So here we are, after a long break I am finally back Ont Road. Over the past five years, life has taken on a different meaning and experience with the decision to have children. I have written about some of my recent short trips to Finland (HERE), Rebellion Festival (HERE), and Hamburg (HERE), but being a family man with young kids has meant that there hasn’t been any long travel trips for a while, and let’s face it, not only does nobody want to read a blog about family holidays in Spain or Cyprus, I ain’t interested in writing about those things - there are plenty of places on the internet that cater for that type of stuff.
So why Malaysia? Well, at the start of the year my partner and I decided to take the plunge, and I started to apply for International teaching jobs. This is something we had decided to do a few years ago, but tragically my younger brother took his own life after suffering from depression for most of his life - as a result we had to spend a few years managing this trauma, and the subsequent impact this had on our mental health. You can read more about it here if you want to know more (HERE). A deeper explanation of the reasoning for going into international teaching can be found in an article I wrote (Contact me for a link), and if you work as a teacher in the British education system and are interested in teaching abroad, you can read about how to go about the process in another article I wrote (Contact me for a link). For now, let’s just say that it was a long process that took lots of effort, yet here I am, after several interviews, having found a job, teaching Humanities on the British Curriculum, at an International school on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Although day to day life won't change, my environment has considerably, so I want to personally document this experience, and also share my thoughts and experiences with you, as I know it is something which you will all find interesting.
The actual departure from the UK was a long process too: packaging boxes to be shipped in advance, selling most of our possessions, putting our most personal possessions into storage, and a vast array of occasions to say goodbye to people (if you were at our actual leaving party, it was a night you won't forget). We decided to fly out at the start of the school holidays so that we could enjoy as much time as possible in Malaysia, acclimatising before the next academic year, rather than counting down the days in England. We flew with KLM, Leeds via Amsterdam, and the airline had great food and service. There was a slight delay on the first flight, so we had to make a mad dash from one side of Schiphol airport to the other, with two kids, four bags, and two car seats; and somehow we made the connecting flight just in time. The car seats were a bastard to lug around, yet they were a gift from the heavens on the plane - the kids were used to sleeping in them from car journeys, so they were ideal for a comfy & quiet overnight flight, meaning no disgruntled huffs from other passengers.
Unbeknown to me, three members of staff from the school came to meet us at the airport, and using the school minibus, took us and all our mountains of luggage to our hotel - that was a great way to be welcomed. They even went so far as to bring gifts of cuddly toys for the children too - a nice touch! As standard for expat teachers, the school put us up in a hotel for the start of the contract - and they have gone the extra mile once again by putting us up in a 5 star hotel, half way between central Kuala Lumpur, and where the school is based. This has been a unique experience so far, as we have never been in a situation where we would choose to or be able to stay in such a place for a two week period. The hotel itself is attached to a huge mall, so it is ideal for having the comforts we are used to on our doorstep, and all the retail & dining we could possibly need whilst acclimatising and getting set up for our future life here. So what follows isn’t going to blow your mind with some deep insights into obscure elements of Malay culture, yet it will give you a taste and feeling for what we have been experiencing as part of our situation during the first week. Here are some snippets of life so far...
IT’S ALWAYS CLOUDY IN KUALA LUMPUR - it’s the first things us Brits always ask about when our friends are away. Before we left, we were told there would be a downpour everyday - I have only seen one so far. Furthermore, I love the weather - warm, cloudy, humid and a slight breeze - it’s like being in an air conditioned sauna without the risk of continually being sunburnt.
‘BREAKFAST’ - our package includes breakfast, and they have everything - curry, noodles, sushi, and all the standard breakfast items. My favourite local dish so far is a variation on Roti Chennai - roti bread mixed with egg and fried, then covered with dall, a dollop of lembak (spicy sauce), and topped with poached eggs. Yum!
THEY KNOW HOW TO DO MALLS - our hotel is attached to a huge mall, which is about five times as big as the White Rose Centre in Leeds, complete with all your shopping, dining, and entertainment needs. The kids have been kept entertained in the play centres, and our bellies have been filled in some of the 143 food establishments. A basic family meal in the Food Court costs as little as £7, an average family meal in a cafe / small restaurant is £10-15, and a splurge / feast in a more upmarket place can cost £20-30. We have eaten amazing food from all regions of Asia since we have been here - I can’t wait to start trying the more authentic places.
YOU NEED A PASSPORT TO DO ANYTHING - Renting a house, getting a SIM card, and ordering a taxi through an app all require a copy of your passport - even filling out a form to get admission to a kids play area even requires your passport number!
APPS - Malaysia is pretty good so far for this, there is an app called GRAB in which you can order taxis, get food delivery, and even order someone to deliver goods for you. The most impressive so far is a DIY car rental app called SOCAR, where cars can be booked out from other car owners for significantly cheaper than commercial firms - a kind of Peer to Peer AirBnB for cars. We have signed up for this, and plan to perhaps use it in the future. Speaking of cars, you pretty much need one to get around and do anything here.
TOLLS EVERYWHERE - For the few 20 minute journeys we have done, we have passed through at least 3 tolls on each journey. I guess that is just normal service for a privatised road building programme.
IKEA IS SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT - No experience of visiting Ikea is ever pleasurable, so we decided to head out on a Tuesday mid-morning to escape the bustle, only to find out when we got there that it was a public holiday for the coronation of the new king. Cue the chaos. This was a necessary evil for working out what we are going to need for our new (unfurnished) house. Thankfully, we ordered and paid for it all online after the visit, and this will then be delivered and assembled for when we finally move into our new house.
GETTING A HOUSE - We also paid a couple of visits to our new house, to finalise the paperwork and check a few things over (thankfully Heather was able to put in the majority of the groundwork, prior to our arrival). I will share more information about all this in a future blog post, as there is a lot to say about the place - it’s beautiful and is the best place to serve most of our needs for the next couple of years.
SCHOOL - I also made a visit to the school, primarily to have a handover meeting with the outgoing History teacher, which was useful. I also got to look around the secondary campus (which is wonderful) and meet some of the other key staff. As part of this trip, I also got the opportunity to have breakfast in a cafe in the local town centre, which was a welcome change from eating in the hotel and mall. £3 for 3 dishes!
WE ARE VIKINGS AND OUR CHILDREN ARE ANGELS - People in Asia are generally much smaller than people in the West, so I actually feel quite tall here. I also heard that touching the head is a no-no here, as the head is said to be sacred. Yet on many occasions, people from the elderly generation have felt it necessary to touch the heads of our children. I asked Heather about this faux pas, and she said that ‘it’s because our children are angels’.
LIFE ADMIN - They may look like angels, but I can assure you, like many parents, there are plenty of times when they don’t behave like them. It’s a big job is getting a life set up in a new country, whilst simultaneously trying to entertain, nurture, and care for young children (my youngest has gone to bed at 10pm - not midnight - for the first time this trip - hence why I had some time to write this). Despite this, we have been managing to chip away at things, little by little, without tearing each others hair out, and that is what I consider a success, and this is where I will leave you this time, with a so far, so good.
No comments:
Post a Comment