"The first day of rafting class"

First off, classes began this week. Of the 20 hours I am currently enrolled in, I plan on only keeping twelve. Three of the classes I showed up for were being taught in Malay- I am going to have to learn FAST (or drop the class). My batik professor only had the syllabus in Malay but luckily she made one for us in English. With that said, the professors are accommodating and most are great! It looks like I am going to be taking climbing, rafting, batik, metal craft, animal morphology and histology, farm management, and some sort of physiology class. 

It is quite funny because Sarah and I are the only two blonde girls on the entire campus of over 14,000 people- CRAZINESS!!! We sure stand out like a sore thumb but surprisingly not in a bad way. I am so happy that the two of us have pretty much identical schedules: it sure will make the semester easier. The students here are beyond friendly and willing to help me with most anything. The professors here are not what I expected in some ways. For one, they take you out to eat and it is often customary for them to pay, they give you their mobile phone numbers, and some are even cool enough to drive you to the beach! I guess I am lucky because I have professors in the states that do that too :)

Most classes were what I expected but last Thursday was anything but ordinary. For one, I woke up early along with some of the other Americans to go to climbing class. Yep, thats right, I am taking a rock climbing class in Malaysia. I also was able to play tennis, bike around the entire old campus, eat my favorite breakfast (roti with curry), and then on to whitewater rafting (another one of my classes). Let me just say that what started as a simple class of learning how to prepare the rafts and the other equipment ended with a trip to the Malaysian government hospital. It was bound to happen at some point or another, BUT REALLY, the first week of classes!!!! After driving about an hour from school into the deserved jungle (there is actually a village of people that still live there) we started to inflate the rafts and learn the basics.

Once everyone got the hang of it, we took a short break: what we did realize is that this is where problems would arise. We found a small cliff, no more than 4 meters high and jumped off of it. Then we watched some of the locals jump from the tall cliff (I can't quite guesstimate the height but around 10 meters). Getting to the top wasn't easy and it was super slippery. Sarah and I stood up there for a few minutes until we got the courage to make the plunge. I new I had to be part of it and so I had to jump- it was awesome and totally worth it! While getting back in the rafts and practicing flipping, Oppa was dancing on the rocks and fell and hit his back- HARD!!!! He was immediately pulled to shore and we made a stretcher out of paddles and PFD's. Thank goodness he was wearing his helmet and life preserver. We kept checking to make sure that Oppa had feeling in his feet and toes and that he could remember everything. After much work we carried him to the truck- which involved walking up a steep and rocky hill. We put him in the back of the truck and considering he is tall, we couldn't close the back of the truck. (This may not sound intense in words but it sure as heck was).

So then the real adventure began. The five of us Americans sat in the back of the truck- which was functioning as an ambulance. Oppa got to hear ridiculous stories from us Americans hoping that he would feel better- he may not have laughed but we sure did. Sweet Oppa also used some of the explicit words that some of the Americans had been teaching him. The car had to be going at least 150km/hr but we made it to the hospital alive. Just so everyone knows, Malay people are not great at estimating time and they are also not quick acting in urgent situations. Us Americans put our Korean "bro" on a new stretcher ourselves and helped get him into the hospital. They had to cut off his bathing suit, shirt, and life preserver so his clothes were basically ruined. Under his hospital bed was also lots of dried blood- I don't know if it is a Malay thing or just the fact that it was a government hospital, but it lacked normal hygiene. 

After about 4+ hours at the hospital, massive pain meds, x-rays, ultrasound, and lots of observation later, Oppa was cleared to go. In an attempt to lighten the mood we told Oppa that the reason he had to get an ultrasound was to check on his siamese twin- I think we confused him a lot. He also kept telling us that he didn't want to get surgery and we assured him that he really didn't need it. We all kept joking with him saying that he was "going to have to get three cats sewed to his spine for him to heal" and he was a bit disturbed. Clara also asked him if he was still going to take rafting. We said that my not be the most brilliant question to ask a person right after they have just gotten fairly badly injured and are in the hospital. After more than four hours in the hospital and all the listed procedures, the cost was 50 Ringgets (16 USD).  We were about to leave the hospital and Oppa was profusely sweating so we checked him back in (the doctors claimed it was a reaction to the meds). We left the hospital for a bit and ended up going to a nearby night market- you can get pretty much anything there from a headlamp to vacuum pieces galore and loads of seafood and fruit. Carson bought his "bro" a new swimsuit to make up for his torn one. After more time in the hospital we finally made it back to KAB!!!! The doctors said that his injury was just severe bone and muscle bruising- thank goodness! He was such a trooper and didn’t cry a single time- I sure would have! I had to skip my first farm management class but the hospital was way more eventful anyway. When we got back Oppa kept repeating to us in his pain med stupor, "if it wasn't for you guy, I would be died".  

