Special Moment #1
The school day began with playing a new (to me) version of group Rock, Paper, Scissors with several Chinese boys who don’t speak much in class. Their laughter was contagious. In this game, everyone starts with one hand. When only two options are present (ex. everyone plays rock and paper), the losers stack their hands in the middle and then use their second hand. When everyone, except one person, has both hands in the stack, the hand on the bottom of the stack is removed and challenges the initial winner. The new loser places his/her hand on top. The game continues like this – one v one – until one person has both hands out. They are dubbed the ultimate winner. Can you just imagine the laughter and joking that occurred when I had to put my hand on top of a male student’s hand? Such silly students.
Special Moment #2
Next, I had English with Form 2B. Their regular teacher had a teacher’s program today, so she was not in class. 2B is a pretty good class anyway, so it was no problem for me to take them alone. We wrote “Letters to Leslie,” a lesson I’m doing with many of my classes. Since I leave in a couple weeks, I want the students’ feedback on the activities and programs we have done this year. As they were being good students, I also played music for them from my laptop and we all sang along to some of their favorite songs. I usually only stay for one class period, but because their English class on Friday is three periods and their teacher was absent, I ended up staying for all three periods. And we all enjoyed it.
During the second period, the relief teacher came with an assignment for them to complete. It was pretty good timing since most of the students had just finished their letters. Of course, they were not thrilled that we now had work to do. It was a worksheet about one of the poems they read earlier this year and one that is bound to be on their final exam. I tried to get them to work on it alone first, and some students did, but then we ended up doing it together. But overall, they were really good today and made me quite happy.
Special Moment #3
During the lower form break, I joined a group of Indian students. I joked around using a mixture of English and Bahasa Malaysia. We laughed and laughed. I tried to get them to dance with me, but they were all malu (shy). However, one student did teach me a few Tamil dance steps, to the amusement of everyone watching. I don’t even remember what we talked about, but it was a grand time.
Special Moment #4
After the break, I tried to do a bit of preparation, but ended up talking to a few of the male teachers instead. What great guys. Always joking, laughing, and having a great time. I’m getting to know them better now through futsal and our nearly daily discussions in the teacher’s room. One says he wants to come to America, but was baffled when I told him how much a flight ticket is. I told him to start saving.
Special Moment #5
My final class of the day, 4B, we also wrote “Letters to Leslie,” but first we spent several minutes laughing and joking at me being silly and speaking BM. With music playing and me singing and sometimes dancing, the students started writing their letters. I told them that I wouldn’t read their letters until I leave Labis and that got them excited to write. One student, however, wanted me to read part of his:
“It may take only a minute to like teacher someone like you, only an hour to have a best friend like you and only a day to love teacher someone like you but it will take a lifetime to forget you. Teacher Leslie!!!”
All smiles. Quite touched.
Special Moment #6
Later in the afternoon, all of the English teachers met in Segamat at the restaurant Secret Recipe to have a farewell dinner for me. Oh my goodness, the cheesecake is so good! Hasnul, one of the English teachers, and I went early to go walking in One Segamat, the new mall. I wanted to buy a gift for my friend who is about to have a baby (if she hasn’t already had him!). This excursion led to me discovering more delicious food options at the mall. Double whammy.
Special Moment #7
Lastly, the day finished with three hours of amazingness. During my 4B class, I asked the students if they wanted to jalan-jalan (go walking/hang out) tonight. A time and location was set. I agreed to bring Ultimate Frisbees and I asked a student to bring his guitar. When I returned home after school, I posted a status on my Teacher Facebook account to tell more students to come. Based on the amount of activity that post received, I knew that students would come; I just didn’t know how many.
There is a group of Form 6 students who play Ultimate pretty regularly after school. They came and brought more friends. Then some Form 4 students came, and then other students who saw my Facebook status. In the end, we had over 30 students there and not all of them were from my school! So many people that we had to play two separate games.
Not everyone played Ultimate at the same time. Since one of the students brought his guitar, several students played and sang while others played Ultimate. When I took a break from Ultimate, I taught a few students the chords to Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours”! And then I taught another student a few gymnastics moves. More Ultimate, more gymnastics, more laughing and running. Glorious night. We ended the night by combining fields and playing one big game all together.
