Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Decompression
I arrived to my brother's house in San Francisco yesterday afternoon and will be here for a few days.
I was a bit worried about my return to the US after having to sit next to a rugby player in his 40s on the flight from Singapore. Loud, obnoxious, hungover, a box of condoms nearly falling out of his front pocket. He was what is wrong with America. How would I ever survive?!
On the train from the airport, I noticed that I was looking (not staring, exactly) at the people around me; many were reading and those who were not, didn't look around. A habit I'll have to get over now that I'm back! I ate Cap'n Crunch cereal and mini-Snickers bars left over from Halloween. There was hot water at the kitchen sink.
After a take out Thai meal, my brother and his roommate worked on their absentee ballots. And I do mean worked. I never knew how crazy California ballots are---because of all the propositions (17 state and A-O for local). There are thick voter guides that offer pros and cons for voting yes or no on each issue...As they sat comparing notes and I looked over the ones they found hard to decide and offered my logic, I couldn't help but think about Calculus study groups from high school.
Today, keep your fingers crossed that Bush is ousted!
One Year, One Week, One Day
Minus all those holidays I took...
A look at my last week:
Ah man, the photos are a bit grainy and if I make it bigger, then the sidebars gets shifted to the bottom of the page...
All of these photos were taken this week, though not all events described below are pictured...
Monday: Terri came back from Vietnam and we rushed off to a screening of local documentaries with LS. Wasn't too impressed by the documentaries, but inspired to play around with my own while back in Iowa.
Tuesday: Had dinner with Malay family again. (Terri came along for all the week's events, served as photographer as well as witness to the craziness of my life.) Went cosmic bowling (two games with score of 92) with Warren and Daniel. Went for snacks after and waiter was Egyptian! Realized that now my Egyptian is buried under my Malay. Ugh.
Wednesday: Hung out with R., as mentioned in a previous post. Afterwards, went to Rush where met crazy crew. And saw bartender friend visiting from Penang briefly.
Thursday: Broke fast with friend in Bangsar. Who told me that the Sisters in Islam were a bit unhappy about my article because of the one sentence where I say they don't veil and sometimes drink alcohol; they thought those were personal choices, not political/professional. But in the article, I don't condemn them for it, but say that the conservative Muslims use their beliefs and behaviors to dismiss them. Not me! I like what they say! But that doesn't get around the fact that they will be judged by others for their actions. Met bartender friend again at Thai Club where bartender competition was happening; bottles and glasses flying through the air. So cool. Bartendering is added to the list of things that make a guy immediately more attractive, along with playing soccer or guitar, being an artist, in a band, or a good dancer.
Friday: Went to the Islamic University to say goodbye to those friends once again. Old fling I haven't seen in months surprised me by coming home/sleeping over with my roommate.
Saturday: A teenager at my condo's pool had some sort of medical emergency, almost like an epeletic fit. Terri was there, but not me. She told them to call an ambulance (and I realized after a year here that I don't know the 911 number) and rushed upstairs to see if my fitness instructor roommate knew first aid--she didn't. As we looked down from my bedroom window, we saw him flat on his back with people standing around him and then luckily we saw his legs begin to move. Terri and I both decided to take first aid classes the next time we get a chance. I remembered that my father had given CPR to a guy who had a heart attack (and threw up in his mouth) a long time ago...
We then had another photo shoot with her fabulous LOMO camera. Went to Central Market one last time.
Went to MUMBO JUMBO one last time. Crap, I just had a brain freeze and am worried it's actually Mambo Jambo...my Malay friend was always getting it wrong and I never paid attention even though I went there all the time! I loved hanging out at the restaurant because Dean, Laila, and Anton were always friendly and served up good food (potatos, salads, smoothies!) in a prime people-watching spot. I recommend that you all go there! It's right behind Central Market!
Dean and Anton
We went to a Sikh temple--my first time ever to one. Turns out that the largest Sikh temple in SE Asia is a 15 minute walk from my house. Some really cute Punjabi kids took our hands and led us to the big prayer room, where they preceded to run around and scream because of a supposed green-eyed ghost behind a locked door that will bite you. Then we went to the kitchen-y area and they served us tea. Everyone, men and women, are supposed to cover their heads in the temple. One man just had a handkerchief over his head, held in place by the stems of his glasses. Sihk men are easy to identify on the street because of their turban, like Muslim women who veil.
