G'ma : I apologize for this being a day late, however I had a test to study for this morning, so no blogging last night! However, I wanted to make sure to tell you Happy Birthday and that I hope it was wonderful for you! I heard you had a birthday party and I cannot wait to hear about it. Maybe I will be able to find a sim card tomorrow in the main mall in Abu Dhabi so I can call you. I will definitely try!
On the realm of other things in life that are extraordinarily less exciting. Classes go on! It is not difficult yet, but I am waiting for them to potentially become so. Right now we are doing all the things that I actually remember learning about for the past two months. I'm a little bit scared about loading sources and all the stuff we have to learn for MaxWell (a computer program we use on the rigs). However, both of those things are definitely in the future, so I think I can patiently wait for their arrival.
I have discovered how much I really love the desserts in MLC, this means I really need to stick to my plan for running/ellipticalling/etc every evening. The nice thing is that everyone works out right after class (and before dinner) so the gym is relatively empty by the time I get there so there is no waiting for machines! I promise I will be taking pictures of all this so I can upload a couple and show the rest to y'all over CHRISTMAS! If you can't tell, I am really excited for being cold and potentially really jetlagged in less than 2 months :)
This weekend looks like it will be pretty interesting. My weekends here now are Fridays (Muslim holy day) and Saturday, so I will be going into Abu Dhabi on Thursday evening, as well as Friday during the day. The rest of my time will be spent sleeping, studying for my test, and, of course, having my weekly date with Adam. My first test is actually Sunday morning at 8:30 am, so I hope I do well on it. Everyone says it is easy, so I feel a little more relaxed, but I'm not going to just ignore studying altogether. Also, I might get Zhuzhu to teach me how to play ping pong better. She is apparently a pro. :)
I have discovered what is truly one of the most challenging (yet enjoyable) parts of my job: highly intelligent people asking questions and arguing over technical concepts when none of them speak the same base language. Today I worked with my group made up of the girls from Indonesia, China, and Brazil. There were several times we were all stating the same concepts, but none of us could understand them because each of us slightly different terminology (exactness is kind of important to engineers!). It was both hilarious and kinda fun, yet tiring and frustrating at times. I am quite glad all the women in my group are both patient (more patient than me!) and nice.
Well, I think it is time for some gym stuff, but I hope you are having wonderful Wednesdays. It is almost the weekend!
Love you.
Becca
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
In which the sun professes its utter dislike for me
Hello peoples.
I apologize for how long it has been since my last post. Somehow between finishing up last minute things in Labuan, desperately hoping I was still going to Houston instead of Abu Dhabi, flying, arriving in Abu Dhabi because my plane did not take the detour I was hoping for, being jet lagged and adjusting to a structured life of school (and all it entails) again, time has just flown away from me! I am a little sad that now that I am nine hours ahead it is a bit more difficult for me to communicate with everyone I would like to. Also, typing away maniacally in class on facebook while my teacher is talking, might not put me in her good graces. There are only 8 of us (7 of us are female!!) in our class, so it is difficult to get away with things. Though, to be honest, as long as we seem to be communicating with her, our teacher, Poonam Sharma (from India) doesn't seem to care all that much.
There is not a whole lot to say about my flight out of Malaysia. It was just another flight :) The flight from Labuan to Kuala Lumpur was pretty reasonable and I definitely napped for a bit of it, but the flight from KL to Abu Dhabi had WAY too many children under the age of 4 on it. Let it be put on record that I support the drugging of children (now lets all hope I never decide to run for public office). And for the last hour of our flight into Abu Dhabi there was just one 2 year old misbehaving for whatever (unacceptable) reason. The noises coming from his lungs were the equivalent of what I'd imagine the death screams/howls of a combo of dog/monkey/cat/horse would sound like. And all the father did was say "please stop. please do not cry." Awesome parenting. This may just be the view of a non-parent, but I really hate having to pay the price for parents who cannot control their children in public. Also, I hope the father felt my wrath and hatred from 4 seats away. HOWEVER the plane flight wasn't bad overall. I got to watch some awesome movies, eat ITALIAN FOOD!!! for the first time in 3 months and have some awesome naps. Oh! And there was a delicious brownie thing in a cup with a white sauce that rocked my world for the 5 minutes I slowly ate it in.
