A Parting Shot

Going for a ride in Melaka

The last week of GSE went by fast! After the District Conference we were hosted two nights in Seremban. Our full schedule included a Rotary Club meeting, day trip to the historic city of Melaka, and a fellowship dinner with GSE alumni and the newly-selected inbound team that evening. Then hosted two nights in Kuala Lumpur and *poof* it was over. Good-bye! Dan was bound for Melaka to renew friendships he formed during his Peace Corps service there in the 1960s, and the rest of us were on a plane to Borneo!

I extended my stay there for a full two weeks during which I visited beaches near Kota Kinabalu and trekked in Gunung Mulu National Park. Truly a memorable experience, finally realizing a childhood dream to visit a real tropical rain forest!

Trek to the Pinnacles in Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak

Now that it is over, I'd like to a take a parting shot at what this this tour of cultural understanding was all about: not just learning how Malaysians do things differently (or the same), but learning that there is not just one way of doing things. From the simple eating of rice and curry with your hand ("it just tastes better" we were advised) to the family support systems that have grandparents and married adult children living in the same household, we had an opportunity on this exchange to become not just acquainted, but even adjusted, to norms that were different than we grew up with.

Though challenging at times, growing as a conscientious person is learning that the rules you thought were hard and fast are not actually rules. Out of that maturing comes openness and acceptance, which make the way for dialogue and compassion... on track toward world peace.