Obligatory Half Way Post

“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” ~Rosalia de Castro

I took this path...and it lead to a beautiful waterfall! Hiking here, there's no bears to fear, only the leeches, ahhh.

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while, back when I officially passed by the half way mark of my tenure in Malaysia back on February 16^th. Now that I’m officially closer to the end than to the beginning, people are starting to ask what’s next for me. Well, if you have any good ideas, let me know, or else I’ll just enjoy living by the quotation above J

Here’s a short run down of what I miss (and don’t miss), and some randoms of what I’ve learned.

What I miss (besides friends and family of course!):

Driving: the freedom of getting in your car and running to the grocery store when you really have a craving for cheese. Or the chance to hop behind the wheel for a Sunday drive out to the coast or to a trail head to go trekking.

Snow: or at least change in temperature every once and a while

Mexican food: probably one of the few ethnic foods that you can’t find well represented in the big, global fusion city of KL

Affordable dairy products: cheese, yogurt, etc. just seem expensive here, at least to a vegetarian who loves cheese

Sliced olives: olives are one of my favorite foods that I like to throw in many dishes, but I have yet to find anything but whole olives at the grocery store here, slicing them is a chore that makes me appreciate the convenience of buying them pre-sliced!

Good beer: especially Alaska's micro brews, and I was very sad to miss my favorite pumpkin beer around the birthday season. The beer market here is dominated by Chang, Tiger, Carlsberg, etc.

Voicemail: people just don’t really use it here. I’m part of the crowd, I haven’t even set it up on my cell phone. Many businesses don’t even have it, the line just keeps ringing and ringing and ringing forever so you don’t know if you have even called the correct number!

Vitamix: my super-duper blender that brought me joy every day with beautiful smoothies and basil lemonade. I’m glad it’s in good hands as cousin Molly is taking care of it for me J

What I don't miss:

Driving: as you can see this appears on both lists. This is because I don’t miss driving in the snow, and in reality, driving here is a pain because of traffic jams and the lack of places to actually park your car when you get somewhere.

Incessant political news: I’m not too sad to be out of America during an election year. I can keep track of what’s going on if I want, but I enjoy not being bombarded by every little stupid piece of political news from every form of media.

Cost of living: besides cheese, the cost of living is much cheaper in Malaysia than Alaska!

Super giant huge consumer items: most things here are much more reasonably sized than in the US, for example- toothpaste, shampoo, cars, etc.

Graduate school: ‘nuf said

There are many more things to add to the “don’t miss” list, but I spent so much time on the “miss” list that I lost steam.

Things I've learned:

-Always carry your own toilet paper

-Although at sometimes it might not seem like it, if you listen carefully, we are all speaking the same language, accents and all.

-Don't get too excited about "western" food, the concept of lemonade, cheese cake, or nachos in a foreign country might be far different form than what you are expecting. Better to stick with roti canai, noodles, and the thousand varieties of faux meat products that vegetarians can enjoy on the Chinese menu.

Living in a foreign land has helped me learn more about my own country and state. People ask me questions that I don't know the answers to and I always remember to look them up later. Questions including details of the economy of Alaska, U.S. politics, national environmental issues, etc. Someone even asked me if they have strip clubs in Alaska, they thought that since it was so cold that people wouldn’t want to take their clothes off! Didn’t have to look up and answer to that one, haha.

I don't know when it happened, but I started feeling comfortable here. Sometimes I find myself the one giving out navigational directions, informing other travelers of interesting places to explore, or telling Malaysians about wonderful destinations in their country that I have visited that they have never been to. It works in both ways, many Malaysians tell me they have visited New York City and the Grand Canyon, neither of which I have visited!

The Lonely Planet book club. Its fun beg, borrow, steal, swap these goods with other travelers!

Even though I’m keeping very busy, to me this has felt like a nice long break from the goal driven (graduate school) life that engulfed my existence for so long. There is no hard fast definition for the Ambassadorial Scholar or set of highly strict tasks that we must complete that dictate our days. It is nice to be given the freedom to define your own role as “ambassador” and the flexibility to both enjoy and improve the world while learning how to be informed and productive global citizens.

Some "official" ambassadorial duty.

This opportunity has given me a new sense of space and time where I have enjoyed tasting the fullness of life, stretching my mind and perspective in new and extraordinary ways. It is through these opportunities that we are able to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. The joy of living in a foreign country is the luxury of leaving all of my beliefs and certainties at home and allowing myself to see everything I thought I knew in a new and different light. I hope I have done at least a half way decent job of sharing what I am learning with others through this blog, even if I tend to ramble sometimes J!

A new perspective on fashion.

A new perspective of the Petronas Towers...from the top!

A visit to the National Museum. Ambassadors in the making :)