So, now I am back at the Middle East and Asia Learning Center or, MLC for short. Yeah, I know the acronym doesn't completely match, but Schlumberger really prefers to stop at 3 letters per acronym, it seems. MEA, NGC, ROP, SLC, MLC, etc. School this time is much more interesting than OFS-1 was. I actually am doing hands on things and it feels like I am finally getting to do the stuff that they gave me this job for. It's nice to feel productive again. As I said earlier, there are 8 students in my class (which is quite small, we've been told) and 7 of them are female (which has never happened for D&M before). The only guy, Sandford, and I are from America, Marie is Norwegian, Cathy is Indonesian, Zhuzhu and Jie Ni (pronounced "Genie) are Chinese, and Rihab (pronouced "Rehab) is Tunisian. All of them are very nice, actually. And all the other guys in ENG-1 classes here keep saying that Sanford is very lucky.
A lot of things we do in class here consist of 45 min to an hour of talking and then 3 to 5 hours of hands on stuff. So today I got to experience my first Abu Dhabi sun experience, as we had to do stuff (in order to not make this longer and confusing) on the rig. Sadly, it won this round, but with the help of my friend's sunscreen I will win the next.
Also..FOOD UPDATE: The food here, though still...not the best, has so much variety!! There are so many vegetables. And yesterday I discovered lettuce. :) So I may just stick with the oatmeal in the morning and veggies and fruit for the rest of the day because I love them!! Also, I haven't eating a rice or noodle based dish in 3 days and it is amazing! Don't get me wrong, Malay food is actually pretty good tasting, but I do like to think outside of the rice/noodle box.
Well, this is long enough, but I will keep you posted on things!!
Love you all.
Becca
I apologize for how long it has been since my last post. Somehow between finishing up last minute things in Labuan, desperately hoping I was still going to Houston instead of Abu Dhabi, flying, arriving in Abu Dhabi because my plane did not take the detour I was hoping for, being jet lagged and adjusting to a structured life of school (and all it entails) again, time has just flown away from me! I am a little sad that now that I am nine hours ahead it is a bit more difficult for me to communicate with everyone I would like to. Also, typing away maniacally in class on facebook while my teacher is talking, might not put me in her good graces. There are only 8 of us (7 of us are female!!) in our class, so it is difficult to get away with things. Though, to be honest, as long as we seem to be communicating with her, our teacher, Poonam Sharma (from India) doesn't seem to care all that much.
There is not a whole lot to say about my flight out of Malaysia. It was just another flight :) The flight from Labuan to Kuala Lumpur was pretty reasonable and I definitely napped for a bit of it, but the flight from KL to Abu Dhabi had WAY too many children under the age of 4 on it. Let it be put on record that I support the drugging of children (now lets all hope I never decide to run for public office). And for the last hour of our flight into Abu Dhabi there was just one 2 year old misbehaving for whatever (unacceptable) reason. The noises coming from his lungs were the equivalent of what I'd imagine the death screams/howls of a combo of dog/monkey/cat/horse would sound like. And all the father did was say "please stop. please do not cry." Awesome parenting. This may just be the view of a non-parent, but I really hate having to pay the price for parents who cannot control their children in public. Also, I hope the father felt my wrath and hatred from 4 seats away. HOWEVER the plane flight wasn't bad overall. I got to watch some awesome movies, eat ITALIAN FOOD!!! for the first time in 3 months and have some awesome naps. Oh! And there was a delicious brownie thing in a cup with a white sauce that rocked my world for the 5 minutes I slowly ate it in.
So, now I am back at the Middle East and Asia Learning Center or, MLC for short. Yeah, I know the acronym doesn't completely match, but Schlumberger really prefers to stop at 3 letters per acronym, it seems. MEA, NGC, ROP, SLC, MLC, etc. School this time is much more interesting than OFS-1 was. I actually am doing hands on things and it feels like I am finally getting to do the stuff that they gave me this job for. It's nice to feel productive again. As I said earlier, there are 8 students in my class (which is quite small, we've been told) and 7 of them are female (which has never happened for D&M before). The only guy, Sandford, and I are from America, Marie is Norwegian, Cathy is Indonesian, Zhuzhu and Jie Ni (pronounced "Genie) are Chinese, and Rihab (pronouced "Rehab) is Tunisian. All of them are very nice, actually. And all the other guys in ENG-1 classes here keep saying that Sanford is very lucky.
