International Day Again

Pardon me for the silence in the past several weeks; work has been crazy and it is just a matter of time before I  have to prove my worth to my company for sending us on this prolonged family holiday in Paris :)  The early mornings-and-late-nights-at-the-office routine is nothing much to blog about, except lauding YL's quiet unflinching tolerance looking after two boisterous, bickering kids at home till bedtime.  (His actual words were "We're happy without you".  Hmmm.  Tact have never been his forte.) 


But finally, there is something to talk about this weekend, Sophie's school's annual International Day.  I helped out at the same event on my own last last year, and it was a real pleasure to be able to attend it this year with her.  Like last year, the idea is to create an opportunity for the kids to learn about the countries and cultures of their classmates.  They are each given a "passport" with a different country on each page, and they have to answer a few questions about each country to receive a stamp.   There were 38 countries on display this year.

And once again, the Malaysian makcik and kakak (aunties & sisters) have put together an impressive room to welcome the "tourists".  The place was filled with Tourism Malaysia posters and paraphernalia.  For food, we had curry puffs, dodol, wajik, love letters, muruku, teh tarik & nasi lemak (these last 2 on the menu are reserved for Malaysians only :) ). 

YL demonstrating batu seremban and congkak to Sophie.

Sophie is a real tourist in her own country.  She does not understand Malay, is averse to spicy food, and does not know what is an orang utan is until today.  She identifies herself as Singaporean.  She said to me after the event that if there was a Singapore booth, she would have been able to answer all the questions without help and without a doubt.  Oh when will our beloved country sort itself out?  When will we be able to return to our tanah tumpahnya darahku*? (* Literal translation:  the land where I spilled my blood.  You know what I mean)  

The Chinese sheikh

She was rather proud of getting her stamp for Italy without help.  

(Who painted the Mona Lisa?)

Trying on the Korean hangbok 

She took one look at the sunflowers and knew the answer to the question in the Netherlands

(Name a famous Dutch painter.)

Writing her name in Japanese

These Japanese snacks were one of the best I had today 

While over at the good ole' United States of the America, guess what they served?  Popcorn.

With some of her best friends in school.  The medals were given out by the Great Britain booth, in celebration of the Olympics to be held in London this summer.

And finally, we're home, in Malaysia...