24 Days

I’M GOING TO MALAYSIA, Y’ALL.

So what is 2018 going to look like for me? On January 1st (24 days from now) at 4:00 PM, I’ll catch a flight from Cincinnati. 31.5 hours later, I’ll land in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital city. From there… your guess is as good as mine!

OK, so I have some idea of what I’ll be doing. I know that until November 1st, I’ll serve as an English teaching assistant to middle-school aged Malaysian students. I received a Fulbright ETA grant, which covers my flight and housing expenses, as well as provides me with a living stipend each month. Am I excited? YES! Am I nervous? Also yes.

I have no clue with whom or where I’ll be living and working yet–that’s one of the most exciting/nerve-wracking parts. There are 100 Fulbright ETAs (English Teaching Assistants) selected for 2018, and my first two weeks will be spent with them in Kuala Lumpur for orientation–a crash course in Bahasa Malaysia (the official language), lessons in Malaysian culture and etiquette, and English teaching courses. Only after a few days in Kuala Lumpur will I receive my school placement and roommate assignment. Then, I’ll have a week-long regional orientation with other ETAs who are placed near me. Finally, I’ll move into my apartment/house/teacher dormitory in what will likely be a small, low-income, rural community and begin teaching!

I’ll use this blog as a place to post pictures and write about my adventures in the coming months. In the next few days, I’ll post a FAQ page with some of the common questions I’ve gotten from friends and relatives about what exactly I’m going to be doing. Until then, selamat tinggal!

DISCLAIMER: For those of you who know me well, you know that I start a lot of projects… and never finish them. The study abroad blog from my semester in Rome had a whopping total of four posts. I started cleaning my room 20 years ago and never finished that, either. So no promises on this whole Malaysia blog thing. In any case, enjoy it while it lasts!

written while listening to:
Breathe – Télépopmusik
The Ephemeral Bluebell – Bibio
Ghostwriter – RJD2
A Walk – Tycho
Output – Blue States