situations with an inquisitive platform. I hope that these qualities continue to make me a better person. Each day, something new, but with that a new level of understanding of life and not only how I fit into that puzzle but how can I improve on it. THANK YOU GOD
I am sure all your qualities are and will continue to make you a great person!
ReplyDeleteFitting in this puzzle will teach you how to Improve it.
Take are buddy and see you soon!
Nada
Lmaooo!! A comforter!!? Plus u & Krispy Kreme too funny! Congrats Dakari!
ReplyDelete