Farewell party
Su and I hosted a farewell party for three recent grads who will be heading home very soon. They have been excellent Malaysian student ambassadors here…generous, kind, and always helpful. I still remember my first day at Lehigh, and these girls received me into their home and that really helped me in my transition. I wish them all the best as they return home to work for Petronas 
Windblown grads
Here’s a happy windblown group of Malaysian grads. At last, after spending five years in the US, they are heading home. I will miss them. And soon I may be the Last of the Malaysians here
Surrounding the football stadium are flags from the various countries who have students studying here. And probably like many Malaysians abroad, whenever I see a Malaysian flag anywhere, I can’t help but take a picture of it. Here’s one almost flying in the wind.
Oh, and I saw an elderly man having his picture taken with the Malaysian flag and I asked him why is he taking a picture of the Malaysian flag. He told me he was a Peace Corp volunteer and was based in Johor Bahru long time ago. Malaysia must have made a pretty good impression on this man.
Open air commencement
Lehigh University had its 2006 commencement on Monday. Unlike convocation events in Malaysia, the commencement here is really informal. Grads can wear slippers, and shorts underneath their graduation gown. There is no need for formal invitation cards, you can bring along your grandparents, second cousins or even your dog. No need to pull strings to get the additional invitation cards! No dress code but on this particular day, it was WINDY and cold, so a jacket would be good. There are not as many flowers though. I was planning to get 1 or 2 more bouquets for my friends but nobody was selling any flowers.