I am in Penang, Malaysia!

This is a picture of the bridge that connects the island (which is only 298sqkm) to the mainland, taken from my balcony!

I got here two weeks ago and have finally settled down. I have my apartment, my new office, a few friends, and can finally start exploring this place.

I am working as an English teacher at USM (University Sains Malaysia). The university has about 20,000 students, 75% female. The campus is big and hilly and is home to many giant lizards that live in the pond on campus and resemble little crocodiles, except they have lizard tongues that dart out. The pond has a track around it where I run, so hopefully I won't get eaten! The semester does not start until mid July, and I am not yet sure what specifically I will be teaching or when...but that's how things are here. Nothing is planned ahead and not much is organized. But I do get a nice office with a new computer, and so far the other teachers in the department have been very nice. I am currently helping with Guided Independent Study (GIS) where the students come and do independent work on the computers (i.e. play online and chat on instant messenger) and I sit here and "facilitate." Thing should get better once the semester starts!

I had my first teaching experience last Friday when I came to work and was told that I have to teach an advanced class on essay writing in 5 minutes because the normal teacher was absent. So I had literally 2 mins to prepare for a two hour class. They did give me a packet about topic sentences and body paragraphs though, very helpful. The class was only 9 people so it was easy to manage. I broke them up into groups and made up activities for them to do, which seemed to work out well. Then at the end I let them ask me questions about the US which turned into a rather interesting lesson about American slang. Definitely an odd first teaching experience. The students are great though - a bit quiet and shy but conversational once encouraged and very interested in me and my life. They are all about my age, some are older, so it's a bit of an unusual dynamic. I had lunch with some of them last week and am looking forward to getting to know them all better.

My apartment is probably the nicest place I will live, ever. It is in a high rise, on the 16th floor, with an amazing view of the 13.5km bridge that connects the island of Penang with the mainland. The building has a pool with a twisty water slide, a sauna (as if it's not hot enough outside - I'm 5 degrees north of the equator), and a gym which I have yet to find. The apartment is nicely furnished with everything I could ever want, including a karaoke machine complete with Asian CDs. It's a three bedroom; my housemates are Asa, a girl from Japan who is here getting her Masters in architecture, and Andrew, the other lecturer on the Princeton program who has not yet arrived.

Overall, the people here are incredibly friendly and genuinely open. I had dinner with one of my co-workers and her family, have made several friends in my building and around USM, and actually tend to run into people I know a lot which makes the place seem less foreign. My best friend here so far is a girl named Kit who is a travel guide and has been extremely helpful in many ways - she came and helped me move, took me shopping, introduced me to a lot of Chinese food, and has made adjusting much easier. I also met a lot of people in my building last night while watching the World Cup and they all seem like really great people and I am excited to get to know them better. It's a very international community - lots of people from northern Europe, India, China, and the Middle East, and all with very interesting stories and backgrounds. The two most common comments I get are: "You are very young," and "You are not like the typical American" which has sparked some interesting conversations about the US.

My last two weeks have been mostly consumed with logistical things (like finding a place to live and getting a visa, which I do not yet have...) so I have not seen much of the island. The food is wonderful, there is a huge array of everything - Malay, Chinese, Thai, Indian, etc. Very cheap and good. I've been eating a lot of fruit lately because it is amazingly delicious and by far the best fruit I have ever put in my mouth. Especially the pineapple!! I have also found a great place to buy pirated DVDs for about $1, and they are actually really good quality. The bars have been fun, and dancing has been wonderful for my stress level, although being white can get a bit frustrating because I am constantly showered with attention that I do not necessarily want. But I have also been spending a fair amount of time alone, which I have so far greatly enjoyed.

My friend Caitlyn is visiting for a week on Wednesday, and I am looking forward to seeing a familiar face (especially hers!) and actually getting a chance to tour this place, so look for exciting travel stories in the next week or so!