A lot of things we do in class here consist of 45 min to an hour of talking and then 3 to 5 hours of hands on stuff. So today I got to experience my first Abu Dhabi sun experience, as we had to do stuff (in order to not make this longer and confusing) on the rig. Sadly, it won this round, but with the help of my friend's sunscreen I will win the next.
Also..FOOD UPDATE: The food here, though still...not the best, has so much variety!! There are so many vegetables. And yesterday I discovered lettuce. :) So I may just stick with the oatmeal in the morning and veggies and fruit for the rest of the day because I love them!! Also, I haven't eating a rice or noodle based dish in 3 days and it is amazing! Don't get me wrong, Malay food is actually pretty good tasting, but I do like to think outside of the rice/noodle box.
Well, this is long enough, but I will keep you posted on things!!
Love you all.
Becca
Monday, October 18, 2010
Tonight
I am tired this evening, lovely people. Partially because I had a wonderful and fun Sunday which involved bbq-ing on a beach over coals and getting to talk to my awesome boyfriend twice, partially because it was really super warm today and I spent all morning outside in the shop, and partially because I had a bad reaction to some sort of malay food, thus leaving me dehydrated and...tired. :) All in all it has been a really awesome couple of days!
Note to remember: I love talking to everyone who is on my skype list, however, if you think you will be on at a time I might be on (or even if you don't and you want to chat) then send me an email or fb message or something and I will try to arrange a time to talk to you! This is not because my life is incredibly hectic and busy, but just that my days and nights are the reverse of yours, so I am busy when you normally aren't, and when you are busy, I am free.
As of this point in my week I have my plane tickets for both Abu Dhabi, and Kansas!! I am more excited for the second than the first, but we will see how that goes. Maybe the sandy pit of nothingness (really, Americans, it is not a very exciting place) will turn out to surprise me! And if it doesn't, then I will just get A LOT of exercise in. So, basically, I leave Friday evening at 5 pm with Zhuzhu and fly to KL and then to Abu Dhabi. I am looking forward to the inflight movies. And napping. Love the napping!! I will get into Abu Dhabi at 12:30 am-ish and then spend the day relaxing, sleeping, and getting ready for school on Sunday. In Abu Dhabi the weekends are Fridays (muslim holy day) and Saturday so my weekends are a bit off from yours now. However, I will only be 9 hours ahead of you instead of 13 :) There are always plusses in life.
I am really just ready for school right now. I know I have so much more to learn, but I feel restless and ready to get out of the office and do something productive that I can actually be measured for. And if I fail out of school? Well then I just get Christmas a little bit early :)
I am so tired or else I would type more right now! I hope you are all having a wonderful Mondays, and I will talk to you soon.
Love,
Becca
Note to remember: I love talking to everyone who is on my skype list, however, if you think you will be on at a time I might be on (or even if you don't and you want to chat) then send me an email or fb message or something and I will try to arrange a time to talk to you! This is not because my life is incredibly hectic and busy, but just that my days and nights are the reverse of yours, so I am busy when you normally aren't, and when you are busy, I am free.
As of this point in my week I have my plane tickets for both Abu Dhabi, and Kansas!! I am more excited for the second than the first, but we will see how that goes. Maybe the sandy pit of nothingness (really, Americans, it is not a very exciting place) will turn out to surprise me! And if it doesn't, then I will just get A LOT of exercise in. So, basically, I leave Friday evening at 5 pm with Zhuzhu and fly to KL and then to Abu Dhabi. I am looking forward to the inflight movies. And napping. Love the napping!! I will get into Abu Dhabi at 12:30 am-ish and then spend the day relaxing, sleeping, and getting ready for school on Sunday. In Abu Dhabi the weekends are Fridays (muslim holy day) and Saturday so my weekends are a bit off from yours now. However, I will only be 9 hours ahead of you instead of 13 :) There are always plusses in life.
I am really just ready for school right now. I know I have so much more to learn, but I feel restless and ready to get out of the office and do something productive that I can actually be measured for. And if I fail out of school? Well then I just get Christmas a little bit early :)
I am so tired or else I would type more right now! I hope you are all having a wonderful Mondays, and I will talk to you soon.
