The warm air of Malaysia and one of the first Malaysian words that we learnt, “Selamat Datang”, welcomed us as we walked out of the plane. It was my first time to go on a fieldtrip so I was filled with excitement at what was coming ahead. One week in Malaysia was full of activities and events and I had the experience of my lifetime. Since I myself, had actually no experience in English teaching and also doing Japanese Culture Workshops, it was quite difficult to decide on what to do between the four of us. Also since I only had limited knowledge of ASL, I was worried that when it came to conversing with signs, there might be misunderstandings. Yet all these worries blew away when I met many people at YMCA and met many deaf children and saw their smiles. Although we had to ask for fingerspelling when we did not understand the signs, as the days went by, I found myself understanding more and more signs and enjoying using the signs that I had learnt. Through the visits to many institutions, I was also able to learn many things about deaf education in Malaysia. In this fieldtrip I was able to make many friends and learn many things that I would not have been aware of in Japan. Returning to Japan, I am filled with good memories of Malaysia and I already miss the people I met there. I would like to thank everyone that I met in Malaysia for the great experience that I had! Terima Kasih and I hope that one day I could come and visit Malaysia again!!!

Mari Kakuta

The six days that we had were definitely an unforgettable and profound experience. The time seemed to be rather short, but with the content being extremely fruitful. Through the encounter and actual interactions from the visits to a number of deaf schools and people, we were exposed to a completely new community where people live in the absence of sound. Everything was a new experience to me as I had never been in a deaf community before.

It was more than enjoyable; it would be impossible to account fully all I have experienced and felt. Nonetheless, it was certainly a gain, a disposal of traditional assumptions I had earlier on the deaf, and a shift in my perspective on the life of deaf people, although what we saw may only have been a small portion. I was amazed when I saw a conversation being carried across a window, from inside and outside the building. It is something we would not be able to do with our voice! Sign language enables the users to communicate even from one car to another as well. It was also impressive that sign language can help us to communicate in many shops in Malaysia including in China Town and at Central Market. It may just be that the places we went to happened to be where many deaf go and thus they were familiar with the language; however, it was striking to find that the shop keepers were open to using the language as I had never seen such communication in Japan.

Over the fixed time that we had in Malaysia, I felt that my sign language ability has surely improved. Although my fluency is still limited, I think that gestures, pantomimes, and facial expressions can overcome this limited-ness to communicate effectively.

Thank you so much for making our trip a memorable and learning experience!

Erika Yanagi

Malaysia was the first Asian country for me to visit, and my heart was filled with excitement on the night before my flight. During the stay in Kuala Lumpur, I saw many pretty things, went to many exciting places, met a lot of nice people, and ate lots and lots of great food. All those experiences became something that I will never be able to forget in my whole life.

After visiting many schools and organizations for deaf people in Kuala Lumpur, I learned that there are still many problems to be solved in order to support disabled people in Malaysia, and I suppose that it is the same in other countries all over the world, too. Learning those things by actually visiting the places and interacting with deaf people is something I had never experienced in Japan, and I’m very grateful that I was given such an opportunity. Since all four of us were beginners in sign language, we had some difficulties communicating with deaf people in the first few days, however, with the help of many people we met, we learned many new signs each day and it became more and more enjoyable to talk using signs as the days went by. I was really happy that we were able to communicate with deaf people well enough to make friends, despite the fact that we didn’t know their language perfectly. I’m sure it wouldn’t have been as easy as it was without the help of the people we met, and the patience of the people we were talking to with signs, so I’d like to thank everyone for their support and kindness. I miss Malaysia and all the friends I made there a lot already, and I’d like to go back to Malaysia someday again. Terima kasih for the GREAT experience, and I hope to see you all again!!

Ayaka Masumoto – the red flower