Lessons from the Kampong: A Journey through Kelantan

Guest Article by Maxwell Stanford Coe College ETA Maxwell Stanford, center, with fellow ETAs and students at SMK Kampong Laut This past week has been unlike any other I have previously experienced. Our two-week long orientation in Kuala Lumpur, filled with important informational sessions from MACEE and meetings with the Malaysian Ministry of Education and …

Working Together-gether

Guest Article by Matthew Ropp Northern Illinois University ETA Matthew Ropp with his ayah angkat, Pak Din It's 2:00 in the afternoon, the sun beating down on my unprotected skin; I can already feel the uncomfortable warmth settling into my tissue letting me know that by tomorrow I will be the color of a freshly …

Just Say Yes

Guest Article by Lesa Sexton University of North Carolina At 28 years old, I’m one of the older ETAs of the bunch. I graduated from college in 2008, so I’ve had some time to see what the real world is all about and after 5 years, I needed a change. The rat race was getting …

Malaysian Hospitality

Guest Article by Andrea Zinn Villanova University   ETA Andrea Zinn stands by her frequently difficult car     This past Friday, I was driving to an English Camp about 2.5 hours away from my town when the usual happened: my car broke down. This is not the first occurrence, and I am sure it …

Berbuka Puasa – Breaking the Fast

Guest Article by Alex Clavering College of the Holy Cross ETA Alex Clavering, his family, and a teacher's family celebrating Hari Raya My alarm clock rang incessantly. It was just after 5:00 in the morning. Soon I would hear the echo of the mosque as it beckoned for the call to prayer outside of my …

Malaysian Students Want to #SaveFulbright

Guest Article by Shannon Haberzettl University of Scranton Thirty million dollars. That is an enormous amount of money in any context. When I first learned of Congress’ plan to decrease the budget of the Fulbright program by this extraordinary amount of money, I was disappointed. Having had a very personal and life changing experience because …

English Camp: Cracking the Code

Guest Article by Elizabeth Soltan Cornell University ETA Elizabeth Soltan with her students Recently I found myself, bleary-eyed at 7 am, tying blue string to curtain hooks at both ends of a room to create a “laser alarm system obstacle course” for Malaysian 12- and 13-year-olds. When I walked across the field at my college …

Shy Away

Guest Article by Katie Schmittauer Ohio University Retiring (adj): Reserved, shy. Example: The retiring young student hid her face behind her hands and refused to speak when Miss Katie asked her a question. Studying for the GRE gave me creative new vocabulary to describe my problem, but failed to provide me with a solution, just …

Unplanned Lessons

Guest Article by Kelsey GrabBrandeis UniversityStudents join ETA Kelsey Grab's Art Club after school hoursI’m really into setting goals, crossing things off lists and other similar modes of empowerment. I am currently trying to put together a list of things I have to do while I’m here, because that’s what I do in the face …

Kreativiti Cikgu Inggeris Amerika – An interview with the ETAs

Fulbright ETAs Kamayani Gupta, Charlie Hornstra and Shalene Gupta were featured in a Malaysian talk show Agenda Awani on Astro AWANI 501 on October 30, 2012 in Kuala Lumpur. Produced by Astro in collaboration with MACEE and the US Embassy Kuala Lumpur. Excerpts from Agenda Awani extracted by Raymond Chew. This show originally broadcasted live …