Unfortunately I didn’t bring my camera for any of this so there is no picture documentation, which quite frankly may be a good thing. Regardless, life here in Malaysia is full of never ending excitement and the stories of my beach camping weekend are soon to come!

-Sven 

 Oppa, with his bug spray, pre-injury 

At least Oppa can look at Justin Bieber during his recovery 

Ingredients for homemade salsa! Thank you Clara :) 

Sven and Fin take Kuala Lumpur

Life is good. And what cannot be explained in words can be grasped in pictures. Orientation ended yesterday and today is the start of yet another new adventure: classes. Let me start from the beginning of orientation and fill you in on the eventful week we all had. First off, I am now all moved into my new home! That means no more temporary housing which as Jocelyn said, "was like an insane asylum". Instead of constant cobb webs and cockroaches, I am now freezing at night (when you get A/C again it is just too cold), my clothes smell after washing them in a washing machine, they fed us six times a day at orientation, we have warm shower water, and we have a refrigerator and microwave!

One thing about Malaysia that has taken me no time at all to realize is that there is NO SENSE OF TIMLINESS! The bus may say 2 hours but it means 5, the locals say it is a 10 minute walk and it takes 40, class starts at 11 but it actually doesn’t start till 11:25. This is actually not too bad because no one really ever feels rushed. This may bite me in the butt when I get home to the states.

On the first day of orientation, the rules started pouring in!!! The rules at UPSI are literally a complete 180 from Queens but it is amazing being in a place with such great culture and people.  I tallied up all the fines that I would have accumulated in the first two days living on the new campus: well over 1000 Ringgets! At UPSI, you cannot cook in the rooms (fire hazard), you cannot enter the corridor or room of someone of the opposite sex, no gambling, you cannot buy a heater for your room (why you would want that in 90 degree weather I don’t know), you must be quiet by midnight, you cannot have any pets, there is a curfew of midnight, no swearing at all, and no “gangsterisms”. The school gave all the students hats so all the Americans decided to wear them (that’s what you do with free stuff right?). Well, not quite. We were asked not to wear the hats unless we are playing sports (dumb Americans). The common rooms, the only confined place that both a guy and girl can be, has completely glass walls. Mom, this makes me think about you living in a convent for college-hahaha! The rules might be excessive and not what I was expecting but Tanjong Malim and UPSI are amazing places to be!

All eight Americans have also been given nicknames-Sarah has become Finnegan and I have become Sven (since everyone thinks we look German or Swedish). Also, since there is only one American guy, we have adopted guy names- I guess so he feels less lonely having eight more “guys” to hang with.

I also purchased a cell phone- I love not having a phone with Internet! At first we were considering adopting one of the sweet little kittens around the school until we found out that we were forbidden from doing that (and they have flees and most likely harvest nasty diseases). But, Marlee did buy some cat food to feed them and they are adorable! 

 

My room!

 

The town of Tanjong Malim

One night Husnil, a friend and a fellow student at UPSI (we pronounce it oop-see) took us to the mosque on campus so that we could learn more about the Malaysian lifestyle and culture. I purchased a head covering so that I could be respectful when entering the mosque. It is great to have such welcoming people here- we are treated so well and everyone is beyond kind. 