Had a quick cup o tea with my exceedingly busy "Chinese Businessman Friend" and his fabulous friend I wish I had meet sooner. Got a copy of Lat's Kampong Boy (local comic book) and a bag of "Jack and Jill" potato chips. (Hmmm, does that give the secret away!?!)
I wore a blue feather boa that Terri brought me from Vietnam and a glittery, sequined headband out to get our midnight meal at the Indian restaurant on the corner. Both because it was Halloween and because it was my last night, so who cares?! Everyone looked and thought it was funny.
Sunday: A slow morning. Spent over 3 hours making new business cards after our photo shoot the previous day. Now we each have 3 different kinds, for a total of 300, but no jobs! Today's turned out even better than last time. Saw my gym trainer/friend for a few minutes. Had dinner at the Indian restaurant on the corner--roti canai one last time and fish since Iowa's landlocked.
I asked a taxi driver how much to get to the airport--just so I would know--but when he said 60 RM (others had said 100), Terri was like, let's take him, we can leave now. I ok'ed it and we told the taxi man to come to my condo and we'd be down in 10 minutes. When we got back upstairs, I freaked out. Starting crying. Had wanted to shower and say a proper goodbye to A., but felt very, very rushed. And sick. So Terri went down and told him I was puking (not true) and that we weren't ready to go yet. We checked in at the Malaysia Airlines counter in the city center, hung out there for another hour, then took a train. It cost about $5 more, but I didn't care. I needed more time.
Another I love you.
At the airport, we realized we didn't have time to get to R.'s gate (who was coming back from Thailand half an hour before we left) before we needed to be at ours. I text messaged him what gate we were at and he said he'd landed early and was running there. I walked down the corridor in the direction he'd be coming from and saw him running toward me. I picked up my pace and we embraced. So Hollywood.
Terri and I were seatmates to Singapore. She has a superstition (she's probably argue with the use of that word) that if the first word you say after midnight on the 1st of the month is "Rabbit" that it's good luck. So, we stopped talking 5 minutes before, just so we wouldn't forget. And now November should be fantastic.
As we parted ways in Singapore, she said something close to, but far more eloquent, "When will we see each other again?! Will it be speaking Spanish in Central America? Or chasing rhinos in Africa? Or in North America, surrounded by snow?"
And I realized then that rather than be sad about leaving people behind, I ought to be excited/happy about the prospect of seeing them again. She has friends from around the world, living around the world. Some she only sees after years. It reminds me of what my ex-boyfriend and I termed our relationship when we both went abroad: latent. On leave of absence.
Assignment
My Jordanian friend M., back in Iowa City, always asks me thought-provoking questions about my experiences and perceptions.
Emotions
I cried 4 or 5 times: with R. on Wednesday night and 3 or 4 times with A. I didn't cry when I said goodbye to any of my female friends. Maybe it's because those friendships are less threatened by distance. Once I was on the train, headed to the airport, I was fine. Not happy happy, but not crying. I wouldn't really have wanted to stay, but I found it hard to go. So I thought about the annoying things, the bad things, to be less reluctant.
Makes me wonder if I'm up for another hello goodbye. Two years in the Peace Corps would mean even more friends and hopefully deeper friendships.
#1 reason for going back
To visit friends while eating roti chanai and drinking teh tarik.
When friends asked me when I'd be coming back, I said for your wedding...Hope they all get married at the same time!!!!
I wanted to go see the fireflies and visit the Malay family's village in Melaka, so would hopefully be able to do those things when I get back, though it wouldn't be the reason for going.
#1 life experience personally
I learned to live alone again, start over from scratch. I surprised myself with my reactions to certain situations where I didn't freak out as much as I thought I might. I don't overanalyze so much anymore. I've decided that no religion is the dogma for me. Certain of my philosophies were revolutionized. I loosened up.
#1 life experience professionally
Being able to put "Fulbright" on my resume.
And now I have business cards.
Describe Malaysia's essence in one sentence.
On long bus trips, I often thought of this question but couldn't get very far...Finally, I decided that the Tourism Department came up with it best: Malaysia, Truly Asia. It's got Indians, Malays, Chinese, Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and Buddhism. There's both fusion and a maintance of the purity of the individual components.