Love,
Becca
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
A Wednesday Night
Hello all :)
This week has been bopping along with its normal time moving business. It started out with a really fun Sunday. Zyra (front receptionist), Zarina(surface technician), one of Zyra's friends, Cathy, Kara, and I went to a Malay wedding early in the morning. It was so cool! They kind of mix the ceremony and reception together and there is a ton of food! We didn't see the ceremony but we did get to see where it took place, which is an elaborate throne area set up inside the house. Outside the house is where the band (with electric guitars and drums) was set up, along with the buffet line full of food and the chairs, all under one big tent. The close everyone was wearing were beautiful and the food was good. Also, Kara and I had our pictures taken. A lot. I felt very celebrity-esque and it was kinda fun. :) I will list (in short paragraph form) all the places we went on sunday.
The Bird Park. Lots of birds all over the place!! They were all birds from Asia and Australia, so I saw quite a few birds I don't normally see in some zoos in America. They were all colorful and so much fun to wander around looking at. Scariest bird award goes to the ostriches. They were definitely not behind enough wire to make me feel remotely safe near the cage. and they were so huge with ginormously long necks!
The Chimney. It has a museum dedicated for it, but no one knows what it was used for in the past. It just looks like a really really tall chimney. Some people think it was a point where the mining cars went through and others believe it was kind of like a lighthouse, since it is on one of the tallest points on the island.
Lunch. At this point Zhuzhu joined us as well, so we headed to the Chicken and Rice Shop in the mall. It was more noodles in my already noodle and rice filled life, but it was quite good.
Bowling! My first international bowling experience was so much fun! I didn't do very well but I really enjoyed myself. Zyra won and Zhuzhu got second. I ended up somewhere in the middle. I have some great action shots of all the women bowling. We were loud, cheer-y, and it was one of the most enjoyable bowling experiences I have had.
The Sea Sports museum. They had lots of live fishes swimming around! I wanted to touch the stingray but I was scared. There were crabs, starfish, blue fish, red fish, nemo fish, and eels.
WWII memorial. It was raining so we didn't get out of the car, but it was still beautiful, even in the rain.
Malaysian/Labuan History Museum. Labuan was actually really important during WWII. It was taken by the Japanese before they took out the rest of SE Asia (from what I understand) and it was one of the first islands that the allied troops fought to get back when they were launching their offensive in this part of the world. I also got to see traditional instruments and important-occasion-dress for men and women of the different cultures that make up Malaysia. Indian, Malay, Chinese, and one group that started with a K whose name I don't remember. All very pretty and shiny.
Finally, the Peace Park and Surrender Point. The Peace Park is another WWII memorial. It is funny because there is a rock with the odd phrasing of "Peace is Best" in it. Such a weird way to state it, but such a true statement at the same time. Surrender Point is the area where the Japanese officially surrendered to the allied troops (I believe the commanding general was Australian). A lot of men died fighting over this little tiny island.
And the last part of the day involved stopping at another outdoor eating area for bbq chicken wings, Sate (chicken on a stick), and coconut juice. Promise I will put up pictures on facebook of all this very soon!
This week has been very busy. There are a couple more engineers in the office right now so I can ask them my questions and it is nice. However, both of them are soon going back out to rigs so we will be mentor-less again. :) I am leaving in a week, though, so I am not too worried about this. Soon my school will start and then time really will fly!
I will write more later but I am tired now.
Love you guys!
Becca
This week has been bopping along with its normal time moving business. It started out with a really fun Sunday. Zyra (front receptionist), Zarina(surface technician), one of Zyra's friends, Cathy, Kara, and I went to a Malay wedding early in the morning. It was so cool! They kind of mix the ceremony and reception together and there is a ton of food! We didn't see the ceremony but we did get to see where it took place, which is an elaborate throne area set up inside the house. Outside the house is where the band (with electric guitars and drums) was set up, along with the buffet line full of food and the chairs, all under one big tent. The close everyone was wearing were beautiful and the food was good. Also, Kara and I had our pictures taken. A lot. I felt very celebrity-esque and it was kinda fun. :) I will list (in short paragraph form) all the places we went on sunday.