One day of orientation we were told that we would have a surprise outdoor activity-YES! The sheet said it would be at the sports complex so I figured we would play football, ultimate Frisbee, relay races, or something on a field. Nope, we all loaded into the back of a cargo van (the ones you would imagine people being smuggled over a country border in) and were on our way to go tubing. We were all wearing sports clothes, running shoes, and the oversized polo we were all given- NOT water clothes! Having thirty people packed in the back of a truck was hilarious! At one point a creature jumped into the truck and the chaos began! All the Brunei, Indonesian, and Korean students started panicking and screaming. I expected that a large snake, lizard, bird, or some sort of fast moving, predatory creature had bombarded the bus- nope, it was a grasshopper. It was also the bumpiest ride I have ever been on and therefore was AWESOME! When it comes to tubing in Malaysia, 1) you must be fully clothed, 2) you must wear shoes, 3) the water may look calm but you are 100% mistaken, and 4) the water is very cold. I didn’t have water shoes so I was forced to walk barefoot to the start of the tubing-OUCH! The whole way the water looked progressively less deep and less rough- how are you ever supposed to tube in that? The guide, who is actually my instructor for climbing and rafting started by telling us all the rules of the tubing, then pulled out a large rope. At first I thought we were all going to have to hold on to the rope the entire time- we didn’t. We were pushed down the river and began our journey. At some parts the water was no more than 5 inches but at other parts you couldn’t stand. We were all expecting little to no rapids but we got the opposite. The rapids were so unexpected at parts that I was thrown out of the tube and into rocks. Needless to say, I have quite a few scrapes, bruises, and welts. Regardless, we all laughing so hard and had an absolute blast!!! Before we left, Sarah and I hiked a short but strenuous walk up to the top of a vista in which we could see the whole area- it was incredible! On the way back home, Sarah and I rode in the back of a truck, also great! I sure do love sitting in the back of a truck driving through the jungle wilderness!

In the back of the cargo truck heading to our surprise in the jungle

After tubing, Sarah’s parents were texting her asking about the water and the area. Carson (lone-American male) thought it would be funny to say “Well the water was OK, however the gangrenous infected leeches did cause a bit of a problem, however the local rat infested hospital gave me dirty needles with old anesthetic for the pain, however I am not sure the pain will go down soon”. I then thought it would be funny to say that Sarah lost a pint of blood, has welts all over her body, and that the water had numbing properties so she couldn’t feel all 55 leeches on her legs. I figured that this story was so fabricated that not a sole would believe it- Nope, I couldn’t be more wrong. After two days in KL with no connection the US, Sarah parents were worried sick about her being in the hospital- oops.  

Thug life: Koreans and Denisse 

On the last day of orientation, we all went to KL for a tour. Kuala Lumpur sure is one large city! After taking many taxis, trains, and walking A LOT, we found a hotel for the night. The thing is, hotels in KL are semi-expensive and the rooms are SMALL! With the eight of us Americans, we wanted to fit into just one room: not quite possible when the room is just a double bed and coffee table. We ended up getting two rooms- which meant four people to one bed. We all went out for dinner- we all ate frog! This was a great weekend to be in KL because it is Chinese New Year. That means dragon parades and fireworks galore! I even got to be a part of the parade and hold one of the poles to control the dragon. Prank playing has become a constant trend- after tee-peeing Carson’s room, he got payback on Sarah and I by putting a raw egg in our drinks- sadly, it didn’t stop either of us from drinking it (extra protein right?).

Believe it or not, we all fit in the beds in KL and slept really well. We all went out barhopping in KL and did anything we could to get random guys to buy drinks for us. The drinks are so expensive- sometimes over 30 Ringgits for one drink! So, Sarah and I thought of a brilliant plan to get guys to buy us a drink. We both pretended that we spoke Swahili (a good one to pick because who in Malaysia is going to know it). We had lots of “conversations” in our language and some Russian guys really thought that was so cool= free drink. We went to a disco club- what we had been trying to find all night! After much dancing we all went to sleep in our jam-packed bed. The next morning, we went to check out and start the days journey- we had two goals- find BOOF (a store that looked cool) and an outdoor sports store. We ended up finding both but BOOF was closed. As we checked out the front desk told us that we wouldn’t be getting our deposit back. OOPS- they told us we had “too many people and ate too much breakfast”. Well, I guess that happens when you fit eight people in a place that is designed for four. We bought bus tickets for our journey back home to find that we had to wait three more hours- 1) Denisse was watching our stuff and got us kicked out because she was sleeping in an area that was not allowed 2) we bought Oppa (one of my favorite Koreans) a Justin Beiber poster so that his room could have some color. We super glued it to the top of his ceiling above his bed so that every morning and night he can admire it. Don’t all 26-year-old Koreans like Justin Beiber? Denisse was also nice enough to read all of us Americans a bedtime story- which consisted of Goosebumps! 

My Korean friend: Ko

Petronas Towers!!!!

