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Published: July 25th 2008
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Moving to Subang Jaya has been a much easier transition for us than last year's move to China for many reasons. The most obvious is that most people here speak English. Still, I can't help but acknowledge that living in China makes foreign transitions easier everywhere else.
In China you learn to be patient, you learn that you are unlikely to get what you really want, so you learn to appreciate whatever it is you do get, or get served. I remember how difficult it was initially to order food. We didn't know what dishes we liked, we didn't speak or read Chinese. We just tried to read random dishes out of various guides and hoped the restaurant might serve that dish...and of course we hoped that we would like it! In China we were functionally illiterate and we had to rely heavily on the kindness of strangers.
When we arrived in China we were back to being toddlers, barely able to tie our own shoes, but by the time we left...we could function just fine.
As such, nothing here seems nearly so overwhelming. Once again the menu barely makes sense, and it can be a little confusing
Beautiful Robes
I absolutely adore the colour of the clothes in Malaysia. just how to order at some of the open air food courts, and of course tonight we have to figure out how to get gas hooked up to our apartment so that we can cook, but none of this is too stressful. Now we have the experience to know that somehow or other, we will figure it out, and we are confident enough to know that next June, we will have a firm handle on how to survive in Malaysia.
So just what is life like in Subang Jaya? As usual, I hardly know where to begin.
The Community
Subang Jaya is a student town. Besides Taylors University College there are a number of other private institutions in town, otherwise known as the competition.
Malaysia itself is multi-cultural. The majority are Malay, roughly a third are Chinese and a sizable Indian population on top of that. Add in that the schools here attract international students from across the world, and we find ourselves in a pretty interesting place to live.
The School
We are in the Canadian Pre-University Program. Taylors also offers Australian and Cambridge A-Level programs. Students do one
year with us before moving on to university. They can start in either January or July it doesn't matter.
Our program is on the 4th floor, so you don't want to forget something in the staff room as its a long climb back up. When its hot like it is here, 4 stories feels like 8 to climb. All staff have a cubicle in the staff room which is entirely new for us. They have our cubicles side by side, and you can see each other when sitting. They also have us on the same teaching schedule. Which means that other than the e 76 minute periods a day, I have my husband by my side. I told the family studies teacher that we might make a good case study for one of his students...
There is no supervision duty and if you call in sick, they just cancel your class...no creating a plan for a substitute. What a relief. You can also dismiss your classes early if you finish everything you had planned to do. I think it may be hard to go back to the reality of teaching in the public system after this.
As
we are on the top floor, when it pours rain its exceedingly loud. Today we all just took a 5 minute pause during the worst of it, as there was no sense in shouting above it all.
The Food
So far, hands down, the best thing about living here is the food. Where to start? Its cheap, just as cheap as China, in fact, western imports are a lot less money.
You can eat anything you want and its all good. Mind you, you pay more for foreign food. Fortunately, we love Indian, Malay and Chinese food so there isn't much need.
Its pretty common to eat in outdoor food courts here. You choose a table, remember its number (say B38) and then go up to a stall and order your food. They bring it to your table and you pay. The food court across the street from the school must have 50 stalls at least offering anything and everything. So a group of us can pick a table and all go to different stalls. 5 ringgits (1.80 Canadian) will get us a belly pleasing and satisfying lunch.
Housing
Well,
Putra Mosque
Pink Mosque, Pink Robes. after last year where we went as cheap as possible, we felt we could afford a bit more creature comfort this year. We are renting a condo in a brand new building. The landlords are Chinese and imported the kitchen table set and coffee table from Beijing. Its really comfortable with Western mattresses (hint hint to anyone thinking of visiting). We have a big pool long enough for laps and when the place is completed will have a gym and more facilities. Its a ten minute walk to school or 5 minutes to a big mall - Subang Parade and the Carrefour Hypermarket. There is a bus stop right outside the door as well and the lightrail station is just behind the complex. There are a couple of family restaurant right next to our building, where we are already familiar faces. We are very happy.
The Weather
Every morning my husband gets up and peers out the window in search of clues on how to dress. "I wonder what it's like outside?" he asks. This always gets me laughing because the weather here is always the same. It's hot. It will probably rain at some point
during the day and then clear up quickly. Once a week we get a really big thunder storm. So far, I like it always being hot.
Entertainment
Well we feel like teenagers again. Malls are the meeting grounds in Malaysia. People from every walk of life flock to the mall in order to enjoy its free airconditioning. As a result, besides the usual shops, the malls are filled with entertainment as well. The big mall in Subang Jaya is called Sunway Pyramid and it is not unlike the West Edmonton. It has a water park, skating rink, movie theatre, bowling, archery, foot massages and eateries galore. Unlike China, cinema movies are really cheap here, and I have discovered that Malaysian movie theatre popcorn is dangerously addictive. Its caramel corn, but its fresh, not as sweet, a little salty and warm. Craig and I just enjoy the people watching ourselves, or watching whatever is going on in the skating rink. Its pretty strange when a bunch of 30 somethings are making plans to meet up at the mall on a Friday night.
In Conclusion
We have had an initial tour of the suburbs
of KL so far, but as yet have not had the chance to explore too much outside of Subang Jaya. I have included a few photos nonetheless so that you can get a sense for the place that we live.
Watching the news about the Olympic preparations in Beijing makes me at once glad to not be there, and a little sad to be missing the craziness. Still, although some complain about the air quality here in KL, I can say its a million times better than where I lived, and personal health ought to count for something.
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James
non-member comment
Sounds wonderful!
Wow, it sounds and looks like paradise. Your pictures are making me want to go, if for no other reason than pure, unadulterated blue skies. I'ts the only thing that kinda depresses me about going back to China. I love your optimism. Things will work out in the end, but some people never figure that out and it stresses them to no end. Keep up the Chinese lessons; sounds like they'll come in handy there. Take care