welcome home

Hello friends!

I can't remember exactly what I've already explained concerning my living situation but I have some photos of my room and kitchen. You've already seen some of Seri Mengasih and the sunsets too! I'll just describe what it's like for me here so you don't have to worry about my comfort and such.

This is my room!! As you can see, I brought mydog, I bring him everywhere. I am like a 5 year old. On my desk I have Melay notes, my computer, and some snacks. I keep all of my food in my room because I don't really have a place for it in the kitchen. I also have a terrific A/C system above my desk that can make this room like a refrigerator! Lately it seems like I have been collecting food. People just give me their leftovers and stuff they don't want. I must look hungry or too thin to them. Or they're just wonderful and hospitable people. But I have gone to the supermarket a couple times and got the necessities. By the way, the supermarket nearest to here is called Sunny. Ha. That's my favorite part about it.

The second view of my room. This is an old colonial house. Apparently it's extremely old. But they've added on and on, extra buildings and such creating Seri Mengasih. In fact, there's a small road that separates this side with the house and Junior classes from the other side with the vocational, group home, and Senior classes. I have a window here but if I open it I will simply see the hallway and the closet with tools in it. Therefore, it has become a shelf-type thing where I can hang and hook nearly anything! The floor... hmmm. When I first arrived here and my friend Dayang knocked on the door of my room to make sure I was okay she said, "How is your room? You like it? It's nice, yeah? I like. Except the floor. It make me confusing. I don't know why they put the floor this way. I am not liking it." HAHA! It doesn't bother me. It's similar to a tablecloth material, plasticy and thick. It's nicer than cement, and I can't imagine Malaysia having carpet. I don't mind it at all. The design is what Dayang was confused about though. I think it's supposed to look like rocks. Silly.

The third and last view of my room. Nothing too fancy. My big window!! It opens to the back wall of the next building. A little bit of light shines through though, enough to let me know if it's dark or light out. More bars and hooks for me to hang things from I guess. I took out the bottom drawer of my wardrobe because it was malfunctioning. It's nice that everything I have to wear and then some fits in this wardrobe. Above the wardrobe is a huge shelving unit that you can see a little bit of in this photo. It's difficult for me to use because the shelves are too high! I've put a few things but I don't have much for "storage" meaning I don't have anything that I'm not going to need in the immediate future. The shelves would be perfect for long-term storage. It's too bad. Maybe if I had some pottery or pictures I could set them up there.

That's my room! It's named after an island called Sipadan. The toilet is down the hall past the kitchen. My closest neighbor is just across the hall. My room is the closest room to the shower, which is its own room. Showering is a bit like locking yourself into a tiled closet. Everything works and cold showers are definitely growing on me because I'm never cold enough to want a warm shower!

Now, the kitchen...

Essentially anyone can cook and eat here. There is a second building where staff live with its own kitchen but they seem to prefer eating here. I haven't really asked anyone about that situation. The kitchen has rice cookers, toaster, water boiler, microwave, stoves, and fridge. All the essentials. I'm not sure about cooking here so my ingredients are limited to milk, eggs, noodles, bread, butter, coconut jelly, and salt n pepa. I have other things too and whenever someone is going to the grocery store I tag along just in case because there most likely is something I need or could use. I have found myself needing coffee, like really needing coffee, at least once a day so I'm glad our Melay teacher gave us all housewarming gifts of instant coffee packets!! The point was to determine our favorite so that we can buy our flavor in bulk. I haven't finished the tasting process yet though! One extra fancy thing about this kitchen is the water purifying machine doo-dad that's attached to one of the sinks! I don't have to buy bottled water! I'm not really opposed to drinking the water of the country you live in because eventually your body should be able to handle it but because even the locals refuse to drink water from the tap, I should avoid it too. I haven't had any stomach problems! Only minor, normal, everyday aches and pains. Life is still good.

And, finally, what blog would be complete without the latest sunset picture? Enjoy.

Love you all like crazy. Talk to you later!

that'll be the day

I have a schedule!!

