Part of that world

My most awful moment after coming back is always when I have to replace my flipflops with shoes (ánd socks) again! I always try to do this at the last possible moment...mostly, when my feet are starting to freeze off ^_^. In this case when I was waiting for my train home from Dusseldorf Airport for about 15minutes. First thing I did once on the train was putting shoes on again, dreadful!

I finally got home around 9:30pm and unpacked immediately, I always do. I then went to bed a few hours later and woke up 15min before my alarm and so I decided to go in to the office at 730am. I mostly talked and went through my emails that day. 

I told everyone what an amazing time I had and that I was thinking of going away again next year but for a lot longer and maybe even go to Australia for my working holiday visa. I have to apply before I turn 31 but I would then still have some time to actually use it. I noticed that a month was too short or maybe it was just that I didn't like having a time limit. And meeting so many travelers that were away for months or just finished their trip after months and months and were going home, made me think about it again too.

I also told my collegues that I might want to do a month of volunteer work in Indonesia and hopefully pick up the language too. I was hoping this would also happen in Malaysia but they spoke a lot of English amongst eachother too because of all the different cultures and backgrounds (Malay, Chinese, Indian).

I did learn a few new words and recognized some words I knew before, such as tandas (toilet), keluar (exit), taman negara (national park), selamat datang (welcome), terima kasih (thank you). And I also used words that I knew before to talk or make jokes with the locals. They would mostly laugh and I laughed with them :). 

What I also noticed when I came back was some of the silence, we all use earphones to listen to music or watch videos, but in some parts of Malaysia they didn't. Music, videos, phonecalls were all loud and clear, although I of course couldn't understand any of it.

I was also (sometimes without my knowledge) featured in some videos, photos, phonecalls, more than I thought I would in Malaysia. But mostly good fun.

Anyways, I guess I just need to figure out what I want. During my time in Malaysia, I heard a Little Mermaid Song 'Part of your World' and again, the words spoke to me. "I want more", "I want to be where the people are", "Part of that world".  I always want more, to see more, to be where the people are and experience their culture and be part of that world...

To be continued...

Cheers,
T.