Fast Talker and the Novelty of Being Caucasian

I was going to write this post about the "sounds of Malaysia" but when I tried to upload some of the videos that I've been taking on my camera, they just stalled out.  So maybe in the future I can share with you the sounds that emanate from the mosques during the call for prayers, the street drumming during the Merdeka and Hari Raya celebrations, and the cheers of school spirit that took place during the university orientation I have been engaged in all week.

Part of the condition of being awarded a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship is that you must be a full time student while you are in your host country.  This is not a problem for most people, because they are either undergraduate students using the credits they earn during their year abroad towards their degree, or graduate students pursuing a 1 year masters degree, or a year toward their masters degree.  Its different for me because I finished my thesis and graduate before I came here, and I am not planning on pursuing a Ph.D. at this point, so the classes I take are mostly just for "fun".  I'm hoping to register for classes such as Bahasa Malaysia (the official language of Malaysia), Regional Geography of Southeast Asia, and other sorts of courses.  I've been using the scientific side of my brain for so long, that now its time to exercise the other half of my brain.   

I had to apply to the University of Malaya as an international student, as opposed to a foreign exchange student, because I am not "exchanging" from a university in the US.  Therefore, during this weeks orientation I have been in a group with international students who will be here for 3-4 years earning their degree.  In this group, I am the only American and only Caucasian.  There are lots of students from Iran; I gather this is because Malaysia is a "bridge country" that is easier to come to and get a visa to stay for a while (many years) while trying to immigrate to another country such as Australia or the United States.  Other international students are from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, China, Indonesia, etc. We were mixed in with the foreign exchange students (students who are only here for 1 or 2 semesters) at some point, and out of all of them, there are only a few other westerners from Germany.  Being not only white, but from America and from Alaska on top of that definitely makes me stand out, and I have already gained the nickname of "Alaska".  This also leads to lots of strange compliments such as random strangers telling me how pretty my hair is or how good my English pronunciation is.  Everyone wants to talk to me, and all have been very nice and helpful. 



First year Malaysian students at the opening ceremonies for the 2011/2012 academic year at the University of Malaya.  They were all wearing matching shirts depending on which residential college (dorm) they were living in and  had tremendous amounts of school spirit, even though they had only officially be students for a few days.


I have had to learn to slow my speech down for people to be able to understand me.  Most people I have met are fluent or close to fluent in English, but with my "accent" and the speed at which I talk, they sometimes have difficulty understanding me.  Same goes the other way, at times they are speaking fluent English to me but I can hardly understand a word they are saying because of the accent, but we seem to reach a middle ground eventually so it a good exercise in listening and communicating.  Everyday is a fun adventure interacting with so many new and different people!

I didn't have any other photos relevant to the topic of this post, so I just decided to put up this pretty photo of the fountain near my apartment.  It is lit up beautifully at night with fairy lights and it changes color every few minutes.  You will probably see many different photos of this fountain through out my time here, but I'll try and refrain : )