Ambassador's Dinner

Soooo I had the wonderful pleasure of attending a dinner hosted by the US Ambassador for Malaysia. I will just do a short post with pictures about the night.

 Random highlights of the night:

• His house was BEAUTIFUL. 
• I was asked to sit at the VIP table with the Ministers of Education.  They  were really formal and asked me a lot of questions about America. They are really excited to have the Fulbright English Teaching Assistants in Malaysia. 
• There was tons of press there!
• I had a great conversation with the Public Affairs Officer, Bonnie Gutman, from the US Embassy about her job and her experiences working for the US State Department. She has served in 6 different countries through out Africa and the Middle East.  She really loves her job and how she can help foster positive opinions of  America throughout the world.  
• The Ambassador was really nice and I got a chance to talk to him for a little while.  His name is Joseph Yun. He has three kids and a wonderful wife. She was really sweet and surprisingly knew alot about North Carolina. 
• I tried this Malaysian dessert which consisted of: bean sprouts, corn, shaved ice, coconut milk, strawberry flavoring, and red beans. Not my fave dish of the night but YOLO. lol

Some of the ETAs along with Ambassador Yun

Ambassador Yun

USA Public Affairs Officer Bonnie S Gutman (center)

When I get stable internet and a stable home (instead of hotel hopping out of my suitcase), I will update you guys more thoroughly.  Sorry for the delay, guess that how it beeeez some times. =]

Toodles Until next time

First Impression Photos

 Last Minute Giggles, Charlotte Douglas Intl Airport

Hotel

 Airplane/Airport Fun

Chicken with Noodles...yummy

KL

Snowy Chicago

 Kuala Lumpur Mall

Wanderlust Soul-ster

What does Wanderlust Soulster mean??

Ok its simple.

• Wanderlust :
• noun  a strong, innate desire to rove or travel about.

• n
  	a great desire to travel and rove about wanderlust is soooo me

• Soul-ster??

•  OK so  Hipsters are trying to be hip right? Well I am using this journey to do a little soul searching while giving back. I want to learn more about myself and the world. I wanna dig deep into my young soule and just pull out stuff lol. So I just added ster to the end of Soul lol.  

There you have it. Wanderlust Soul-ster.

First Impressions

I guess since I can't sleep I will tell you guys of my first impressions of Malaysia (which they pronounce ..Malaayzeuh)

MY INTERNET WILL NOT ALLOW ME TO UPLOAD PICS SO  I WILL PUT THEM IN THE NEXT POST

• Hot..as Hell... But not a sun beaming, skin darkening, back beating weather. It is more like just hot and humid. It is still rainy season here in Malaysia so we have seen a couple of showers. When it rains, you just let it be. In the USA normally when it would rain I would try and run for cover or duck and hide; here...no. You just embrace it because it actually cools you down.
• ROYAL... Soooo my group of English teachers are living in a n reaaally nice hotel in the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur (or KL). We will be here for the next three weeks training before we move to our states where we will be teaching English. We have a rainforest shower, soft plush beds, cute comfy robes, and a banging view of the Petronas Towers

• WONDERFUL PPL... I am going to be working with some GREAT fellow ETAs (English teaching assistants) this year. I have met some REALLY cool ppl so far from all over the USA. Everyone is sooo excited to be here and so friendly. Some of the places and schools: Alaska, New Orleans, New York, Texas, North Carolina, California, Washington, DC, and Kentucky; Spelman, Smith, UNC, Trinity, Centre college, UCSB, and GWU.

• CRASH... So the people here drive on the opposite side of the road. The driver seat is on the right and you drive on the left. Needless to say my clumsy behind has almost gotten hit A COUPLE of times. Its sooo different. And I am sure that many do not abide by the rules of the road.
• TIRED... I had sooo many flight delays and detours! I am officially jetlagged.  Also I skipped Friday. So I think Malaysia is 13 hours AHEAD of North Carolina time. So I left the USA on Thursday and got to KL on Saturday but technically in the NC it was friday night. We traveled through so many time zones that Friday was lost in transition.
• I went from Charlotte, NC-------->Chicago--------> Beijing, China -------> KL, Malaysia.

• RARO... (weird in Spanish) AS I was waiting for my flight to Beijing this old lady behind me just grabbed my bag and started pushing me....-___-. THEN the man two seats over from me on the same flight COULD NOT stay out of his NOSE during the ENTIRE flight (which is one of my pet peeves, seeing ppl do that).  My luggage got stuck in Hong Kong (and still is :( ).  For breakfast I had baked fish and potato wedges with apple juice.

• Loaded... Apparently KL is the third biggest shopping destination in the world. There are SOOOO many luxury stores here. The stores range from Luis Vuiton, MAC, H&M, Coach Michael Kors, and Gucci to Auntie Ann's Pretzels, Forever XX1, Tony Romas, and Sephora. Everything is here. There are 17 different malls just in KL alone.

Getting sleepy again. Toodles for now =]

Fuzzy Goodbyes

(before leaving)

As I am packing and saying my goodbyes before I embark on a journey as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Malaysia in 2014, I cant help but to have a wide collection of feelings. There is this particular funny feeling that I have; It is like fuzzy wuzzy and ticklish inside my chest. It seems as if fifty million  little butterflies are fluttering around in my belly. It is a magnificently wonderful/ nervous chaotic feeling. These fuzzies have been sparked by my recent series of dinners and going away parties.  My family hosted an very intimate dinner at my favorite restaurant with all of my lovely friends. At work, my lovely coworkers vibrantly decorated the office and stocked my desk with decadent deserts. As one of my musically gifted coworkers pulled out his trumpet and played an impromptu rendition of the Boys II Men song " Its So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday", I began to weep, uncontrollably. Not only was I crying because of the sadness of leaving behind wonderful people behind for a year but also because of these reasons: 

1. because I  am sooooooooooooo happy to have finally seen my dream come into fruition, I worked SOOOO hard for that Fulbright application; 
2. because its wonderful to be surrounded by such loving, caring, thoughtful people (family/friends/coworkers/random strangers that found out about my Fulbright); 
3. because I can't wait to step foot in ANOTHER CONTINENT;
4.  because I am blessed that so many people worked hard for me to even HAVE this opportunity;
5. also because once you start crying THAT hard (and ppl are looking) you have to keep it going, you have to give a show (I did lol, I'm talking the UGLY cry ;);
6. and because he played the trumpet SOOO DAMN well!

All in all I am super stoked to be traveling to Malaysia in less than a week.  I want this new year to be full dreams come true, not just for me but for EVERYONE. I think this will be a good year.

I will post some pictures of  my goodbyes and my preparation to take on Asia. Feel free to leave COMMENTS and QUESTIONS. Also follow my instagram (wanderlustsoulster) so you can see all of my pics.

Toodles =]

PS so I am still getting used to blogging, so feel free to give me any pointers =]

 Mom been THROWIN DOWN in the Kitchen! She trying to make sure I am WELL fed before I go.

 Lovely Hummingbird quote 

"Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes of love, joy and celebration. The hummingbird's delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning and that laughter is life's sweetest creation." Papyrus via Sherri.

 Pastabilities, with Family+ Ty+ Joi+ Kit Kat =]

 All Packed

 Cards

yummm!

Flying

“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.”

― Kurt Vonnegut