Spending a month with unknown family in Malaysia? Oh, yes!

by Iryna Babenko (Ukraine)

A leap into the unknown Malaysia

Airport officer looked at me suspiciously waiting for the answer. Before that, I never thought about my travels from the terrorism side. Of course, I knew that Malaysia was a mainly Muslim country. But do you really suspect me joining some organizations there? Why on Earth you have this idea? Let's be honest, my appearance shows at once how deeply touristic and absolutely safe my purposes of visiting Israel are. Still, the officer's question was also reasonable: how could I fly over half of the world and stay for a month with people which I never met in person? Is it normal to be introduced online via a friend of my friend, have a small talk on Skype — and then become a family for 30 days somewhere in South-Eastern Asia? Five years ago, it was 100% normal to me. Even more, it was an exciting and the only existing way to get to Asia for free. Since my business wasn't going so well, and the earnings could hardly cover the expenses of living in a parents' flat in the Ukrainian hometown — making something crazy was the only chance to fulfill my desire of seeing our great world. So, I met Daria online and accepted her offer to join living with her and her family on the other part of the planet. It was the first time I traveled alone. The first time I traveled alone across the world. The first time I traveled alone across the world with $10 in my pocket. Daria, the Russian-speaking expat living in Penang, Malaysia with her husband and two kids. Today, I think she felt lonely, so the system she created for putting children into the language environment was not as necessary for them, as vital for her. The system supposed that every month a new helping guest would come over to Penang and stay with Daria's family for 4 weeks. The main task for the guest was spending time with the kids from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. giving Daria some time and space to work, take a walk or have a rest. After she returned home, the guest could relax at the seaside, explore the island or have an interesting conversation with Daria herself since she is a practicing psychologist. Where did she search for the guests? Daria had hundreds of pals and "pals of their pals" left in Moscow. And this community rapidly grew since she started to be active online. So, all these people became a base for searching for guests with the help of private recommendations or Facebook shares. Is this idea crazy? For sure, from both sides! To Daria's family and the guest, it was dangerous and irresponsible to make such a connection. Who would decide on flying several thousands of kilometers and stay for a month on the Malaysian island with nobody familiar around? Who would let an unknown person spend with your kids every day for 4 weeks? Insane! But it really worked. Dozens of people stayed at Daria's place before meeting her in person. Dozens of times this crazy idea made people become friends and even a bit family. Share the outlooks, discover the world to each other and meet incredible children of the Earth with Aussie passports, Russian language, and Malaysian registration. I didn't know how to explain that to the Israel airport officer. He put a yellow stamp on my passport so I had to go through the meticulous check before the gate. In the end, I might be a threat to the established system of our world, since I don't see any threats in meeting people across the planet and becoming friends with them.