When you travel to a new country, you’re supposed to meet its people. Eat its food. Walk its streets, and breath its air. We’ve done that in Malaysia for over three weeks. But there’s something that people don’t often talk about because we tend to think that we are on the journey alone, or just within the confines of our group. What about the other people around you in a country who are ALSO not from there? What about the other tourists? The other students studying abroad? The other business people working overseas? I wonder who they are and if they feel the same way as me. Do they like to get to a hotel and hunker down till it’s safe to step a foot out in a straight line towards the nearest McDonalds? Do they open yelp as soon as they get wifi and make plans to hit the top three restaurants in the first three hours? Or do they just walk out into the unknown and let the breeze and the traffic signals carry them to the experiences that come with a roll of the metaphorical dice?
I think about these people because even if they’re from Germany, China, or Australia, they’re probably not very different from me. In fact, from what I’ve observed, they’re a lot like me. Case in point: a couple from Holland and a couple from Germany. Oh and some Americans….
We met a couple named Jack and Sara. They were on a boat with a group of us riding back from an island off the coast of Kota Kinabalu. Jack and Sara were/are on a trip going from Borneo to Brunei, and then home. We caught them in week 3 of the trip and they were as animated and friendly as anyone we could have dreamed up. Jack especially was incredibly excited to tell us about his excursion in the US back in early July when he witnessed the 4th of July through the haze and bustle of Los Angeles. We all had a good laugh at the spectacle that is our independence day, and how theirs in Holland is not a significant departure from the one we hold dear. They drink, they party, and they wear a lot of orange; the national color. What could people who speak another language and live over 3000 miles away from us have in common? Almost everything.
Jack and Sara come from a similar place to us culturally, but what about when they get here? What do they think? Anna and Stephan let us know in about 30 seconds at the airport.
We ran into them in line checking bags and both they and our group had a great laugh at the large family ahead of us who didn’t get tags for their bags. We both connected with grins when they realized they had to get out of line and then connected with chuckles when they left grumbling, and thus saving both of us upwards of 10 minutes waiting in the queue. (It was a big family.) Stephan and I proceeded right into some small talk, as one does whilst queuing and he commented on my height saying “and here I thought I’d be the tallest person I’d see in all of Sabah.” I replied humbly that I thought the same thing, but knew there’d be someone from Denmark or Germany who’d have me beat. Is there a culture in the world who DOESN’T appreciate irony? What a magical uniter of nations. Meeting Stephan was enjoyable, but brief. Meeting Zooey and Kelly, however, gave more time for connection and even collaboration.
Zooey and Kelly waited on a bench at the reception area of the Mari Mari cultural village. I didn’t want to assume, because well, most people here in Malaysia who look like us, are not Americans, but these two seemed like a sure bet, and sure enough, they were! But it wasn’t until later at a restaurant on the waterfront that we made an authentic association.
What were the chances that we’d pick a place to get some food at the end of the day, and run into the same people we’d seen at the village? Apparently good. We talked, and laughed and even though they weren’t coming from an exotic place like the one we’re in right now, they still had a wealth of banter to offer. We stuck around until late, and agreed that if we went snorkeling the next day, we’d let them know and try to plan together. At the jetty the next day, right before we left the ticket counter to go to the dock, who should be standing in front of us? None other than Zooey and Kelly. We snorkeled together and just happened to pick up some strategies for proper fish viewing from Zooey.
The cherry on the cake? Zooey’s grandmother lives in K.L. and her mother is Malay. Her father? American. Just the right person to give us a perspective that has adornments of both cultures. She spoke about what her grandmother has witnessed in the country since she was little, and what she herself thinks about Muslim traditions and how they work for her at a school in the US. Meeting them was as refreshing as it gets. They were American sure, and I’d be lying if I said a little part of me wasn’t thinking of them as a “port in a storm.” But as I reflect back on our time in Sabah and our time with them, I think that they are yet another piece of the trip that has built us up into better travelers, scholars, and global learners. We know that everyone has a story to tell, and when we listen, we learn.
Carson Letot (@Letot_Carson) is a secondary agriscience teacher
from Montague, Michigan.
