For those of you who speak French, no that is not profanity, but in fact it means "Independence!" and that's what Indos say to each other (with much enthusiasm, of course) on August 17th, which happens to be their Independence Day.
A quick history note: Indonesia once belonged to the Dutch (for a really, really long time), and then during WWII the Japanese came in and put all the Dutch people in internment camps and took over the country. On August 17, 1945 Indonesia was able to declare their independence officially from the Dutch, but really it was from the Japanese. So this year Indonesia celebrated their 62nd year as a free country, and I got to take part in the celebration.
I was really excited to finally get to see Indonesian Independence Day, but actually I was quite disappointed. Indos are really into ceremonies, and boy do they do it up wrong for August 17th (Tujuhbelas Agustus, as they say in Bahasa). Each school (public and private) and government institution has a huge ceremony that lasts about 2-3 hours, where everyone stands out in the hot hot sun (saluting the flag for much of the ceremony) and watches the students march around like military officers, raising the flag and just generally engaging in much pomp and circumstance. I took part in my school's ceremony, which I thought was an honor. Not so much. I was hot, sweaty, bored, and my shoulder hurt from saluting.
But anyway, after the ceremony, the students played really weird games together that involved them painting their faces like cats and running around with plastic bottles tied to their hips. I didn't try to understand. And then the teachers went to the teachers room and just ate a lot of really spicy food. I've really grown to like spicy food, but I definitely paid for it later!
Another strange custom around the time of Independence Day is the "Jalan Sehat" (literally translated it means "Healthy Walk"). Tell me this isn't weird - each neighborhood has its own Jalan Sehat where everyone wears red and white (colors of the Indo flag), and walks around together at 6am in the morning on the Sunday after the 17th. Then after that there is an array of activities, and depending on your neighborhood such activities might include a fashion show with many small children, a drawing contest, an jazzercize (how do you spell that?) session, and really bad singing by an awful dangdut singer. Dangdut is this awful fusion of Indian (as in, from India) music and Indonesian music. It's horrendous. And the dancing is so scandalous that you can only watch dangdut on TV after 10pm. So strange...So you know I took part in my neighborhood's Jalan Sehat. It was weird, but fun in a very wrong way...
So that was Independence Day. The only other truly exciting thing that has happened to me was that yesterday was my birthday!! Woohoo!! I'm 22 now...getting so old...Haha but I had an excellent day, relaxing with Amellia (who decided to take off work just to hang out with me!) and Octa. We went and played pool with some of Octa's friends, went bowling, went shopping a bit, and ate some Nasi Pecel (amazing traditional food, probably the most easily found food in Indonesia...it consists of rice and veggies and these little friend peanut crispy cracker-like things that are simply scrumptious...and mucho cheapo!!). Then in the late afternoon, some of my former students surprised me at my house with cake and presents. They were so cute!! THEN I went to sleep for a couple of hours, and in that time my host family totally set up a surprise party for me and when I woke up and came out of my room, a lot of my friends and all my host family was there and it was really cute. Of course, I looked like a zombie, but hey - it's my party and I'll look like a zombie if I want to! I had an excellent birthday...it was perfect!!
So nothing really exciting is happening other than that. On Saturday I leave for Jakarta to go to Orientation for my academic program. My uni starts in the 2nd week of September if I'm not mistaken, so I'm really getting pumped up for that!!
Okay then. I will update later. I miss you all lots and lots and I love you more than life itself!!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Thursday, August 9, 2007
TGIF
Oh my goodness I have been waiting for Friday for ages!! I'm kind of surprised I actually made it through this week, to be honest with you...
Every day this week I had at least 2 teaching gigs at at least 2 different places in the city. Each day I woke up at around 4:30am to go walking with a friend, then I would come home and get a shower and run out the door again to go teach at SMA5 for 2.5 hours. After walking to school, walking home, and getting another shower because I was disgusting, I would run out the door and catch a minibus to go to the middle of the city to SMA4 to teach for 2.5 hours. Then I would hop back on the minibus and be home by 3:00 pm, exhausted and feeling gross.
