New apartment; New job 4/26/2009

Wow what a change in my life this experience is being in Kuala Lumpur.  Scott and I moved into our spacious new apartment that is right across the street from where I work.  Unfortunately there is a very busy street between work and the apartment so I have to walk a distance to take a pedestrian bridge across that busy street but it is still only about 15 minutes.  The hardest part is at the end of the day when I have to walk up those three flights of stairs to cross the bridge.  I'm sure it is good for me.  Scott has been a real sweetheart by walking me to work every morning and meeting me at the bridge when I come home.

The apartment-

It is a three bedroom apartment.  Each bedroom has its own full bathroom and then there is the "maids bathroom" and a hallway bathroom.  The kitchen is small but very pretty with black and white granite counters.  The living room and dining room are together making a nice big room.  It is so bright with full length windows in both the living room and dinning room.  There is a balcony with chairs that you could sit on.  Usually too hot for Scott and me.  We like looking out and enjoying the city views from our nice air conditioned apartment.  We have a laundry room and a storage room.  It is very nice and roomy.  I have my things spread out in all three bedrooms. Scott only has his things in two bedrooms.  We are anxious to get our sea shipment to have the rest of our furniture and get our house all fixed up.

Work-

Well I am on my own now.  It is a daunting task.  I have so much still to learn but I am starting to get the hang of things.  I am trying to organize my office so that I can find things.  I spent almost all day Saturday just trying to catch up.  I finally had to just quit and go home around 4:00 p.m.  It is going to take me quite a few hours to get it where I want it.  We have a lot going on right now.  I had to make arrangements for two FBI employees who are coming in to do a survey of our office for some new equipment.  We are having a training session for about 40 of the Malaysian Police and I have been working on that.  On Monday, I will have to finish the preparations for the five instructors coming in.  I have a good relationship with the Ritz-Carlton and put my people in there.  They are so accommodating and have taken people at a moments notice.  We have a TDY (temporary) Agent that came in until my new boss (Legat) gets here.  Greg Gilmartin is just transferring in for a three-year assignment just like me.  I also have to do everything to get Greg set up.  The annual property inventory is due and just when Beverly was going to show me what to do, I found out I didn't have the right accesses to do it.  Yikes!!  I also have a mandated financial statement due in two weeks that I have heard is unreal to fill out.  I just try to take each day at a time, because I do tend to get stressed when I look at all I have to do.  My Acting Legat is wonderful and he asked me if I would like some more training.  Of course I told him I would love it.  He asked me if I would like to go somewhere.  He told me he would send me to any legat I wanted to go to, or; if I preferred, I could have someone come in.  I told him I would prefer to have someone come in so he is making the arrangements for that.  Everyone tells me there is a magical six-month period of learning the job and after that everything changes and life becomes so much easier, so one month down five to go.

New Experiences-

We went to our first night club.  Beverly the LOA I am replacing had a going away party at a nightclub.  What an experience for two-old fogies.  Most everyone smokes and drinks and life gets pretty merry as the night progresses.  There was a girl band with one guy and they were pretty good and very cute.  After one coke light, I was having a hard time keeping Scott from going out on the dance floor and just barely managed to keep him down, it took all my power.  (Yeah, right.)  After we had been there about an hour and a half, I managed to convince Scott it was time to go.  He reluctantly left.  I found out later that lots more people came and then they went on to another club.  Maybe next time we'll stay longer???!!!

Driving is not the only thing that is different.  People also walk on the left side of the sidewalk.  Crazy, I know.  The light switches turn down when you want them on and up when you want them off.  Plus all the switches are on the same wall for everything, bathroom, bedroom, fan and hot water.  We are constantly flipping the wrong switches before we finally get the one we want.  Now that it has been almost a week we are actually starting to figure which switch to hit the first time.  We are so smart!  We have a button that flushes the toilets but at the hotel you flushed the toilets by pulling up on the handle.  Now this is the funniest thing of all.  All of the bathroom floors drop down about an inch.  We've come close to killing ourselves a time or two tripping over that little ledge.  I had the reason all figured out why this was.  There is this little hose by the toilets that I thought you used to spray on the floors to keep them clean.  Well I was wrong.  You do use them to spray with but it is not the floors it is your own backside.  I was telling Beverly about using this little hose to clean the bathroom floors and she said the ones by the toilets and I said yes, and that is when I found out what they were really used for.  We sure got a good laugh about that.  Gosh, we Americans are sure uncouth.

