Random Thoughts: Week 2

• Tea Time is the BEST Time!!!
• In groups, people tend to behave the “everyman for themselves” mentality even though the group cannot leave for their next destination until all are together in one spot.
• Girls in India are known to skip school because they have to walk miles away from their village to find fresh drinking water for their household. By age 25 they have walked the equivalence to walking around the world.
• Some of these powerpoints are full of a lot of do nots in presentations. Some are not clear enough for me to follow.
• Google: Jack Nicholson China Town – It is about more than you thought it was.
• Hawkers are praised and demised at the same community. People say they have the best food but they have the worst cleanliness practices.
• Water is extremely cheap in Malaysia. So cheap that people do not respect it. In order to force people to consider the importance of their limited water supply, they are in the works of combining the water bill with the sewage bill. They allow the water bill to be cut off because water is so cheap but they always pay the sewage. “You can cut the water but you can’t cut the shit” – Water Watch Penang Founder
• A lot of problems come from unsustainable projects/companies.
• Either you love GOD or MONEY – you cannot do both.
• Bathrooms in Turkey do not completely block your “business.” You upper body is concealed but from your knees and below is open for all to see, including your “business.”
• Want to change behavior then hit them in their pockets!!!
• NGOs/NPOs have to register with the government of Penang. You are not allowed to do any business without their consent.
• “Stopping halfway is, in truth, more difficult and tiring than preserving on the path toward the final goal.” – Jing Si aphorism by Master Cheng Yen
• There are many undergraduate applied degrees in Asia and they are well known.
• I am starting to believe that most of these lectures are really powerpoints they use to recruit students. Yup, it has been confirmed that most of these are indeed recruit powerpoints.
• In Southeast Asia, you can get a one way flight to neighboring countries for as low as $3.50 USD!
• I wonder if companies were not greedy, destroying our world such as Monsato; would all these research institutes specifically for reducing poverty, empowering communities, and improving the environment be needed.
• To become sustainable, integration is the key.
• Not really sure how I feel about presenters that does not make eye contact or even look towards their audience for that matter…
• Research does not automatically translate to application or advocacy.
• When you are a part of a university education abroad program, do not forget that you represent your university at all times, especially during group outings. You need to dress appropriately; jean panties are not acceptable as shorts in an extreme conservative country such as Malaysia.
• Exchange or international students are required to take Bahasa Malay while enrolled in an undergraduate program at USM.
• Some Malaysians do not care to learn Bahasa Malay. So they didn’t. (How was that possible?)
• Immigrants in Norway are required to complete 800 hours of Norwegian.
• 90% of air condition (called air-con in Malaysia) during lectures is for the comfort of the presenter, not the audience.
• Contact wearers… beware of severe eye infections while visiting tropical regions.
• Almost 10-15 motor vehicle deaths daily and about 30 during festivals.
• Google: foods on the menu that you have no idea what they are
• Follow traveler’s rules to protect yourself from contaminated food and water!!! (or you will suffer shortly after!)