Kluang

September has been quite busy. I spent 17 our of the 30 days with my cohort in Johor. In Johor, there are two Americans, two Italians, and two Germans. I feel very fortunate to have them here because we keep each other company and get to experience lots together. My host mom especially likes Carlo, one of the Italians. Honestly they might be closer friends than I am with Carlo lol. One of the highlights of the mouth has to have been Alberto, Carlo, and I’s trip to Kluang. Kluang is another town in Johor that is known for their art murals and coffee. The town is quite a bit smaller than both Johor Bahru or Skudai and had a rustic feel. Before this, I had also had the chance to go back to my host father’s hometown which is much like a town of 300 you might pass through on your way to Austin in TX (the German sausage soup in that town plus their museum on cotton is worth a stop btw). It was nice to see somewhere sort of in the middle between my two experiences. When we arrived in Kluang, we immediately tried the coffee and ate nasi lemak before heading to some of the art work. The coffee was very sweet and quite honestly I don’t think I am enough of a coffee lover to have truly appreciated it. However, the art work was very interesting to me. At first, all I saw were drawings of a Malaysian version of Batman and hello kitty and did not think much of them. But then Carlo’s host dad 9shoutout to Mr. Raghu) explained to me that bat were sort of Kluang’s thing, kind of like an equivalent of how Bulls are Durham’s thing. I can definitely relate to the feeling of pride or a symbol that represents a hometown and I immediately had more of an appreciation for this Batman-like character.I also have to add that the artwork became much more symbolic and politicized after the giant Hello Kitty which also definitely increased my interest. We spent the entire day wandering the town, swinging on a playground, and messing around in the mall (everyone in Malaysia you can find a nearby mall). We ended our evening at a Malaysian favorite, McDonalds. I’ve already said this on facebook, but I can not express my gratitude to the host families in Johor who plan days out like this for us enough. Not only do they plan thoughtful trips like this, they invite all of us to come which is no easy feat. I almost feel as though in Johor we are one giant host family instead of many. I can’t wait for more day trips like this in the future.