Monday

1. Morning Exercises 7:30-8:30am
2. CP Unit 9-11:30am
3. Kantin 11:30am-1pm
4. OETU 1pm-3pm

Tuesday

1. Morning Exercises 7:30-8:30am
2. CP Unit 9-11:30am
3. Kantin 11:30am-1pm
4. Concert Training 1-3pm

Wednesday

1. Morning Exercises 7:30-8:30
2. English 9-11:30am
3. Kantin 11:30am-1pm
4. Concert Training 1-3pm

Thursday

1. Morning Exercises 7:30-8:30am
2. English 9-11:30am
3. Kantin 11:30am-1pm
4. Concert Training 1-3pm

Friday

1. Morning Exercises 7:30-8:30am
2. Art and Craft 9-11:30am
3. Office Hours 11:30am-3pm

Weekends

1. Relax
2. Attend school functions if I'm needed
3. Explore KK and Sabah
4. Go to church

Okay, so weekends weren't really in the schedule that my supervisor gave me but I figured you might like to know. No two days are exactly the same. That's because I rotate through three different groups for morning exercises and the afternoon activities that happen during concert training are all different. This concert that the kids are practicing for is in late November. SM is celebrating their anniversary and having a big banquet so everyone's rehearsing. I'm not sure in what capacity I will help out with that but I'm willing to do anything. The school has Juniors, Seniors, and Vocational trainees. The Juniors are considered elementary school and is made up of three fairly small classes. The Seniors are around high school age and also three small classes. On the Vocational side of SM students (trainees) can choose from working in the Kantin, Bakery, or Souvenirs/Arts and Crafts. Trainees stay in their chosen vocation for a year or so and are trained to eventually have a job that hopefully incorporates some of the skills they have already attained here. On top of that, the school also provides the open employment unit to help individuals find jobs or practice what it's like to be employed. I will know more about these units as I am working with them from time to time.

A couple other notes to clear things up: CP stands for Cerebral Palsy. Monday and Tuesday mornings will be spent in the CPU learning the basics of physical therapy with the few individuals that are currently enrolled in those therapeutic sessions here. This is an awesome opportunity to learn and try something very new to me. Working in the Kantin and Arts and Crafts will most likely entail serving as an extra pair of hands and eyes to watch the students and fill in where I'm needed.

Right now I'm feeling very fortunate. This job will most likely be hard at times but getting to know people, practicing what language I've gained, living somewhat independently, smiling at others and receiving a smile back, taking coffee breaks, and the amazing support I've had from new friends and supervisors here has been wonderful. I enjoy everyone. All the people I have met are friendly and helpful. They invite me in, call me by name, and treat me like a family member. They're the definition of hospitable. Plus, I have internet access for most of the day.

My supervisor and the school principal have told me that my schedule is subject to change. They have also talked about changing the bulk of my job in the new year so that I am not stuck doing the exact same thing for all 11 months. I'm not too concerned about that though, especially if no two days in one week looks exactly the same. I'm not just serving in Malaysia, I am a servant. There's hardly a job I won't do. I figure the more open I am, then the more rewarding and transformational my year will be.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Maybe I could make a blog about it or tell a story. I'm rarely out of ideas for blogs but I want to make sure that the information I give you is information you are actually interested in reading about. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

standing at the beach but looking towards Seri Mengasih. There it is!

The playground. Fairly unused but quite photogenic, I think.

life in technicolor

How's it going?!

Malaysia is amazing. Duh. The last few days of in-country orientation were definitely fun! We did an amazing race challenge where we paired up and attempted to follow clues that were given in Malay! Lou was my partner and we thought we were making good time, because we were. But we decided to wait 45 minutes at a bus stop for the "right" bus to take us to the next neighborhood/town. It was really fun but most of the challenges required us "trying" something so we were full by the time we got to our destination!! Haha. It was fun to test our knowledge in the real world. I'm not really afraid of public transit at all now :)

Meeting our supervisors was fun too. I was so excited when I first met and talked with Joan that I was almost crying. Everything is just going and it is all good stuff. She described the staff, site, children, my house. Plus, I had a banana split that I didn't have to split with anyone. Lovely.

We also participated in the Chinese Moon Cake festival! The real 'holiday' was actually on Monday but our friend pushed her party up so that we could go since we would fully disperse on Sunday. Moon Cakes are these little soft and chewy cakes. Some that we had were homemade so that was amazing. It's a very traditional snack. They fed us other food that night too. We were grateful. I thoroughly enjoyed all the tea they served us! But before we ate moon cakes we were invited to join in on the paper lantern making and then lantern walk around the neighborhood. My photos don't seem to portray how cute but beautiful it was to do that with these new friends. The kids there (plenty of those) were so so excited to walk with their paper lanterns! Maybe that's because it's fire and who doesn't love fire? We all had different colors and shapes and sizes. It was awesome.