I arrived to my brother's house in San Francisco yesterday afternoon and will be here for a few days.
I was a bit worried about my return to the US after having to sit next to a rugby player in his 40s on the flight from Singapore. Loud, obnoxious, hungover, a box of condoms nearly falling out of his front pocket. He was what is wrong with America. How would I ever survive?!
On the train from the airport, I noticed that I was looking (not staring, exactly) at the people around me; many were reading and those who were not, didn't look around. A habit I'll have to get over now that I'm back! I ate Cap'n Crunch cereal and mini-Snickers bars left over from Halloween. There was hot water at the kitchen sink.
After a take out Thai meal, my brother and his roommate worked on their absentee ballots. And I do mean worked. I never knew how crazy California ballots are---because of all the propositions (17 state and A-O for local). There are thick voter guides that offer pros and cons for voting yes or no on each issue...As they sat comparing notes and I looked over the ones they found hard to decide and offered my logic, I couldn't help but think about Calculus study groups from high school.
Today, keep your fingers crossed that Bush is ousted!
One Year, One Week, One Day
Minus all those holidays I took...
A look at my last week:
Ah man, the photos are a bit grainy and if I make it bigger, then the sidebars gets shifted to the bottom of the page...
All of these photos were taken this week, though not all events described below are pictured...
Monday: Terri came back from Vietnam and we rushed off to a screening of local documentaries with LS. Wasn't too impressed by the documentaries, but inspired to play around with my own while back in Iowa.
Tuesday: Had dinner with Malay family again. (Terri came along for all the week's events, served as photographer as well as witness to the craziness of my life.) Went cosmic bowling (two games with score of 92) with Warren and Daniel. Went for snacks after and waiter was Egyptian! Realized that now my Egyptian is buried under my Malay. Ugh.
Wednesday: Hung out with R., as mentioned in a previous post. Afterwards, went to Rush where met crazy crew. And saw bartender friend visiting from Penang briefly.
Thursday: Broke fast with friend in Bangsar. Who told me that the Sisters in Islam were a bit unhappy about my article because of the one sentence where I say they don't veil and sometimes drink alcohol; they thought those were personal choices, not political/professional. But in the article, I don't condemn them for it, but say that the conservative Muslims use their beliefs and behaviors to dismiss them. Not me! I like what they say! But that doesn't get around the fact that they will be judged by others for their actions. Met bartender friend again at Thai Club where bartender competition was happening; bottles and glasses flying through the air. So cool. Bartendering is added to the list of things that make a guy immediately more attractive, along with playing soccer or guitar, being an artist, in a band, or a good dancer.
Friday: Went to the Islamic University to say goodbye to those friends once again. Old fling I haven't seen in months surprised me by coming home/sleeping over with my roommate.
Saturday: A teenager at my condo's pool had some sort of medical emergency, almost like an epeletic fit. Terri was there, but not me. She told them to call an ambulance (and I realized after a year here that I don't know the 911 number) and rushed upstairs to see if my fitness instructor roommate knew first aid--she didn't. As we looked down from my bedroom window, we saw him flat on his back with people standing around him and then luckily we saw his legs begin to move. Terri and I both decided to take first aid classes the next time we get a chance. I remembered that my father had given CPR to a guy who had a heart attack (and threw up in his mouth) a long time ago...
We then had another photo shoot with her fabulous LOMO camera. Went to Central Market one last time.
Went to MUMBO JUMBO one last time. Crap, I just had a brain freeze and am worried it's actually Mambo Jambo...my Malay friend was always getting it wrong and I never paid attention even though I went there all the time! I loved hanging out at the restaurant because Dean, Laila, and Anton were always friendly and served up good food (potatos, salads, smoothies!) in a prime people-watching spot. I recommend that you all go there! It's right behind Central Market!
Dean and Anton
We went to a Sikh temple--my first time ever to one. Turns out that the largest Sikh temple in SE Asia is a 15 minute walk from my house. Some really cute Punjabi kids took our hands and led us to the big prayer room, where they preceded to run around and scream because of a supposed green-eyed ghost behind a locked door that will bite you. Then we went to the kitchen-y area and they served us tea. Everyone, men and women, are supposed to cover their heads in the temple. One man just had a handkerchief over his head, held in place by the stems of his glasses. Sihk men are easy to identify on the street because of their turban, like Muslim women who veil.
