As I said, it was never going to be consistent.
Wow wow wow… I cannot believe I have been here for three weeks already. It feels like I’ve been here so much longer but also my time here has gone by so fast. I feel like I have months of memories already. The aforementioned nerves about teaching quickly went away within a few days. But, let's pick up where I left off.
I arrived in Indonesia and the next morning went up to go to Auntie Yolanda’s mom’s, my Oma’s sister-in-law’s, house for her 75th birthday party. There is going to be a lot of far-reaching family tree relations in these posts. The drive to Purwakarta is about two hours from Jakarta. In order to get to church on time we had to leave at around 6:30 AM but I was already awake at 3:30 from the fun jet lag.
I forgot to mention this story in the last blog. When Auntie Yolanda picked me up from the airport, I leaned in for a hug. And as is the traditional greeting with family she kissed me on the cheek. Which is totally fine. I just wasn’t ready when it was my turn. I started pulling away and she turned her face so she could kiss me on the other cheek. So I did the awkward double-lean-half-cheek-turn-stutter-kiss, completely botching the whole first interaction.
Anyways, when we got to Oma’s house we got out of the car and I helped unload some of the stuff. Then, an older woman came out of the house. In Crazy Rich Asian fashion, I had no clue if this was Oma or just some of the help for the birthday. I leaned to the safe side and excitedly said, “HIIIII!” being careful not to say a title or name. I cautiously leaned in for a hug and was met with a pat on the shoulder, a brush-off, and a pat on my butt. Not Oma and I am now 2/2 on terrible introductions. Thankfully, this was the last one so far.
We got ready and headed to church. I was greeted with interested and confused looks by most of the little kids and friendly handshakes from the adults. The whole service was in Indonesian and lasted from around 9:00-12:00. This is the norm for Indonesian services and so is potluck. There was delicious food and plenty of people talking and hanging out. Afterwards, they had pathfinders which I watched but couldn’t really help with. Two Sabbaths later I would return to this church and realize that I have made some progress in the language because I remember the feeling of not understanding a single word. Now in the exact same environment three weeks later, I could pick up on little phrases and fill in gaps when people ask me questions.
The evening was filled with family and some super amazing Japanese Udon noodles. The next morning was spent setting up for the party. It was everything I wanted it to be, the Asian Aunties doing line dances, the uncles singing terrible karaoke, and random kids passed out on couches. Amazing. The food was also great. Happy Birthday Oma!
School was the next day and wow I barely remember what happened. Every Monday they have either flag ceremony or aerobics and this morning they had flag ceremony. This ceremony takes a lonnnggggg time. I introduced myself and afterward high-fived a line of kids as they walked away for their classes. I also helped out with a Junior High class.
Here are a few interesting things:
Every single classes (except one) first question to me has been “How old are you.” I haven’t told them yet but they think I’m somewhere between 21-26.
They also ask what my food is and I always say Indomie. This answer is always met with the kids screaming, yelling, and jumping up and down.
There are non-Adventist teachers at the school, including some Protestant and Muslim teachers.
There are mosques everywhere and you can hear the call to prayers (adhan or azan) everywhere. People don’t really stop what they’re doing because they have a window to pray so it’s not disrespectful for me to keep walking or doing whatever I’m doing. One of my favorite experiences was playing basketball by myself when the call was happening. At the school, you can hear about five or six different mosques. Quite the tranquil experience.
Around the end of week two people were comfortable enough to ask me some very real questions. At least 5-10 people have asked me about school shootings, gun violence, racism, and drug addiction. They genuinely cannot comprehend why one person would shoot another person. It has put some perspective on my American experience. It is so hard to explain inner city gun violence, something that is so normal in my worldview, to someone who can’t imagine such a thing. They often ask if America is safe at night, assuming that most places look like New York or LA. I explain that even in those cities it just depends on where you are. I am constantly reminded that something is wrong. The same goes for homelessness. They say “Is it true, you have zombies like monsters in the streets.” They’re talking about homeless people. They can’t understand what would bring someone to this breaking point. They also don’t understand why they don’t have jobs and can’t shower. Mandi or bathing here is definitely different. Anyone can have a bath because all you need is a bucket and a gayung (ladle). This is how I shower every day and it’s no problem at all. In Indonesia, there is always some way to make at least a little money. And you can always have some sort of house even if it’s just a shack. Regarding school shootings, they often ask, “Are you scared to go to school?”
