Bird songs in the urban forest

Kuala Lumpur offers a great quality of life. However, I know that it is affordable at the expense of someone…

I was oftenly mentioning transportation in other countries that I visited. In KL, I took the metro only once. It was very efficient and I really enjoyed the reusable coin.

In KL, I am mostly using Grab, the equivalent of Uber in Europe. After Seychelles and Madagascar, this way of transportation clearly appeared like luxury to me. Especially that, when I just arrived, for some reasons, I only had luxury cars…All this luxury is sometimes quite uncomfortable. But it is the opportunity to meet all kind of people in a way.

I’m sometimes meeting very funny drivers. Once, I met a muslim rock music fan. This mix sounds quite interesting from a Western point of view. I also met drivers talking about their private life. One was telling me about his recent divorce and how he is caring for his daughter. I also met a flirty driver but it is really rare to meet this kind of situation here. He was quite bold but his style was still elegant, far from the Parisian heavy pick up. I also met erudite drivers. I talked about linguistics with one and the difference between local mandarin and China’s mandarin. And I was lucky to have some female drivers. There are only few but their number is growing.

These conversations are usually starting with the traditional question of my origin, which sounds very exotic and mysterious for some because I can fit as local from I have been told. To explain the location of Reunion island is taking at least few minutes. I know some are saying, yes, I know but their look can hardly lie and I spot sometimes an ocean of confusion.

 

I’m living in an urban area but I sometimes do hear birds. I can hear them early morning or at the end of the day. I’m fascinated by their songs, quite elaborated. I have started to be more attentive to bird songs in Australia. They are very loud over there. It is my first indicator of location when I am waking up. I think I also have heard a monkey recently at the end of the day. I saw them going through some rubbish bins one day and even getting things that an employee was throwing at them (probably fruits). Sometimes, I’m asking myself if I will not become a woman from the forest… Nature is calling me and my destiny is maybe in mountains, in the jungle. I love nature because I feel united. We are making one.

New cycle

A new year, a new cycle and going back to writing. The beginning and the end, life and death, are one. We cannot consider one without the other. It is also time for thinking back and planning.

 

I have been living in Malaysia for 6 months. After Seychelles, it is quite a big gap _again_. My first impressions of Malaysia are amazing vertical habitats, a multicultural society clearly showing a link to the Indian ocean ones, a tech leader.

 

For 6 months, I had the opportunity to meet, as usual, great people. I often hear around me about the sadness and flatness of relationships and the shallow discussions. I confess that I probably came across these situations but nothing is left from it. I am trying, consciously or unconsciously, to have soul to soul relationships. I could be blamed for opening up to anybody and in any manner but I would answer back that it would be very sad to do otherwise and to cut from opportunities to discover unexpected joys. Some friends can fear for me as I could be abused. But I strongly believe in karma. I did not go through the toughest life experiences but I went through some in changing my perspective, my look on events, facts. Of course, I cannot pretend that it is easy. My therapist told me that we were equal when facing deep emotional pain. I am not a super hero but the only lesson I have learnt from my peregrinations is that changing an angle can change everything but also soothe a lot. Also, I think I was very lucky when meeting people.

 

Malaysian culture is bringing me back to my own, the Indian Ocean culture. We all are cultural patchworks, coconuts carried by the waves, pushed away by winds. And I find it beautiful, a variation on the same theme. It is quite universal; in graphic design, in all arts, and about many themes. The same message seen with a different eye, sung from a different voice but in the end, the same message, like polyphonic. A reinvention.

 

I want to come back to writing this year. I never really took good resolutions but strangely, this year, I want to set objectives. Writing is my first. Of course, continuing my studies (Masters in Teaching French as a Foreign Language, Designing curriculums) is decisive for my future, even if I undertook it more for ethical reasons (teach efficiently and professionally). But once I am doing something, it is like priesthood for me.

 

Moreover, I love studying, I love learning and not only academic learning. I am fascinated by our ability, to all of us, to get information, that this information work with time, sometimes with more or less time, and that it is transforming us. However, I can conceive that some people could have some learning difficulties. Everything is about finding the trigger for learning, our own way of learning.

 

Speaking alternately two languages all the time is tiring, as I was mentioning previously when writing about Seychelles. This time, I do speak more English than French and I was almost scared to ‘lose my French’ at once but it will not happen for many reasons: I do have a very close and good friend here with whom I do speak everyday in French, I do French with my parents and my friends and I am reading in French (when I do have some spare time). And of course, writing my blog and other things is helping to keep my French. And I purchased a travel edition of Scrabble in French!

 

In coming to Malaysia, I wanted to listen to my intuition, to allow myself to go towards something more secret, mysterious but also ‘for my own good’. For me, life and especially obstacles _than we do consider as such_ are only a matter of perspective. So I let some wind blow my sail, without putting myself at stake of course, and it confirmed my opinion about this attitude: it is the right one. The intention is major. I am writing about compassion. It is a notion and value, as humbleness, very close to my heart. Gratefulness also guided this experience based on intuition.

 

It is funny because when I am talking about life and describing my vision and attitude towards it to people, I feel like a naïve crazy explorer. And everything in this expression is antinomic. A friend told me: ‘But you have no money, it looks complicated for you, your life is not stable but you have a fucking life!’ And I thought it was beautiful.

 

 

Love, filial love, friendly love, scares us. We want to put it in a box, so small. It is a bit like a cow afraid of electrified wire: it is stupid. Don’t get me wrong: I am not saying a cow stupid. It is a beautiful animal, glorified by Romans for its magnificent eyes, more than does, important to say. We have to tell each other than we do love each other. But no, we do prefer to stick to boxes. Proper colours together, proper size together and don’t even think to mix match! It reminds me of the great ‘Chagrin d’école’’s Daniel Pennac (French author that I absolutely recommend!). Love should never be revealed: the cow cannot be wild, you know…