Caves by Elizabeth (May 5, 2013)

We went to the caves on Thursday.  First we got in the caves.  We walked on a platform.  I wore a pink shirt with three flowers on the top.  The bottoms had jewels on them.   When we first walked it was very bright.  The tour guide pointed out rocks that looked like things.  He pointed out an elephant, a fake Mona Lisa, and two dragons and a leg.  My group was Mr. Toh, Emma, Zoe, Moriah, and me.  Those are most of my friends.  After he pointed out pictures we went up and down the stairs.  A little while later we came to a pond that looked 3D movie-like. We discovered that the wind goes both ways in the caves.  There was writing on the walls.  Next we went down lots and lots of stairs.  Then we went down the slide, through the hole, and into the water.  That was my favorite part of the cave.  I talked to Zoe because we were waiting for the people who hadn't come through the hole yet.  The river was long.  It felt like it was never going to end.  Our class separated into two groups at the river part.  That was weird.  We had to crawl through the river.  At some parts it was hot and some parts it was cold.  It was like that because  

of the heat, pressure, and the water.  I really liked caving.                 

Junior Senior Banquet by Garth, April 19, 2013

     The highlight of the school year for Dalat International School is the Junior Senior Banquet. The Junior Senior Banquet is similar to a graduation prom. The Junior class (Grade 11) spend all year raising money and also planning the Banquet. To raise money, the Juniors have a class store where you can buy bubble tea, ice blended drinks, and a variety of junk food. They also have a Junior auction, where each Junior offers a service which is then auctioned off. It is quite a commitment for the Juniors, many of them coming in every Saturday to help get things ready for the store or plan the Banquet. The Juniors have 6 staff sponsors. The location and the theme of the Banquet is kept secret.

     The Junior Senior Banquet is a formal occasion, where only staff and students are invited. The event is a way for the Juniors to honor the Seniors (Grade 12). There is a lot of build up to the Junior Senior Banquet. This year, after a (fake) firedrill in March, the Junior class put on a flash mob to the song 'Thriller' by Michael Jackson. At the end of the flash mob, the Juniors handed out invitations for the Junior Senior Banquet to the Senior class. The Senior class could also now ask someone to the Junior Senior Banquet. Besides the Juniors, the Sophomores (Grade 10) also come to the banquet to see what it is like, because they will be putting it on the next year.

     The dress is formal, but I did not bring a suit to Malaysia. One option was to have a suit made in Malaysia. But it can be formal dress from any culture. I decided to buy a Malaysian silk batik shirt for the Junior Senior Banquet. Eileen went in a red dress she brought with her from Canada.

      The evening starts at 5:00 p.m. in the chapel at the school. In the chapel, the Sophomores introduce their staff sponsors for next year. Then we go on buses, which drive us to the banquet. This year the banquet was held at Traders Shangri La Hotel. The theme this year was Pirates of the Caribbean: Blackbeard's Revenge. The theme is used to introduce all the members of the Senior class. A story is told which gradually introduces all of the Senior class. The theme of the story was 8 ships full of seniors are fighting Blackbeard's pirates. Each of the pirate ships are full of teachers. The Juniors did a story of the Seniors fighting the teachers in the different ships. As each of the ships is introduced, with approximately 5 Seniors in each ship, there is then a photo montage of those students. Someone from the Junior class also does a 3 minute speech on why that person is special to them. I was very taken aback by the amount of time and energy that was put into the evening. I have never seen anything of that level at any high school in Canada.

The food was also excellent. I really enjoyed having salmon, something I have not had since I left Canada. There were also various stations that you could go and pose for pictures. The whole event lasted until midnight.

Chinese New Year by Eileen (April 15, 2013)

Chinese New Year (CNY) is a fantastic holiday, that exceeds Christmas in its scale and festivities.  This year it started on February 10th and it lasts for 15 days.  The first day, last day, and the weekend in between are the biggest celebration days.  On the 9th day is the Hokkien day of celebration (this year - February 18th).  Hokkiens are a group of people who came in history as traders and merchants from south-east China, and it is also the name of the language that they speak.  There are lots of fireworks and firecrackers (illegal but given a blind eye) which you can easily buy many places including outside the local fruit and vegetable market or places equivalent to the local corner store.  The first night Garth and I were woken up about midnight by the extended sound of fireworks going off in our neighbourhood - it sounded like right outside our home.  These fireworks signal the start of Chinese New Year.  Even though I was told to expect them, they took me aback because it was so close by and it sounded to me like they were going off inside metal garbage dumpsters or something like that.  First thing I did when I woke up that morning was to look out our window to see if there was any damage to houses or vehicles.  There was none.  These fireworks have gone off about every second or third evening, including outside my classroom window.

The Dragon Dance is another traditional aspect of CNY.  It can be scary for young children and Elizabeth was at first a bit scared, but now after seeing about 4 of them, not so much.  There are two people dressed in the costume - the front person who supports what looks like a very heavy mask, and the back end person who has to bend down while walking around.  Neither one sounds very fun to me!  The dragons are accompanied by very loud drumming by men wearing similar-looking shirts.  The front end person gets to "spit" out oranges though and also collect the red money envelopes that hang up at the houses or businesses that the dragon is invited to visit.   There are even brightly decorated trucks that carry the costume and drummers and others from place to place.  Friends of ours here had these Mandarin oranges kind of thrown at them from the dragon's mouth.  They are called "prosperity oranges" for a prosperous new year.  Red is the colour of prosperity and it seems that prosperity is the "theme" for CNY.  

We will have wished people at church (where we see the most Chinese people) 'Happy New Year' three times by the time this festival is over - 3 Sundays.  

