A fortunate group of teenagers from Europe was part of an Asia-Europe Exchange Programme, which brought these students away from their homes in Europe to rich and eclectic Malaysia. They found themselves in two contrasting homestay programmes, giving them a diverse and guided experience of the country. This out-of-class enrichment programme sent the students back home with a new wealth of knowledge, countless fond memories, many more additions in their address books and a taste of a unique home away from home.
Blonde and lanky Franziska from Germany is very well travelled for a 15-year-old girl. Surprisingly, most of this travelling has been done with her peers while her parents carried on with their lives at home. She spent a week in Malaysia recently and was bubbling over with excitement during her short stay.
“When I looked at the pictures of Malaysia, it was so different, I could not imagine myself actually being here! But now that I am actually here, (she opens her hands and presents her surroundings) it’s so beautiful!” says Franziska with a big bright smile.
“When I looked at the pictures of Malaysia, it was so different, I could not imagine myself actually being here! But now that I am actually here, (she opens her hands and presents her surroundings) it’s so beautiful!” says Franziska with a big bright smile.
The students and their peer hosts spent much of the week on field trips exploring the city and then they spent two days in the countryside witnessing a completely different Malaysian landscape and culture. Ms. Leonora Peers, who planned the week, needed to show these students enough pieces of the country for them to feel the rich tapestry that the country is made of. Not an easy task for such an eclectic and colourful place.
Their first field trip was to Bukit Melawati in Kuala Selangor. Bukit Melawati is a hill perched over the mouth of the Selangor River, the backdrop for two forts built in the late 18th Century. This is the point from where the tin rich Selangor Sultanate tried to defend itself against Dutch invaders, who had stormed Melaka.
After dusk the students witnessed the magic of Kuala Selangor’s fireflies that live among the mangroves. The insects surrounding them looked like millions of stars, constantly blinking and moving within reach. Wei Lyn, a Malaysian student in the group shared that it was such an incredible sight that she and her friends thought that they might have been fake “…but they were definitely real because they were flying around us, it was just unbelievable.”
Their first field trip was to Bukit Melawati in Kuala Selangor. Bukit Melawati is a hill perched over the mouth of the Selangor River, the backdrop for two forts built in the late 18th Century. This is the point from where the tin rich Selangor Sultanate tried to defend itself against Dutch invaders, who had stormed Melaka.
After dusk the students witnessed the magic of Kuala Selangor’s fireflies that live among the mangroves. The insects surrounding them looked like millions of stars, constantly blinking and moving within reach. Wei Lyn, a Malaysian student in the group shared that it was such an incredible sight that she and her friends thought that they might have been fake “…but they were definitely real because they were flying around us, it was just unbelievable.”
The next day took the teens into the thick of Kuala Lumpur, the eclectic and cosmopolitan city. The day began in KL Tower where the entire city could be seen from the observation deck. “This city is so green,” chirped Franziska. KL Tower is the perfect place to plan one’s trip from, an audio guide points out places of interest and explains some of the eccentric architecture and historical sites.
They then went to the famous Petronas Twin followed by a trip to China Town, where the shopping made the teens bleary eyed. It was one of Gotje’s favourite days because the twin towers were so opulent and then China Town was such a stark contrast, with the temporary carts holding merchandise parked in front of colonial era shop-houses.
Diversity is what Malaysia is all about. It would be hard to believe that China Town is in the same country as the state-of-the-art museum of Royal Selangor Pewter, which is another expression of opulence in design and intelligence. The students even got to make their own little bowl in The School of Hard Knocks, an interactive module of the museum, which allows visitors to experience the complexity of making a pewter object.
They then went to the famous Petronas Twin followed by a trip to China Town, where the shopping made the teens bleary eyed. It was one of Gotje’s favourite days because the twin towers were so opulent and then China Town was such a stark contrast, with the temporary carts holding merchandise parked in front of colonial era shop-houses.
Diversity is what Malaysia is all about. It would be hard to believe that China Town is in the same country as the state-of-the-art museum of Royal Selangor Pewter, which is another expression of opulence in design and intelligence. The students even got to make their own little bowl in The School of Hard Knocks, an interactive module of the museum, which allows visitors to experience the complexity of making a pewter object.
MALAYSIA IS A TRULY WONDERFUL COUNTRY. FOR MORE INFO YOU CAN VISIT http://travel.tourism.gov.my/ I LOVE MALAYSIA!!
