red and orange

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

I just sat down to write this and a series of firecrackers is going off at the house next door. Very. Continuous. Cracking. and Popping. That's pretty cool though. This was my first time celebrating Chinese New Year and it has been so much fun that I am trying to understand why it was the first time!!! I mean, besides the obvious (I'm not chinese). It was basically nonexistent in my pre-Asia life. January 23, 2012.. year of the Dragon! I spent my weekend and Chinese New Year holiday going to open houses, learning customs, relaxing, and meeting all the members of one family. Because I stayed with a Chinese family, I gained some stories and traditions that are almost too numerous to explain here, but I will try, if I can remember.

First of all, we went to these "open houses" but not just any old open house. Residences decide which day and which meal of the 14 days of the Chinese New Year to host their open house. The first dinner is almost always at the eldest brother's house. Families typically follow the father/husband's lineage to determine where to go for the big dinners. For instance, we didn't see a recently married sister because she was at her husband's family's house. I was only 'really' involved in the first two days of the new year but we went to at least 5 houses (one of them twice, and one was the place I stayed for the duration). Breakfast was porridge on both days, something light to save room for a big lunch and/or dinner. Lunches was more likely a stop in, greet the host, find some food, meet everybody, pass out angpow, and head home. Dinners were less like an open house because they had more of a 'start' time rather than a window of coming and going as one pleases.

here are some other various traditions I witnessed :)

1. receiving/giving oranges. so many oranges. different sizes, amounts, types and for many days!

2. receiving angpow. These are the red envelopes with cash in them. Married women (more typically women...) hand these out to every unmarried young person when they come to a house or when unmarried young people come to their house. These envelopes are beautiful and you can find them anywhere, but mostly banks give them out this time of year. They are (nearly) all different. I'm told it's rude not to accept the angpow. I observed really hard to figure out how to receive angpow. Modest smile, kind words (ie: "happy new year! thank you!"), don't open it, and keep it with you until you can put it in a safe place. I went to a lot of houses and met a lot of married women so you can figure I did well on the angpow front too ;)

3. bathing in pomelo leaf water. My host-mom, Kerry, boiled pomelo leaves in water and saved the water for us to bathe with. The smell was terrific. This was to be done on New Year's eve to wash off the old!

4. wearing new clothes! everyone I met was wearing their newest clothes because, well, that's tradition. For 14 days, everything worn was supposedly new! This was fun to see because it was like shopping by staring at these gorgeous models and their new stuff they were rockin'. Start off the new year with new clothes, hmm.

5. leaving a light on for the god of good fortune to stop by. If a light is still on, then the god will know you're home and will shower you with good stuff!

6. this special cake we ate in the morning had a funny story. It was very gelatinous and sticky cake that was (but isn't always) fried with egg. I wouldn't describe it as cake, although that's what others called it, but more like sticky and thick jell-o that didn't have flavor. It may have just two ingredients; gelatin and brown sugar. But this stuff, this stuff was to make it so that we (people on earth) can't send messages to the gods about each other's behavior over the past year. The messages can't be sent if our teeth are practically glued together! hehee.

7. lion dances! I saw many lion dances and heard only a little bit of the story on that tradition. the myth is that lionlike beasts would terrorize the villages (many years ago) and so they left out fruit, banged on drums, and lit firecrackers off to scare them away. The beasts would eat them (I guess) if they successfully entered the village and houses. So these lion dances! they are awesome! two people usually inside the lion costume doing acrobatic and cute things, all to the beat! We had a performance here at school and it was rather frightening for some of the children, reasonably so. These lions are supposed to represent the mythological characters, so they jump at people, snap at them, try to scare them on purpose! It's entertaining nonetheless.

8. shower one another with blessings and good tidings and love and hospitality. Start the year off with happiness and smiles shared with each other. kindness and gratitude, etc.

I am so glad I could experience this holiday and in this way and in this beautiful place. The "chinese" traditions and people I surrounded myself with opened my eyes to the "other" side of Malaysian culture. Look at me, getting all cultured and stuff :) Thanks for your prayers!!

Lion dance! Very popular!

prettyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

space travel is boring

This week has been filled with changes and news of changes! My feelings about these changes are across the board, seriously. The major change in my life is my relationship status but this is not the place to write about that so if you have questions, just email me :)

The "school" side of Seri Mengasih was previously Juniors and Seniors but they have moved things around and joined their forces to become... Functional Living Skills Department (FLS). This is a cool adjustment because it explains a lot of Seri Mengasih's purpose. Students learn to be independent and take care of themselves, no matter their level of ability or their age. I love that because it is extremely important for us (as humans) to have some sense of control over our own lives. Of course, the earlier these skills are taught the better. This focus is also important for families who can help their student improve and make life a little easier for the whole family! FLS still includes academics but the goal is to have students who succeed and can eventually live independently, perhaps even have a job. But that's in the far-future. (Keep in mind FLS students are between the ages of 6-18 or so). Seri Mengasih has programs that foster such progress. I usually work in the "vocational" side of Seri Mengasih where students work somewhat like employees and acquire skills related to having a job. There is even an alumni program for Seri Mengasih graduates. Without basic living skills and academics at the younger age, it would be a lot harder for people live independently in the future. This change in title helps to explain what a school like this can do for people. It definitely goes beyond brushing ones own teeth :D

My site supervisor told me about some of the more serious political aspects of Seri Mengasih. The government owns the property that the school is on and they want it. We assume for tourism. This land is precious because it is right on the beach. Seri Mengasih is on two sides of one street so the FLS backyard is the beach and the Vocational backyard is... an airport runway. I think it may even be the same distance, no joke. She explained to me that in a few years Seri Mengasih will be forced to relocate and that it will be completely different if I try to come back for a visit in the future. That makes me so sad! Moving like that has got to be rough... on everything, but especially finances. I don't even like to think about it. I could come back and, as she explained it, stay here again but in a new hotel rather than an old colonial house.

