Lunar New Year

Gong xi fa cai everyone! Or in other words, selamat Tahun Baru Imlek!

In English now, happy Lunar New Year! The year of the rat is officially over, and the year of the dragon has begun. Technically, it's the year of the water dragon, which people are saying accounts for all this rain we've been having lately! Most days for the past month, it's started raining around lunch time and gone well into the night. A couple times it's gone all night and on into the morning. Each day we're guaranteed at least an hour's break in the clouds, but sadly, it's almost always when I'm teaching. People have dubbed this month Hujanuari, a cross between the Indonesian word for rain (hujan) and January (Januari).

I know I've been quiet for most of January. It's been a hard month. I don't really know who reads my blog, so without being terribly negative or naming any names, I'll just say that after a few very disappointing and hurtful situations at Aswan's place of work, he chose to leave after 11 years of service and will begin his new job as an accountant for Arrowhead Horse Ranch tomorrow. Does anyone else find it ironic that my boyfriend got a MATH JOB on a HORSE FARM?? He's a media and communications major who grew up in a major city. I think it's hilarious! But we would definitely appreciate prayers for this new job and his transition. He's going to have to do some serious training first. He served as our church's treasurer for several years, but other than that, he has no accounting experience. We're so glad though that he was able to find a new job and leave the old one so quickly!

Work hasn't been a walk in the park for me either this month. Last week, our principal of 20+ years tearfully announced her decision to resign and return home to the States to care for her elderly mother. That was a shock to me. When I first started working here, I always said I couldn't imagine having better bosses. I was referring both to Bill, our former superintendent who left last year, and Lisa, our secondary principal. Lisa has the toughest job because she is the enforcer. She's not the most popular person on campus in the eyes of the students, but she always does her job with grace and humility, and I have the utmost respect for her. And trust me, kids are kids, no matter what line of work their parents are in, and I've had some very not fun situations to deal with, but for the last 3.5 years, Lisa has ALWAYS had my back. Seeing her leave is going to be very difficult. Within days of her resignation, our new superintendent announced her replacement - a friend of his, a staff member who has only been here for 1 year and has no teaching experience. This is a person who I enjoy conversation with and a person who very much does have a heart for youth. But because of a variety of reasons that I don't need to get into right now, I am struggling with the thought of him in a position of leadership over me.

It was also announced this month that in order to save money, the school will not be replacing 4 of the 9 or so teachers who plan on leaving after this school year. That was a tough blow for me also. Last year we lost 6 teachers and gained only two new ones. We were already short staffed at the beginning of this year. Then in November, we lost our K-12 art teacher, and two other teachers are currently abroad having babies. All of us here are overloaded, stressed and burning out already. There's been a couple of days already this semester where I've come home from work and gone straight to bed. I have serious concerns about next year.

OK, now that all the sad stuff is out, I'd like to announce that Payless Shoe Store opened a branch RIGHT HERE IN CENTRAL JAVA! Since this is a 3.5 day weekend, I got to go visit on Saturday! It's about an hour away by bus. We also found that in the same mall, a brand new movie theater that shows Hollywood films opened up! Way closer and cheaper to get to (and more posh) than the theater in Semarang! So hooray for little surprises even in sad months!