Since we were playing at the dataran (town square), Ultimate received lots of exposure. The night market was finishing up when we started, the nightly Tai Chi group was exercising, a few people were jogging, and others were playing on the playground and sitting with their friends and family enjoying the night. Many people stopped to watch us. This is what I’d like the call the beginning of a mass ultimate takeover.
***
This is a long four-day weekend. Tuesday is Hari Raya Korban, an annual Islamic celebration commemorating Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son. Unfortunately, this means many cows will be slaughtered on Tuesday. I was going to travel for Saturday and Sunday and then return to Labis to celebrate the holiday with my student and her family, but the bus tickets were already sold out. Now, though, I am grateful that the tickets were sold out. This weekend is going to be fabulous and packed with great things, just like today.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
The Caucasian Population Triples!
This is a long-overdue post about my family's visit to Labis in mid-August.
***
That’s right, folks, you heard it here first. The Caucasian population in Labis has tripled, from one mat salleh* to three!
Monday marked the official end to a two week school holiday. And what a lovely school holiday it was. I spent five days in my town Labis, celebrating the final days of Ramadhan with students and teachers and their families. Fasting all day, cooking in the late afternoon, breaking fast together at a table or on the floor, eating with our hands, watching and partaking in setting off fireworks, sharing photos and stories, until the clock chimed late-o'clock announcing my time to depart.
On Wednesday night, the eve of Raya, I took the overnight train to Singapore where, in the morning, I was reunited with my mother and sister! We spent that first day together walking around Singapore, seeing some wonderful sights. It was lovely reuniting with my family after eight months apart. For the next three days, my sister and I played for our respective countries’ Ultimate Frisbee teams at the Asia-Oceanic Ultimate Club Championship (AOUCC), the largest tournament in Asia where teams from 17 countries competed against each other to see who could come out on top. Malaysia has a relatively young team, in terms of playing experience, but this tournament was a great experience for our players and I know we all learned a lot, myself included. We ended up placing 19th out of 27 teams. We would have liked to do better, but we never gave up and fought through the last point of every game – what more can you ask? Robin’s team had more experienced players and performed quite well, making it to the Quarter finals and finally finishing 8th in the tournament.
A week in Indonesia – in Ubud and on Gili Meno – brought us back to Singapore just to hop on a train straight to Labis. I was so excited for my mom and sister to come to my home and see where I live and work in Malaysia. Unfortunately, they were only able to stay for two nights, one full day, but we somehow managed to pack most everything in. They met an overwhelming number of people at school and in town, ate an absurd amount of delicious Malaysian foods (even managing to eat with their hands!), and through it all somehow managed to keep smiles on their faces regardless of how tired they felt and how many photos they were asked to stand in.
Monday morning we arrived at school by 7am, giving us enough time to greet the headmaster before the morning assembly. As we sat down with the teachers, I briefed Mom and Robin on our morning schedule. Encik Wahab will introduce you in English and in Bahasa Malaysia. Then we will all be invited to the stage and you will be asked to say a few words. "Oh dear," Mom exclaims. But they successfully give their mini speeches and I say a few words before taking them on a tour of the school.
Throughout the day, we entered four classes - 4A, 4B, 2A, and 2B (the equivalent of 8th and 10th grades). Each class had questions for them and information about Malaysia to share. 2A got to play a short game with Robin, spurred by the question, "how do you teach drama?" The students really enjoyed that.
After school, we explored downtown, stopping at the bus station to buy their tickets to KL, buying sugar cane juice and fried bananas at the small stall next to the station and enjoying a cup of cendol (a Malaysian dessert) while we waited for our ride back to my house. After a short rest, Mom and I went to a Chinese friend's house for tea. And then shortly after returning home, we all left for a traditional Malaysian dinner at an Indian family's home.
On Tuesday morning, I went to school late so that I could take my mom and sister to the bus station. Another friend they had yet to meet picked us up in her car and we went to breakfast at my landlord's restaurant. Every step of their journey, Mom and Robin met someone who plays a significant role in my life in Labis. A teary-eyed goodbye and a drawn out wave later, my family is safely on the bus to Kuala Lumpur.