The Bird Park. Lots of birds all over the place!! They were all birds from Asia and Australia, so I saw quite a few birds I don't normally see in some zoos in America. They were all colorful and so much fun to wander around looking at. Scariest bird award goes to the ostriches. They were definitely not behind enough wire to make me feel remotely safe near the cage. and they were so huge with ginormously long necks!
The Chimney. It has a museum dedicated for it, but no one knows what it was used for in the past. It just looks like a really really tall chimney. Some people think it was a point where the mining cars went through and others believe it was kind of like a lighthouse, since it is on one of the tallest points on the island.
Lunch. At this point Zhuzhu joined us as well, so we headed to the Chicken and Rice Shop in the mall. It was more noodles in my already noodle and rice filled life, but it was quite good.
Bowling! My first international bowling experience was so much fun! I didn't do very well but I really enjoyed myself. Zyra won and Zhuzhu got second. I ended up somewhere in the middle. I have some great action shots of all the women bowling. We were loud, cheer-y, and it was one of the most enjoyable bowling experiences I have had.
The Sea Sports museum. They had lots of live fishes swimming around! I wanted to touch the stingray but I was scared. There were crabs, starfish, blue fish, red fish, nemo fish, and eels.
WWII memorial. It was raining so we didn't get out of the car, but it was still beautiful, even in the rain.
Malaysian/Labuan History Museum. Labuan was actually really important during WWII. It was taken by the Japanese before they took out the rest of SE Asia (from what I understand) and it was one of the first islands that the allied troops fought to get back when they were launching their offensive in this part of the world. I also got to see traditional instruments and important-occasion-dress for men and women of the different cultures that make up Malaysia. Indian, Malay, Chinese, and one group that started with a K whose name I don't remember. All very pretty and shiny.
Finally, the Peace Park and Surrender Point. The Peace Park is another WWII memorial. It is funny because there is a rock with the odd phrasing of "Peace is Best" in it. Such a weird way to state it, but such a true statement at the same time. Surrender Point is the area where the Japanese officially surrendered to the allied troops (I believe the commanding general was Australian). A lot of men died fighting over this little tiny island.
And the last part of the day involved stopping at another outdoor eating area for bbq chicken wings, Sate (chicken on a stick), and coconut juice. Promise I will put up pictures on facebook of all this very soon!
This week has been very busy. There are a couple more engineers in the office right now so I can ask them my questions and it is nice. However, both of them are soon going back out to rigs so we will be mentor-less again. :) I am leaving in a week, though, so I am not too worried about this. Soon my school will start and then time really will fly!
I will write more later but I am tired now.
Love you guys!
Becca
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Would you like to hear the good news or the bad news first?
This is what I said as I walked into the travel agent's office yesterday morning after I found out that, out of the blue, my Engineer 1 school had been moved from Houston, TX to Abu Dhabi, UAE. In reality, there was no good news, and thankfully he just asked for the bad news so I could deliver it and be on my way. So yeah, no boyfriend, cheese, family, friends, or american accents for me until December 23rd now. I am still trying to find positive things to say about this, really. I guess my only good news today is that I am still coming back to America afterwards to see y'all for about 15 days.
On a brighter note, as I begin to accept my disappointment, I also begin to feel a little better. I knew going into this job that I would have to be more flexible than I've ever been in my life. I know they will push me mentally, physically and emotionally. Will I be able to handle this in the end? We will see. I've given myself a trial year. I have a year to really figure out if I can/want to take what this job can dish out (doing and internship and the real thing...definitely different). Maybe mum is right and I will find out I am more flexible and adaptable than I previously thought I could be. And if I am not? Well, I do know there is still life beyond this point and this job. There are other jobs out there and career paths to take. Not everyone gets it right the first time. Some people don't get it right the 4th, 5th, or 6th time either. Hopefully I don't have to go all the way up to 6.
