So we’re in Malaysia. We’re in Penang now and were in Kuala Lumpur a couple of days ago. Trees are everywhere, with huge, dark, broad leaves. Sometimes, fruits dangle off of the leaves and elsewhere, on menus, on streetcarts, they are heaped in giant mounds of affordable goodness. Affordable: that’s the kicker. I’ve eaten more […]
Author: ieatmypigeon
Read My Terse, Angry Lips
What I want to know is why my Behasa Melaya language phrasebook includes the phrases for “thank you,” “goodnight,” and “how much is the room per night?” but DOESN’T include what I can tell you is the much, much more useful phrase for: “Please stop hovering over me as I try to read the menu. […]
Turban Makeover
We’re examining the official currency of Malaysia and notice that the same man’s picture is on all of the bills. We’ve learned by now that his name is Tuanku Abdul Rahman. We figure he must be very important to be featured on all the paper currency. Sean is disappointed because he had hoped to work a […]
Keluar Bahaya Bilik?
The official language of Malaysia is Bahasa Melaya. Bahasa Melaya is written in the Roman alphabet, unlike other Asian countries’ languages which are written in scripts that are beautiful but undecipherable to tourists. By the time we arrive at the guest house, my Bahasa Melaya vocabulary has grown to a modest but exciting 5 words: […]
Underdressing, Overdressing
We’re maybe half an hour from touching down at Kuala Lumpur International Airport when, while washing my hands in the airplane bathroom, I realize that I’m inappropriately dressed for my first foray into the Muslim world. I look in the mirror and there they are; my bare shoulders and arms, gleaming white under the florescent […]
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The Wind Down
The days have become an endless series of goodbyes. Classes are finally over so there are gifts, hugs, and obligatory promises to come and visit. There was a Sayonara Sale for coworkers, a goodbye in Kyoto with the friends from training, and an early hanami with my soon to be ex-bookclub. Even though it was still far too […]
School’s Out, Let’s Shout …
… and so ends my teaching career. I have waited for this day since January of 2007. A year. It was just supposed to be for a year. Just a year and then I’d get back to real life, back to the career I hoped would come clear during my self-imposed exile from the New […]
- Japan
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Let Me Ask You Something
… and another thing I wanna know is why the heck I asked the man at the cafe where the “honorable” toilet was. What, am I Amish and amazed by the concept of flushing? And I want to know why, when the unification of Japan was mentioned in relation to the building of Osaka Castle, […]
- Japan
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Goodbye, Work
(written Sunday, March 22 but not transcribed until today) Sean’s dojo has him tied up with other Sayonara parties and events his last weekend in Japan and I, too, am occupied those days. My soon-to-be ex-bookclub and I have arranged a hanami for next Sunday and I imagine myself in Kyoto next Saturday; stalking geishas […]
- Japan
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Your 272-Word Mini Japanese Culture Lesson
In the realm of Japanese music, there is obviously nothing is more riveting than J-Pops, but please consider some key players in Japan’s traditional music: The shakuhachi: a wooden, end-blown flute that is – as its name helpfully denotes – 1.8 feet long. Traditionally used by Zen Buddhist monks in blowing meditation; more recently popular […]