The next day (Sunday) we had a beautiful commissioning worship service at one of the English speaking congregations in KK. We were introduced and then everyone prayed for us. Church members engaged in conversation with us afterwards. They were intrigued by our presence, and, like most people, wanted to know what brought us to Malaysia of all places? The pastor's kid, Calvin, invited all of us to lunch. All of us, plus all of his people. Youth group!! Lunch with 30 young adults is hilarious. In fact, I think some people left because there simply wasn't enough space. Young people in Malaysia (KK) speak and understand English for the most part. These teenagers were great! Sometimes I get tired of small talk conversation but when you're explaining LA to someone who's never been or what it means to be "from the midwest" to a young Malaysian person, it's a lot more interesting.

This YAGM Malaysia crew had to finish up our packing and get on with the show though! Joan picked me up a couple hours after lunch. She took me to get some starting out groceries but I had no idea what the kitchen looked like/had so that was a bit rough. But the supermarket that I go to because it's closest to my placement is called Sunny. I like that. Obviously. As soon as I could, I settled in at my placement site. Finally! No more living out of a suitcase. For 11 months or so, I get to use the wardrobe and desk and floor space without packing it back up. When was the last time that was my reality?

Joan asked two other staff who live at Seri Mengasih (SM) to invite me for dinner, so they did. And it was delicious!! Homemade Malaysian foooood. These two staff are about twice my age but they are the kindest women ever. They have already adopted me. They know English, but I'm trying my best to practice Malay with them. It's sweet because they constantly invite me, "please, sit. eat with us. talk with me. come with us. eat this. drink this. do you want this?" I haven't found a polite way to say "No, I'm okay thank you" because I do value these new relationships so much. I don't know the words in Malay and the words "I don't need any, thank you" don't really work. Haha! It's okay though. We walked up the beach yesterday (I say 'up' because I'm pretty sure we went north up the coast) and it was so wonderful. I could do that nearly every day. The sky and sea look great next to each other. It's a bit like a dream. I like the sunsets. You can never have too many pictures of the same sun setting on the same sea right?

At one point, my friend asked me, "Allisun, what brought you here, to Seri Mengasih, to Malaysia?" "Tuhan," I told her. She immediately said, "God bless you." Tuhan means God. I think she was looking for a different answer but she took it, understood, acknowledged that it is good.

One of the clues from our "Amazing Race" challenge for language class. Instructions in bahasa melayu! And yes, we can read and understand that :) if read slowly and with a Malay phrasebook. Ha!

Later on we got to participate in a Moon Cake party. Kek Bulan! We made lanterns with the little kids and walked all around the neighborhood with our pretty colors. It was wonderful.

The moon cakes. Some homemade! Probably an acquired taste and definitely not for those who have problems with textures or one who has a big sweet tooth. I would do it again. The tea was delicious too!

Part of the playground and classrooms at Seri Mengasih (SM). This is only a portion of the entire 'campus.' More to come.

A walk up the beach from SM at sunset will provide views like this. I can't get over it. Three evenings here and three gorgeous sunsets. They might start to look the same eventually but I will try to continue to enjoy it.

It rained a tad on our walk back to SM but by the time we got to the 'backyard' it had stopped and I took one last photo with my nearly dead camera. This is real life.

field below

Hello everyone!

Our in-country orientation plus language training is almost over! On Friday I will meet my site supervisor for this year and on Sunday I will move out of the dorms here at STS and into the house at Seri Mengasih. This is good news indeed! We have been blessed with our Malay teacher, Rose, and it will be hard to adjust without her wealth of knowledge and language. I'll be on my own with just my notebook! Many anxieties come with this ending and the real thing beginning. But I am excited!

The past two weeks we have... done and learned so much. Too much to explain, so I will have to sum up ;) I have a loose grasp on the language. I have wandered around the town (city) enough and have a feel for that. We went on a boat ride to an island, so now I know how to get to the beach. We've met pastors and BCCM friends who will continue to keep contact with us and support us. I have become more adjusted to the heat and humidity. We played badminton with local reverends! I have also become accustomed to the food here and all of its deliciousness. I have listened and discovered more and more about Sabah and Kota Kinabalu from the stories we hear and the places we go. I have developed relationships with the YAGM in Malaysia that will become more important with every day here. They are marvelous individuals. We have different stories, motivations, personalities, and intentions but we are all here to love. So that is exciting! I look forward to leaning on them and them leaning on me when necessary this year.