The two weeks or so before and at the start of CNY there are many special things for sale at the local market that are not usually there - more ladies' clothes, kitchen stuff (eg containers, pots), and lots of special food treats that I have not seen before.  The market was extra busy too.  This last week in the middle of CNY there was not the same quantity of products or busyness.

Updated View - Thoughts on my Second Day by Garth (February 24, 2013)

Looking back on that second day I (Garth) felt like a stunned deer in headlights. Everything was happening around me but I was in total shock with the new environment. There is still a bit of shock and uncertainty when we face new situations in Penang, but I feel that I went through two culture shocks - adjusting to a new country and adjusting to a new school. We are slowly weaning our way off the use of air conditioners, with only one on at night (down from 4 when we first came here).

It is nice to have someone (Marianna) come by twice a week to help clean the house.

Listening is still important, trying to understand the different dialects and slang expressions.

We are developing routines with shopping and meals. We are quite used to going to Tesco (similar to Superstore) once a week for groceries. We usually have supper in the food court, and then go up the escalator and do our shopping.

We own a van, but it only has a 1.3 liter engine, so we have to be very gentle with the van. MPV or passenger vans are a lot more expensive in Malayisa than they are in Canada. Driving here is crazy but we are starting to take up some of their habits. I used to be very reluctant to go through a red light, like in Canada.  Now I am less reluctant and probably go through a red light about once a week.

Two Things That are Cool in Malaysia by Elizabeth (October 21, 2012)

  2 THINGS THAT ARE COOL IN MALAYSIA

1.  I think slug camlafash is awsome.



2.  Another one is the hot sun.  The sun is very hot.

Our Amah by Eileen (July 31, 2012)

Our Amah, Mariana, started as our house helper today.  She is an Indonesian lady who looks to be about my age, married with a son who is about seven years old.  The lady from the school who referred her to me told me several times that her husband cannot provide enough for their family so that is why Mariana needs to work.  As far as I understand, the husband is here illegally and so he can't get a good job.  Mariana also works on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for a Turkish lady locally who asks her to not only clean but also iron for her, including her towels.  For us she will work on Tuesday and Thursday from about 8:30 to 12:30, then she goes on the bus to pick up her son from school.  She charges RM15 / hour (about $5 / hour).  She did a fantastic job today, even tidying the girls' rooms, eg refolding their blankets and arranging their stuffies nicely.  The girls voluntarily wrote thank you notes for her because they were so happy.

Georgetown (July 19, 2012)

We went to Georgetown, the main city on the island of Penang, to purchase some things for our house. 

Bureaucracy by Eileen (August 26, 2016)

There was a new building built over this last year at Dalat called the CASTLE.  It is really nice - three stories, lots of windows, open-air hallways.  It is the largest building on campus so it fits its name that way, but its name is also an acronym for 'Center for the Arts (art classrooms), Sciences (science labs), Technology (computer labs and tech offices are there), Library, and Educational Services' (learning assistance and E.S.L. teachers as well as counsellors are there including Garth's office).  It is right across the courtyard from my classroom.  One unexpected thing I like is that I can see out my classroom window when my students are starting to come out of their Specials (library or art or computer class) and go to meet them at the bottom of the stairs to lead them back to our classroom.

The building was completed in July though occupancy was not officially allowed until the day before school started (August 3rd).  One implication for how this affected us this past summer was that we had no library for the summer (end of May until the beginning of August) as this is the only library in Penang that is usable for us.  That was pretty hard as all of us love to read, but we managed.

About a week ago (August 20th or so) I saw some workers painting yellow parking lines on the sidewalk about 15 feet over from the CASTLE.  These lines were being painted in front of where the Junior Class store is, which is a building beside the CASTLE.  These lines are like a grid and looked like motorcycle parking though why they would be in a thoroughfare where elementary students walk back and forth to the playground and where people line up for the Junior Class store - I couldn't figure that out.  Did the Junior Class want one person in each rectangle and then call them over when their drink is ready?  Is it for a new children's game?  I couln't reason it through so I just put it out of my mind and hoped we would find out one day.

The Dalat Newsletter this week cleared it up.  Here is the story:

Are those new motorcycle parking spaces in the elementary school drop off and pick up area?

Yes and no. Yes, they are motorcycle parking spaces, and no, those spaces are not going to be filled with motorcycles. As part of the city paperwork process for the CASTLE building we needed to paint them. In the long term they will be moved to the front of campus, but for now, this was the best location to place them.

Let's paint motorcycle parking spots some random place, but at least it fulfills building code :)

  

Favorite Places By Elizabeth (June 17, 2017)

This is a creek by our house.  I like it because there are usually cows and it is cool to have a creek

This is the elementary courtyard.  I like it because this was a nice place to play soccer and it's right outside my mom's classroom

This is a table where me and my friends used to hang out.  I like it because we have had some interesting conversations here

This is the middle school area.  I like it because most of my classes were here

This is the swing facing the ocean.  I like it because it faces the ocean and it is another place where my friends hang out

Favorite Places by Kate (June 17, 2017)

One of my favourite places is the supposed attic in our house.  One day when Elizabeth and I were really bored we decided to explore all around the house.  When we got to this panel on the third floor in Mom and Dad's bathroom we tried to see what was in it.  We could not see much but I thought that this was an attic.  I really liked this place because I can imagine what's up there, what it is used for, and why it is not part of the main house.

This is the panel on the ceiling of Mom and Dad's bathroom that leads to the attic

This is a balcony where we used to play things and where we used to climb on the roof

This is the middle school building where I spent most of my school time

This is my neighbor Gwen's house.  Gwen is Chinese but she speaks really good English.  Elizabeth and I are friends with her.  She has three dogs. One is named Cobe, another is named Princey, and the last is named King