First, the credit for this blog finally coming out goes to Uncle Brooke Schlatter. Without him, this blog would still be delayed. To start off, I was about to post another blog when… my laptop broke!! It actually happened over a month ago and I have been too lazy to write a new one on the temporary school laptop that is often taken by other staff, especially on the weekends. Long story short, it’s really humid here and my laptop is being fixed for water damage and it’s been over a month since I handed it over to be fixed. Regardless, the blog must continue. I am trying to get three posts out within the next two weeks-ish. This first one is just updating events. The second is going to be a detailed description of the school. Finally, the last one will be personal insights about the year so far, Indonesia as a whole, and spiritual insights. Much of the third post will follow a conversation I recently had with my grandpa Ben Maxson, sorry you have to hear it all twice. Reminder: some extra videos (and soon to be pictures since I'm running out of space on this site) can be viewed here:
Let’s start.
Picking up right where the last blog left off, I went to watch some of the students play in a futsal tournament. Just like in the US, you had to pay to get in. I think this is a terrible tradition but I understand why. The kids got absolutely smoked but they were playing one of the best public schools in the area. Futsal, badminton, and ping pong are probably the most popular sports here which is bad for me since I have never played any of them. However, I now play futsal about once a week with my students and absolutely love it. I, a handful of teachers, and over a dozen students rent out a field at a complex. It’s nicer than the court we have at the school and not too expensive. It’s like basketball and soccer combined. There’s more running than soccer but because it’s a small field, it’s manageable and much more fast pace. One of my students even gifted me some futsal shoes.
The quarter quickly came to an end and we had exam week. I was honestly pretty nervous about it since I wanted my students to do well and had only been teaching them for a few weeks. Overall it went extremely well. The group I had to adjust to the most was the senior class. We had to cancel the class before the test so they didn’t get a review and they’re honestly the class that has the worst English. So, I made a deal with them. Try to do the multiple choice and some short answers by yourself and we’ll do the major punnet squares and pedigrees together. If you couldn’t tell by that last sentence we were doing genetics, one of my favorites, and something more conceptual and visual than straight memorization. It went amazing, I got tons of participation even from the students who don’t pay the most attention or struggle with English. I was even able to do it with the online students at the same time (some of the classes are hybrid which is definitely not my favorite to teach). Every time other students would ask me about the 12th graders they would assume the kids were terrible for me but when I tell them that the kids are great, they’re shocked. One of the other teachers told me that the kids really liked my teaching method. I don’t say this to brag, it’s 100% God because I prayed every single class that He would give my students understanding. He did just that. The kids said I made everything more interesting and real to them, that I was able to help them understand hard topics by breaking them down, and that I was easy to follow. That meant so so much when the teacher told me this (weeks after we finished the exam week). I had worried and prayed about this every single day. God truly blessed. I think it definitely helps that I’m the new young teacher. They don’t necessarily respect me but they’ll listen and talk because they feel comfortable. I’m just one of them and I take the time to hang out and take interest in them. I’ll be very sad when I become just another old teacher like Uyeyama. KIDDING KIDDING!! 29 4EVA!!
Next, we went to summer camp! When I say summer camp I really just mean a school camping trip. The trip is combined, Junior High (Grades 7-9) and Senior High (Grades 10-12). It is a three-day affair but I went one day early with a small crew to help set up. Most of the crew went back from the night except for me and two teachers. We slept there and one of the teachers was kind enough to let me hear his alarm and let me listen to his conversation at 4 AM. He talked on the phone until around 7 and then continued to nap the rest of the day while the other teacher and I set everything up. All love. We chopped some bamboo with machetes, so that was a fun new experience The camping trip went pretty well. I was able to connect and hang out with the kids a lot more. I felt like I also learned a lot more Indonesian words on this trip. The food was catered (sort of) and brought in for every meal. While it was pretty hot and dry, we still managed to have a good time. Riding back in military trucks was a huge highlight Like I said they combined Junior high and Senior high which I thought was an interesting move. There was also quite a bit of educational time and leadership training, which honestly I thought was a little unnecessary. They’re kids and I think we should give them a bit of a break while camping. Every day they go to school and have to do “what’s good for them, why not let them have some fun and make some memories on a unique break from the city. Indonesians tend to ask their kids for a lot of maturity while simultaneously not trusting them or treating them like the adults they are asking them to be. They want them to take school very seriously and be respectful of adults but they don’t trust them with decision making or new ideas. That is definitely a trend I have noticed and don’t love.