Church-

No callings yet, but we are involved in a musical called "Parables".  The music is very pretty.  Scott and I have solo parts and are in the choir.  The District (like our Stake) is putting it on.  We will be performing in August.  I have a business trip scheduled but couldn't quite remember the dates so am hoping it doesn't conflict with being part of this production.  Miow Lin is in charge of it and came up to me after Relief Society and asked if I would sing a solo part, so just like that I am involved.  The same thing happened to Scott and now he is involved.  I just hope I will be here for it.

Every day we become a little bit more familiar with our surroundings and every day we feel more and more like we belong.  What an experience.

Side note,  it is raining right now and about 90 degrees.

The Petronas Towers are AWESOME!!!

Beverly the LOA that I am replacing is a great gal.  She is so well liked in the Embassy and especially by the Malaysian Police Department.  The FBI has an incredible program for Law Enforcement Agencies at home and around the world.  Every year, four times a year the FBI offers training back at Quantico for selected Law Enforcement Officers.  It is a very sought after selection.  Many officers can get promotions based on passing this training.  They spend about 8 to 10 weeks and basically have the same training that is afforded new FBI Agent Trainees.  Beverly does a lot of work in getting these guys slots for the training and then preparing them to go.  She also works on FBINA Retrainers that the NA Graduates get to go to.  The one this year for our group will be held in Queensland, Australia and I would have been able to go because I will be doing the one in 2010 in Kuala Lumpur and would have liked to have some experience, but unfortunately I have a mandatory LOA training in New York at the same time.  Back to Beverly.  Because she has done such a wonderful job, she is so respected and liked.  The Malaysian Special Branch (kind of like the CIA) invited her to dinner since she is leaving.  Luckily I was also invited since I will be taking her place.  One of the guys, now works for security for the Petronas Towers and we had this wonderful dinner at the Petronas's private dinning restaurant on the 42 floor.  It was a clear, beautiful night and you could see for miles and miles around the tower.  The lights of the city were spectacular.  The dinner was very, very expensive and so delicious.  They had a representative there from the Petronas Towers and she picked up the tab.  They gave Beverly some very beautiful gifts and were so wonderful to her.  My boss, Chuck, told me that when the Legat, who was not very popular with the Malaysian PD left they never did one thing for him.  So they don't just do this for everyone.  The representative from the Petronas Towers gave use each a gift; me, Beverly and Chuck, of a replica of the Petronas Towers.  I guess it was very exclusive.  I felt so honored to be part of this dinner.  The representative was a very sweet lady and she gave me her business card and told me that she would personally set up tours of the towers for visiting dignitaries and personnally for me,my family and friends.  We went on a small tour and got to walk on the bridge between the two towers.  Wow it was so incredible beautiful.  It was quite an experience.  Too bad I didn't get to take Scott with me.  Maybe next time.  Come visit, I'll take you to the Petronas Towers.

Eating Breakfast is an observation on the World

I know I have told you how much I enjoy breakfast here at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.  I am going to take my camera down there tomorrow and show you the set ups they have to feed people from all over the world.  It is fascinating as well as sooooo good.  Most of the time I eat breakfast with very few people around, but this morning I had breakfast alone and later than usual and the place was packed.  It gave me an opportunity to observe all the different people and their modes of dress, but what really interested me is how different we all eat.

For example,  we Americans eat holding our fork in our right hands (right-handed  people).  We cut our food with our right hand then put the knife down and pick up our fork and scoop up the food and eat.  Europeans turn their forks around and use their knives to help them get food speared unto the back of the fork and then shovel the food inside their mouths.  The Malaysians use a big spoon in their right hands and use a fork to push the food onto their spoon and then in the mouth it goes.  The Orientals, when not using their chop sticks, use their forks just like Americans do except they tend to rest their left forearm from elbow to hand completely on the table, hunching themselves a little over the table while eating.  The one thing I haven't figured out is how the Muslim women who are completely covered up except for their eyes get the food into their mouths, I didn't want to stare at them while they ate.