My next post will have valuable information about contacting me, and what my next year will look like in terms of the living situation. This is getting real.

Sunset. The first of many.

I drank coconut milk straight from the coconut. This picture is real life.

Waiting for the boats back to the city. This was taken from Sapi Island. Where we spent the day... getting sunburned. It was spectacular.

Tuaran Mee. A local dish. Noodles (mee) cooked with egg for flavor. Veggies, chicken, pork, and shrimp!! The most amazing. To drink, Milo ping (iced). Milo is basically hot chocolate or chocolate milk. Not as milky though. Very delicious and refreshing.

a whole new world

“What time is it?” We kept asking each other on our day of travel (August 24-26). Is it yesterday, or tomorrow? So late that it’s early or so early that it’s late? We only had two flights. Chicago to Seoul and Seoul to Kota Kinabalu. We spent 13 hours on that plane and arrived in Seoul only 3 hours after we left (?). We arrived later in Kota Kinabalu than we had anticipated due to a small delay, but local time, it was the next day. 27 hours of traveling. Not too bad! Quite enjoyable!
We were greeted in Kota Kinabalu by the country coordinator, Peter H., and the bishop of the Christian church here in Sabah, Malaysia, bishop Thomas. Very sweaty. Very tired. SUPER EXCITED YAGM.
We spent our first few days in the ‘mountains’ of Kundasang. We stayed at a hotel where you can see the tallest peak in southeast Asia (located here in Sabah!). We hiked, got lost, continued to hike and walk, and got found! First adventure for the win! The next day we worshipped in a nearby town, Ranau, where the service was entirely in Chinese (Cantonese?). After lunch we partook in more hiking but to a canopy walk which is this network of bridges way up high in the trees. The bridges are basically planks held on by huge rope nets. We could see the whole jungle! I did a lot of the canopy walk without holding on to the ropes (look ma! No hands!). Then we got fish massages! These are much raved about. You stand in the shallow side of a river and let these creepy fish suck and nibble on your dead skin!!! Freaked out? I was not and then they swarmed and were large and bit and had teeth. It HURT!!! Also, tickled like a mo. Some of us got fish hickeys (fishickeys). New and different experience indeed. I would do it again though; my feet are way prettier now. Later that night we got to meet with the bishop again, this time, with his posse. All these hilarious leaders of the church in Sabah were delighted to see us and tell us about… everything. We had dinner and conversation. It was truly inspiring to hear how happy they are to have us. Last year Malaysia did not have any YAGM and the year before that was the first year Malaysia had YAGM. The one-year hiatus has left these people looking forward to us for a long time! I am honored.
All the people are so nice. Very sweet and friendly.
We just started language training yesterday. It’s close to four hours a day with our guru, Rose. Super sweetheart! After class yesterday we went to town and “observed some culture.” We went to markets and malls and saw the water for the first time! I bought some crackers called “FLYING FISH BISCUITS,” which I think is hilarious. We didn’t really use our new language skills though. I don’t have enough skills yet. The language is easy and the teacher is fantastic. Being here for a year with countless others I can practice Malay with will prove helpful as well, I’m sure.
The really awesome opossum thing so far has been today after class! Here in Sabah Muslims and Christians have been living together and accepting one another. The whole place is celebrating an Islamic holiday! The moon gave birth and so we say to one another “Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!!!” It’s the end of Ramadan and so no more fasting. We are forgiven! Way fun. Our teacher invited us (all of us) to her friend’s house to celebrate. We ate dates and garlic peanuts and cookies. Then we ate delicious food. We were spoiled. It was amazing because none of us knew this lady and she was so welcoming and glad to see us. All the other guests spoke to us in English even though we wanted to practice the little Malay we know so far. It was lovely. Then we decided to go to this open house party they have every year for this celebration at the governor’s palace (?). It was beautiful. There were a lot of people, food, music, but it was terrifically hot. I caught a few people taking photographs of us, the 9 white Americans standing around awkwardly, and sweating. I don’t care how stupid we looked or how sweaty we felt, all I know is that was fun. I was glad to celebrate in Kota Kinabalu, my new home. I was truly honored to be such a welcomed guest. It’s neat to think that this was the first of many celebrations I will enjoy here.
This is only the beginning. My job hasn’t even started yet, and won’t until mid-September. I’m still living out of a suitcase. I’m still finding things that I forgot I needed to pack/bring. I miss people. I haven’t even felt a sense of culture shock yet. My problem is, I don’t really see myself having that problem. I’ve been preparing for this. I’ve been looking forward to it. I know this culture is new and different. I knew that before coming here. We’ll see how that story plays out though. For now, I’m enjoying my moments as best I can.
Standing in the rain
Listening to a 50-minute sermon I can’t understand
Smelling flowers
Green like you’ve never seen
Worshipping an oscillating fan
Distant squeals from a child
The sun saluting me and preparing to greet you

