The #AgEd2Malaysia experience was filled to the brim with: teaching opportunities, industry tours, reflection sessions, exploration, and laundry. But perhaps some of the most underrated experiences were the moments of laughter along the way. And ironically, the laughter coincided with the bullet points on the itinerary! As I leave the eastern hemisphere, I look back on some of the moments that stuck out with giggles, chortles, and chuckles.
The Mannequin – This is Huzaimi’s favorite moment of the whole trip. No doubt about it. But for me, it’s the moment when I realized that these guys: Hanif, Ali, and Huzaimi were just like me. We were on a quest for teaching materials and journals at the local mall when we stumbled upon some clothing racks in the men’s department. One of the mannequins was wearing a rather ugly shirt (by both Malaysian and US standards as was agreed upon later) and the arm of the mannequin was loose. Normally this would have been trivial, but the loose arm became a detached arm when we took a look at the size of the shirt. Of course, it fell, and we all had a moment of terror before the moment of joy in the ridiculousness of the situation. Me being me, however, wanted to reattach the arm, but attach it backward, so as to make the situation a little more absurd. We attached the arm, but of course, the hand fell off. When Huzaimi reattached the hand, however, without any prompt or direction, he did so backwards, and we all shared in a tremendous laugh. They spoke Malay, but all of us understood good comedy.
The Big Mac – It wasn’t too many nights into the trip before we found ourselves hungry and without plans. So Thomas contacted Huzaimi to see about possibly getting some McDonalds. We were curious about what it would be like here in Malaysia and had a craving for a burger. Huzaimi whisked us away to the golden arches and the three male, US participants shared a meal with the three male UTM students. We talked about everything from politics to religion to dating. Towards the end of the meal, we shared some of the finer points of dating in the US and the UTM students lent us insight into how it’d work in Malaysia within the Muslim faith. We had great laughs comparing the differences, and for such a simple plan, we learned so much. Who would have thought McDonald’s could have brought two cultures together so effortlessly.
The G-Shock – Within five minutes of arriving at the SMK in Pontian, I was very aware of a commonality between the students besides the uniforms. They all wore G-Shocks! The G Shock line is a type of watch by Casio that is billed as a strong, durable timepiece. I had yet to get one, waiting for a little more expendable income, but everywhere I turned, students were wearing them in a plethora of colors and styles! My first thought was “wow these kids must really value these things to spend so much on them. It wasn’t long after the initial observations, however, that I gained some more entertaining insight into the fad. I asked a group of students about their watches, and with incredible excitement, they all held out their wrists and yelled “G-shock! G-shock!” Of course, I had a laugh and a gander at all the different types, but I replied very quickly with a “where can I get one?” This drew numerous, indistinguishable answers. One stuck out though when they said “….but ORIGINALS” I settled the crowd and asked, “what are originals?” One student spoke up and said that the originals were real ones. So I said, “alright, well who has an original?” Expecting to hear the same uproar as the first time, instead, I was treated to the entire group all pointing to one student who flashed his wrist out like it was clad with a 10 karat diamond. Oh did I laugh. What a time to be alive. A time where that one kid in your class has what everyone else wants. Of course, I had to pry a little more and pose the question to them and the rest of the group “let’s say I have RM1000, is that enough to buy an original?” The group exploded with that enthusiasm that can only be produced by a ridiculous statement. Most shouted yes, and some shouted: “you could buy two!” I smiled and finished the interaction with an “ok but how many of his watch? (pointing to one of the “knock-offs”) And as a mic drops, so did that question, because I got laughter and responses ranging from 10 to 100. Students will get motivated by pride in their school and achievements in their studies, but when you find that thing that makes them tick, in this case, a literal timepiece, you can start to build lasting memories. I’ll never forget the schooling I received in watches by those children.
No Translation – As we sat around the table finishing a working lunch during our prep time for teaching episode 3, Dr. Din and myself were talking about education “stuff” when he happened to overhear what the ladies beside us were saying, in Malay. He stopped, turned, and with an ever so slight smile, turned back to me and said: “you should hear what they’re saying.” The girls immediately erupted with embarrassment and Dr. Din just sat back and revealed in how easy it was to trigger them. I laughed and said that I could venture a guess, and he then turned back to them and said: “shall I translate for him?” You can only imagine the reaction that followed from the girls. Some of the planning sessions were grinders due to language barriers and content development, but moments like this where I watched as someone did what I do constantly to my students, made the experience that much more enjoyable.
The Beach – We were very fortunate to have some time in Sabah to snorkel around the coral reefs. The fish and the coral provided stunning backdrops in the ocean, and some of the UTM students even joined us for the activity even though swimm
ing is not a leisurely pastime for most of them. We swam around one of the larger islands for a bit before coming out of the water to dry off and prepare for a move to the next island. When I emerged from the water, Azira laughed harder than I’d ever seen someone laugh. Perhaps it’s because I was told that I look like Santa Clause sans the red corduroy and white fur trim. But her laughter was so entertaining that I too had to laugh. Laughter is infectious, and it was just the right way to cap of a great day.
The Tour – Any tour we were a part of included a stop for a group photo either before or after the proceedings. This was standard, and typically a point of contention because even after our 50th group photo, nobody could quite figure out where everyone was supposed to stand. “Tall in the back, short in front” is a difficult concept to grasp. At any rate, when Dr. Zol accompanied the group. The group photos suddenly because a little more entertaining as the man enjoys the camera. Dr. Zol would pose, we’d laugh, and after one of the photos on the tour at the last school, I asked Huzaimi and Suhana who their favorite teacher was. Without hesitation, they pointed to Dr. Zol. When I asked why they said simply “because we laugh so much in his class.” I try to do the same in my classroom. I try and build a culture where learning walks stride for stride with laughter. If my students are laughing, then school might not be so bad after all.
Our experience in Malaysia gave me a year’s worth of professional development in just 4 weeks. I will be forever grateful for the chance that Dr. Melanie Miller Foster, Dr. Daniel Foster, and Dr. Nur Husna Abd Wahid provided for me. Along the way, there were challenges and moments of enlightenment, but the laughter most often times stole the show. Whether it was during pineapple planting or rubber tree tapping; giggles, chortles, and chuckles were never left behind.
