So here is the truth… I’m writing this specific blog right now because, although I am supposed to be doing my Japanese homework, my brain was completely fried today. There is nothing left but mush. Besides that fact, I had been wanting to post a little bit of what has happened recently. This blog will probably be lacking in pictures, but I hope you all find it interesting enough to read without the pictures. Yes, children, this is not a storybook.
For Christmas, it was harder than I thought it was going to be… A lot harder. I never thought I would miss my family so much, but it manifested quickly when it came to a week before Christmas and I still had no feeling of Christmas being around the corner. Most of what my Christmas involved was tradition. If you don’t have someone to celebrate that tradition with, it’s almost pointless. Let me explain. One of my family traditions is decorating the house, tree, and sugar cookies. It’s something we’ve always done. Here, it seems ridiculous to decorate the apartment. Why would I decorate a place that isn’t really my own? That would be strange. Decorating a tree can’t be done if you don’t have the necessities… I would consider a Christmas tree a necessity for decorating one. And sugar cookies… Oh goodness, I missed those! Half of the fun was eating so much dough, icing, and baked cookies while we were supposed to be decorating them! You can’t really make cookies when the ingredients are not the cheapest or easiest things to come by in a country that doesn’t make a big fuss about cookies. Malaysians love their pudding though! (Mind you Americans, this is a little closer to our idea of jello, only thicker, harder, more bland, and a lot less sugar.) So, leading up to Christmas was nothing that I was used to. Then, we didn’t celebrate on Christmas day. Or I suppose we did, just not in the way I’m used to: family being of utmost importance. That would mean there was no plans for the day. We would read the Bible, open presents, cook and bake, and play games. Unfortunately, Ken was out of the country for work, there was church on that day, and Adrian and I were in the Christmas drama for church. [I have posted the video below for those who want to see.] That meant that I got up early to be there and help set up. Later in the day, we invited approximately twenty people over for a pot-bless—what they call a potluck here—and that went until midnight. I had hoped to open my presents that my parents sent to me with them Christmas morning, which was night for me, but I didn’t get the box in time. Instead, I just watched them on Skype and had a wonderful time watching them open their presents. There were so many things that happened to me personally that also made Christmas fairly difficult, but I guess you could read about that type of stuff on my other blog!
Then came New Years Eve. We went to visit the church of our friends that we made on the kelong trip in downtown KL. It was called 12 hours of prayer. It lasted from 12pm-12M. It was a wonderful time of being refreshed and spending time with the friends we made. New Years Day, we invited people over again for another pot-bless… Only more! It was a blast, and I had such a wonderful time with all my friends! There was also so much wonderful food! Same goes for the Christmas party, of course.
Now comes the more current happenings around me. (Don’t worry; I haven’t forgotten about the Singapore trip! I just feel a lot less motivated to write that blog right now.) I got to try durian on Sunday! For those who haven’t heard about it from me, or anyone else, it’s a very odorous—some can just say it’s downright pungent and nasty—but the locals devour it like it is some type of magical fruit. I would compare it a little closer to the texture and taste of an avocado, but with the smell of—forgive me Malaysians who are reading my blog!—a rotting carcass. I can never decide if it smells sweet or stomach-churning revolting. I did finish the fruit though. It’s not something I would try again.
The other thing that is going on right now, as maybe you might have seen hinted at in the introduction, since it was my excuse for writing this blog at the moment, is that I have started an intensive Japanese course. It was my second day today, and you’d be amazed at how much information is being crammed into my poor little brain. I can hardly handle much more! Yet that is precisely what I will receive. The class will last 25 days, and it is from 10am-3pm every weekday. The class is also only taught in Japanese, and we are required to only speak Japanese in the class. I actually was trying so hard to understand everything that I got an intense headache near the end of class. I’m hoping tomorrow will improve.
Love you all! I’m now off to finish the rest of my homework!
P.S. I’m so sorry about my Japan Adventure Pt. 1 blog! The stupid site actually deleted it when I posted part 2! I hope to make it up to you all. Maybe I will just repost the pictures, no commentary, and what little I wrote that is still saved on my computer.
Comments (0)