Who wants frog for dinner? All the Americans!

There is supposed to be an "I" at the beginning but Sarah left that out :)

Being a part of the dragon parade!

Goosebumps bedtime story

 Between tubing down a rapid filled river, being part of a dragon parade, eating some super weird food, exploring KL, eating yummy food, orientation was a success! Now to start classes- oh and I basically have a four day weekend. I love only have classes Monday though Wednesday (and a short class early Thursday morning) :) 

-Night everybody!!!

The "waterfall" journey

Today was certainly an adventure: and let me say, choosing Malaysia was definitively the best choice I could have made. There may not be nightlife, bars, dancing, live music, etc., but what it does have is amazing rainforests, incredibly nice people, immense culture, and fanfreakintastic food. After waking up, I went to breakfast with Sarah and some of the other study abroad students. Let me say, I was quite concerned that the 104 MYR per week ($34 USD) would not be enough money to eat! I correct myself- breakfast cost a total of 1MYR (less than 40 cents)-CRAZINESS!!! There is an Indian influence to the food so 1) I am going to have to get used to S-P-I-C-Y food!!!! And 2) I need to get used to eating curry for breakfast. I also already accidently drank the tap water, which the Malaysians don’t even drink. You know you shouldn’t drink the water when the locals even boil it before drinking it-oops, I feel fine so far. 

 After breakfast we started walking into the town of Tg. Malim to go to the market. On the way Sarah and I met a nice Malaysian woman and had are picture taken with her (I really need to get better at conversational Malay!). After making our way to the city by hitchhiking with a guy who we met (don’t worry mom, there were five of us) we went shopping, I finally found an ATM that would except my card, Sarah and I got some rugs, and we met some locals. Some of the locals loved taking pictures of all us “white girls” as they say. Oh, and don’t worry; we actually took a taxi back- which cost a total of 5 MYR (less than $2 USD). Everything here is cheap and I love it!

When we got back home, we got lunch (we only had five minutes so we all got a chocolate ice-cream bar)- YUMMY and nutritious! 

 We all met up with some of the guys that work at UPSI and they guided us on a “30 minute” trek to the waterfall. Well, at least they said it would take 30 min. It ended up taking nearly 2 hours to get there and the whole journey lasted over 5. It was so worth it! I wanted an atmosphere with lots of outdoorsy activities and I sure did get it! We got to see monkeys, a Hindu temple, swim in a really pretty river, find the largest snail shells known to man, play games with the three cutest Malaysian girls (one wearing a slip knot t-shirt?), and got to trek through the Malaysian rainforest. We also witnessed a young girl running after and kicking a chicken, what the heck? Poor chicken! Right before the “waterfall” we had to cross a rickety, wire bridge to get to the water. When we arrived I asked where the waterfall was and the guys pointed to the left. I was confused? It was a river with nearly nonexistent rapids and maybe a 2-inch waterfall. Regardless, the swim was not only refreshing but also beautiful. It was interesting because we had to swim in our clothes because the Malaysian men cannot see woman in their bathing suits, in fact, they won’t even shake the hand of a woman. Oh and the Malaysians were amazed that I could swim haha. Could life get any better, I don’t think so. The flowers and vegetation are also extremely diverse- biodiversity to the extreme!

After our excursion, we decided it was time for dinner- we were all starving! We walked to the restaurant and I ordered sweet and sour chicken. Let me say, Malaysian sweet and sour chicken is spicy beyond belief (my lips were numb after the third bite). It was tasty but the only thing that saved me was the dragon fruit juice with my dinner. The restaurant looked a lot nicer than some of the others so I figured it would maybe be a little over priced: nope, still only cost a whopping $3 USD per person. Sarah also had two very blonde moments of the day 1) glancing at a burger stand in the middle of the jungle, Sarah said they must be American burgers because the flags above the stand are American. I’ll let that slide; the Malaysian flag kind of looks a bit like the US flag). 2) I said dang; my chicken had a lot of bones in it- Sarah replied, “oops, ate all of the chicken bones in her dinner because they seemed like crunchy vegetables”. Oh Sarah. The dinner conversation was ridiculous hilarious- Marlee tried for nearly an hour to explain the difference between southerners and northerners, to the Malaysian guys. Overall, Malaysia is amazing so far and I still have 4.5 months left!