Me (talking to the class) : “Do you see how this literary example is full of oxymorons”

Student (noticeably irritated) : “Ms. C. are you calling us morons?”

Ever since this lesson in a Canadian classroom, I have not looked at the term in the same way. Let me tell you that in a recent trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia I encountered many oxymorons in both my and my former student’s interpretation of the the word.

Here is a timeline of my experiences minus the workshop I attended (I don’t want to bore you with teacher talk.)

– had a Sri Lankan bud in front of me at the emigration counter

– arrived in the HUGE airport and took a terminal shuttle to baggage claim

– noticed  a Burger King and immediately thought of how jealous Shaun would be right now

– stood in immigration line for over 2 hours with hundreds of women clad is full burqa’s

– passed a woman who appeared to be a prostitute eating a cob of corn from a street vendor

– bought Belgian chocolate

– ordered a  burger and fries and a Corona from an Indian waiter at an Irish Pub

– walked by the Malaysian twin towers (a landmark of their economic developmental goals)

– went out to “The Beach Club” with a French girl where we danced with Australian’s to salsa music being played by a Nigerian band

– bought a fake coach bag in Chinatown

– had a Starbucks and boarded the plane back to Colombo

All in all, a pretty good weekend.

Trina

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