Over the last few jam-packed days of settling in for my new contract in Malaysia, I have been intensely aware of the learning curve required by new environments. Take us out of our comfort zones and we are forced to learn. Part excitement, part ecstasy, part danger and part potential frustration, disorientation is the perfect opportunity to re-examine old assumptions, explore new possibilities and discard what is, in the new context, irrelevant.
The disorientation of any new undertaking is a steep and stimulating learning curve. Geographic disorientation is especially exciting, because it can involve new scenery, climate, culture, cuisine and all those lovely perks of travel. Even if it is only on a trip to the other side of town. (And especially if it happens to be the "wrong" side of town!)
Neurologically, this disorientation is a wonderful workout for the brain as it rolls into a higher gear, rewarding itself with celebratory endorphin spritzes with each little triumph. The more complex the disorientation, the greater the potential stress - and rewards. The increased potential stress/rewards of moving to the capital of a new country while starting a new work project is especially, er, stimulating.
Neurologically, this disorientation is a wonderful workout for the brain as it rolls into a higher gear, rewarding itself with celebratory endorphin spritzes with each little triumph. The more complex the disorientation, the greater the potential stress - and rewards. The increased potential stress/rewards of moving to the capital of a new country while starting a new work project is especially, er, stimulating.
I am all for embracing the bounty offered by a new environment. In a place like Kuala Lumpur it is all too easy to speak only English, move in only cosmopolitan environments, eat only Western food, deal only with other foreigners, drive around in secluded metal cocoons and visit only seated, flush toilets with dry floors. In which case there is little point to leaving home. The gift of a different location is its differences, and in the rest of this post I am celebrating a few of these with a slideshow of photographs taken over the past few days. These include all kinds of everyday oddities, from the prosaic to the sublime. The slideshow displays below, but if you are wracking your brains to work out what is happening in the pictures, feel free to read the captions here.
In a later post I will be writing more about unlocking the basics of a new language in a new location, with my experiences with Bahasa Malaysia as example. I'll have to learn a bit more first, though!
