This was the BIG day. Scheduled for today was the important, formal opening ceremony for our study abroad and connection with UPSI. I, as well as the others, had no idea how truly momentous this ceremony was going to be. Our lack of understanding may be due in part to the fact the United States does not have Ministry of Education, so knowing the Deputy Minister was coming specifically for this meant little to us. Before we headed over to the main UPSI campus, we ate breakfast (American, again) at 8:00am. The ceremony was set to begin at 9:30am; the Minister of Education was set to be there, our host families, and many other high figures from Tanjung Malim.
When we walked into the hall the ceremony was being hosted at, there was already about 60 people seated and waiting for us. There was an enormous elegant sign on the wall that had both UPSI and MSU on it.
Each of us was even given programs with our pictures in it!! At this point, I think our group began to understand what a big deal this really was. I actually started to get a little nervous and felt anxious. I mean, I didn’t want to be the American girl who causes a scandal in Malaysia by doing something inappropriate. The Deputy Minister of Education arrived right at 9:30am and all of us MSU students had to form a line down the aisle way to greet him and shake his hand. In an attempt to show my interest in his country (and to be cool) I said “good morning to him in Malay, “Selamat pagi.” I didn’t really expect a response from him, but he did a double take and asked, “You speak Malay? It is very good. What else do you know?” At that point I rambled off some of the other phrases I had been practicing and he informed me by the time I left Malaysia I was going to “get lots of boyfriends of Malaysia.” Nice work, eh?
When the ceremony actually commenced, there were major introductions done, a blessing asked in Malay (like a prayer but lacking religious ties), and then the Vice Chancellor of the university made a long speech. She kept mentioning how MSU is one of the best colleges for education in the entire US. While I know the rankings, this was the first time I was actually really proud of MSU, our desire to be in Malaysia, and of myself for being part of such a place. After her, the Minister of Ed made a really long speech. Some of it was in Malay, some in English. He mentioned how happy he was to see such global ties to be made, etc. And for some reason, he made a connection to the movie E.T. and our being in Malaysia. There was TV cameras, newspapers, and reporters everywhere. After all the speeches had been I must have posed for over 100 pictures with our study abroad group, with the minister, interacting with the guests, and on and on. While the whole thing lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes, my favorite part of the whole morning was when I got to meet my host mother, Yong.
I was able to chat with her for a second, take a picture, and then she took me to meet her husband. I spent about 20 minutes talking to them, asking about their family, and telling them things I really wanted to experience while staying with them. Honestly, they seem so great and I really can’t wait to move in with them! And here’s some exciting news: I move in on Saturday and then on Sunday they are hosting a huge barbeque where all their family will attend. I get to meet everyone! I’m not sure if I am excited or overwhelmed by this fact, but no details will be spared in later posts.
(Minister of Education)
When the ceremony and final pictures were concluded, we were taken to a fancy lunch with the Minister and his collogues. The room we went into was like a banquet room with flowers, ornate tablecloths, and slipcovers for the chairs. There was even fancy silverware and napkins folded to stand on our plates. Seriously, we’re famous. And lunch… Oh, to die for! This was one of the 1st Malaysian meals we had eaten since beginning our trip and it was fantastic. It was served in a traditional roundabout that everyone could eat of. My favorite of the dishes was the curry shrimp. So yummy!
All of the formalness ended around 1pm and our afternoon was spent driving into town for quick errands, completing our class session with Kurnia and Sri (MSU coordinators), and then we were able to return to our rooms and rest before dinner. Dinner was served at 8pm (chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese, what?!) and after we took our private UPSI bus back onto campus. Beginning at 9pm was a traditional music and dance show put on specifically for us. While waiting for it to begin, a girl came and sat next to me… she is my host sister Sarah! After watching the performers do their dance, they invited us onto stage to practice our moves as well. They tried to teach us their simple moves, but I was awful at and pretty much made a fool of myself. For one of the dances, we had to wear sarongs (even Eric!), which they actually allowed us to keep. Oh, and what did we do once the performance was over? If you guessed, “EAT” you’d be absolutely right. This meal in the evening after dinner is called supper. It is mostly a dessert like spread with coffee but I was still stuffed from dinner and sitting around all day. It was nice though because my host parents sat at the table with me and I was able to listen to them talk about the experiences of living in the US and UK. Spending this short amount of time with them really only makes me more excited to spend time with them in their home.
We finished up around 10:30pm. Was I tired? Yes. Were we done for the night? Oh no. Instead of heading back to the dorms and crawling into my bed (which may or may not have cockroaches in it) all of us from MSU were taken out to a small Malaysia cantina to have yet again, more food. WHOA. While the things we tasted were amazing, roti tisu and roti canai, I could barely put one more thing in my mouth. When I said I would get fat over here, it wasn’t a lie. I was finally able to fall into bed, stuffed to the brim, around 12:30 after completing some readings for class the next day. Seriously, this day made me feel like a celebrity, but I crave to be in the classroom either learning or teaching
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