The biggest shocker causes me stress but I don't want any of you to worry.. please. My site supervisor is resigning from Seri Mengasih to work for the church. God Bless her :) We haven't had a chance to talk about what this means. She's my boss and my number one contact if I need anything (her name is Joan, in case you were wondering) plus she's fluent in English and Malay. I remember the other site supervisors for the other YAGM and they all work for their placement site or are connected in some way. I suppose I will need a 'new' site supervisor and a new boss. It's awesome for her and I am happy for her to follow a passion and a calling. I just can't help but be a little bit selfish about this and immediately revert to "woe is me." I can't imagine how switching site supervisors would work. We made a covenant together, she knows my stories, and she knows my language! Joan has been at Seri Mengasih for twenty-two years (that's as long as I've been alive) so the entire staff will feel her absence and it will most likely be really hard on her to leave a place that has been such a huge chunk of her life! That's amazing. In a meeting the other day our principal (of FLS. Joan is the director for Vocational) said that Seri Mengasih is "a place where you can develop yourself personally" and she was referring to us as a staff. That's definitely true for this place, no matter how long you are here. It can have a huge impact on a person. I've already had my eyes opened, and my heart. I love all the people here, just because, and that's pretty neat. I've been here long enough to see how good Joan has been for this place, she's excellent! She's scheduled to leave in March so we have some time to adjust and accept the facts. I really wish the best for her.

January 23rd is Chinese New Year. I said yes to an invitation to spend the 4-day weekend with a short-term volunteer at Seri Mengasih and a sweet Chinese girl (I'm sure her family is sweet too!) who is also a member at the BCCM in Likas. And, as is best for life, I have no expectations for it other than what she has told me is true. Wish me luck! Prosperity for all this year of the dragon!

peace

first day of my life

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As you can imagine, I had a lot of fun being in 2012 before many of my readers were. Time is a weird thing. I was in 2012 before you because the Earth is round and rotates and revolves around the sun. The Earth! This planet we live on. We live! We are humans! It's all so remarkable it makes my brain hurt.

I had a wonderful and relaxing 'winter' break at my auntie's village with her big and beautiful family. There's (nearly) nowhere in the world I would have rather been for those 6 days. On New Year's Eve we went to her brother's house and had a barbeque. I think we started eating said barbeque around 9pm. The evening was so new and different for me, I guess you could say it was a little bit of culture shock. It didn't feel like the last night of the year and there was no one I could talk to about my excitement for the new year! I wanted to jump around and dance and say 'good bye' to 2011. That's how I personally celebrate the new year but it just wasn't appropriate this time. Haha. We went home around 11pm and I sat outside to look at the amaaaaazing stars there (I guess KK has too much pollution, both light and fumes) and listen to the sounds of the night. It was perfect. I didn't have to look at my cheap phone that always forgets what time it is when I drop it and the battery falls out of it (did I say cheap?) to know it was 2012. It seemed like every driveway in the neighborhood was lighting off fireworks (except for the one I was standing on) as soon as it was midnight! That was so cool! And LOUD! I like how I can greet anyone and everyone with "Selamat Tahun Baru!" [happy new year!] if it's the first time I've seen them since 2011. If I greet a person (or a person greets me) with that then the first words spoken to each other of 2012 are sincere and positive. It almost makes certain that the relationship will be fantastic for the rest of the year, even if that's a bit superstitious, I still like it.

Being back at work/school has been nice. One student that I hadn't seen since early November was back and I had really missed her and it's nice to see her again and smile at her. Makes my heart happy! This week I helped in arts and crafts as they have some orders coming up for Chinese New Year. Seri Mengasih is going through some changes everywhere so I just watch and listen to see how things are going. Teachers have moved, students have transitioned, even classrooms have been reassigned, all major changes. I'll be spending the next 10 days with Peter because he's visiting me (yaaaaaayyyyy!!!!!) so it will be awhile before I see what the new year means for me work-wise with scheduling. I very look forward to showing him how much Seri Mengasih and Kota Kinabalu and Sabah mean to me. It is important for me to share my experiences and my life with someone (who is also important to me). For some reason I think it will make it all real. I'll be forced to explain and host and guide. It'll be a bit of a test of what I know and what I still need to learn about life here. There is still plenty to learn, I guarantee that.

These are a few photos from the first Tanjung Aru sunset of 2012. If I squint and turn on the air conditioning, I can imagine it's January 1st and a little cold because of all the blues and whites (before the orange/pinks glow from the sun...)

The toddlers at my auntie's village. She is also their auntie. She's a lot of kids's auntie actually. We went to a place where we could feed the koi crackers :) majestic creatures..