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Table of Contents

Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... I

Table of Figures ..................................................................................................................... II

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1

2. Saturday – 21/11/2015 ........................................................................................................ 2

2.1 Departure from UKM and bus trip ............................................................................... 2

2.2 Arrival at Gua Musang and welcome ceremony .......................................................... 2

2.4 My Foster Family ......................................................................................................... 3

3. Sunday – 22/11/2015 .......................................................................................................... 5

3.1 Traditional Games ........................................................................................................ 5

3.2 Am’s Family ................................................................................................................. 6

3.3 Cave tour ...................................................................................................................... 7

3.4 Great Soccer Game ....................................................................................................... 8

3.5 Intercultural Night ........................................................................................................ 8

4. Monday – 23/11/2015 ......................................................................................................... 9

4.1 Palm Fields ................................................................................................................... 9

4.2 Motorcycle Trip ............................................................................................................ 9

4.3 Cooking together ........................................................................................................ 10

4.4 Closing and Farewell Ceremony ................................................................................ 11

4.5 Leaving to UKM ......................................................................................................... 12

5. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 13

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Table of Figures

Figure 1: The road trip from UKM in Bangi to Gua Musang. ............................................... 1

Figure 2: Bus trip to Gua Musang. ......................................................................................... 2

Figure 3: Welcome speech at Gua Musang. ........................................................................... 2

Figure 4: Me and Amriezal with our foster mother. ............................................................... 3

Figure 5: My first Malaysian dinner and the bedroom for me and Am.................................. 3

Figure 6: My foster father, me, Am and my foster mother. ................................................... 4

Figure 7: Can Throwing and Rubber Shooting. ..................................................................... 5

Figure 8: Marbles and Stone Catching. .................................................................................. 6

Figure 9: Decorating the kite for a special result of the Wau Bulan Show. ........................... 6

Figure 10: Am's family and the coconut monkey. .................................................................. 7

Figure 11: Me and Benedict sitting on a high place in the cave. ............................................ 7

Figure 12: Martial Arts at the Intercultural Night. ................................................................. 8

Figure 13: Me, working on the palm fields with a large cutting equipment. ......................... 9

Figure 14: Me and Marvin riding on a motorcycle. ............................................................. 10

Figure 15: Youness cooking Curry Chicken with local people. ........................................... 10

Figure 16: Me and Björn eating with our fingers nearly perfect. ......................................... 11

Figure 17: Me and Amriezal getting a gift from our foster mother. ..................................... 11

Figure 18: Our last stop before reaching UKM. ................................................................... 12

Figure 19: Our final group picture of the program Walk-In Gua Musang. .......................... 13

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1. Introduction

For one semester I am a student of the University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). In addition

to the different study system at the University in Malaysia, in my semester abroad I had the

chance to undergo a special experience. For three days I decided to join the cultural course.

In order to introduce the Malaysian culture to international students from the UKM and to

have a great experience living and spending time with a foster family in a different region,

me and the other cultural course members wanted to start a weekend trip to Gua Musang.

Gua Musang is a town and territory and also the largest district in Kelantan. Gua Musang

literally means “Cave of the Civet” and is close to the northern gateway to the national park

Taman Negara. The town is surrounded by limestone hills and caves, which have become

popular with cavers and rock climbers.

Figure 1: The road trip from UKM in Bangi to Gua Musang.

To reach Gua Musang it takes more than four hours by bus. The route we wanted to use is

about 300 kilometers away from Bangi and is illustrated in Figure 1. The cultural course

started on Saturday, 21/11/2015 and ended on Monday, 23/11/2015. This final report de-

scribes my own perception of in the different culture including many activities, all the people

I met and of course all the experience that I gained.

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2. Saturday – 21/11/2015

2.1 Departure from UKM and bus trip

In order to start the cultural course, all members met at UKM on Saturday, 21/11/2015

2:15 pm. All together, we were a group of 34 people and started our bus trip. Including one

stop on the highway, we reached our final destination Gua Musang.

Figure 2: Bus trip to Gua Musang.

2.2 Arrival at Gua Musang and welcome ceremony

Late in the evening during heavy rainfall, we arrived at Gua Musang. The correct name of

our three-days-village is Paloh 1. First of all, coordinators of the program and all foster fam-

ilies waited to welcome us.

Figure 3: Welcome speech at Gua Musang.

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The program, which is called Walk-in-Gua Musang, started with a welcome speech including

explanations and instructions to all of us. After this, the welcome ceremony started and the

members of the cultural course got together with thier individual foster family. Figure 4 il-

lustrates me with Amriezal and our foster mother. Amriezal (Am) is a Malaysian guy, who

grew up in a village close to Paloh 1. He is studying electrical engineering at the University

of Kuala Lumpur and helped me with everything I needed to know. Especially, he translated

all the Malaysian words. Only because of him, I was able to communicate with my foster

family and we could understand each other. After the welcome ceremony, Am and I went to

our foster family’s house and then the life in the Malaysian culture started.

