Welcome to the Kampung!

So a little introduction never hurt anybody

I know the concept of An American in a Foreign Country theme is a little tired, but I thought I might have a perspective on foreign living that most others do not have.  Many expats travel for work and end up major cities or larger countries.  While I'm not exactly living in a tree house with WiFi, I am off the beaten path of most foreigners living in Malaysia.

Kedah sunsets, I live in paradise

Being an awkward kid with an intense curiosity on why people act the way they do (I made a long college career of studying anthropology), and a lot of training in people watching (trust me, I've put in the hours) I give a humorous look at cultural observations and interactions that I experience living in a place that definitely notices that I look and act differently than they do.


My Story?  Well, since you asked...

I won't regale you with the whole tale just now, so let me stick to the basics.  I'm a Kansas girl who had a lot of curiosity about the world when I met this tall, dark and handsome neighbor at my college apartment complex.  It was truly love at first sight and we've been attached at the hip for the whole roller coaster journey since that fateful September night.  A couple years later, when my love returned home to his family and accepted a job here, I knew I had to join him here.  Once I graduated, I sold off all of my belongings except what could fit in three suitcases and moved to Malaysia (well technically a lie, we shipped a few of our prized possessions too, but that doesn't sound as romantic, does it?) We got married in a small, court house ceremony, shortly afterward we found out I was pregnant and now we are navigating our way through parenthood with an adorable son who graciously puts up with all our misguided attempts to still have a life after baby.

Neighbors that live down the street

Malaysia, Truly Asia

We now live almost the northern most tip of Malaysia, Kedah.  We live about half an hour from the border with Thailand and about two hours away from Penang, the beautiful island state that attracts a lot of tourists to the country. Kedah is rather comparable to Kansas, as it is the "Rice Bowl of Malaysia" and is largely agricultural country though I know as much about rice as I do about wheat, and that's that we have a lot of beautiful views but we also live with a lot of pests. As the saying goes, same-same, but different.

Durian, the King Fruit of Malaysia

As I mentioned before, we are not having a typical ex-pat experience and being in a smaller town, even though it is the capital of Kedah and the biggest city in the state, there isn't a community of Western ex-pats here that are more common in Penang and Kuala Lumpur.  When I'm seen around town I've experienced a lot of stares from children and grown men and women alike.  People have stopped in their tracks, tripped over themselves, turned to their friends to have the entire group look over all at once, all to the the white lady out by herself at the grocery store.  Something that doesn't happen where tourists are more common.

What to Expect

In this blog I'm hoping to share stories of what it's like living in a foreign country from an American Mid-Westerner perspective.  My husband and I travel a lot, so I will also be sharing tips and tricks we've come to use when booking, planning and executing traveling on the cheap (but not backpacker cheap, I'm too high maintenance for that).  Also, since Yelp hasn't come to Malaysia yet (correction, has just recently come to Malaysia), I plan on leaving reviews here of restaurants and hotels that we try, but for more on that you can also look me up on TripAdvisor.com.  I hope to post at least once a week and I hope to see you here.

In Malacca, the belief is if you can get the marble out of the mouth of the dragon you can go to heaven...I'm trying

Signing off with all the love,
Sarah G. and the Boys