Then on Wednesday I had promised to teach the little neighborhood kids again. What I had forgotten about was that last time there were two of us (Ainsley and myself) to handle about 25 kids. Yea...this time I was alone and there were 32 little kids, all between the ages of 4-9!!!! If I never have to dance the chicken dance again, I will die a happy person!
Needless to say I've been sleeping like a rock this past week...granted, I only sleep like a rock for about 6 hours a night, but that's better than nothing!!
It's been a wild ride this week - trying to memorize my students names and grading papers and making appointments all over the place. At SMA 4 I had 2 classes with 39 students each, and at SMA 5 I've got 4 classes - one with 34, two with 29, and one with 22. Luckily the gig at SMA 4 is over and I can...relax?
Except not. This is actually kind of exciting news - I just got a call from Bu Yudy, a woman I met at Ma Chung University (the uni where Prido goes and where Brandon wants to take classes Spring Semester). She wants to talk to me about teaching there. Professor Tori...haha, sounds like fun to me!! We'll see how it goes, though. We're going to sit down and talk logistics on Sunday, so I'll keep you updated.
I've got exciting news - I don't have to go to Singapore anymore! I met with an Immigration Officer this week, and he's going to extend my Visa for me. Once I get going at uni, I can talk to the Dean and get sponsored for a Student Visa. I'm SO happy! I'll save loads of money, too, so that's good.
I've also finally made it back to church this week for English Fellowship & the weekly radio show. Last week I was MIA from both for different reasons. So when I finally made it back, everyone was really glad to see me. I feel like such a nerd, hanging out at church, but I've made some really good friends there, so I'm happy.
Okay, I think that's about all I've got for you. This is probably how most of my entries will be from now on - fairly boring and uneventful. Now that I'm finally settling down into a good routine without other "bules" (white people) to distract me and get me into trouble, my life is much less hectic. Of course, my schedule is absolutely packed, but that's okay!
I love you all and miss you all lots and lots!! Thanks for the messages, everyone! Oh, Aunt Becki and Uncle Larry, if you read this at all, congratulations on getting an exchange student. That's really exciting!!! If you want to give her my e-mail address, please do. Tell her that I did the same thing as her in high school, so if she needs someone to talk to she can e-mail me! Muchas gracias!! Later gators.
Every day this week I had at least 2 teaching gigs at at least 2 different places in the city. Each day I woke up at around 4:30am to go walking with a friend, then I would come home and get a shower and run out the door again to go teach at SMA5 for 2.5 hours. After walking to school, walking home, and getting another shower because I was disgusting, I would run out the door and catch a minibus to go to the middle of the city to SMA4 to teach for 2.5 hours. Then I would hop back on the minibus and be home by 3:00 pm, exhausted and feeling gross.
Then on Wednesday I had promised to teach the little neighborhood kids again. What I had forgotten about was that last time there were two of us (Ainsley and myself) to handle about 25 kids. Yea...this time I was alone and there were 32 little kids, all between the ages of 4-9!!!! If I never have to dance the chicken dance again, I will die a happy person!
Needless to say I've been sleeping like a rock this past week...granted, I only sleep like a rock for about 6 hours a night, but that's better than nothing!!
It's been a wild ride this week - trying to memorize my students names and grading papers and making appointments all over the place. At SMA 4 I had 2 classes with 39 students each, and at SMA 5 I've got 4 classes - one with 34, two with 29, and one with 22. Luckily the gig at SMA 4 is over and I can...relax?
Except not. This is actually kind of exciting news - I just got a call from Bu Yudy, a woman I met at Ma Chung University (the uni where Prido goes and where Brandon wants to take classes Spring Semester). She wants to talk to me about teaching there. Professor Tori...haha, sounds like fun to me!! We'll see how it goes, though. We're going to sit down and talk logistics on Sunday, so I'll keep you updated.
