Johor Bahru: One Step Closer

I have finally arrived in Johor Bahru, where I will begin my state orientation.  This is my last and final step before heading to Labis, Johor to begin my English teaching.  I'm ready for this living out of a suitcase to end.  It's been 3 weeks in KL and 1 more to go here in JB.  I'm ready to finally settle down into my house and unpack all my bags.  Upon arriving in JB last night, we had a ETA Welcome Dinner where I was able to meet my Head Mistress.  She is a lovely person and she loves to cook and is willing to teach me how to cook Malaysian food!  I'm so excited to learn how to cook from her.  I am also extremely excited to meet my mentor and start my teaching work.

Orientation: Day 1

So after having two days to play and explore the city, orientation finally begins.  It's definitely going to be extremely informative and I'm really psyched!  We also found out which states we'll be in and I'm in Johor!  Yay!  But unfortunately we don't know where exactly we are in Johor yet.  Have to wait till Thursday for that.  But otherwise, things are going quite well so far! =)  Very exciting stuff happening!

Day #1: Arrival

After spending a month in Australia catching up with old friends and a month in Taiwan visiting my grandma, I find myself in Malaysia starting my Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (sooner and faster than I expected).  I'm nervous but I'm excited at the same time.  Needing to become socially active again after months of being anti-social, I find myself overwhelmed in a way.  Meeting 75 new faces and a number of staff members on this first day reminds me of Freshman year of college when everyone is lost and confused, but eager to meet new people and make friends.

However, despite all the challenges and struggles of the first day, I managed to get caught in a number of tropical rain showers that frequent Malaysia and navigate myself in a new and foreign country to the Kuala Lumpur Lake Garden with a couple of new friends.  Though our journey was long, it was completely worth it.

Not bad for a first day.  Let the adventures begin!