Anyway I thought it was interesting.  I wonder if Scott and I will adopt any of these methods of eating.  Kind of like the way the Malaysians do it.

Random Thoughts

There are so many differences here that I haven't mentioned.

People - 

There are so many nationalities that live in KL.  You have the Asians, Japanese and Chinese that seem more Americanized.  They wear the same kind of clothes that we wear and are free and easy.  The Malays are all Muslim by law and definition.  The men look the same as we do but the women wear head scarves that completely cover the hair.  Their clothes also cover their bodies, usually to the wrists and ankles but are dresses and pants mostly of darker colors.  The Indians are beautiful in their Saris.  The ones I see most of the time are big full pants, tight at the ankles with a sari that goes to the knees.   That is one of my favorite outfits and I want to get some.  I am not sure of the protocol about wearing them though.  The saddest thing I see is the orthodox Muslim women who are cover from head to foot and even their faces in burkas (not sure if that is the right term).

There are guards everywhere.  Every hotel, apartment complex, mall, etc.  They usher you here and there and away if necessary.  I saw one guard holding a shotgun at the mall.  That made me feel uncomfortable.

People are very courteous to you.  At the hotel, everyone from the guards, the doormen, the maids, the hotel staff always tell you good morning, good afternoon.  As they have gotten to know us and recognize us they'll say, "hello Mrs Tobi and Mr. Scott, how are you? Are you going out?  Have a nice evening."  They smile and are so pleasant.  

Food

The food is delicious.  We have so many ethnic choices, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Thai, Lebanese, Vietnamese and of course American and Malaysian among many others.  We have even heard of Mexican but also that they aren't very good.  The one thing that you will not find in any of these restaurants is pork of any kind.  You can get beef bacon, turkey ham but no real pork.  It is almost against the law.  You can buy pork in the grocery stores but is in a section all by itself and you have to buy it right there because no Muslim can even touch it.

Embassy

The Embassy is a nice place.  We have to follow rigid security rules.  My office is considered a comsec (secure communications) office.  You can't bring in any cell phones or ipods, radios or anything of that sort.  It is very small with two small offices for the Legat and Alat.  My desk is just outside of these offices in a very small space.  Surrounding me are the two computers I work on, one classified and the other unclassed and each of these has its own printer.  I have two fax machines one unclassed and the other secret.  I have a scanner, paper shredder and copier.  My office gets incredibly hot because of all these machines.  They completely surround me.  I also have a fan that I keep on all the time.  We actually have a comsec room that also has my supplies in it.  It has its own air conditioning and sometimes I just want to go and sit there but of course there is no room to do that.  We also have a full sized refrigerator.  I take water everyday and keep it in there.  Ah, nice cold water.  Because there is so little room, when we have boxes come in and before we can take care of them they are just stacked all over.  It is real tight quarters and all of our windows are completely covered up so it feels a bit like a cave but I actually like it.  

Taxis or Texis in Malaysian

Taxis are great!!  I have had pretty good success.  I at least get to work and get home everyday.  Sometimes the Taxis will pass me by.  I have heard that some drivers won't pick up a loan woman.  Sometimes they have no idea where the Ritz Carlton Hotel is, then I start telling them where it is nearby like a mall or another hotel they are familiar with.  I then just have to walk a short distance to get back to the hotel.  

Scott's Thoughts - 

On Sundays we attend the Kuala Lumpur Branch.  The meetings begin at 10:00am.  We were surprised to discover that there are actually about 200 members of the branch, of whom about 75 to 80 are usually in attendance on a given Sunday.  The large majority are local Malaysians (when we discuss the people and use the word Malaysian we are talking about their nationality, so there are Chinese Malaysians, Thai Malaysians, Philippino Malaysians, etc.; the local native population are called Malays.  All Malays are considered Muslim by definition.  The gospel cannot be taught to them, they cannot marry non-Muslims, and a Malay child cannot be adopted by a non-Muslim couple).  In our branch there are people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, China, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Nepal, etc.  The Branch President is an American whose business has kept him in SE Asia for about 15 years.  He is married to a Philippino woman.  There are about 4 or 5 American couples in the branch, most of whom are in Malaysia on business, although there is one other couple assigned to the Embassy, but they will be leaving soon.