I've got exciting news - I don't have to go to Singapore anymore! I met with an Immigration Officer this week, and he's going to extend my Visa for me. Once I get going at uni, I can talk to the Dean and get sponsored for a Student Visa. I'm SO happy! I'll save loads of money, too, so that's good.
I've also finally made it back to church this week for English Fellowship & the weekly radio show. Last week I was MIA from both for different reasons. So when I finally made it back, everyone was really glad to see me. I feel like such a nerd, hanging out at church, but I've made some really good friends there, so I'm happy.
Okay, I think that's about all I've got for you. This is probably how most of my entries will be from now on - fairly boring and uneventful. Now that I'm finally settling down into a good routine without other "bules" (white people) to distract me and get me into trouble, my life is much less hectic. Of course, my schedule is absolutely packed, but that's okay!
I love you all and miss you all lots and lots!! Thanks for the messages, everyone! Oh, Aunt Becki and Uncle Larry, if you read this at all, congratulations on getting an exchange student. That's really exciting!!! If you want to give her my e-mail address, please do. Tell her that I did the same thing as her in high school, so if she needs someone to talk to she can e-mail me! Muchas gracias!! Later gators.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Quick update
Hey everyone!! Just a quick little update. I'm here at Matos with my host family and wanted to check in...
This past weekend has been a blast. On Friday evening I went out to dinner with a former student, Juwita, and her family. They were really fun and she had a little 7-year-old brother named Iwan who was absolutely adorable!! He asked me to come play computer games with him one day. How cute!!!
Then yesterday (Saturday), I went to visit SMA 4 (Public High School #4). One of the host mothers works is an English teacher there and she said she set up a meeting with the headmaster so that I could introduce myself and talk about the possibility of it being an LE school next summer. There was some major miscommunication because when I got there, the headmaster was not there and so I met with 2 English teachers there. Then they asked me when I could start teaching. Say what?! Yea...so I said I could help them out for this week while they are short one English teacher, but after that I won't be able to. Incredible. A miscomunicasi, we called it. I'd say!!
Anyway, after that early morning (7am) meeting, Prido came to pick me up and take me to his house in the village. It was such a great time!! We hung out with his family, I got to meet his uncle and some cousins, and his entire village. They told me I was the very first foreigner to ever come to their village. Isn't that crazy?! His family was really proud to have me there, and they asked me to stay the night!! Unfortunately I couldn't because I had some appointments today, but they said next time I have to sleep there. Funny, funny. So we went around to a lot of places - a few elementary schools (where I met headmasters and teachers who called me beautiful and generous, and tons of students who all one by one took my hand and put it to their cheek as a sign of respect...needless to say I was blown away by how nice these people were!), an old man's house where he teaches gamelan lessons to children (where I got to see how the gamelan drums were made...all hand made, and it takes like a month to make a single drum!!), and all around the village. You should have seen this village - it was seriously the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It's up in the mountains, so there are breathtaking terraced rice fields everywhere and gorgeous green mountains rising up every once in a while. Incredible. I can't wait to go back!!!
When I got back home in the evening, Octa and I went to youth group at church together. It was kind of a cool feeling, because I saw many people I knew and got to talk to them, so I didn't really feel like a foreigner. It felt like home!!
All throughout church our stomachs were growling, so we went to get some grub afterwards and then met up with the rest of the family at their cousin's house. She just had a baby about a week ago, so we had to go see her. She was so small! Oh my goodness they said she weighed about 5 pounds when she was born, and she wasn't even premature! Her name is Mei. So cute!!
So today early this morning I woke up at 5:00 am to go walking with Juwita (my former student) and her sister. We walked for about 1.5 hours and then decided it was too hot to continue. So instead of going to church again, I decided my time would be better spent catching up on my sleep. And I didn't wake up until 11am, which is absolutely unheard of!! Luckily my family was still at church and Octa was still asleep, so I didn't feel bad since no one knew!!
Okay that's about it. Mom, to answer your question - I am going to be teaching at SMA 5 for the year that I am here. I guess I kind of forgot to mention that here, but because I don't update very often I kind of forget what I say and what I don't say...The good thing is that they will be paying me Rp 1.000.000 per month under the table so I don't get in trouble with my Visa, so at least I won't be strapped for cash while I'm here! And tell Tasha congratulations for me! I'm so happy for her. And Landon is an adorable name!!