I reply, “House fires exist. Are you scared that your house is going to burn down?”
“No”
“It’s the same thing. It doesn’t feel real until it happens to you or someone you know.” This usually puts it in a similar enough perspective. They ask similar questions about inner-city violence in LA or Detroit. When they ask, I get the feeling that they think these issues are at the top of our worries and concerns. Sadly, they rarely are but are just normal parts of the American experience. I’ve been explaining that it really just depends on where you live. Cities vs state culture. It’s all different. Most teachers, less the students, can’t imagine what this kind of life looks like.
Anyway, the first week of school was great, the kids are all really kind. The level of English is different for every kid and grade but in general, most of the kids can understand what I’m trying to understand, sometimes with help from the other students translating. The teachers can understand my English mostly but some have trouble understanding. I love the other high school teachers. One of my favorite things is that we have a shared office. I’m always in the middle of other people and fun conversations. Most everyone speaks in Indonesian unless I’m involved. This definitely makes me feel less useful but after three weeks I’ve received some projects from the staff.
Lunch is provided by the school and it’s vegetarian. The food is so good and gives me a break from having meat every single meal. I am a full-blown omnivore now as I have no problem scarfing down a ton of sushi, beef tongue, goat, or real chicken wings.
The food here in Indonesia has been unreal. I’ve never eaten more meat in my life and still loved it so much. It's always Asian. If not Indonesian then it's Japanese or Korean or Thai. I have rice every day and eat heaps of it. I also feel like something is missing if I don’t have sambal, or Indonesian chili, with my meals. My spice tolerance has dramatically increased. Best of all, I haven’t had any stomach problems yet and I just had a ton of street sate (the best beef I’ve ever had in my life) last night. Some of the best (and cheapest) food I've ever had has been here. Also, the worst food I've ever had has been here. Durian. That stuff is nasty and you can find a video of me trying it linked before the big collection of pictures.
The people here are so kind. All of the teachers have a genuine care and interest in building relationships. Everyone has a great sense of humor and is easy to get along with. The students are extremely funny, always asking me funny questions, teaching me new words, and giving me very honest answers when I ask them questions.
The other day I tried to tell my students to leave and go to choir. I wanted to try and say please leave (which is something no one really says) I said “polong pergi” which translates to bean pod leave. I meant to say “tolong pergi.” Lesson learned.
Another great experience was making food boxes and distributing them to people who needed them in the city. It was a great way to see what life is like for many residents in Jakarta. I'm not going to pretend like I'm making the biggest difference in the world or changing lives but I am doing a small part to help others. Yes of course the operation would go on without me but I got involved just like the other teachers at my school. I don't want to develop some white savior complex or anything.
I don’t want to talk every day in extreme detail so I’ll just include a heap of pictures with some brief descriptions. I'm also going to include a link to a google drive with videos and maybbbeeee more pictures next post because I have limited space on this site.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Gv1cqMk4ZLYH4BrX45ep-3QNoWPpBfEH?usp=sharing
Having family has been great, being able to hang out with my cousins has been a ton of fun.
Here are some of my fellow teachers
More school life
Hanging out with the lower grades
Random pictures of the scenery
Some Church pics
Finally, one of my students that I think looks like my friend Marty.
I’m doing great. Staying with family and having young, English-speaking teachers at the school have done wonders for my mental health. I don’t feel alone or out of my comfort zone. Teaching has been amazing, this is really confirming that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I’ve tried to be very intentional about spending time with God, a recommendation from my grandpa on my dad’s side. The school’s spiritual environment is felt with staff morning worship and prayer at the beginning of every single class. Since morning staff prayers are often in Indonesian, this gives me plenty of time to ask God for strength, energy, and understanding from my students. This upcoming week is midterms and then a camping trip! Your continued support is much appreciated.