Alone Abroad

Doniyor Askarov
Uzbekistan
ESOL 173
Spring 2008

Living in a tropical climate, in a country thousands of miles away from your homeland, among people speaking a totally different language and eating food absolutely unknown to you can all be very challenging and shocking, yet travel undeniably broadens your mind and leaves its mark on your life. What happened to me in Malaysia can further prove the point.

It all goes back to the summer of 2005 when my parents, tired of routine work and life, decided to get away to some island. Oddly enough, of all places, Malaysia happened to be their holiday destination. Having recently come of age, I decided to tell my parents that I was not going to Malaysia, since I had already made my summer plans. On the one hand, however, the idea to explore such an exotic country as Malaysia certainly appealed to me, but on the other hand, spending the summer on my own with my friends seemed much more exciting. However hard I tried to avoid tagging along, my hopes were eventually dashed by my father’s harsh and unyielding adamancy. " Don’t get all carried away with those summer plans of yours; you ain’t goin’ nowhere without us," my father harshly replied to me after I had plucked up the courage and hinted that I would prefer staying to going to Malaysia. So there I was, all sulky and down, on a long and boring flight bound for Malaysia.

Upon arriving, I was astonished at the intensity of the humidity that filled my lungs as soon as I took the first breath, which made me feel pretty dizzy and all the more gloomy because the thought of my friends partying and having fun without me kept haunting me. As humid as Malaysia was, the process of our acclimatization did not seem to have any effect on us whatsoever.

Our first destination on the way to the island was the capital city, Kuala Lumpur, a bustling business city, yet the tourists seemed as though they were the only population. Much to my surprise, the city did not appear to be a jungle with monkeys jumping from tree to tree or palms with bananas hanging down from them as I had initially imagined, but in fact, it was an industrial city with sky-high buildings and a modernized way of living. In addition to that, the sight of the tallest twin skyscrapers on earth not only made me stagger but also filled me with great respect toward the Malaysian people, who at a mind-boggling pace have developed from a colonized and poor state into a prosperous and wealthy one. Funnily enough, the only thing that repelled us was the Malaysian cuisine, which we found to be extremely exotic. Come to think of it, our dinner at a local restaurant probably was the most awkward situation in my life. Curious as to what Malaysian cuisine is like, we went to the best Malaysian restaurant where we were warmly welcomed and served their best meal. What seemed like delicious-looking meals on the menu was, in fact, a table full of some of the most disgusting "delicacies" we had ever been offered. Already seated at the table and not wanting to even try the meal, we could not think of anything better than to stand up and say that we had to run because there was an emergency.

Towards the end of our vacation, my mother told me that she and Dad had decided that I should stay and learn English, as it was Malaysia’s second language. At that moment, it all became apparent to me that my parents had killed two birds with one stone, meaning that they had had a vacation and brought me all the way down to a country where I could learn English, which I had been so reluctant to do and opposed to doing. Suddenly I realized that they must have known all along that they would have me stay on, and that I should have agreed to go to the USA when asked back home because now it seemed much better by comparison with Malaysia.

So there I was, forced to stay on my own, studying in a language center with many other international students from practically all over the world. Never before in my life had I ever seen such a diversity of people coming from all the continents of the world, and the only language that we could communicate with was broken English. Through many social activities and struggles, I eventually achieved mastery of the English language. Speaking the most used language in the world, I realized that I was capable of communicating with the whole world, exploring other cultures, perceptions of the world, traditions and so forth. Moreover, I began to appreciate the importance of academic aspirations and successes as I saw the possibilities and the fruits that could be ultimately enjoyed.

Upon completion of the whole course in the language center, I returned to my country. I thanked my parents for having given me such an opportunity that I had foolishly ignored long before, and they replied: "Don’t get all carried away yet. You have another trip and this time to the United States of America." I smiled and hugged them tightly because I knew they did not want me to stop at what I had already accomplished and simply because I had missed them like crazy.

So here I am studying in one of the most prestigious universities in the state of New Jersey, where the diversity of ethnic groups and the possibilities seem to be even greater!