In the meantime, it is still an adventure. I can derail party conversations from years to come with "oh, this one time in Malaysia..." Bwahahaha. To mom and dad : it will be my new version of the Adam story whenever you decide to argue in my presence. :)
I love you all. I'll just see you a bit later than I thought :)
Becca
On a brighter note, as I begin to accept my disappointment, I also begin to feel a little better. I knew going into this job that I would have to be more flexible than I've ever been in my life. I know they will push me mentally, physically and emotionally. Will I be able to handle this in the end? We will see. I've given myself a trial year. I have a year to really figure out if I can/want to take what this job can dish out (doing and internship and the real thing...definitely different). Maybe mum is right and I will find out I am more flexible and adaptable than I previously thought I could be. And if I am not? Well, I do know there is still life beyond this point and this job. There are other jobs out there and career paths to take. Not everyone gets it right the first time. Some people don't get it right the 4th, 5th, or 6th time either. Hopefully I don't have to go all the way up to 6.
In the meantime, it is still an adventure. I can derail party conversations from years to come with "oh, this one time in Malaysia..." Bwahahaha. To mom and dad : it will be my new version of the Adam story whenever you decide to argue in my presence. :)
I love you all. I'll just see you a bit later than I thought :)
Becca
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Some days have passed
And life is moving on!
One of the things I truly do enjoy about Malaysia is how fast time seems to fly here. Maybe that is what happens everywhere when you have a routine and your life is not a series of random, "oh no! I forgot to do that!" moments. Regardless, I have no complaints about time flying. I get up, interact with an incredibly diverse group of people, learn things, ask too many questions, come home, talk on skype, then go to sleep. Probably the slowest part of my day is between 3 and 4 in the afternoon. Besides that I don't generally even realize what time it is. I am constantly learning, but I feel like there is never enough time to truly absorb everything that I need to know. Maybe time slows down when we are no longer learning things. Hopefully I will never figure out if this is true because I plan on learning for a long, long time. Then maybe one day I will be able to face my fears and become an alligator wrestler!! I dislike both alligators and wrestling. Also am not a fan of water up my nose, which probably comes with the job. Thus I feel like it will be the perfect "get over your phobias and dislikes" sort of job. If I end up becoming one, mom, I promise I will just tell you I have become a hair stylist. Or a librarian (this one actually sounds sort of fun!). Just ignores the scars on my arms, along with the missing body parts.
Moving on : the week ended well! Saturday I got to do some hands on learning with regards to the surface sensors, and I felt like I actually was learning things!! Until the computer we were testing sensors with stopped working and I ended up going back upstairs to the office to study some more.
Two Fun Facts about Labuan, Malaysia
1) The immigration office is right above the bowling alley in the mall.
2) A nice looking spa is inside the tiny ferry terminal (along with a HERSHEY'S SHOP!).
3) When men are trying to get your attention they loudly make a "PST" noise. Multiple times. As if they cannot believe you are actually ignoring them. Well yes, gentlemen, we were. Also, the general consensus was that none of you were good looking. And smoking kills. Remember these facts. :)
On Saturday night I went out with Kara (the new American), Catherine and Zhuzhu. We headed out to a pretty good restaurant called The Blue Wave which is quite near the mall (this fact probably matters to very few of you if you haven't been to Labuan). The whole experience was incredibly fun! We sat in the outdoor area and a storm was rolling in, which brought a beautiful breeze with it. Also, getting to dress up a little and go out like normal people, instead of in my coveralls was really nice. We decided that westerners are so rare (usually European, no Americans) that when westerners see other westerners, we stare awkwardly at each other in an attempt to figure out the other person's purpose in Labuan. For some reason we rarely strike up conversations with each other. But dinner was delicious. I always eat chicken, so I got beef kabobs that had been cooked with onions, mushroom, and greenpeppers. Mmm....and the best part was there was NO rice or noodles with my meal!! I like both rice and noodles, however, I have eaten them quite a lot since being in Malaysia. I enjoy the change-up. We spent a couple hours eating and talking, walked Zhuzhu to where she was going to be getting her massage, then headed back to a duty free shop for some wine! Also, I had my first Tiger beer here. I am not a huge fan of beer, but it was pretty good. After picking out bottles under the overly-helpful nose of the salesman, we headed back to my house with our purchases and proceeded to try and open them. Problem: the corkscrew we bought didn't really work. So in order to open Catherine's bottle of wine, she had to hold it and brace herself against the stove and I was pulling with all of my weight in order to try and get the cork out. After 15 minutes...success!! We ended up with one open bottle of wine and a winesplattered fridge, counter, floor, and Becca. Good thing my shirt is black, because it was definitely a red wine. But we hung out, watched most of Spiderman 2, and then headed to our rooms (they were spending the night so they didn't have to fight with the cab driver about late night fares) at about 10:30 pm. My bed time gets earlier and earlier...I thought it was suppose to go the opposite way when we got older!