Figure 4: Me and Amriezal with our foster mother.

2.4 My Foster Family

At my foster family’s house we had dinner. In the house was one big room, a kitchen, a

bathroom, television and bedrooms. My foster mother cooked for her family including me

and Am. This was my first experience of eating rice and more without using cutlery while

sitting on the ground.

Figure 5: My first Malaysian dinner and the bedroom for me and Am.

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Am showed me how to eat. At first I washed my hands and then I was introduced only to eat

with the fingers of my right hand. I mixed the rice with fish, fish sauce, vegetables and onion

omelet, pushed everything together and the only thing I could say was: “delicious”.

Figure 6: My foster father, me, Am and my foster mother.

Am, also a great teacher in English and Malaysian language, taught me another Malaysian

word: “sedab” (delicious). Besides my first Bahasa words, which I learned at the UKM,

“terima kasih” (thank you) and “sama sama” (welcome), I then knew how to say three words

in Malaysian language. After diner we took a picture from our family and Am showed me

our bedroom for the next two nights. Then we went to bed, because the next day we had to

wake up early for playing some traditional games with all families.

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3. Sunday – 22/11/2015

3.1 Traditional Games

On the second day after having breakfast we met at the central place of Paloh 1 at 8 am to

play some traditional games. All the following traditional games were a competition between

the different foster families. For my family I started the games with Am. The games are called

“Can Throwing”, “Rubber Shooting”, “Marbles”, and “Stones Catching”. After these games,

we had to work on something to prepare the Wau Bulan Show.

Can Throwing and Rubber Shooting

Can Throwing is a game to throw a broken can into a pyramide of 15 cans with a distance of

ten meters. Everyone has two chances to get all of the 15 cans. Since the throwing can is

broken, it is very difficult to take aim and to strike the pyramide. You need both, much power

and a lot of dexterity.

Figure 7: Can Throwing and Rubber Shooting.

Rubber Shooting is a little bit like playing darts. In a distance of three meters you need to hit

a nail with many rubber ring on it three times. You shoot the rubber with your fingers and

you score for each ring laying in the ground.

Marbles and Stone Catching

Marbles is a game of high accuracy. In a distance of five meters you need to hit marbles lying

on the ground by throwing marbles. This is a very difficult game, because a marble is a small

ball with little weight. You have three attempts and for each marble, which leaves the square,

you get points.

Stone Catching is another game, which requires high dexterity. You have seven little stones

lying on the ground and you have to throw one stone upwards. Before the stone hit the ground

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you have to grab the other stones from the ground and at last you need to catch the falling

stone. This game is not easy, but in my opinion I can say that this is the game, I am most

interested in.

Figure 8: Marbles and Stone Catching.

Wau Bulan Show

The Wau Bulan Show is a colorful show with a lot of different beautiful kites. To celebrate

these show, we had to prepare and decorate our own kite for each foster family. Figure 9

illustrates my decoration team working and the result of the colorful show with all partici-

pants. Because of the llittle weight of the kites, all kites were able to fly and the show became

a great success.

Figure 9: Decorating the kite for a special result of the Wau Bulan Show.

3.2 Am’s Family

After the traditional games and the Wau Bulan Show, we had lunch at our foster family’s

house. Am, my teacher, grew up in a village close to Paloh 1. In order to visit his own family

and introduce them to me, after lunch we drove with our foster father to Am’s family’s house.

Am introduced his family to me and told me something about their life, the fruit trees the

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family owns and the animals which live there. Figure 10 represents Am’s family, me and my

foster father. Furthermore, the figure shows a monkey, which is taught to climbed up the

coconut trees and bring the coconuts down.

Figure 10: Am's family and the coconut monkey.

Then all together we had some cookies with orange juice before we went back to the others.

We had to hurry, because next we wanted to visit a cave close to Paloh 1.

3.3 Cave tour

To start the cave tour, all visitors climbed up on two big pick-ups and went to the big cave.

In the cave was a special view because of different angles, the mix between sunlight and

darkness and the great up and downs. Figure 11 shows me and Benedict sitting on a high

place in the cave.

Figure 11: Me and Benedict sitting on a high place in the cave.

We explored the whole cave and it required a lot of climbing and ducking. After climbing

down out of the cave, we went back to the village for a little break.

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3.4 Great Soccer Game

During the break the students decided to play soccer, but nobody could find a ball for playing.

Fortunately, one of the local people could find a ball so we were able to play a great soccer

game. 20 young people, ten German students and 10 Malaysian guys played together and

against each other at the soccer court. Due to the fact that the court was really wet because

of the rain, everyone played without shoes and it was very difficult to run and to stop. At the

end, all of us had a lot of fun and went to our foster family’s house for showering and having

dinner.

