This past week I have gotten to experience traditions from each of the three major ethnic groups in Malaysia: Chinese, Indian, and Malay. Each one was a lot of fun and I loved that I had a different role in each of the three traditions. I watched, ate, and performed depending on the event and smiled a lot at each of them. Thinking back at it, it’s kind of wild that in three days I saw three very different cultural events all in the same town. This weekend has really lived up to Malaysia’s claim that Malaysia is truly Asia.
On Saturday at 11:30 am in the morning I was informed that we would be attending a wedding... a half an hour later. I was very amused with the lax attitude and short notice as I quickly tried to brush my hair and put on concealer to look semi-presentable. In America, I don’t think I have ever been to a wedding that I hadn’t known about at least six months in advance. However, the last minute wedding was right up my alley. Before I came to Malaysia, I was convinced that I was the most last minute person there was. I can not count how many times I have been just laying on the couch at 5:30 pm and suddenly decided that the lazy life was not for me and quickly call up my friend Caroline asking her to hang out/go to the movies/eat downtown/etc. I have to admit, 30 min prep weddings might become my favorite type of event to go to. The wedding was held at a mosque close to the Johor airport. I wore traditional Malay clothes and ate (surprise surprise) rice with a savory pineapple curry and chicken. I also, of course, drank tea and had a couple of sweets (what wedding would be complete without dessert and tea?). The groom and bride, family of my host father, were wearing very cute matching (grey!) clothes and while we were there, mainly went around to every family who was attending. I enjoyed being able to get to experience my first wedding here and I am definitely ready for more.
That evening, I got to go watch a Chinese drum competition with my fellow AFS exchange students/18+ volunteers. I went with my Italian friend, Carlo, and his two brothers who were absolutely hilarious. Carlo’s brother actually is a former YES student and lived in Tennessee so I got to laugh about southern culture and mourn how there isn’t any southern bbq with him. The drum performances were absolutely amazing. They weren’t just about the rhythms, the performers actually told a story with their movements, shouting, and dancing. The precision of footwork, hand motions, and synchronization was stunning. Every performance I found myself engrossed in trying to watch everything at the same time.
This Monday, in preparation for our AFS dinner that evening, my American YES abroad peer Harnoor was at my house helping me make a Mediterranean salad (if you want to ever make a Greek salad in Malaysia hit me up for alternatives to 70% of the ingredients because you won’t be able to find them lol). While he was there we ended up doing a makeshift version of an Indian holiday that both of us were missing since we were in Malaysia. Raki, is a traditional ceremony between brother and sister where the sister usually promises to always be there for the brother. In the ceremony normally we use red dye, rice grains, string bracelets, a small sweet, and a small candle. Here, we used a large bath and body works like candle, concealer for red dye, a friendship bracelet, and a Nutella bread sweet thing I quickly made 20 seconds beforehand. Honestly I had a blast putting on the unconventional slightly humorous version of raki with Harnoor. It also was cool to show my host mom apart of my own culture at home.
After our raki ceremony, we headed to dinner with all of our AFS people where we got to eat Carlo’s pasta (it would be a crime if anyone else had tried to make the pasta really), Harnoor’s bread pudding, my take on a Greek salad, satay, and lots of fruit and nasi lemak. It was so much fun to be able to talk to everyone and spend the evening laughing at small culture shock stories from everyone and a perfect ending to my culture filled weekend. Again, I wanted to say thank you to my host family for allowing me to be able to experience all of this and I am grateful for this opportunity that is just now starting. Saya sangat suka Malaysia!
- SEJAL
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