We have already met some remarkable people in the branch.  Our gospel doctrine teacher is a woman of around 40 named Miow Lin Yap.  Miow Lin has been in the church for about 20 years, served a mission, etc.  She has never married, but has been a real driving force in the church here.  She told us on Sunday that the Church has just approved the translation of the Book of Mormon into Bahasa (Malaysian).  She will be helping in the translation.  She travels 60 miles to get to church.

Tobi has already received a visiting teaching assignment consisting of 6 sisters.  She's not real sure how she's going to do this, particularly since her companion doesn't have a car either.  These Asian sisters are no-nonsense and are on the ball.  

The District consists of 5 branches in West Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, as opposed to East Malaysia on the Island of Borneo).  The Church is not nearly as large here in West Malaysia where only about 10% of the population is Christian, as it is in the East where it's about 40%.  All 5 branches are conducted in English, partly due to the fact that there are no Church materials in Bahasa.  We are part of the Singapore Mission which today consists only of Singapore and Malaysia.  (We remember when my parents were called to the Singapore Mission but served in India.)

One side note, I was talking to Sister Friend at the Embassy today.  She told me she is so incredibly busy getting everything done for their imminent departure and I think she is the YW President and she is preparing for Youth Conference that will have about 160 youth that she asked to be released as a VT but they told her no.  Wow, how would that go over in our Ward back home.

First Week in Kuala Lumpur

It is Friday night and my first week is at work is over.  What a stressful, exciting week it has been.  Sometimes I felt so overwhelmed with everything that I had to learn at work I felt like quitting.  Some days were better than other days.  Today, I felt like maybe, just maybe I actually could do this job.  I did some fun things today.  I went to the country team meeting where I was introduced to all the section leaders and the Ambassador.  I said hello to everyone and that was pretty much that.  I usually won't go unless both the Legat or the Alat are gone.  

I have to learn a new language, it is the language I call "Embassy Speak".  As I talk to different people, they use acronyms that I am not familiar with and talk about things I have no idea about.  I have to go around the Embassy and introduce myself and meet and talk to people in every department. One guy from the military asked me, after he had given me a briefing on his department, if there was anything else I wanted to know.  I just told him "no"  that I could hardly understand what he was talking about and probably wouldn't remember anything anyway.  I think that gave him pause.  

My job does seem a little overwhelming.  There are just so many different responsibilities.  It almost seems impossible to handle, but I guess I will just have to give myself some time.

I have met so many nice people.  I went to someone's home, where I played Bunco with 10 other ladies.  Lots of fun.  Went to lunch today with a group and I am actually getting to know who these people are.  There is a big turnover happening at the Embassy so many people are getting ready to move on to other posts and a whole new group will be coming in.  We have been given sponsors, Ann and Charlie, who have been absolutely wonderful to us.  Ann is going to drive me all over town again tomorrow so that I can get a new curling iron to replace the one I melted because the one from home, even with a converter, couldn't take the change in currents.

The hotel is marvelous.  A funny thing happened.  All of our pillows started to disappear.  I asked our maid if she knew where they were.  She had no idea.  Then our butler came and looked and couldn't figure it out either.  Eventually, they brought them back from storage where they had put them because the maids found them on the floor and thought we didn't want them.  Now I ask you, how in the world can you sleep with about 5 pillows.  I told the butler that we liked them on the bed for watching TV and reading but we didn't sleep with all of them.  Crazy!!

We had a steak dinner tonight that was the absolute BEST.  We had appetizers, soup, salad, the main course and dessert all for about 250 Ringets that come to about $75.  for both Scott and I.  It was soooooo good, every course and the steak was the best steak I have ever had.  So far the food has been delicious.  The funny thing is that I am still losing weight.  This may change if I keep up all this eating, but what a treat.  We end every night with a dessert left at our beds.

I am so glad it is Friday, and I have a whole weekend off.