But yeah, all in all a great Saturday, had an absolutely excellent and relaxing Sunday today. Ready to continue my journey toward becoming smarter!
11 more days until I am back on US soil!!
Love you all.
Becca
One of the things I truly do enjoy about Malaysia is how fast time seems to fly here. Maybe that is what happens everywhere when you have a routine and your life is not a series of random, "oh no! I forgot to do that!" moments. Regardless, I have no complaints about time flying. I get up, interact with an incredibly diverse group of people, learn things, ask too many questions, come home, talk on skype, then go to sleep. Probably the slowest part of my day is between 3 and 4 in the afternoon. Besides that I don't generally even realize what time it is. I am constantly learning, but I feel like there is never enough time to truly absorb everything that I need to know. Maybe time slows down when we are no longer learning things. Hopefully I will never figure out if this is true because I plan on learning for a long, long time. Then maybe one day I will be able to face my fears and become an alligator wrestler!! I dislike both alligators and wrestling. Also am not a fan of water up my nose, which probably comes with the job. Thus I feel like it will be the perfect "get over your phobias and dislikes" sort of job. If I end up becoming one, mom, I promise I will just tell you I have become a hair stylist. Or a librarian (this one actually sounds sort of fun!). Just ignores the scars on my arms, along with the missing body parts.
Moving on : the week ended well! Saturday I got to do some hands on learning with regards to the surface sensors, and I felt like I actually was learning things!! Until the computer we were testing sensors with stopped working and I ended up going back upstairs to the office to study some more.
Two Fun Facts about Labuan, Malaysia
1) The immigration office is right above the bowling alley in the mall.
2) A nice looking spa is inside the tiny ferry terminal (along with a HERSHEY'S SHOP!).
3) When men are trying to get your attention they loudly make a "PST" noise. Multiple times. As if they cannot believe you are actually ignoring them. Well yes, gentlemen, we were. Also, the general consensus was that none of you were good looking. And smoking kills. Remember these facts. :)
On Saturday night I went out with Kara (the new American), Catherine and Zhuzhu. We headed out to a pretty good restaurant called The Blue Wave which is quite near the mall (this fact probably matters to very few of you if you haven't been to Labuan). The whole experience was incredibly fun! We sat in the outdoor area and a storm was rolling in, which brought a beautiful breeze with it. Also, getting to dress up a little and go out like normal people, instead of in my coveralls was really nice. We decided that westerners are so rare (usually European, no Americans) that when westerners see other westerners, we stare awkwardly at each other in an attempt to figure out the other person's purpose in Labuan. For some reason we rarely strike up conversations with each other. But dinner was delicious. I always eat chicken, so I got beef kabobs that had been cooked with onions, mushroom, and greenpeppers. Mmm....and the best part was there was NO rice or noodles with my meal!! I like both rice and noodles, however, I have eaten them quite a lot since being in Malaysia. I enjoy the change-up. We spent a couple hours eating and talking, walked Zhuzhu to where she was going to be getting her massage, then headed back to a duty free shop for some wine! Also, I had my first Tiger beer here. I am not a huge fan of beer, but it was pretty good. After picking out bottles under the overly-helpful nose of the salesman, we headed back to my house with our purchases and proceeded to try and open them. Problem: the corkscrew we bought didn't really work. So in order to open Catherine's bottle of wine, she had to hold it and brace herself against the stove and I was pulling with all of my weight in order to try and get the cork out. After 15 minutes...success!! We ended up with one open bottle of wine and a winesplattered fridge, counter, floor, and Becca. Good thing my shirt is black, because it was definitely a red wine. But we hung out, watched most of Spiderman 2, and then headed to our rooms (they were spending the night so they didn't have to fight with the cab driver about late night fares) at about 10:30 pm. My bed time gets earlier and earlier...I thought it was suppose to go the opposite way when we got older!
But yeah, all in all a great Saturday, had an absolutely excellent and relaxing Sunday today. Ready to continue my journey toward becoming smarter!
11 more days until I am back on US soil!!
Love you all.
Becca
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