Grabbing The Wave ... and hanging on for dear life : December

Visa problems - My year long China visa has to be renewed every 120 days (not every 4 months) so as I arrived on August 14, I figured I could leave on Dec 14 (the weekend after the end of term). However in China 120 means 120 and they charge about $500 for every additional day. So there was a choice, leave the country for 4 or 5 days sometime during my stay to renew the visa, or leave the week before the end of term. In addition I was meant to meet Rupali in India on the 15, but she said she'd be later. So suddenly I was left with a week to do something in. Since I was going to have a layover in Kuala Lumpur anyway, I decided to stay there and change the ticketing accordingly. A friend from school contacted friends here and suddenly I was a stray guest welcomed into a wonderful home.

My host family are both teachers with children (7, 10) and already have 2 houseguests, so I'm just an addition. When they met me at the airport, they were expecting a 70 yo Indian woman on her way home from China!!! It took us a while to get straightened out. They are so welcoming - wanting to be sure I am entertained and shown the sights. It's quite a privilege to be in a full family environment with the overarching energy of growing children. Right now one child is playing a computer game, on line with a friend - both talking. The father is listening to something like sports on his iPhone. The mother is trying to calm the younger child out of a meltdown over his spelling homework - which he clearly hates. No emotions are withheld by the kids - all highs and lows are equally expressed and I love this kind of energy. It's been quite a while since I spent this much time within a growing family and I love it. That we are complete strangers to each other and that I'm totally absorbed into it, is also a privilege.

Hannah, Nick, Ian, Marie, George Bisby

People complain about Boston being a series of indiscriminate cowpaths. If that ever happens again, I'll send them to KL. There are no right angles, and the buildings are so tall that it's easy to lose track of landmarks. Fortunately another of their guests had a GPS - which was essential to finding our way. Petronas Towers are stunning stainless steel clad with an interesting design. We spent a bit of time in the gardens at the base trying to decide how the engineers designed for lightning strikes. Apparently as they were trying to hoist the connecting bridge, lightning strikes were the major hazard, because they disrupted the electric powered hoists and suddenly everything stopped, occasionally with pretty scary results though nothing catastrophic.

Also went up the Observation Tower and could see that there actually was some rhyme and reason to the layout of the city. It is very hilly which is another reason it's hard to find the way around.

Ate mangosteen fruits - very unique and different. I liked them a lot. Also rambutin which have a nice flavor, but a big pit.

We went to the Highlands on a very long twisty road into the high jungle. It was much cooler up there. Walked through jungle paths. Looked for spider holes in the roadside walls. Admired the power of the jungle to reclaim its own.