3.5 Intercultural Night

After dinner we prepared ourselves for the intercultural night. This night was a great cere-

mony with acts of singing, dancing, and old traditional martial arts. Martial arts are codified

systems and traditions of combat practices, which are practiced because a variety of reasons:

self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, entertainment, as well as mental, phys-

ical, and spiritual development, which are illustrated in figure 12.

Figure 12: Martial Arts at the Intercultural Night.

After this act, all the members of the cultural course started a singing performance including

traditional clothes. We made some music and sang our “Boleh-Song”. After the end of the

intercultural night, we went back to our foster family to get some rest. In the morning of the

next day we planned to visit the palm fields.

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4. Monday – 23/11/2015

4.1 Palm Fields

In the morning of our leaving day, after having breakfast we visited the palm fields. The palm

fields are the major industry in Malaysia for producing the palm oil. Palm oil is an edible

vegetable oil derived from the reddish pulp of the fruit of the oil palms. The palm oil has had

both, positive and negative impacts on workers and on the social system. Figure 13 shows

me working on the palm fields. The technique I am using on the figure was explained and

demonstrated by one of the local people. It was hard work to get the fruits from the palm

during the hot sunshine.

Figure 13: Me, working on the palm fields with a large cutting equipment.

We all tried to work on the palm fields and the local people supplied us with every infor-

mation we needed to know about the palm oil industry in Malaysia. After this short working

experience we left the palm fields for a little break. After this break we prepared our shared

lunch for all families to eat together at the same place.

4.2 Motorcycle Trip

During the break and before preparing our shared lunch, there was some time for some ac-

tivities. I decided to make a little motorcycle trip with Benedict, Björn and Marvin. Two

people together on one motorcycle which we thankfully got from the local people, we rode

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on the streets and enjoyed the cold wind in our faces. The following figure shows me and

Marvin sitting on a motorcycle. After 30 minutes having a lot of fun we came back to the

others and started the preparation of our shared lunch.

Figure 14: Me and Marvin riding on a motorcycle.

4.3 Cooking together

We cooked together in a very big wok. Figure 15 illustrates Youness cooking Curry Chicken

together with the local people.

Figure 15: Youness cooking Curry Chicken with local people.

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The following figure shows me and Björn eating the Chicken Curry Rice with our fingers,

how it we were taught from the local people.

Figure 16: Me and Björn eating with our fingers nearly perfect.

During the last two meals my foster father attested me a large improvement of my finger

skills. I was very proud of this congratulation. After finishing our shared lunch for the last

time we went back to our foster family’s house to get our bags. Then we met at the central

place for the closing and farewell ceremony.

4.4 Closing and Farewell Ceremony

Figure 17: Me and Amriezal getting a gift from our foster mother.

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During the closing and farewell ceremony each foster family came together with the partici-

pants to share some gifts and to say thank you and goodbye. Each Member of the program

got a shirt with a picture of Gua Musang on it. Figure 17 shows me and Amriezal wearing

our new shirts with our foster mother sharing gifts. Furthermore, the president of the village,

the coordinator Dr. Fais and one of us got on the stage to give a speech. At the end, before

we went back to UKM, we took some pictures with the families and with other local people.

This was a successful ceremony and this shows the friendliness of all people one more time.

4.5 Leaving to UKM

After the ceremony we had to leave Paloh 1 in Gua Musang and went back to UKM. But

there was one last destination. The family of one of the coordinators invited us to stay for a

while and having some dessert. Finally, we left the family and started our way back to the

UKM. Figure 18 illustrates our last stop on the cultural course.

Figure 18: Our last stop before reaching UKM.

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5. Conclusion

After three special days, the cultural course ended. These days were special in different ways

and will be in my mind for the rest of my life. You cannot describe the experiences we made

in Gua Musang in a few words, but let me sum up the most important points. Perhaps, for

German people the life in this small village means a complete change of everything they

knew about life before. There was a different tradition, different work to do and a completely

different language. But none of these points changed the lovely lives they live and the gen-

erosity of all local people towards all of us. I learned how to eat with my fingers, to sleep on

the ground and to shower in a different way. All of these things will widen my personal

horizon and I am glad to be a part of the Walk-in Gua Musang program. The whole team,

coordinators, foster families, the Malaysian translators, Dr. Fais and all the members of the

cultural course made an exciting weekend happening.

To summarize my arguments I can say that in the last three days I have learned much more

about the Asian culture than in the last three month I lived in Kuala Lumpur. Traditional

Games, traditional food and of course, the peace, the happiness and the passion I could see

in the local people’s eyes. In my foster family I did not feel like a guest, I felt like a part of

it.

Figure 19: Our final group picture of the program Walk-In Gua Musang.