made this list shortly before I left. So more than one year later, here are the results...
To-Do's while in Malaysia
- Become fluent in Malay Not fluent, but definitely more than conversational
- Learn some Chinese and Tamil Ahma, I know a few sentences in each
- Take Physics I took it, but the teacher taught in Malay so I didn't understand a lot
- Buy a sari Or 3...
- Participate in Ramadan I fasted 5 days!
- Teach someone how to Cotton Eyed Joe Where did he come from, where did he go? Sadly no :(
- Become close friends with the other YES Abroad students Teresa and James became my family
- Be on some sort of sports team I was on the hockey team for a few team
- Watch the Olympics from Malaysia I was able to cheer for both of my countries!
- Visit Thailand Only for a few hours, but the stamp is in my passport.
- Get henna done A lot of times!
- Buy a head scarf I bought at leat 20 and wore them quite often
- Worship at a mosque I didn't worship, but I visited
- Share information with Brewster students about studying abroad One of my friends was an alternate for YES Abroad
- Get homesick Yes
- Get over it Heck yes
- Eat a bizarre food Sting ray and fish stomach anyone?
- Eat from a street vendor Most of my meals
- Visit the beach So many beautiful islands
- Take tons of pictures 3 memory cards worth
- Make a video about host family/ life in Malaysia yep!
- Disprove stereotypes about Americans My class knows we don't eat at McD's everyday
- Make an American meal for my host family yep, cooked them grilled cheese and tomato soup
- Sisterhood of the Traveling Scarf/ Journal logistics didn't work out on this sadly
- Write snail mail to people in the US Christmas cards!
- Send postcards to school/ church/ dance See above.
- Keep a running blog This was updated fairly regularly
- Get tan By the end I was darker than some Malaysians
- Learn about Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism Oh definitely, I stayed with families of all 3 religions
- Learn how to make a Malaysian food I can make a mean nasi goreng and teh o ais
28/30... not bad!
