When at dinner, your plate may be a banana leaf and your
fingers will be your eating utensil.
When getting in a car to drive, get in on the right side.
And remember to drive your vehicle on the left side of the road (opposite of
America).
When you order juice or water at a restaurant, your mouth
will be surprised when you realize its boiling hot. (Yes, they only like hot
drinks with meals and throughout the day…regardless of the fact that it’s 90
degrees outside.)
When you’re asked to lead a devotional for the young adults
of a church, be prepared to teach kids ranging from the ages of 20 to 50.
When looking to get a tan, be prepared to only find
whitening creams in the drug store.
When listening to locals talk to one another, you will hear
the phrase “la” at the end of most sentences (i.e. How are you doing
today-la?).
When at meals, embrace the fact that there is an entire fish
placed in front of you to eat that won’t stop staring back at you.
When told you are going to a prayer meeting, be prepared to
end up at a two-hour church service, an Indian wedding, or a baby shower with
enough food to feed 80 people.
When needing to relieve yourself, always bring a napkin
because there will not be toilet paper. However, all stalls have a hose in
them. Oh, and start doing exercises to strengthen your upper legs for those
killer squatty potties.
When arriving at church, always take your shoes off before entering.
It would do you good to have a sermon in your back pocket and a special song in
your other back pocket because you will most likely be preaching, giving a
testimony, and/or singing special songs.
When driving down the road, be prepared to see several
monkeys sitting by the side of the road, watching all the traffic pass by. (Road
kill in America = deer and raccoons. Road kill in Malaysia = monkeys.)
When hungry, let your stomach know that it won’t get lunch
until 2 or 3pm and dinner until 10 or 11pm. However, your stomach can look
forward to daily tea time at 4pm, which consists of crackers or cookies and hot
tea to cool you down.