Hugs and prayers

reading time with pickle

Hey there

So I was in Chicago for a week back there, sometime earlier this month and in a very different time zone. I was there for YAGM (Young Adults in Global Mission) orientation. There were 49 others, getting to know each other better and growing more anxious for our international departures coming up. We spent mornings and afternoons learning about what it means to be a YAGM. I learned a lot. A lot. All of it was essential information. We didn’t learn facts that we can bring up at any given moment while in our countries of service, but more internalized concepts that we now know and understand fully in our heads and hearts. We practiced interfaith dialogues, heard music as a form of prayer, found out how to blog appropriately, and learned new travel tips, and experienced self-care and forms of meditation.

We were extremely well fed and were forced to enjoy Chicago (shout out to ELCA! Thanks!). I was blessed with some quality time with Peter, Kim, and Jim (all very beautiful Gonias) for one day during orientation. That was splendid and necessary. Finally saying goodbye to them made leaving all the more real. Still, maintaining internet and cell phone contact meant that we were nearby, even after all the goodbyes that were had prior to my departure to Chicago.

One really neat-o thing about orientation was our ‘lecture’ on ennegram. I am familiar with that personality typing system. All the YAGMs attempted to discover their soul potentials and determine their ‘type.’ The Malaysia crew spent the evening after our enneagram lecture out at dinner in Chinatown, Chicago. We talked about our ‘types’ nearly the entire time. Many told me they didn’t “want to be” the number they assume they are. Sad. But at least we got to talk about it. It was pretty cool that I could offer insight because I know some stuff. It’s also great to know each other’s types. It’s already been helpful, or rather somewhat of an excuse for certain behaviors. I like it though. Fun and interesting fo’ sho’.

The end of orientation was hard/weird. We had grown closer only to disperse to further corners of the world (not just the country as it was the first time we all met and then left). Closing worship was beautiful and powerful. I looked around and knew there were a million different emotions being had by all, and I had them all too, at once. How wonderfully scary? That week was awesome, really it was. There was time built in to everyday that looked like free time but served as an opportunity to process everything. Everyone was ready, it seemed, since about day two or three. Everyone except me. I didn’t want to pretend I was ready. I told people I was almost ready but I’m still not sure if I was actually 100% ready and just (being a 3) decided to say I wasn’t so as not to look too something (insert adjective I might have avoided. ie: perfect?). I was though. Ready to pack, mail my phone, board a plane, cross the world, be somewhere new, start something amazing, serve as God’s hands, go.

I pray pray pray that no one at home reads this and says that they are sad that I left them. This, unlike other moves in life, is a not a personal thing. I did not leave the country to leave you or anyone. I did not leave simply because I graduated and Peter hasn’t so I have a year to spare. It’s so much bigger than that. (take me too the looney bin because I’m hearing voices) God told me to do it. God tells me everyday. Go. Matt 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” I would be extremely disappointed if I had ignored that call. I doubt I’m prepared for what lies ahead but how amazing it is that I get to have God with me through it all. God with you too ya know. I am blessed. We are blessed. The first part of this call is to go, but there is a return. The return is more crucial than the year in Malaysia. I’ll share with everyone what I come to learn. Share the good news, that God is good, even in Malaysia. But until then, you can read the story as it unfolds and continues right here!

Peace

The Pier.

YAGM swimming at the lake. It was a pretty sunset. I didn't want to swim of course. After a short time I started playing volleyball, and that lasted for two hours. The most fun I had all throughout orientation.