I hope everyone is healthy and happy and doing well. I miss you all and love you lots and lots!! Later!
This past weekend has been a blast. On Friday evening I went out to dinner with a former student, Juwita, and her family. They were really fun and she had a little 7-year-old brother named Iwan who was absolutely adorable!! He asked me to come play computer games with him one day. How cute!!!
Then yesterday (Saturday), I went to visit SMA 4 (Public High School #4). One of the host mothers works is an English teacher there and she said she set up a meeting with the headmaster so that I could introduce myself and talk about the possibility of it being an LE school next summer. There was some major miscommunication because when I got there, the headmaster was not there and so I met with 2 English teachers there. Then they asked me when I could start teaching. Say what?! Yea...so I said I could help them out for this week while they are short one English teacher, but after that I won't be able to. Incredible. A miscomunicasi, we called it. I'd say!!
Anyway, after that early morning (7am) meeting, Prido came to pick me up and take me to his house in the village. It was such a great time!! We hung out with his family, I got to meet his uncle and some cousins, and his entire village. They told me I was the very first foreigner to ever come to their village. Isn't that crazy?! His family was really proud to have me there, and they asked me to stay the night!! Unfortunately I couldn't because I had some appointments today, but they said next time I have to sleep there. Funny, funny. So we went around to a lot of places - a few elementary schools (where I met headmasters and teachers who called me beautiful and generous, and tons of students who all one by one took my hand and put it to their cheek as a sign of respect...needless to say I was blown away by how nice these people were!), an old man's house where he teaches gamelan lessons to children (where I got to see how the gamelan drums were made...all hand made, and it takes like a month to make a single drum!!), and all around the village. You should have seen this village - it was seriously the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It's up in the mountains, so there are breathtaking terraced rice fields everywhere and gorgeous green mountains rising up every once in a while. Incredible. I can't wait to go back!!!
When I got back home in the evening, Octa and I went to youth group at church together. It was kind of a cool feeling, because I saw many people I knew and got to talk to them, so I didn't really feel like a foreigner. It felt like home!!
All throughout church our stomachs were growling, so we went to get some grub afterwards and then met up with the rest of the family at their cousin's house. She just had a baby about a week ago, so we had to go see her. She was so small! Oh my goodness they said she weighed about 5 pounds when she was born, and she wasn't even premature! Her name is Mei. So cute!!
So today early this morning I woke up at 5:00 am to go walking with Juwita (my former student) and her sister. We walked for about 1.5 hours and then decided it was too hot to continue. So instead of going to church again, I decided my time would be better spent catching up on my sleep. And I didn't wake up until 11am, which is absolutely unheard of!! Luckily my family was still at church and Octa was still asleep, so I didn't feel bad since no one knew!!
Okay that's about it. Mom, to answer your question - I am going to be teaching at SMA 5 for the year that I am here. I guess I kind of forgot to mention that here, but because I don't update very often I kind of forget what I say and what I don't say...The good thing is that they will be paying me Rp 1.000.000 per month under the table so I don't get in trouble with my Visa, so at least I won't be strapped for cash while I'm here! And tell Tasha congratulations for me! I'm so happy for her. And Landon is an adorable name!!
I hope everyone is healthy and happy and doing well. I miss you all and love you lots and lots!! Later!
Friday, August 3, 2007
It's been a while...
Hello everyone!
First of all, let me apologize for not writing more often. I think it's more realistic for me to update every 1.5 or 2 weeks instead of a few times a week. Time just absolutely flies here and it is not easy to get out to an Internet cafe. I realize this might be disappointing for those of you trying to live vicariously through my awesome life in Indonesia (*cough* *cough*), but what can I say? I just have so many demands on my time... ;-) I hope you realize I'm just kidding!!
