G'day! I'll write about stuff that happened last week after we got back from Singapore.
On Thursday some children from a Malaysian school in KL came to visit with their teachers. They had prepared activities to do with the children including singing, dancing and arts and crafts. I think the younger children enjoyed it but the older ones thought it was a bit weird as they were pretty much the same age as the Malay kids. However it was nice to have a day off teaching and it was interesting talking to the Malaysian teachers. They were from a Christian school just outside KL, and one teacher thought it was necessary to ask Jo and me probing questions about our faith. He found it hard to believe that we are not religious, and this is where most people stop asking questions. He wanted to know why we did not believe in Jesus and then decided to show us what a Bible looks like. Little bit awkward. Hopefully another thing that we can show people here is you don't need to be religious to be a nice person, as I think Jo and I are pretty nice! Anyway, rant over, after that we had an amazing free lunch where Jo and I acted as dinner ladies. Fried chicken, vegetables and omlette thingy plus coke for those who like coke (everyone but me). Lovely! The Malaysian school also ran a service after lunch and all the groups performed a song or dance they had learnt in the morning. Very cute. There was also a section where Pastor Henry spoke to inform all our visitors about the school and highlight the fact that "we currently have two teachers from good old England!"... followed by turning heads to the back where we were seated and big cheers. Awkward but nice to receive the appreciation I guess. The Malaysian "this is a Bible" man then took the stage and invited all the teachers from our shool up to be blessed. A very weird experience. As Jo and I walked up to the front through all the children seated on the floor, we gave out multiple high fives. After the service there was ice cream for dessert and everyone went home after a busy day.
On Saturday we got up early to head into KL. For once we got the train from Rawang, which would take us to KL Sentral. We were very early as we always find it a good idea to leave plenty of time. We looked around the shops in the station and had a coffee. At 12 o clock we went outside to the meeting point, the bus stop opposite the Hilton, where we met Pete and Simon. Shortly after Saradha picked us up in her car. Saradha is from a group called the Soroptomists, who I have never heard of before, but they organise everything for the volunteers here and where Pete, Simon and Sarah teach. She was taking us to the house of one of the other club members where we had been invited for lunch. The house was massive! Like something out of that show, MTV Cribs... A big electronic gate entrance, marble floors inside, swimming pool, perfect interior and a wonderful "puppy" called Samson, who is actually six months old but bigger than most normal dogs. About ten ladies from the club turned up. We chatted and ate lots of delicious food. Someone had told them all that it was recently my birthday so I was given another cake and some little presents, a nice unexpected surprise! Saradha and her friends were very complimentary of the job we've been doing and said that all the children want us to be their teachers, so it's nice to know that what we're doing seems to be worthwhile. After lunch we were given stacks of leftovers to take home and we had a lift back to the station to get the train. What a lovely day out.
We had made plans for when we got back to take Bibi, a girl from Class A, to karaoke, as she loves singing and wants to be a singer. However, Jo had kept the destination a surprise and Bibi seemed very shocked and happy when she found out what we were doing. We spent a couple of hours there singing songs and Bibi was definitely the best singer, sorry Joyce! After that we went back to Bibi's house to see Bruno and Simon and we drank home made carrot and orange juice and played cards. It was one of those nights, Jo kept on losing at twenty one, and I was having a lucky streak. After a while of this going on we broke down into one of those laughing fits which I think everyone found very confusing as they didn't know what we were laughing at, but also funny because we couldn't stop. Bruno kindly filmed the shenanigans but I'm not sure I'd want to watch it back. New phrases coined, which one day I expect to be used by everyone in general conversation - "square and square" and "HOLD YOUR GOATS!"
Half way through this week already, time is still a flyin'. We booked our flights to Japan in January for the last leg of our journey where we will meet Hazel, my sister... who I believe is probably the main reader of this blog so, hello Hazel!
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