Reflecting on a New Family – Much Love on Day 19

The world is so much more than what we see in our own backyards.

Being nineteen years old,  the opportunity to travel over 9,000 miles away from home can be quite intimidating. As I was finalizing my preparations prior to the experience, one overwhelming fear came over me. What will the people of Malaysia be like? Fear of the unknown can be a powerful thing, but it is when we test that fear, that we can discover beautiful possibilities.

While I was terrified to spend a month in a new country, having a group of kind, caring, and skilled participants from the United States helped me to calm my nerves slightly. The very moment we stepped off the airplane into Johor Bahru, my fears evaporated.

These past few weeks have been filled with laughter, learning and a lot of love, due in large part to all of our friends at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Every single day, we have been shown the utmost hospitality, but it does not stop with our friends.

Two days into the experience, the team decided to embark upon a bike tour of UTM’s campus. However, one small problem arose, I never learned how to ride a bike. But never fear, as the man, the myth, the legend, Wan Mohammad Ali Wan Mohammad Zaharuddin (better known as ALI) was there to teach me the ways of bike riding. My trainer soon became played out amidst constantly trying to keep my bicycle upright as I struggled to balance. This is when a random family took time out of their day, to teach a stranger to ride a bicycle. The next hour was spent with this family and Ali cheering me on as I made progress but still have much to learn.  How likely would that happen back in the United States? Through our experiences here, it is almost a normal occurrence.

A great day improving my bicycling skills with new friends!

I will fully admit that my knowledge of  Islamic faith was filled with only the what was shared in our U.S. daily news cycles.  I had shared the same apprehension when discussing their religion when asked about it. I was completely wrong to think that way.

Famous actor and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda once stated in a speech given at the Tony’s that “Love is Love is Love is Love is Love,” and this statement has never meant more than it has during this trip.

Because people are people. From every corner of this Earth, there are individuals out there, who only want to make the world a better place and share their love. We all want to be loved and need to do more to find these people and break out of our scared shells caused by only seeing what is in our backyards. I consider myself blessed to have been able to find some of the greatest people on this trip.

A group dedicated to improving the world through agricultural education! (At our first school visit, SMK Telok Kerang!)

There are good and bad people in every religion and faith in the world, but we cannot let the bad overshadow the good. No matter how many differences can be spotted, this experience has allowed my new family to grow, with members of many different faiths. I cannot wait to see how every single individual on this trip shares their love going forward. Here is to a strong finish and more adventures to come with this family even after our experience concludes.

 

Thomas Gabel (@gabel_thomas) is a pre-service agricultural education candidate (#psuaged22) at The Pennsylvania State University (@TeachAgPSU).

Harmony Street, Cultural Experiences and Everything in Between: Day 7 on the streets of Johor Bahru

It amazes me as to how much can happen in just one day. Today we were blessed with an opportunity to tour the city of Johor Bahru and gain some deep cultural knowledge along the way.

The Crown of Johor

 

To begin our tour, we made a quick stop by the Sultan’s Palace (the Sultan being similar to our Governors back home as they are heads of individual states). During our time there we were able to take pictures with The Royal Crown of Johor and witness a guard check routine.

 

 

Sand being moved onto the Strait of Johor

Up next, we took a moment to visit a local mosque under restorative reconstruction, but became fascinated with an outreach of sand in the direction of nearby Singapore. Earlier in the experience, we visited the southernmost tip of Mainland Asia in Tanjung Pia National Park, from which you can see three countries, Indonesia, Singapore and of course, Malaysia. However, as Malaysia imports sand from Indonesia to cover the Strait of Johor, the new southernmost tip could very well become Singapore. This political battle began with Singapore attempting to claim land in the strait in the early 2000’s, but Malaysia has begun efforts of their own in recent years. Also in this strait is actually a handful of fish farms!

After being awed by political developments and fish, we began a new adventure, towards Harmony Street. There has never been a street more aptly named than Harmony Street. Over the course of the afternoon, we were able to visit the Johor Old Chinese Temple (Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism); Arulmigu Raja Mariamman Indian Temple (Hinduism), and Gurdwara Sahib Sikh Temple (Sikhism). [Editor’s note: Be sure to click the hyperlinks to learn more about each religion or religious facility!]. All of which were within a ten-minute walk of one another.

The inclusivity, love, and friendliness shown by this city had all of our participants smiling and contemplating deeper meanings. For instance, we were greeted outside of the Sikh Temple by a gentleman who serves as a youth leader at this specific temple. He then spent the next hour with our group as he explained the history of his religion and brought us inside, even with a couple’s engagement service happening! The entire group welcomed us with open arms as they finished their service and started their meal. A question posed by our group was “if twenty plus strangers walked into a wedding service back home. What would peoples’ reaction be?” Some excellent food for thought.

Speaking of food, we were then able to grab a quick lunch and get fueled up before visiting the Johor Heritage Center. Once there we learned more about their goals of preserving Malaysian traditions and heritage, followed by seeing their weaving exhibition. But finally, the moment we all had been waiting for, time for dance class. In the span of one hour, our group successfully learned a form of Zapin (of which there are 14 types), as we slowly walked and squatted our ways to a successful leg day.

To top off this culturally full day, we were able to shop for some batiks of our own! However as Huzaimi (@zemimazlan), Dr. Foster (@FosterDanielD), and Ali (@AliZaharuddin97) know well, shopping can be exhausting.

Another great day of learning here in Malaysia, with new experiences and plenty of amazing people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thomas Gabel (@Gabel_Thomas); Pre-Service Agricultural Education Candidate(#psuaged22);The Pennsylvania State University(@penn_state)(@TeachAgPSU)