So let's see what has been going on in my life. All the volunteers are now gone, and I thought I would feel more lonely than I do, but I have more than enough to keep me busy!! We said goodbye to the last two - Ainsely (my sister!) on Tuesday, and then Brandon last night. I miss Ainsley A LOT. It was weird - you wouldn't think that a 21-year-old world traveller would be afraid of going to sleep alone, but the first night I had to sleep in our bedroom by myself was kind of rough. It took me a while to go to sleep, I'm not going to lie! Oh, well. I've gotten used to it now, but it's still kind of sad. Our room is much cleaner now that only one person is living there, though!!
We've been having some issues with Brandon. His last day teaching he went on a date with one of his students. I'm guessing he did that because technically he wasn't her teacher anymore and technically LE couldn't do anything about it. If he had done that during the session, I could have kicked him out of Indonesia. I mean, I'm nice, so I probably wouldn't have done that, but you know...So anyway he has this new love interest, and he got really serious about her really fast and it kind of alarmed all of us. Especially his host family. You would not believe how he has changed - it's almost like a complete 180. He went from being really polite and attentive to everyone to completely distracted and kind of insensitive and impolite. It's very strange. His host family voiced their concerns to me and I didn't really know what to do. They call him "Mr. Thumb" nowadays because of how he texts her all the time, and he even had the cojones (however you spell that) to ask his host father to drive him and his new girlfriend on their date. If anyone is at all familiar with Asian culture, you know what an insult that was to his host father, a Chinese Indonesian who is a manager for one of the biggest cigarette companies in this country, and who is certainly NOT a common driver. Amy, I'm sure you'll appreciate how he stepped way over the line there.
Anyway, he's gone now. He might be coming back in January to study at Ma Chung University, an International Uni here in Malang where all the classes are taught in English (same uni as Prido). Prido actually took us all on a tour of his school, and he introduced Brandon to some important people and now Brandon is almost all set to study there for a semester! Craziness...Oh, the area near the school is beautiful - there's a spectacular view of the city from there, and it's a well-known spot for teenagers to go parking there at night. Do people even say "parking" anymore? I don't even know...anyway, the other night apparently Brandon and his new gf went there and got in trouble by the security guards. Brandon's host sisters were appalled that they would go there, because in their words, "Good Indonesian girls don't go there!" Yea...good times.
Speaking of my Indonesian lover (just kidding!!!), to answer your question, Amy - no, he has not made a move yet. I got the low-down on proper Indonesian dating rituals from some friends, and let me just say that things are supposed to move really slowly here. Like whoa. I guess only time will tell. His mother and father keep inviting me to their house, so I'm going there tomorrow morning to hang out in their village. Should be lots of fun!!
I finished teaching at Kosayu last week, and it was really sad. My students had a big farewell party for me. It was really cute, though, because they planned all of these really cute activities. So I walked into my class and it was empty, which is rare. The clock struck 12:00 noon and I had no students, which never happens! I waited for about 5 minutes when finally one of my students walked in and said, "We have a game for you. You must find all of your students using my clues. Then when you find them, you must complete the task they have for you." The scavenger hunt for my students was lots of fun, and I completely humiliated myself in the process. Some highlights - I had to sing a song (but not in English, and not in Indonesian...I resorted to Italian), I had to imitate 10 animals (10 animals is a lot to think of! I was reduced to imitating a snake for my 10th animal for lack of a better idea, which of course resulted in my front side getting completely dirty and dusty...it was worth it, though!), I had to play a game of chess (which I lost in promptly 5 minutes. That tends to happen when you don't actually know the rules), and I had to speak 5 full sentences in Indonesian (which of course resulted in my asking my students how to say many words). Overall it was great fun, then when we all went back to the classroom, my remaining students threw balloons and yelled "Surprise!" as I walked through the door. It was adorable. During the party the kids gave me lots of gifts (totally unnecessary, but totally cute!) and we had lots of fun eating Dunkin Donuts and nasi goreng (fried rice - really healthy meal we had, eh?!)
