Our I-Friend: First Impression

As you all know by now, our friend, Ray, is from Saudi Arabia. So, Ima and I wanted to know about his first impression when first coming to Malaysia. Was it difficult to adapt to the differences in culture? Did he struggle with making friends? Based on what I have heard from my other foreign friends, they find it difficult to strike up a friendship with Malaysians and the reasoning behind that, in their observation is that most Malays prefer to befriend other Malays. Hence, it makes approaching a Malay very difficult. So, we wanted to know how it was for Ray and if he experienced the same thing as the others.

Ray first came to Malaysia and enrolled in IIUM in February 2015. He said that it was a whole new world for him - new people, culture, and even driving position, he joked. He found everything to be interesting, but he was also lonely and did not socialise as much in his first semester. He said it was his first time abroad so he found it a little hard to adapt.

He started to socialise diligently during his second semester and was able to befriend many people. He also mentioned that about 99% of them are Malays. He said that perhaps the reason it was hard to befriend Malays is that they tend to be quite shy. However, if you approach them, talk to them, and make them comfortable, everything is out of the way. According to him, everything is going well so far as he has friends and he knows that he can make more.

I hope this helps you get to know Ray a little bit. Ima and I have been friends with Ray for almost half a year and we honestly did not know he was struggling when he first came here. Probably because he was so nice and friendly to us. He was also the one to approach us first and that could be because Ima and I are both shy. I guess I do agree with some Malays being shy since we are the prime example of that. By the time we knew him, he was already a friendly guy and we got along quite fast. So, finding out that he struggled in the beginning was quite surprising. 

Well, that's all from me, I'll talk to you guys next time with more stuff about Ray!