| SSEAYP ~First Homestay in Malaysia~ K.Y. 東南アジア青年の船 ～マレーシアでのホームステイ～ After spending time for eight days on board, we reached the first port, Malaysia. A totally different landscape welcomed me, and it was a really exciting moment. I met my host family at the welcome dinner in Kuala Lumpur. I stayed two days in their house with a Cambodian homestay-mate. The family had three children, and they were Muslims. It was only two days to spend a quality time with them, but I felt a lot of cultural differences and learned a lot from them. Since there were many Muslims on the ship, I was used to seeing women wearing the scarf on their head, but it was totally new for me to live in a Muslim way. It was in the bathroom that I felt the first culture shock. There was no paper there, and the water from the shower was cold. Muslim people do not use papers when they use toilets for the religious reason. The climate in Malaysia is always hot, and they don’t use warm water to take shower. It was when we ate that I also felt a culture shock. They had meals with hands. My family members were using forks and spoons at the welcome dinner, but using tools was not usual. They later told me that they use tools to eat only public certain places. I hesitated to eat with hands at first, but I found it was rather comfortable using hands when I ate Malay food. Even though the culture was different, I enjoyed spending time with my host family by talking, playing games, sightseeing, cooking, and eating together. In Malaysia, I felt people’s kindness and love for family. My host family really treated me as one of their kids. The first homestay was filled with culture shock, but I’m glad that I stayed with my host family. 船で8日間過ごし、私たちはやっと最初の寄港地であるマレーシアに到着しました。日本と全く異なる風景が私を出迎えてくれ、本当に興奮で一杯でした。 |
