The Post That Never Got Published

I actually wrote the following post at the end of November. I was feeling quite proud of how well I was getting around in Malaysia. I've explained why I never published it at the end.

Our time in Malaysia is more than half way over. In fact, we are quickly approaching the two year mark. We are on our second cycle of holidays and happenings around Malaysia.

Things that had once shocked me have become my new normal.

I'm used to driving on the 'wrong' side of the road.
I have accepted u-turns - the building you may need to get to is just to your right, but needing to drive 1 km up the road through heavy traffic just to make a u-turn isn't so frustrating anymore.
I have learned how to enter destinations into our GPS.
I have learned where to park when I shop.
I know where to find the ingredients for my meals.
I'm used to saying good-bye to friends who are leaving for their next assignment :(

It took about 18 months for me to really get the hang of living in Malaysia. I was quite needy for many months. (I am so thankful that God blessed us with wonderful friends from the beginning.) I needed a lot of help to get anything done. The simplest tasks were exhausting. Since returning from our last trip to the U.S., however, I have felt quite at home here.

But, because I am a foreigner in this country, I still do face challenges.
For example:
A few weeks ago I received a note in my mailbox stating that I needed to pick up a package at the central post office. Usually Case would get one of his co-workers to help with this kind of mission. However, he was out of town (and had his GPS). There wasn't an address for the post office so I typed it into Google Maps. I was fed a list of post offices in that area, but I didn't know which was the correct one. I proceeded to call the number on the note, was transferred a number of times and finally was able to find someone willing to help. All I wanted was the address of the post office! However, the willing person I was speaking to wasn't able to provide that information. In fact, he seemed shocked that I even asked that question. He did tell me to get on the LDP, head toward Puchong and that they were located next to the Giant supermarket. So, I loaded up the car with all four kids and followed his directions. I made it to the LDP and followed signs to Puchong. I had all of the kids looking for Giant for me. Finally I spotted the Giant and got off the highway as fast as I could. Somehow I ended up in the parking lot of the post office. Victory - or so I thought. Next, I had to figure out how to actually get my package. In the post office, you need to press different buttons to get a number to get served. Press 'A' if you want to do X, Press 'B' if you want to do 'Y', etc. I had no idea what to press since all of the instructions were in Bahasa Malay (which is quite rare here). I asked some kind customers in the post office for help and they said there was no option for what I wished to do, so they pressed all of the categories for me. I finally got to one of the counters and was told that I needed to go outside to the left. So my kids and I all proceeded outside to the window to the left. Wrong window .. keep going to the left .. again, I was told that it was the wrong window and to continue to the left. Finally, I was in a loading dock - which happened to be the correct place. Someone gladly took my sheet of paper and led me past the distribution center and told me to take a seat. I have no idea how they found the package, but they did! I made it out of the post office, went 1 km down the road just so I could make a u-turn to get on the highway going the correct way back to our condo.

I wrote this post just a little while after I was bragging to my mom about how getting to the post office to pick up the package she sent to us would be no problem. I was an expert! However, after I looked more closely at the note, our package was at a different central distribution post office - at least thirty minutes away. Case made one attempt to go there, but his GPS took him to the wrong Post Office. So, once again, he had to rely on the help of his colleagues to get the package. I was humbled by the fact that I was far from knowing my way around Malaysia and I didn't feel it was appropriate to publish this post.