***
I'm so glad my mom and sister were able to come and see where I live and work. It meant so much to me and to my teachers and students. The students kept talking about my family for weeks after and still ask when they will return to Labis.
Robin writing in Korean for Form 4B
A special visit to the Special Education class
Form 2A asked many good questions to my family
Family photo with Form 2A
Thank you for the gift, Headmaster and English teachers!
Thank you for the lovely gift, class 2B!
A final farewell photo
***
That’s right, folks, you heard it here first. The Caucasian population in Labis has tripled, from one mat salleh* to three!
Monday marked the official end to a two week school holiday. And what a lovely school holiday it was. I spent five days in my town Labis, celebrating the final days of Ramadhan with students and teachers and their families. Fasting all day, cooking in the late afternoon, breaking fast together at a table or on the floor, eating with our hands, watching and partaking in setting off fireworks, sharing photos and stories, until the clock chimed late-o'clock announcing my time to depart.
On Wednesday night, the eve of Raya, I took the overnight train to Singapore where, in the morning, I was reunited with my mother and sister! We spent that first day together walking around Singapore, seeing some wonderful sights. It was lovely reuniting with my family after eight months apart. For the next three days, my sister and I played for our respective countries’ Ultimate Frisbee teams at the Asia-Oceanic Ultimate Club Championship (AOUCC), the largest tournament in Asia where teams from 17 countries competed against each other to see who could come out on top. Malaysia has a relatively young team, in terms of playing experience, but this tournament was a great experience for our players and I know we all learned a lot, myself included. We ended up placing 19th out of 27 teams. We would have liked to do better, but we never gave up and fought through the last point of every game – what more can you ask? Robin’s team had more experienced players and performed quite well, making it to the Quarter finals and finally finishing 8th in the tournament.
A week in Indonesia – in Ubud and on Gili Meno – brought us back to Singapore just to hop on a train straight to Labis. I was so excited for my mom and sister to come to my home and see where I live and work in Malaysia. Unfortunately, they were only able to stay for two nights, one full day, but we somehow managed to pack most everything in. They met an overwhelming number of people at school and in town, ate an absurd amount of delicious Malaysian foods (even managing to eat with their hands!), and through it all somehow managed to keep smiles on their faces regardless of how tired they felt and how many photos they were asked to stand in.
Monday morning we arrived at school by 7am, giving us enough time to greet the headmaster before the morning assembly. As we sat down with the teachers, I briefed Mom and Robin on our morning schedule. Encik Wahab will introduce you in English and in Bahasa Malaysia. Then we will all be invited to the stage and you will be asked to say a few words. "Oh dear," Mom exclaims. But they successfully give their mini speeches and I say a few words before taking them on a tour of the school.
Throughout the day, we entered four classes - 4A, 4B, 2A, and 2B (the equivalent of 8th and 10th grades). Each class had questions for them and information about Malaysia to share. 2A got to play a short game with Robin, spurred by the question, "how do you teach drama?" The students really enjoyed that.
After school, we explored downtown, stopping at the bus station to buy their tickets to KL, buying sugar cane juice and fried bananas at the small stall next to the station and enjoying a cup of cendol (a Malaysian dessert) while we waited for our ride back to my house. After a short rest, Mom and I went to a Chinese friend's house for tea. And then shortly after returning home, we all left for a traditional Malaysian dinner at an Indian family's home.
On Tuesday morning, I went to school late so that I could take my mom and sister to the bus station. Another friend they had yet to meet picked us up in her car and we went to breakfast at my landlord's restaurant. Every step of their journey, Mom and Robin met someone who plays a significant role in my life in Labis. A teary-eyed goodbye and a drawn out wave later, my family is safely on the bus to Kuala Lumpur.
***
I'm so glad my mom and sister were able to come and see where I live and work. It meant so much to me and to my teachers and students. The students kept talking about my family for weeks after and still ask when they will return to Labis.
Robin writing in Korean for Form 4B
A special visit to the Special Education class
Form 2A asked many good questions to my family
Family photo with Form 2A
Thank you for the gift, Headmaster and English teachers!
Thank you for the lovely gift, class 2B!
A final farewell photo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)