How the Actions of One Affect Us All

You may have heard the news about William James Vahey who has been making headlines lately as one of the most prolific child predators. Like, ever. He was under investigation by the FBI until he committed suicide last month.

As the FBI conducted their investigation, they discovered that even though he was arrested in 1969 for child molestation, he continued to work in the field of education until March of this year. He did that by obtaining jobs teaching overseas. He worked in nine different countries over the span of 42 years - 10 of which were spent right here in Indonesia, at the biggest and (arguably) most prestigious international school in the country, Jakarta International School (JIS).

This horrifying discovery comes on the back of another. Before the world even found out about William James Vahey, reports were going viral about cleaning staff at JIS sexually assaulting an expatriate Kindergarten student. And more have since stepped forward.

Our school has no ties with JIS. We are not accredited by the same organization. We do not compete against them in sports. Our respective staffs don't attend the same education conferences. No connection. At all.

But what is happening there is directly affecting us.

Because they are an international school. And we are an international school. And now, understandably, everyone suddenly has a million questions and concerns about how we do things at international schools.

We are all now under scrutiny. The police and the government are using microscopes, checking to make sure that we've crossed our Ts and dotted our Is, that we have all of the proper paperwork and permits, that every single staff member has had a thorough background check in every country, that our national workers are all wholesome people with no criminal record, that nobody employed by our school has ever accidentally sneezed and farted at the same time. OK, maybe not that last one. But just about.

And honestly, in a country where we are by and large the minority in almost every way, that makes me nervous. Our staff is great about making sure everything is on the up and up. We have checks and crosschecks and lots of accountability. We have all of our required permits. We've payed all of our required fees. We have all had background checks. And that is great. But if just one person forgot to sign on the dotted line, that could be used against us.

We've been told to expect a "surprise" visit from the minister of education and the press sometime this week. They haven't shown up yet. But they're coming to get statements, to check all of our documentation, and to question our elementary cleaning staff.

Yesterday, all teachers were briefed on the situation and what to do if approached by the press. While we were meeting, the school board also came into town to talk to the entire national staff. I found out later that their meeting was to affirm our faith and trust in them. That no matter how much they are questioned or investigated, we believe in them.

Hearing that made me so happy to work here.

Every morning on my way to school, I walk through the gym. And almost every morning, there are elementary kids in there who come early to play together before class. And almost every morning, Pak Budi, our elementary cleaner, is in there playing with them. He can't even communicate with most of the kids, but he comes early to work to spend time with them, and they love him to pieces.

And I am hoping extra hard right now that nothing changes that.

A Gem

I haven't written for awhile. Things have been busy. But here is a gem from Geometry class today to tide you over.

Student: There are seven things the Lord hates! One is stealing. One is lying. One is cheating on your brother.
Me: Your brother?
Student: .... or sister? Cheating on your sister is also bad.
Other student: That sounds like an awkward family situation...

Surprises

I woke up Monday morning to discover that I had eaten something terrible on Sunday. My entire digestive system was angry, and I came 15 minutes late to work. A great start to my week.

I came home Tuesday afternoon and saw that the handle to my front door had been busted in half. How does that even happen?

Wednesday I found out that our administration is considering sending our entire teaching staff to a conference in South Korea for four days in November. Wouldn't that be amazing?! Now if only I could sit still for longer than 30 minutes...

This morning I woke up to find a two foot long snake skin laying outside my front door. Ominous.

Can't wait to see what Friday has in store.

Indonesian

I did a couple of blog posts awhile ago showing how some words in Indonesian have funny translations in English. I thought they were hilarious. If you didn't, then go away.

Since then, I've been saving up words to make another post. Every time I think of one, I make a note in my phone.

So without further ado, here is Indonesian: Part 3 (I think).

English - Indonesian - Translation
Ball pit - mandi bola - ball bath
Puppy love - cinta monyet - monkey love
Nonsense - omong kosong - empty talk
Syphilis - raja singa - lion king
Cell phone - hanpon - hand phone
Casket - peti mati - dead box
Alley - jalan tikus - mouse road
Goodbye (for little kids) - dada - breast
Yield - beri jalan - give road
Handkerchief - sapu tangan - hand broom
Fundraiser - cari dana - look for money
Mentally handicapped - sakit jiwa - soul sick
Bible - Al-Kitab - the book
Common cold - masuk angin - wind entering
Fried egg - telur mata sapi - cow's eye egg
Humble - rendah hati - low heart
Funeral - penghiburan - a comforting (which is also the same word for entertaining)
Train - kereta api - fire wagon
State - negara bagian - country part
Inhale - tarik nafas - pull breath
Pirate - bajak laut - sea plow
Toothpick - tusuk gigi - tooth poke
Birthday - ulang tahun - repeat year

I don't know why these are so amusing to me. I think it's just that they say so much about the culture they come from. I love language.

April Fools

I am always nervous on April Fools Day. I myself am not a big fan of pranks, but I spend all day every day with a group of ridiculous adolescents (whom I love dearly) that would not hesitate to jump at any excuse to do something terrible to their teachers.

Thankfully, I didn't find myself at the receiving end of any foolish tricks this April Fools. But I didn't totally miss out on the festivities. I actually ended up pranking myself a few times.

It was one of THOSE days.

My April 1st began with me accidentally turning my alarm off instead of hitting snooze. I woke up 30 minutes late and in a panic. APRIL FOOLS!

I also woke up to find literally (and I don't use that word lightly) thousands of ants swarming my bedroom floor. Unfortunately, I was in such a rush to get up that I didn't notice them until I had walked all the way across my room and noticed my feet felt wet. APRIL FOOLS!

At school, a girl showed up to class wearing a baseball cap pulled low over her face and a jacket with the hood up over the baseball cap. Thinking this must be the setup for some horrible class-disrupting prank, I required her to remove the sweatshirt and baseball cap in class. Turns out the poor girl actually had  a swollen black eye that she was embarrassed for anyone to see, and she almost burst into tears when everyone noticed and started asking if she was OK. Joke's on me. APRIL FOOLS!

I was asked to deliver a message to the librarian (who happens to be a good friend of mine), and so during my planning period, I headed up to chat with her a minute. I ended up being asked to remove myself from the library by a fellow teacher who claimed I was "disrupting the students trying to work". However, upon inspection, every single student was wearing earbuds while working, so I'm not really sure who I could have been distracting. But that other teacher is a real stickler, so for the first time in my adult life, I got myself kicked out of something - the library of the school I work at, no less! APRIL FOOLS!

Then, to top it all off, I got home from work and jumped in the shower. When I got out, I put my underwear on backwards. And didn't even notice right away. APRIL FOOLS!

Who needs pranks when I've got me?!