Had a quick cup o tea with my exceedingly busy "Chinese Businessman Friend" and his fabulous friend I wish I had meet sooner. Got a copy of Lat's Kampong Boy (local comic book) and a bag of "Jack and Jill" potato chips. (Hmmm, does that give the secret away!?!)
I wore a blue feather boa that Terri brought me from Vietnam and a glittery, sequined headband out to get our midnight meal at the Indian restaurant on the corner. Both because it was Halloween and because it was my last night, so who cares?! Everyone looked and thought it was funny.
Sunday: A slow morning. Spent over 3 hours making new business cards after our photo shoot the previous day. Now we each have 3 different kinds, for a total of 300, but no jobs! Today's turned out even better than last time. Saw my gym trainer/friend for a few minutes. Had dinner at the Indian restaurant on the corner--roti canai one last time and fish since Iowa's landlocked.
I asked a taxi driver how much to get to the airport--just so I would know--but when he said 60 RM (others had said 100), Terri was like, let's take him, we can leave now. I ok'ed it and we told the taxi man to come to my condo and we'd be down in 10 minutes. When we got back upstairs, I freaked out. Starting crying. Had wanted to shower and say a proper goodbye to A., but felt very, very rushed. And sick. So Terri went down and told him I was puking (not true) and that we weren't ready to go yet. We checked in at the Malaysia Airlines counter in the city center, hung out there for another hour, then took a train. It cost about $5 more, but I didn't care. I needed more time.
Another I love you.
At the airport, we realized we didn't have time to get to R.'s gate (who was coming back from Thailand half an hour before we left) before we needed to be at ours. I text messaged him what gate we were at and he said he'd landed early and was running there. I walked down the corridor in the direction he'd be coming from and saw him running toward me. I picked up my pace and we embraced. So Hollywood.
Terri and I were seatmates to Singapore. She has a superstition (she's probably argue with the use of that word) that if the first word you say after midnight on the 1st of the month is "Rabbit" that it's good luck. So, we stopped talking 5 minutes before, just so we wouldn't forget. And now November should be fantastic.
As we parted ways in Singapore, she said something close to, but far more eloquent, "When will we see each other again?! Will it be speaking Spanish in Central America? Or chasing rhinos in Africa? Or in North America, surrounded by snow?"
And I realized then that rather than be sad about leaving people behind, I ought to be excited/happy about the prospect of seeing them again. She has friends from around the world, living around the world. Some she only sees after years. It reminds me of what my ex-boyfriend and I termed our relationship when we both went abroad: latent. On leave of absence.
Assignment
My Jordanian friend M., back in Iowa City, always asks me thought-provoking questions about my experiences and perceptions.
Emotions
I cried 4 or 5 times: with R. on Wednesday night and 3 or 4 times with A. I didn't cry when I said goodbye to any of my female friends. Maybe it's because those friendships are less threatened by distance. Once I was on the train, headed to the airport, I was fine. Not happy happy, but not crying. I wouldn't really have wanted to stay, but I found it hard to go. So I thought about the annoying things, the bad things, to be less reluctant.
Makes me wonder if I'm up for another hello goodbye. Two years in the Peace Corps would mean even more friends and hopefully deeper friendships.
#1 reason for going back
To visit friends while eating roti chanai and drinking teh tarik.
When friends asked me when I'd be coming back, I said for your wedding...Hope they all get married at the same time!!!!
I wanted to go see the fireflies and visit the Malay family's village in Melaka, so would hopefully be able to do those things when I get back, though it wouldn't be the reason for going.
#1 life experience personally
I learned to live alone again, start over from scratch. I surprised myself with my reactions to certain situations where I didn't freak out as much as I thought I might. I don't overanalyze so much anymore. I've decided that no religion is the dogma for me. Certain of my philosophies were revolutionized. I loosened up.
#1 life experience professionally
Being able to put "Fulbright" on my resume.
And now I have business cards.
Describe Malaysia's essence in one sentence.
On long bus trips, I often thought of this question but couldn't get very far...Finally, I decided that the Tourism Department came up with it best: Malaysia, Truly Asia. It's got Indians, Malays, Chinese, Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and Buddhism. There's both fusion and a maintance of the purity of the individual components.