Side note: I am currently writing this on Sabbath. Last night my electronics decided to freak out. All of my portable chargers no longer work and many of my plugs don’t either. The worst part is neither of my English-speakingphones are charging. I’ve had them in rice and silica gel since last night and neither are charging. I did Sabbath school today at Jakarta Central Church (an English speaking church thats around 30 minutes away depending on traffic) and I woke up with a 50% charge on my phone with Indonesian data and WhatsApp logged out. I had to resync my WA in order to make sure I could contact people but my other (American) phone was nearly dead. I asked God to get me to church and he did just that. I had to order a ride with Grab (Uber but wayyyy cheaper and usually motorcycle) but I made it to church on a 24% charge. I was able to teach and get lunch and make it home with friends! While it is very frustrating and I’m not sure why God doesn’t just fix everything so I can make it to church and also do my job, I made it to church and home and I still have a little bit of battery left. I have tried to be very intentional about seeking God’s will and asking for his strength every day, more so than I ever have in my life. I guess it’s just hard when it feels like things are not going to plan and I have been very active with God, I guess the devil’s working. It's a few hours later and my US phone now charges with a wireless charger. Praise God.
Back to the narrative: Some of my fellow teachers took me to downtown Jakarta on a Sunday morning. They have this event called, Car Free Day where they shut down some streets for market booths. This attracts so many people to walk around and buy some great food for so cheap (even cheap for Indo standards). You can see some vidoes of the food on the google drive with vidoes. And now, I’ve started teaching Junior High! I honestly thought I wouldn’t like it very much but I have come to love the kids. I definitely miss the conversations with the high school students but having the more casual environment is great. I’ve also learned that I hate teaching about photosynthesis.
My birhtday rolled around and everyone was so kind. We had chapel that day and the kids sang to me very loud and proud. I brought some treats to school and some random people I have never seen before came up to me wishing me Happy Birthday and extending their hand for a treat. That’s another thing in Indonesia, your birthday is just as much about other people as it is about you. You’re usually the last to eat at your own party (which I have seen a few times). That night I cooked some “Western” food and the reviews were pretty good. I made stir-fried pasta with squash and mushrooms and other veggies, tomato caprese salad, and air fryer asparagus. The consensus was that the asparagus was their favorite (the thing that took the least work). Some of the teachers were also kind enough to pitch in and buy me a super cool batik that I’m so scared to get dirty.
My schedule has gotten dramatically busier as I am now teaching much more. Junior High Biology, English, two extracurricular classes, an English class for teachers, one High School Biology class, and even a violin lesson. It’s great and I’m definitely starting to get into a groove. It’s a real job now, it’s repetitive but now bad or boring.
One Sabbath, Tim Gillespie, the Pastor of Crosswalk Redlands came to Jakarta Central Church. I really enjoyed what he had to say and got a deeper appreciation for what crosswalk does. I used to think they were shallow and very superficial and fake. I felt like I didn’t get much from their service or “community.” However when listening to him speak I asked myself what did I put into crosswalk? Not much and Crosswalk is very much about getting what you put into it. If I had gone seeking community and connection I think I would’ve gotten it, but I just came for the service and left. I don’t think they have all the answers but I think their churches are growing and something is working whereas much of our more traditional or “normal” churches are struggling.
We had an open house event. It was a huge community thing and while talking to some of my students, I saw some Mormons! I was shocked to see their bright red hair, pale skin, and the same Mormon uniform as they wear in the US. Turns out one of the teachers went to their church once and invited them to the open house. I joked with my students, telling them that those guys were my cousins and then I went to talk with them. Both equally surprised to see each other, we exchanged stories and it turns out they’re from, you’ll never guess, Utah Nevada. They were here on their two year mission and actually learned Indonesian within about a year. This put me into overdrive. We walked around and talked to many teachers and parents, it’s not everyday you get to see three bules. When talking to my auntie she mentioned that she had lived in the US and seen Mormons before. They made the honest mistake of offering her a book, she took it and when the principal found out, she was rightfully pretty upset. She came up to me very frantic and said
“Ben you know they’re Mormon right?”
“Yes Ma’am I do.”
“Ben you need to be careful!!”
I thought, “What are they going to do? Bite me?” Instead, I said, “Ok Ma’am” with a slight giggle. She asked them to leave and I apologized and exchanged numbers just in case we wanted to grab some McDonalds and talk about why how long the Jazz rebuild is going to take or why BYU has the best sports program.