So after a 3-day break (barely enough to catch up on my sleep!), I started teaching at SMA 5 (Public High School Number 5). I teach on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 6:30 - 8:00, Fridays from 7:15 - 10:00, then 13:00 - 14:30. I have 4 classes plus I am the English Conversation Club Advisor. I've got two 10th grade classes (SBI - International Relations class), and two 11th grade classes (one mixed class for students with any major, and one Linguistics class). High School students here esentially choose a major - at SMA 5 they have to choose from: Science, Social Studies, Linguistics, or International Relations. My students are absolutely brilliant! And it is going to be such a pleasure teaching them this year. I'm really excited to actually spend a significant amount of time with some students and really help them improve their English speaking skills. It's going to be a good time - a few of my students have already taken a liking to me and keep texting me, which is fine with me. The more practice they get and the more contact they have with me, the better! It's only going to help them.
Okay well I think that's about it. I just had the strangest feeling. I'm sitting here on the Internet, completely immersed in what I'm doing - checking my blog and Facebook and writing a recommendation for someone. All of my business is in English and this cafe is extremely quiet. All of a sudden I just heard someone yell outside in Indonesian and I realized that I had just forgotten that I was in Indonesia for a few moments. Weirdest feeling ever...
Thanks for all the comments, guys! Keep them coming! Kathy, I was so excited to hear from you!!! Don't you miss Matos?! Haha...yea. Oh, and yes. I totally remember that guy from Inggil with the lazy eye. Believe me, Bu Dewi keeps trying to have me call him. Uh huh...
Alrighty I'm going to get out of here. I'm going to dinner with one of my former students and her family tonight. Yay!!!
Oh! By the way...I finally got my hands on a copy of Harry Potter. If anyone tells me anything about it before I finish it, I will kill you in May when I come home!!
Miss you all and love you more than words can express!! Later gators.
First of all, let me apologize for not writing more often. I think it's more realistic for me to update every 1.5 or 2 weeks instead of a few times a week. Time just absolutely flies here and it is not easy to get out to an Internet cafe. I realize this might be disappointing for those of you trying to live vicariously through my awesome life in Indonesia (*cough* *cough*), but what can I say? I just have so many demands on my time... ;-) I hope you realize I'm just kidding!!
So let's see what has been going on in my life. All the volunteers are now gone, and I thought I would feel more lonely than I do, but I have more than enough to keep me busy!! We said goodbye to the last two - Ainsely (my sister!) on Tuesday, and then Brandon last night. I miss Ainsley A LOT. It was weird - you wouldn't think that a 21-year-old world traveller would be afraid of going to sleep alone, but the first night I had to sleep in our bedroom by myself was kind of rough. It took me a while to go to sleep, I'm not going to lie! Oh, well. I've gotten used to it now, but it's still kind of sad. Our room is much cleaner now that only one person is living there, though!!
We've been having some issues with Brandon. His last day teaching he went on a date with one of his students. I'm guessing he did that because technically he wasn't her teacher anymore and technically LE couldn't do anything about it. If he had done that during the session, I could have kicked him out of Indonesia. I mean, I'm nice, so I probably wouldn't have done that, but you know...So anyway he has this new love interest, and he got really serious about her really fast and it kind of alarmed all of us. Especially his host family. You would not believe how he has changed - it's almost like a complete 180. He went from being really polite and attentive to everyone to completely distracted and kind of insensitive and impolite. It's very strange. His host family voiced their concerns to me and I didn't really know what to do. They call him "Mr. Thumb" nowadays because of how he texts her all the time, and he even had the cojones (however you spell that) to ask his host father to drive him and his new girlfriend on their date. If anyone is at all familiar with Asian culture, you know what an insult that was to his host father, a Chinese Indonesian who is a manager for one of the biggest cigarette companies in this country, and who is certainly NOT a common driver. Amy, I'm sure you'll appreciate how he stepped way over the line there.
