Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!

We haven't been too faithful to the blog this month but don't worry, you haven't missed much. The "happy new year" greeting is twice apporopriate though. On Saturday, February 2 we start a full week holiday for Chinese new year. This is a big deal here in Malaysia. A large majority of businesses are owned by Chinese Malaysians and this is the only time that they close up shop, some for up to two weeks. Of course the other facet is our regular January 1 greeting.

We have started back into our teaching routine. Bill and I still teach Business Leadership & English Literature respectively but our timetables are a little different from last term. We're settling into a new schedules. We have a whole new cast of students in each of our classes and once again they are the most respectful and motivated students we could ever meet. Kim's sudents are mostly government scholars so they have to achieve 85% overall to keep their scholarships to go to a Canadian University - they are sooo keen! We have had a couple of voice-over sessions and we expect to do quite a few in the next two months. They are fun and something very different for us. We are also coaching a couple of children who are doing the little girl and boy parts. They are as different as night and day and each is delightful in their own way.

We have gone back to exploring more of the KL area again. A trip to the National Islamic Arts Mueseum was wonderful. The art, the history and the mosque models were fascinating. We had another great 18 holes of golf with Matthew and Serina in Port Dickson. We were not quite as hot as our first round last October - the humidity has been a lot lower for the month of January. The temperature is always 32 daytime and 23 night time. It has been quite pleasant actually. We have also explore a couple of "bars" yes ... but not for the drinking but for the view of KL. There are a number of beautiful hotels that have spectacular views of the city & the Petronas towers but the Sky Bar where we visited with Carolynn, Joe & Randy is still the best. We have wandered around the Bangsar area which is filled with ex-pats from around the world and has some very upscale malls & boutiques. This is where Randy & I found my dress for Andrea's wedding. (Note from Bill:We had to go back for a fitting and the dress is really KIM! It is not simply elegant it is Kim's dress.)

Our holidays are still a great part of this adventure. We started back to teach on January 8th and we had a day off on January 10th!! It was Dawala Meharasam which is the Muslim New Year. So everyone had a holiday.

Two weeks later we had a holiday for Thaipusam. This is an Indian/Hindu holiday that is more celebrated in Malaysia than in India. Pilgrims come to the Batu caves temples and other temples in the area of KL from all over the world. Batu caves had a small crowd this year. They usually get 1.5 million but only a meagre million showed up. Three Hindu colleagues travelled to a temple in Klang for the celebration. There are some pretty scary practices that involve carrying heavy objects or dragging heavy things on hooks piercing the skin. Have a aloolk at this link for a few ictures from this year
http://www.malaysiasite.nl/batucaveseng.htm
We didn't attend because of the crowds but a few colleagues did. Instead we went back to the golf course.

Chinese New Year is Feb 7th & 8th but we have the whole week off - from Sat Feb 2nd to Sun Feb 10th. Amazing eh? We are off to Cambodia for the week. We are looking forward to that adventure. The very sad history of that country is so interesting. Well, we'll let you know about it after we return.

A final note for January, we have given notice and we are returning home. In June our Malaysian adventure will be over. But don't hold your breath; this may just be the beginning of the next stage.

Christmas in Malaysia

We cannot believe we have been in Malaysia for 6 months. The time has flown by. It seems like only yesterday that we had this crazy idea. On the other hand it seems like we have lived here for a long time. When we return from a trip here we are happy to be "home". It is still very strange to call this condo "home". Although we have not put a lot of money into decorating the condo, it is cozy enough for us to be very comfortable and happy. We are looking forward to our second term of teaching. We have a few more travel plans for the spring. The end of our year here will be fast upon us.

We tried very hard to get into the Christmas “spirit”. Although the malls have splendid displays and the Masses during Advent at Assumption Church were very much like home we missed being with our friends and family very much. Our new friends in Malaysia are wonderful and we had many visits and meals with them. We really did enjoy ourselves. It does not replace family though. It is so difficult to get into the Christmas spirit when the temperature is 25 to 30 degrees everyday. But, the malls have the most amazing decorations that we have ever seen. People go to the malls just to view & photograph the Christmas displays. A little while ago Bill & I were at the Mid Valley Megamall (yes they call it a megamall - because it is so huge) & the Centre Court Christmas display was breathtakingly beautiful. The theme was carried throughout the mall to the smaller North South East & West courts & each was more beautiful than the next. They have been piping Christmas carols throughout the malls since mid November. Each department store has a small Christmas section with a few tree decorations. However, I am finding it very difficult to find Christmas decorations for the home, kitchen or table. I found some Christmas cake, pudding & napkins at Marks & Spencer. That's it!! But I was able to find a couple of small decorated table top Christmas trees & a few tacky decorations to make our condo a little more festive. It will do!!

Our New Year celebration was also a lot of fun. We organized a BBQ at our Condo complex and 17 of the Canadian staff came. We had a great BBQ dinner and then everyone came up to our condo for drinks & chatter. At 11:50 we all made our way down to the pool and we watched as the hotels nearby heralded in the New Year with amazing fireworks displays.

We wish all of you a wonderful New Year filled with happiness and prosperity.