YES Alumni Malaysia: YES 2010 Experience

The first time I stepped into Alaska, I thought "Oh my gosh, I'm going to freeze to death!" I also travelled by ferry to come to a little town called Haines in Alaska. I was worried about how my family will be and how things are going to be here. When I reached the ferry terminal in Haines, I saw so much of snow and everyone wearing big and tall boots. I felt so out of place. Then my host dad came to me and asked me if i was Shohael. Then, he picked me up and we drove back home. It was the first time I'm seeing such a small town. The conversation in the car was the hardest part to start. So the first thing I asked my host dad was "How can I address you?" and he said "Well, you can just call me Jim." I felt weird calling someone older than me by their name, so I just said "Will it be OK if I call you all Mum and Dad?" They said "Yeah, sure." I was so happy and felt a little part of the family already.

Alaska is nothing like what people think it is. They think it is all cold and people still live in igloos and all, but that was all a stereotype. They live just like normal people do. Now I'm so happy and enjoying my life here. I live in a small town with a population of 2000 people and only 100 students in my school. I am so glad to be in Alaska, somewhere unique and special in America.

I learnt a lot here, especially in school. School is so different. Instead of us staying in our classes, here we move to classes and it's really nice because you have a different environment every single time. The classes I am taking are Alaska History, Biology, Marine Biology, Physical Education, Physical Science and Real World. The class that I like the most is Marine Biology because we have a lot of field trips where we go out of school and explore. It is really interesting. I also got bitten by a crab once when we were studying it. It was a painful yet fun experience. I am really enjoying my time here. In the winter in Alaska, the day light is really short but now in spring we are gaining a lot of day light. It is till 8 in the night now. In the summer, they said that it will be light till 10 in the night and there is barely any dark time. It's really awesome here.

I feel I have a really unique experience in Haines, Alaska. It is totally different from Malaysia. Here we have different climates and mountains full with snow and scenery that is totally something that I have never seen before. It is so beautiful here. I am enjoying my stay, people in Haines are very nice. I did a lot of different things and also learnt so many things here. I love American culture and the American food. I joined the school basketball team and I really like school. The life here is totally different and I'm loving the differences. So far the most exiting thing I did is learning how to snowboard downhill. It was amazing and fun and I can go downhill without falling now. I will really miss Alaska and America when i leave.