Anyway, he's gone now. He might be coming back in January to study at Ma Chung University, an International Uni here in Malang where all the classes are taught in English (same uni as Prido). Prido actually took us all on a tour of his school, and he introduced Brandon to some important people and now Brandon is almost all set to study there for a semester! Craziness...Oh, the area near the school is beautiful - there's a spectacular view of the city from there, and it's a well-known spot for teenagers to go parking there at night. Do people even say "parking" anymore? I don't even know...anyway, the other night apparently Brandon and his new gf went there and got in trouble by the security guards. Brandon's host sisters were appalled that they would go there, because in their words, "Good Indonesian girls don't go there!" Yea...good times.
Speaking of my Indonesian lover (just kidding!!!), to answer your question, Amy - no, he has not made a move yet. I got the low-down on proper Indonesian dating rituals from some friends, and let me just say that things are supposed to move really slowly here. Like whoa. I guess only time will tell. His mother and father keep inviting me to their house, so I'm going there tomorrow morning to hang out in their village. Should be lots of fun!!
I finished teaching at Kosayu last week, and it was really sad. My students had a big farewell party for me. It was really cute, though, because they planned all of these really cute activities. So I walked into my class and it was empty, which is rare. The clock struck 12:00 noon and I had no students, which never happens! I waited for about 5 minutes when finally one of my students walked in and said, "We have a game for you. You must find all of your students using my clues. Then when you find them, you must complete the task they have for you." The scavenger hunt for my students was lots of fun, and I completely humiliated myself in the process. Some highlights - I had to sing a song (but not in English, and not in Indonesian...I resorted to Italian), I had to imitate 10 animals (10 animals is a lot to think of! I was reduced to imitating a snake for my 10th animal for lack of a better idea, which of course resulted in my front side getting completely dirty and dusty...it was worth it, though!), I had to play a game of chess (which I lost in promptly 5 minutes. That tends to happen when you don't actually know the rules), and I had to speak 5 full sentences in Indonesian (which of course resulted in my asking my students how to say many words). Overall it was great fun, then when we all went back to the classroom, my remaining students threw balloons and yelled "Surprise!" as I walked through the door. It was adorable. During the party the kids gave me lots of gifts (totally unnecessary, but totally cute!) and we had lots of fun eating Dunkin Donuts and nasi goreng (fried rice - really healthy meal we had, eh?!)
So after a 3-day break (barely enough to catch up on my sleep!), I started teaching at SMA 5 (Public High School Number 5). I teach on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 6:30 - 8:00, Fridays from 7:15 - 10:00, then 13:00 - 14:30. I have 4 classes plus I am the English Conversation Club Advisor. I've got two 10th grade classes (SBI - International Relations class), and two 11th grade classes (one mixed class for students with any major, and one Linguistics class). High School students here esentially choose a major - at SMA 5 they have to choose from: Science, Social Studies, Linguistics, or International Relations. My students are absolutely brilliant! And it is going to be such a pleasure teaching them this year. I'm really excited to actually spend a significant amount of time with some students and really help them improve their English speaking skills. It's going to be a good time - a few of my students have already taken a liking to me and keep texting me, which is fine with me. The more practice they get and the more contact they have with me, the better! It's only going to help them.
Okay well I think that's about it. I just had the strangest feeling. I'm sitting here on the Internet, completely immersed in what I'm doing - checking my blog and Facebook and writing a recommendation for someone. All of my business is in English and this cafe is extremely quiet. All of a sudden I just heard someone yell outside in Indonesian and I realized that I had just forgotten that I was in Indonesia for a few moments. Weirdest feeling ever...
Thanks for all the comments, guys! Keep them coming! Kathy, I was so excited to hear from you!!! Don't you miss Matos?! Haha...yea. Oh, and yes. I totally remember that guy from Inggil with the lazy eye. Believe me, Bu Dewi keeps trying to have me call him. Uh huh...
Alrighty I'm going to get out of here. I'm going to dinner with one of my former students and her family tonight. Yay!!!
Oh! By the way...I finally got my hands on a copy of Harry Potter. If anyone tells me anything about it before I finish it, I will kill you in May when I come home!!
Miss you all and love you more than words can express!! Later gators.
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