A little later we had a church retreat. Many of the teachers went early to set up and we stayed in a great Air BNB where they had a real shower!! Of course, the shower didn’t have a curtain, because why wouldn’t it, but I was so thankful to have my first shower since leaving home. Not sure if I mentioned it already but here you mandi (bathe) with a ladle that you dump on your head. Saves a lot of water and very cost-efficient. I got sick for pretty much the entire next week, just a small cold but I didn’t want to get anyone sick so I stayed home. After getting better, I went to church and the food packing ministry again where one of the leaders mentioned they were doing a mission trip to the jungle jungle and informally invited me. I’d like to go but I’d also like to make sure I am needed and not just going for myself.
The next day I want to DUFAN with my students! It’s an amusement park similar to the size of a smaller Six Flags with rides that are closer to Gilroy Gardens, Central Valley stand up! I went with five of my high school kids and it was so fun hanging out with them. These kids are so kind and genuine, I really hope I can be a good influence. I’m getting way too old for rides and felt sick after every one of them even though I took dramamine. Their mascot is one of those monkeys with the really long noses, a very strange choice but the high schooler inside of me thinks it’s a very funny choice.
I try to keep my classes pretty interesting by taking to the lab as much as I can and coming up with excuses to do random fun things like watch the Magic School Bus. I showed them my favorite one where they shrink down and go into the sick kid’s blood stream. A classic episode that is sure to go down in the anals of American Television. I also recently assigned a project on Minecraft, I’ll try anything slightly educational and fun. We also started practicing for a Jakarta Adventist Teacher Conference. It was a field day/ company picnic where we competed against other school teachers in ping pong, futsal, girls basketball, and volleyball. Makarios did really good, taking first in three events and second in one. One of those was guys volleyball, which I played in, but we only won on a technicality, a massive downpour rain delay. Later that week I asked the pastor from Jakarta Central Church to have dinner. He’s from Malawi and went to school in the US and college at AUP (Philipines). It was a great dinner and we had insightful conversations. He’s going to be a big help while I’m here. Like all good pastors, after the meal, he asked me to help with kids Sabbath School. I had no choice but to say yes and had a great time teaching.
Now when a teacher tells me, “It’s hero day tomorrow so you need to cosplay because we’re all going to do it,” I think: Alright, I need to dress up like Spider-man, the Flash, Shrek, a doctor, stuff like that. So I looked at my closet and saw I had nothing except for a suit, I thought of this character from an Anime I’ve seen that wears a blue suit, rolls up his sleeves, and spikes up his hair. So, that’s what I did. As I walked into chapel slightly late (which is much earlier than most teachers), they called me out. “Welcome Sir Ben,” they never do this when someone comes early, “Come join us up front,” another comment that they don’t normally make. I looked around and to my horror not a single teacher had dressed up for hero day. There I stood like Pam at the New York branch, all dressed in costume when no one else was. Luckily, I was just wearing a suit kind of funny with spiked up hair. Still extremely shocked, they continued to call me up. I quickly whisper shouted to another teacher “YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE GOING TO COSPLAY!!” Turns out most of the teachers did change, just after worship. Alls well that ends well.
One more quick story: Finances have not been tight, I just have to watch out. Every expense hits a little harder due to less pay than in the US. So when I lose, or maybe it was stolen I’m not sure, 200,000 rupiah it hits a little hard. It’s not a lot of money, just $12-$14. However, it just hits harder here and when you’re having a tough week, it was the last straw for me. I got pretty frustrated and a little overwhelmed. However, with some calming and prayer from my mom I was able to calm down. Like I said it’s not a lot of money but when expenses are starting to stack up and I am already stressed about some other things, it broke me a little. I prayed that God give me peace and I decided to give my finances to him. Shortly after, I got a text to come to one of the admin offices where a teacher gave me the exact amount I lost because they “forgot to give it to me on my birthday.” I have no idea if this is true or not but I definitely heard God’s voice telling me that he’s got me. Two days later I received a similar amount from the Jakarta Conference for being a teacher and even a little more for winning the volleyball tournament. Again, I received the same amount from someone for doing something. Each time I received this amount I heard God saying, I got you. It’s a little hard to hear that when at the exact same time my electronics are all breaking. However, I need to put my entire life into God’s hands, not just my finacnes.
So in summary, my spirits are still high even though I’m pretty frustrated about my electronics and phone. God will work things out, and if he doesn’t, I’ll live. Thank you all for reading, pinky promise I’ll be more consistent.