Welcome to Sarawak

After being in Kuala Lumpur (KL) for more than two weeks, I feel as though I've just now arrived in Malaysia. Orientation in KL was comprehensive and fun, and super American. There are 98 of us English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) here in Malaysia after all, so it would have been a true challenge to have a fully Malaysian orientation experience when surrounded by other English speaking, Chaco wearing, liberal minded, young Americans for two weeks straight. I don't say that as though it was a bad thing, though. It was nice to be around a bunch of people my age with similar goals, who are about to face similar challenges while living and teaching English in rural Malaysia.

Yesterday, along with fifteen other ETAs placed in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo, I arrived in the state capital, Kuching. This is our first time in Malaysia without the Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange (MACEE, the people that help Fulbright ETAs thrive in Malaysia) to guide us through orientation. We didn't receive many details about our arrival in Borneo, but soon as we stepped out of the Kuching airport, we were greeted by about twenty smiling faces, our mentors for the year, who put a red, black and yellow beaded necklace around each of our necks; "Welcome to Sarawak. These beads represent your new home".

This morning, we were sent to various schools to observe the teaching styles and classroom management techniques of experienced teachers. Upon arriving at our assigned school, my peers and I were welcomed by a live performance by some musically talented students. The principal welcomed our group by serving us breakfast and coffee (despite having just eaten half an hour earlier) and then proceeded to take us around the school, introducing us to various teachers and students. I felt like a minor celebrity. Every class we walked by would wave to us and say, "Good morning!", followed by giggling and blushing. After the extensive school tour, we were brought back to the conference room, where we ate lunch and the principal gave us each two gift bags full of Sarawakian goodies. Leaving the school, we posed for photo upon photo. Three young men proclaimed their love to me. My roommate, Josephine, and I were asked to pose for a picture with the young physical education teacher, while his young students giggled and said "Awwww!", as if the three of us had just done something terribly romantic. Soon enough, we were whisked away, back to our hotel in Kuching where we had a safety briefing from a high ranking police officer who offered this advice: "wear whatever you want, just don't go out naked". Following the informative safety briefing, a representative from the office of tourism told us about all the incredible adventures that await us in Sarawak (COME VISIT ME!). Then, we did the Sarawakian version of the electric slide. Welcome to Malaysia.

Some of the students at the secondary school I visited today.

This blog, "Uprooted", is not an official Fulbright Program site. The views expressed on this site are entirely those of its author and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations.