So I'm going to brag a little bit for a minute.
On Friday of last week, I was informed that I had to take what's called the Ujian Kompetensi Guru. It's an Indonesian teacher competency exam. The test date was today (four days since Friday).
Over the weekend, I basically went through the five states of grief.
1. Denial. They aren't REALLY going to make us take an exam during finals week - the most stressful week of the year. They can't do that. If they are serious about this, I just won't show up. Not gonna happen.
2. Anger. WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME TAKE YOUR DUMB TEST DURING FINALS WEEK? I! AM! BUSY! THIS IS TOO STRESSFUL! And it is NOT FAIR to make teachers certified in other countries take your stupid Indonesian test! If you're going to force me to do this, then you should at least offer it in ENGLISH. Or give me more time to prepare! Or tell me what I should study!
3. Bargaining. If I score higher than the national average on this test, will your government certify me? Can I get a raise? Can I get a permanent visa?
4. Depression. Who am I kidding? I can't pass this test. The national average is only like 50%. I barely speak Indonesian. I know nothing. I hope I get dengue.
5. Acceptance. I guess if I HAVE to do it, I might as well do a good job at it.
I was busy Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday, so I didn't really get a chance to study until Monday. I studied for EIGHT HOURS last night using any and all online materials I could find. I MADE FLASHCARDS. And in a matter of one day, I went from scoring 40% on practice tests to consistently scoring 70-90%. So I set a goal for myself. I wanted to score over 80%.
After all that hard work, I was scared I'd bomb the test. I was a bundle of nerves all day. After lunch, I headed to the test center with several other teachers and three translators (our one allowance) from my school. The test had two parts to it - pedagogy and subject matter. So my exam was a mix of pedagogical questions (which in many cases have totally OPPOSITE answers of what they would have on an American exam) and math questions. And it was entirely in Indonesian. I was not allowed to use a calculator, only scratch paper. And the room was super noisy as translators translated for my coworkers.
I finished the 2 hour test with only 5 seconds remaining on the clock. My score popped up on the screen. (Am I making this dramatic enough??)
46/60.
77%.
I fell just short of my goal. I was disappointed at first. Then a little horrified that on my school's grading scale, that is a D. I got a D in MY CAREER.
Then I realized a few things.
The actual national average for this year's test is 47%. Those are Indonesian trained college graduates who teach in the Indonesian school system. Scoring an average of 47%.
One of our translators told me his wife has been teaching in Indonesian schools for 33 years, and she only scored 62% on the exam.
The passing grade is 55%.
The highest score from our school (including Indonesian teachers) prior to today was 58%. And that record was held by an English teacher whose test was IN English.
The highest score from my province this year is 82.5%.
I know you're not supposed to compare yourself to other people, and I really hate it when my students do that. But man, that really changed my perspective. And now I'm pretty happy with my 77%. So I'm having nachos for dinner to celebrate! :)
15 December 2015
10 December 2015
Mornings with Mas Doni
Our school has a cleaning guy. His name is Doni. He cleans stuff.
I often run into him on my walk to work, because he's walking in the same direction. So we chat until we part ways.
I always have a tumbler of coffee in my hand. Today's conversation started out focused on that.
Him: How do you drink coffee so early in the morning? Doesn't it upset your stomach?
Me: Nope.
Him: Did you have breakfast yet?
Me: Nope.
Him: You're crazy. What kind do you like the most?
Me: Good Day. It's just coffee mix. So it's not too strong.
Him: Well, I don't.
Me: Huh?
Him: I don't.
Me: You don't what?
Him: I don't like Good Day. I like you.
Me: ................
Him: So.... did you drink any of that coffee yet?
Me: No.
Him: I see. I picked the wrong time to flirt.
Me: Try again this afternoon after I've had this coffee. Pre-coffee flirting has no effect.
Him: Yes, I've learned my lesson. Coffee first, then flirting.
Me: Yes. That is the correct order.
Him: OK. Well, have a good day.
Me: What?
Him: Have a good day! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!
Me: Oh, right. Thanks. Have a good day too!
I often run into him on my walk to work, because he's walking in the same direction. So we chat until we part ways.
I always have a tumbler of coffee in my hand. Today's conversation started out focused on that.
Him: How do you drink coffee so early in the morning? Doesn't it upset your stomach?
Me: Nope.
Him: Did you have breakfast yet?
Me: Nope.
Him: You're crazy. What kind do you like the most?
Me: Good Day. It's just coffee mix. So it's not too strong.
Him: Well, I don't.
Me: Huh?
Him: I don't.
Me: You don't what?
Him: I don't like Good Day. I like you.
Me: ................
Him: So.... did you drink any of that coffee yet?
Me: No.
Him: I see. I picked the wrong time to flirt.
Me: Try again this afternoon after I've had this coffee. Pre-coffee flirting has no effect.
Him: Yes, I've learned my lesson. Coffee first, then flirting.
Me: Yes. That is the correct order.
Him: OK. Well, have a good day.
Me: What?
Him: Have a good day! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!
Me: Oh, right. Thanks. Have a good day too!
07 December 2015
Ups and Downs
This weekend was fascinating. Let me tell you what happened.
1. Friday night I was asked to come to the secondary Christmas concert, sit with the 7th grade class, and make sure they behaved the entire time they were not performing. I do not teach the 7th grade class, but they have the reputation of being quite the handful. Things went more smoothly than I imagined they would. I just sat right in the middle of them and if anyone made a sound, I whacked them with my umbrella. No joke. I have never seen the 7th grade class behave so well. So that was fun.
2. Saturday morning, I had to proctor the SAT. As I stepped out the front door, a foot long snake darted away, down the sidewalk leading to my house. Since I was going the same direction, I just followed him at a distance. Snakes don't really bother me, but I have a healthy respect for them here, as most are venomous. I must have gotten a bit too close for the snake's taste, because about halfway down the sidewalk, he suddenly spun around, coiled, and began striking. I took two steps back and froze. My path was blocked by an angry snake. UGH. I ended up shouting for a guard to come get the snake. His weapon of choice? A broom. Helpful. He at least was able to sweep the snake off the sidewalk in order for me to get past and make it to school just in time to proctor.
3. After the SAT, a student's family invited me to their house for dinner. They live in another city, but they sent a car and driver for me. So I spent the evening with their family. It was a multi-celebration. It was grandpa's birthday, the 12th anniversary of moving into their home, and an early Christmas party. We feasted on turkey, ham, smoked salmon, clam chowder, stuffing, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, apple pie, pecan pie, cheesecake, and so much other food. I paced myself over 2 hours. TWO HOURS OF FOOD. And I had it allllllll! So so so good! And then they sent me home with three BAGS of food. So I hope you all remember what a martyr I am for living here.
4. Sunday morning, my church celebrated Christmas early. We do an outreach program every year, and this year is no exception. So we did our "family" Christmas service this week, because next week, we will be celebrating Christmas in our city's red light district. And then the week after that, most people will be gone, travelling for the holidays. Anyways, on the way to church, I was driving along at a nice brisk pace (but not too brisk because I am a responsible motorist), when I suddenly felt something on the back of my hand. My right hand. My throttle hand. I glanced down. IT WAS AN ENTIRE GECKO. Thankfully, I am also not scared of geckos. And thankfully, geckos are harmless. I am especially thankful for that since this one proceeded to run all the way up my arm, onto my shoulder, around the back of my neck, and into my hair. I was already pretty close to church, so I just screeched (not really) into the parking lot, and delicately removed my helmet as quickly as possible. I was very concerned about the gecko being under my helmet and me possibly squishing him ON MY HEAD. But no. He was ON TOP of my helmet when I took it off. He took a flying leap and scurried off, thankfully. He was definitely more shaken up by the whole ordeal than I was.
5. After church yesterday, we all had lunch together (we do this the first Sunday of every month). And while we were eating, a mosquito bit me! I must taste bad or something, because Indonesian mosquitoes VERY rarely bite me. And when they do, I don't itch or get a red bump or ANYTHING. It is glorious. But I am highly concerned about my SINGLE mosquito bite yesterday, because the mosquito that bit me is the variety that spreads dengue fever! I could tell by his little zebra striped legs. So now I am obviously very highly concerned that I will contract the bone break fever. That sounds like zero fun. Or maybe less than zero fun. That sound like negative one hundred fun.
6. I found a dead bird outside my house yesterday. And I found a dead green tree lizard outside my house today, in three segments. It was like take three steps, find another piece of the lizard. It was like Blue's Clues. If Blue's Clues were a horror movie. Anyways, I hope this is not an omen of the week to come.
7. But really, dead animals may have been an omen of the week to come. I got called into a disciplinary advisory committee all morning today. It was... difficult and awkward. But also honorable. Only two teachers were asked to attend along with all three members of administration and the student and his parents. It's nice to feel that my input is valuable. But having to decide an appropriate consequence in an area of discipline that we as a school have never dealt with before was a little bit gut-wrenching. Every person in the room agreed that what the student did was an expellable (is that a word?) offence. But we also agreed on the need to show grace and to allow for restoration to happen. Man though, finding the balance is tough.
8. I spent all afternoon in a totally separate meeting in which I intended to speak to a parent about her son's grades. But then we spent most of the time talking about her daughter (whom I don't even teach) who is really struggling this year. Most of what she said, I wasn't even aware of. Hurts that have been caused by other students at our school. Current problems her daughter is dealing with. How she feels like her child no longer loves life. It was hard to hear. And I was largely at a loss for words. And we were both speaking Indonesian, which is not either of our first languages.
9. But the day wasn't all rough. A student came to me and asked, "How can I pray for you?" And I asked him to pray for wisdom and that I don't get dengue. And he said, "OK, let's pray." And then he did. Right there in my classroom. He sat with me and prayed for me. So even on long and difficult days, I am reminded that I really don't have it all that bad.
1. Friday night I was asked to come to the secondary Christmas concert, sit with the 7th grade class, and make sure they behaved the entire time they were not performing. I do not teach the 7th grade class, but they have the reputation of being quite the handful. Things went more smoothly than I imagined they would. I just sat right in the middle of them and if anyone made a sound, I whacked them with my umbrella. No joke. I have never seen the 7th grade class behave so well. So that was fun.
2. Saturday morning, I had to proctor the SAT. As I stepped out the front door, a foot long snake darted away, down the sidewalk leading to my house. Since I was going the same direction, I just followed him at a distance. Snakes don't really bother me, but I have a healthy respect for them here, as most are venomous. I must have gotten a bit too close for the snake's taste, because about halfway down the sidewalk, he suddenly spun around, coiled, and began striking. I took two steps back and froze. My path was blocked by an angry snake. UGH. I ended up shouting for a guard to come get the snake. His weapon of choice? A broom. Helpful. He at least was able to sweep the snake off the sidewalk in order for me to get past and make it to school just in time to proctor.
3. After the SAT, a student's family invited me to their house for dinner. They live in another city, but they sent a car and driver for me. So I spent the evening with their family. It was a multi-celebration. It was grandpa's birthday, the 12th anniversary of moving into their home, and an early Christmas party. We feasted on turkey, ham, smoked salmon, clam chowder, stuffing, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, apple pie, pecan pie, cheesecake, and so much other food. I paced myself over 2 hours. TWO HOURS OF FOOD. And I had it allllllll! So so so good! And then they sent me home with three BAGS of food. So I hope you all remember what a martyr I am for living here.
4. Sunday morning, my church celebrated Christmas early. We do an outreach program every year, and this year is no exception. So we did our "family" Christmas service this week, because next week, we will be celebrating Christmas in our city's red light district. And then the week after that, most people will be gone, travelling for the holidays. Anyways, on the way to church, I was driving along at a nice brisk pace (but not too brisk because I am a responsible motorist), when I suddenly felt something on the back of my hand. My right hand. My throttle hand. I glanced down. IT WAS AN ENTIRE GECKO. Thankfully, I am also not scared of geckos. And thankfully, geckos are harmless. I am especially thankful for that since this one proceeded to run all the way up my arm, onto my shoulder, around the back of my neck, and into my hair. I was already pretty close to church, so I just screeched (not really) into the parking lot, and delicately removed my helmet as quickly as possible. I was very concerned about the gecko being under my helmet and me possibly squishing him ON MY HEAD. But no. He was ON TOP of my helmet when I took it off. He took a flying leap and scurried off, thankfully. He was definitely more shaken up by the whole ordeal than I was.
5. After church yesterday, we all had lunch together (we do this the first Sunday of every month). And while we were eating, a mosquito bit me! I must taste bad or something, because Indonesian mosquitoes VERY rarely bite me. And when they do, I don't itch or get a red bump or ANYTHING. It is glorious. But I am highly concerned about my SINGLE mosquito bite yesterday, because the mosquito that bit me is the variety that spreads dengue fever! I could tell by his little zebra striped legs. So now I am obviously very highly concerned that I will contract the bone break fever. That sounds like zero fun. Or maybe less than zero fun. That sound like negative one hundred fun.
6. I found a dead bird outside my house yesterday. And I found a dead green tree lizard outside my house today, in three segments. It was like take three steps, find another piece of the lizard. It was like Blue's Clues. If Blue's Clues were a horror movie. Anyways, I hope this is not an omen of the week to come.
7. But really, dead animals may have been an omen of the week to come. I got called into a disciplinary advisory committee all morning today. It was... difficult and awkward. But also honorable. Only two teachers were asked to attend along with all three members of administration and the student and his parents. It's nice to feel that my input is valuable. But having to decide an appropriate consequence in an area of discipline that we as a school have never dealt with before was a little bit gut-wrenching. Every person in the room agreed that what the student did was an expellable (is that a word?) offence. But we also agreed on the need to show grace and to allow for restoration to happen. Man though, finding the balance is tough.
8. I spent all afternoon in a totally separate meeting in which I intended to speak to a parent about her son's grades. But then we spent most of the time talking about her daughter (whom I don't even teach) who is really struggling this year. Most of what she said, I wasn't even aware of. Hurts that have been caused by other students at our school. Current problems her daughter is dealing with. How she feels like her child no longer loves life. It was hard to hear. And I was largely at a loss for words. And we were both speaking Indonesian, which is not either of our first languages.
9. But the day wasn't all rough. A student came to me and asked, "How can I pray for you?" And I asked him to pray for wisdom and that I don't get dengue. And he said, "OK, let's pray." And then he did. Right there in my classroom. He sat with me and prayed for me. So even on long and difficult days, I am reminded that I really don't have it all that bad.
02 December 2015
Secret Messages
When I got to school this morning, I found this posted outside my classroom door.
I have no idea who made it or why. But it gave me a good laugh first thing this morning. Naturally, I took a picture of it. Then I went in my classroom and started getting things ready for the day.
And then the enormity of that sign hit me. I work with teens. People who right now at this stage of their life are deciding who to follow and making choices that largely impact the course of their life. And every single day, they come into my classroom. Every single day, I get to be a part of their lives. They see what I do. They see how I live.
Am I living a life that points them to Christ?
That question has been on my mind for most of the day.
There is a dear lady who has been here in Indonesia for roughly 40 years. Like, she came over on a SHIP, y’all. She was never married, and she has no kids. But she is a pillar of the community here. Our paths don’t often cross, but when they do, I am always blessed.
She came to me at school today, near the end of the day, and said, “Can I give you a message? I might not see you for a long time, so I want to give it to you now. I was talking with a parent recently, and they were sharing their concerns with me, as parents do. They were worried about this school, and things that are happening here. But they named to me six teachers that they trust and that they believe are having a positive spiritual impact and influence on the students. You were one of the six. And I just want you to know that. Keep it up.”
Then she hugged me, and before I could even say anything, she was gone.
God works in mysterious ways, through the people we least suspect.
Speaking of mysteries, I found a fish lying in the school parking lot yesterday on my way home from school.
This seems very suspicious, since I live about 20 minutes from the nearest body of fresh water, and at least an hour from the nearest coastline. I suspect that fish have been secretly experimenting with teleportation. Get ready for them to take over the world.
25 November 2015
The Time I Wore the Same Pants For A Week
I thought things were slowly calming down and getting more normal. Then the last three weeks happened. And they were full of crazy. A bad kind of crazy. Not crazy busy. But more like people being crazy. Like students behaving badly. In ways that we have never experienced. In ways that we are not equipped to deal with. We are doing our best to muddle through the crazy with much research and many prayers. Ultimately, we have already sent two students home to receive therapy/counseling that we just can't provide for them here.
There have also been people getting crazy sick - two teachers and a student have been medevaced to Singapore. Which makes things crazier yet for those who remain here as we try to cover their classes while feebly attempting to maintain some semblance of order within our school walls while PEOPLE BE CRAZY.
I can't even share publicly about the majority of what has been happening. But believe me. IT HAS BEEN CRAZY.
I have been stressed out and brokenhearted and burdened and... TIRED. But yesterday, as I sat in class, I felt like God began to speak to my heart and show me what amazing people I was surrounded by. At that very moment, I was sitting on top of an empty desk right in the middle of the 10th grade class. Kids! Crazy kids! But I began looking around the room, thinking of each student in turn. Thinking of their character and the men and women I see them becoming right before my very eyes. And man, God was right. I was in the midst of greatness.
Later on in the day, we were praying as a staff. As we prayed about the many, many crazy and complicated and heartbreaking situations happening here, once again, I felt God begin speaking to my heart. He said three things.
1. I know.
2. I am bigger.
3. I have overcome.
And folks, there is so much PEACE in those three simple things.
It doesn't make the crazy any less crazy. But it at least makes it more bearable.
So please be praying with us as we try to contain the crazy. As we try to keep it together. As we try to lead young people in truth. As we seek wisdom. As we learn to recognize one another's brokenness and yet love as Jesus loves. As we make hard decisions. And as we desperately try to get a good night's sleep in the middle of all the crazy.
There have also been people getting crazy sick - two teachers and a student have been medevaced to Singapore. Which makes things crazier yet for those who remain here as we try to cover their classes while feebly attempting to maintain some semblance of order within our school walls while PEOPLE BE CRAZY.
I can't even share publicly about the majority of what has been happening. But believe me. IT HAS BEEN CRAZY.
I have been stressed out and brokenhearted and burdened and... TIRED. But yesterday, as I sat in class, I felt like God began to speak to my heart and show me what amazing people I was surrounded by. At that very moment, I was sitting on top of an empty desk right in the middle of the 10th grade class. Kids! Crazy kids! But I began looking around the room, thinking of each student in turn. Thinking of their character and the men and women I see them becoming right before my very eyes. And man, God was right. I was in the midst of greatness.
Later on in the day, we were praying as a staff. As we prayed about the many, many crazy and complicated and heartbreaking situations happening here, once again, I felt God begin speaking to my heart. He said three things.
1. I know.
2. I am bigger.
3. I have overcome.
And folks, there is so much PEACE in those three simple things.
It doesn't make the crazy any less crazy. But it at least makes it more bearable.
So please be praying with us as we try to contain the crazy. As we try to keep it together. As we try to lead young people in truth. As we seek wisdom. As we learn to recognize one another's brokenness and yet love as Jesus loves. As we make hard decisions. And as we desperately try to get a good night's sleep in the middle of all the crazy.
05 November 2015
Accidental Yoga
I am not an active person. If I could choose to be any other type of creature, I would probably choose a sloth or a slug. Or maybe some sort of animal that hibernates through all the bad seasons of the year. That sounds like a great life.
But I got stuck being a human. And while I generally like being a human, all the expectations that go along with it are tiresome. Like comb your hair. And bathe. And get dressed. And only pee in toilets. And brush your teeth. And go to work. And sleep only at night. And cover your mouth when you sneeze. And eat healthy foods. And watch your weight. And exercise.
I'm used to being a human. I've been a human my whole life. So most of the expectations are pretty easy for me because I've grown accustomed to them. Except for the first one and the last one, really. I can't comb my hair. And I hate to exercise.
However, being the reasonable human being that I am, I recognize that exercise IS important. Especially because I lied earlier and "eat healthy foods" is actually probably the hardest expectation of all, and if I could afford it, I would eat nachos every day for dinner.
So this school year, I decided to exercise more. It's supposed to help with stress (and if you've been reading my blog lately, you know that stress and I have been inseparable this semester). And really, who doesn't want to look/feel/be healthier?
Since I have claimed the slug sloth (an animal that I just now made up) as my spirit animal, naturally I chose the least rigorous form of fitness that I could get away with and still call it "exercise". So back in August, I signed up for yoga classes at a local gym. Because what form of exercise is lower than yoga, right?
WRONG.
I AM IN PAIN EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE. My inner slug sloth is SLOWLY DYING.
Just kidding. It's not really that dramatic. I always thought that yoga was an old lady's sport. Until I did 18 sun salutations and a 345 minute plank, all in one session.
I'm being dramatic again.
Here's what's for real. I do yoga twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays for about 90 minutes each time. I get sweat in my eyeballs, and it burns. I bend my body in ways that I didn't know were humanly possible. I get cramps in my armpits REGULARLY. I sometimes have to sit down because I just can't do it anymore, and I sometimes fall over because I am just generally bad at all things athletic. I wake up with sore abs, legs, and shoulders every Wednesday and Friday.
But I KEEP GOING BACK.
My very first day there, after the session ended, the instructor came over to the pile of steaming sweat panting on the floor (aka me) and said, "You do yoga a lot, yeah?" I blinked a lot at her. Then I said, "No. I've never done yoga in my life."
I started out ABLE. I was able to follow all the instructions in Indonesian. I was able to DO (not necessarily maintain) every pose. Enough, at least, to look like I knew what I was doing. And now, every time I go, I try to hold the poses a little longer, to bend a little further, to stand a little more steady than the last time. And, if I'm being honest, I also try to do better than everyone else in the room (which can never happen because I'm pretty sure half the ladies in the class just straight up HAVE NO BONES).
When Melanie moved back to town, she started going with me. It's been fun to have a friend there to shoot panicked looks to when the instructor asks us to do things like sit with our legs straight out in front of us and touch our foreheads to our knees or hold on to our big toe with one hand and lift our foot higher than our head.
Yesterday's class took an awkward turn. In an unprecedented move, the instructor had us partner up and do yoga together. It was basically like in those movies where two people who are not actually a couple, through some series of unfortunate and hilarious events, somehow end up in a mystical romantic yoga session. I couldn't keep a straight face as Melanie and I stood butt to butt, bent over in opposite directions to link arms through our spread legs.
It was definitely the most entertaining yoga session to date. But I'm ready to get back to attempting to plank longer and straighter than everyone else as my inner slug sloth slowly dies.
But I got stuck being a human. And while I generally like being a human, all the expectations that go along with it are tiresome. Like comb your hair. And bathe. And get dressed. And only pee in toilets. And brush your teeth. And go to work. And sleep only at night. And cover your mouth when you sneeze. And eat healthy foods. And watch your weight. And exercise.
I'm used to being a human. I've been a human my whole life. So most of the expectations are pretty easy for me because I've grown accustomed to them. Except for the first one and the last one, really. I can't comb my hair. And I hate to exercise.
However, being the reasonable human being that I am, I recognize that exercise IS important. Especially because I lied earlier and "eat healthy foods" is actually probably the hardest expectation of all, and if I could afford it, I would eat nachos every day for dinner.
So this school year, I decided to exercise more. It's supposed to help with stress (and if you've been reading my blog lately, you know that stress and I have been inseparable this semester). And really, who doesn't want to look/feel/be healthier?
Since I have claimed the slug sloth (an animal that I just now made up) as my spirit animal, naturally I chose the least rigorous form of fitness that I could get away with and still call it "exercise". So back in August, I signed up for yoga classes at a local gym. Because what form of exercise is lower than yoga, right?
WRONG.
I AM IN PAIN EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE. My inner slug sloth is SLOWLY DYING.
Just kidding. It's not really that dramatic. I always thought that yoga was an old lady's sport. Until I did 18 sun salutations and a 345 minute plank, all in one session.
I'm being dramatic again.
Here's what's for real. I do yoga twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays for about 90 minutes each time. I get sweat in my eyeballs, and it burns. I bend my body in ways that I didn't know were humanly possible. I get cramps in my armpits REGULARLY. I sometimes have to sit down because I just can't do it anymore, and I sometimes fall over because I am just generally bad at all things athletic. I wake up with sore abs, legs, and shoulders every Wednesday and Friday.
But I KEEP GOING BACK.
My very first day there, after the session ended, the instructor came over to the pile of steaming sweat panting on the floor (aka me) and said, "You do yoga a lot, yeah?" I blinked a lot at her. Then I said, "No. I've never done yoga in my life."
I started out ABLE. I was able to follow all the instructions in Indonesian. I was able to DO (not necessarily maintain) every pose. Enough, at least, to look like I knew what I was doing. And now, every time I go, I try to hold the poses a little longer, to bend a little further, to stand a little more steady than the last time. And, if I'm being honest, I also try to do better than everyone else in the room (which can never happen because I'm pretty sure half the ladies in the class just straight up HAVE NO BONES).
When Melanie moved back to town, she started going with me. It's been fun to have a friend there to shoot panicked looks to when the instructor asks us to do things like sit with our legs straight out in front of us and touch our foreheads to our knees or hold on to our big toe with one hand and lift our foot higher than our head.
Yesterday's class took an awkward turn. In an unprecedented move, the instructor had us partner up and do yoga together. It was basically like in those movies where two people who are not actually a couple, through some series of unfortunate and hilarious events, somehow end up in a mystical romantic yoga session. I couldn't keep a straight face as Melanie and I stood butt to butt, bent over in opposite directions to link arms through our spread legs.
It was definitely the most entertaining yoga session to date. But I'm ready to get back to attempting to plank longer and straighter than everyone else as my inner slug sloth slowly dies.
03 November 2015
Things I've Said Recently that I Never Thought I'd Say
"I almost ran over a goat on the way to yoga today."
"Yes, both of my parents are white."
"Why is there a bird in my classroom?"
"Yes, I will change your grade to an A posthumously if you die during the school year."
"CAT, DON'T BRING THAT DRAGON IN MY HOUSE!"
"Stop touching your neighbor. Now."
"I think my lower leg bones are disproportionately long."
"I bought these pants from someone's living room."
"If you make the shark angry, isn't it MORE LIKELY to bite you?"
"Stop calling me Mariah Carey."
"I'd rather use a squatty potty."
"Yes, both of my parents are white."
"Why is there a bird in my classroom?"
"Yes, I will change your grade to an A posthumously if you die during the school year."
"CAT, DON'T BRING THAT DRAGON IN MY HOUSE!"
"Stop touching your neighbor. Now."
"I think my lower leg bones are disproportionately long."
"I bought these pants from someone's living room."
"If you make the shark angry, isn't it MORE LIKELY to bite you?"
"Stop calling me Mariah Carey."
"I'd rather use a squatty potty."
29 October 2015
MEN. (I'm pretty sure I could live without them.)
I've been having man problems. But it's probably not what you think. What I mean is that I have had like actual altercations with multiple men. Just in the last two weeks. Here are the ones I remember.
1. I was riding a ferry to another island with some other friends (all female, all white) over Fall Break. It was a packed boat, and many people were standing. My friends and I happened to be sitting on a bench along the boat's railing. About an hour into the ride, an oldergentleman decided it would be cool to come sit ON one of my friends and have his friend take pictures with his phone. I don't know on WHAT PLANET that would be an OK thing to do. Needless to say, my friend quickly shoved him off her lap. It solved the immediate problem. But he didn't go far. In fact, he just wedged himself in between her and my other friend who had been sitting next to her. Then he proceeded to use his arm to brush up against my other friend's chest while he pretended to be reaching for a railing. VERY SMOOTH, OLD MAN. I tried to be polite. Kind of. I mean, I led with, "What do you think you are doing, sir? There was no room for you to sit there, but you still sat there." So... I guess... not really polite, given that he was my elder. By, like, a LOT. But then when he just shrugged at me and said, "So? I paid for my ticket too," my voice may have gotten a little louder. Just a notch or two. Other people were maybe craning their necks to see what the crazy white girl was yelling about. Just maybe. I would just like to say in my defense that I kept my voice FAR more controlled than I felt like keeping it. We had a brief but heated debate in which he refused to move and then eventually started laughing at me for being so "mad and cute". My friends came and wedged themselves in next to me (farther down the bench) so that nobody had to sit next to his gross-ness. You can be the judge of who won that fight.
2. I was in the mall shopping for a notebook last week. Pretty standard. It seemed like a safe place to be. Until a college guy walked up to me full of confidence and said, "Let's play a game. If I lose, you can slap me in the face. If I win, you have to give me your phone number." Needless to say, I declined. And his creepy friend thinks I didn't see him taking pictures of the whole thing.
3. A different guy walked up to me randomly and out of the blue asked if I would take a picture with him (this happens regularly). I very politely declined (this also happens regularly), so he started taking pictures OF me instead (this does NOT happen regularly), hollering for me to come back as I walked away from him. HARD PASS, DUDE.
4. I went out for coffee with two female students one night this week, and I followed them home afterwards, just to make sure they got back safely. Well, they got a flat tire on the way home, so we pulled off the road to a tire patching place (they are all along the streets here). There were three men there. At first. Then they called their friends up and told them all to come see the white girls they had. So then there were six or seven men. All making crass jokes in Javanese and staring so much it took five men over an hour to do a 15 minute one man job. For real, I had to remind one guy to stop staring and keep working. TWICE. And then we had to pay them. That was the kicker...
5. I was out to dinner at a streetside cafe with some friends. A drunk guy walked in and honed in on one of my friends, and he came to stand behind her chair. Then he started chatting with all of us. He never said anything directly to my friend that he so clearly liked, but as he spoke, he started leaning over the back of her chair. Leaning... and leaning... and leaning... until my poor friend was basically laying on the table trying to keep away from him and his nasty beer breath. We asked him repeatedly to go, but he REALLY didn't want to leave the pretty girl.
6. I walked by a guy the other day in town who started making kissing faces/noises at me as I walked past. This actually happens more often than you'd think. Unless you're a white girl living... actually, if you're any girl living anywhere, I guess. This phenomenon is not region specific. So this happens more than you'd think. Unless you're a girl. Then you know exactly how much it happens.
7. As I was out with friends recently, I overheard two older men (I would guess they had grandchildren) nearby comparing all of us in Javanese, joking about which one of us they wanted. Some of us were too fat, others too skinny. EXCUSE ME, SIR. I CAN HEAR YOU. And more importantly, AKU MUDENG.
8. Along those same lines, a much younger guy walked up to me when I was with a group of four other girls, and made a comment about how many girls there were then totally felt free to ask, "Which one of you is for me?" Then he declared, "I choose that one," and pointed to one of my friends. Not awkward at all...
ANYWAYS. I say all this for two reasons.
The first is because I have really been struggling with what an appropriate response is to all these super creepy men I keep running into lately (it is NOT normally this bad). Because if I reply politely, if I reply in anger, or if I don't respond at all, the result is always the same - they just keep doing whatever they were doing. And that is, frankly, frightening. I have thought about it so much the past two weeks because it seems like these encounters have been happening over and over and over. I finally realized just a few days ago that all of this thinking about it had at some point turned into anger in my heart. I was ANGRY at these men for making me feel uncomfortable and unsafe. ANGRY at them for not respecting me. ANGRY at them for their selfishness. I've had two nightmares in the past two weeks about men attacking me or chasing me. I let anger and fear into my heart, and they have no place there. I don't want to shut down this discussion in my mind completely, because I DO want to know what an appropriate response - Biblically and culturally - is. But I'm working on the state of my heart as I wrestle with this.
And the second reason is because I just ran into a large group of men. In the dark. Outside my house. And they were construction workers. A rough bunch of men. AND I WAS WEARING MY PAJAMAS. I didn't realize they were there as I walked out the campus gate, but as soon as I did, I thought, "Perfect. Here we go again." But NO. They were SO NICE. And we had a great conversation! And they spoke Indonesian the whole time so that I could understand, and they didn't say sneaky things about me in Javanese! And they joked with me! And nobody stared at me! And they were just SO POLITE! And I walked happily back into my house thinking, "THERE ARE NICE MEN IN THIS WORLD. THERE IS HOPE!"
PS - My favorite people recently are people that I see notice me and who go on about their business without ever looking back. Because most people:
a) Try to take a sneaky picture
b) Stare
c) Say something wildly inappropriate
d) Look at me. Look away. Look at me. Look away. Look at me. Look away. Look at me...
e) Announce my presence to whomever they are with/near
f) Make weird animal noises
Today, for example, I was in the checkout line at the nearby minimart. In front of me was a lady with her 12 year old daughter. The daughter didn't know I was standing right behind her. Until she glanced back to look at something. I never looked directly at her, but I saw her look at me, size me up for a second, then turn back around and not say a single word. I APPRECIATE THAT, LITTLE GIRL. THANK YOU.
1. I was riding a ferry to another island with some other friends (all female, all white) over Fall Break. It was a packed boat, and many people were standing. My friends and I happened to be sitting on a bench along the boat's railing. About an hour into the ride, an older
2. I was in the mall shopping for a notebook last week. Pretty standard. It seemed like a safe place to be. Until a college guy walked up to me full of confidence and said, "Let's play a game. If I lose, you can slap me in the face. If I win, you have to give me your phone number." Needless to say, I declined. And his creepy friend thinks I didn't see him taking pictures of the whole thing.
3. A different guy walked up to me randomly and out of the blue asked if I would take a picture with him (this happens regularly). I very politely declined (this also happens regularly), so he started taking pictures OF me instead (this does NOT happen regularly), hollering for me to come back as I walked away from him. HARD PASS, DUDE.
4. I went out for coffee with two female students one night this week, and I followed them home afterwards, just to make sure they got back safely. Well, they got a flat tire on the way home, so we pulled off the road to a tire patching place (they are all along the streets here). There were three men there. At first. Then they called their friends up and told them all to come see the white girls they had. So then there were six or seven men. All making crass jokes in Javanese and staring so much it took five men over an hour to do a 15 minute one man job. For real, I had to remind one guy to stop staring and keep working. TWICE. And then we had to pay them. That was the kicker...
5. I was out to dinner at a streetside cafe with some friends. A drunk guy walked in and honed in on one of my friends, and he came to stand behind her chair. Then he started chatting with all of us. He never said anything directly to my friend that he so clearly liked, but as he spoke, he started leaning over the back of her chair. Leaning... and leaning... and leaning... until my poor friend was basically laying on the table trying to keep away from him and his nasty beer breath. We asked him repeatedly to go, but he REALLY didn't want to leave the pretty girl.
6. I walked by a guy the other day in town who started making kissing faces/noises at me as I walked past. This actually happens more often than you'd think. Unless you're a white girl living... actually, if you're any girl living anywhere, I guess. This phenomenon is not region specific. So this happens more than you'd think. Unless you're a girl. Then you know exactly how much it happens.
7. As I was out with friends recently, I overheard two older men (I would guess they had grandchildren) nearby comparing all of us in Javanese, joking about which one of us they wanted. Some of us were too fat, others too skinny. EXCUSE ME, SIR. I CAN HEAR YOU. And more importantly, AKU MUDENG.
8. Along those same lines, a much younger guy walked up to me when I was with a group of four other girls, and made a comment about how many girls there were then totally felt free to ask, "Which one of you is for me?" Then he declared, "I choose that one," and pointed to one of my friends. Not awkward at all...
ANYWAYS. I say all this for two reasons.
The first is because I have really been struggling with what an appropriate response is to all these super creepy men I keep running into lately (it is NOT normally this bad). Because if I reply politely, if I reply in anger, or if I don't respond at all, the result is always the same - they just keep doing whatever they were doing. And that is, frankly, frightening. I have thought about it so much the past two weeks because it seems like these encounters have been happening over and over and over. I finally realized just a few days ago that all of this thinking about it had at some point turned into anger in my heart. I was ANGRY at these men for making me feel uncomfortable and unsafe. ANGRY at them for not respecting me. ANGRY at them for their selfishness. I've had two nightmares in the past two weeks about men attacking me or chasing me. I let anger and fear into my heart, and they have no place there. I don't want to shut down this discussion in my mind completely, because I DO want to know what an appropriate response - Biblically and culturally - is. But I'm working on the state of my heart as I wrestle with this.
And the second reason is because I just ran into a large group of men. In the dark. Outside my house. And they were construction workers. A rough bunch of men. AND I WAS WEARING MY PAJAMAS. I didn't realize they were there as I walked out the campus gate, but as soon as I did, I thought, "Perfect. Here we go again." But NO. They were SO NICE. And we had a great conversation! And they spoke Indonesian the whole time so that I could understand, and they didn't say sneaky things about me in Javanese! And they joked with me! And nobody stared at me! And they were just SO POLITE! And I walked happily back into my house thinking, "THERE ARE NICE MEN IN THIS WORLD. THERE IS HOPE!"
PS - My favorite people recently are people that I see notice me and who go on about their business without ever looking back. Because most people:
a) Try to take a sneaky picture
b) Stare
c) Say something wildly inappropriate
d) Look at me. Look away. Look at me. Look away. Look at me. Look away. Look at me...
e) Announce my presence to whomever they are with/near
f) Make weird animal noises
Today, for example, I was in the checkout line at the nearby minimart. In front of me was a lady with her 12 year old daughter. The daughter didn't know I was standing right behind her. Until she glanced back to look at something. I never looked directly at her, but I saw her look at me, size me up for a second, then turn back around and not say a single word. I APPRECIATE THAT, LITTLE GIRL. THANK YOU.
27 October 2015
A Vomiting Heart
Well, well, well. The last time you heard from me was over 2 months ago. I haven't forgotten about this blog. There are moments in nearly every day where I think to myself, "I should write about this later". But when it comes down to actually sitting at my computer and DOING it, I am just.... TIRED.
I wrote last time about maybe biting off more than I could chew and my need for a lifeboat. More often than not these days, I come home from school, and I just sit. Sometimes I turn on music. Sometimes I put on a movie so my apartment doesn't feel so empty. Sometimes I come home and just sit down on my couch and stay there in perfect silence until it gets dark. Because sometimes that is what I need to do to recover from my day.
This semester hasn't been some deep dank pit of busy-ness and stress though. In the moment, it often feels like it is, but there have been so many moments of joy - great joy.
We've had two student retreats, one of which was with 2 other Christian international schools and both of which I helped organize, and they have both been fantastic. This year, I have witnessed my students cry out for God, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and pray healing over perfect strangers. Organizing high school retreats kind of feels like herding cats, but they resulted in so many precious moments that I wouldn't trade for anything. It's good for me to be reminded that my students are human. They are striving to live Christ-like lives. Like, that is the deep desire of their hearts. But they fall short. Just like I do. What I see on a day to day basis is often the falling short part. I see their frustration and their bad attitudes rather than seeing their hearts.
I've made some great friends - American friends - this semester. And we've had some wonderful adventures all over this great archipelago. They all have such a heart for Indonesia, and they see this place for what it is - a beautiful nation full of beautiful people. I get so EXCITED when I meet people who see Indonesia through God's eyes! Because so many people just write off Indonesia as dirty, backwards, and something to be tolerated.
Last month, an entire team of teachers met with the parents of a struggling student. This family is new to Indonesia this year, and their son was previously in the public school system in America. These parents told us that they have never had an experience like that before - where ALL of their son's teachers so desired for him to succeed that they set aside time to meet together with them and to pray together for their son. I am so thankful to get to be a part of that!
Thanks to El Niño, we have had an extended dry season. This has been a very selfish joy. I hate the rains. They should have started last month, but now, well into October, we are still having blissfully sunny days, and I am soaking them up. Unfortunately, other islands are experiencing serious problems because of the lack of rain. Sumatra and Kalimantan are both experiencing widespread forest fires which are having a SEVERELY negative impact on those areas. People are dying because of smoke inhalation. People are losing their homes, losing their jobs, falling behind in school. It's been months of inescapable smoke. Hospitals are running out of oxygen tanks. Outside of Java, the situation is dire. Many areas are now in a state of emergency. Please pray that rains would come and clean the air!
A lot of things that were keeping me so busy were specific to first quarter. Now that we're in second quarter, I feel like the workload has lessened a bit. I commented to someone the other day that I had some extra time AND energy, but that I'd forgotten what to do with that combination!
I wrote last time about maybe biting off more than I could chew and my need for a lifeboat. More often than not these days, I come home from school, and I just sit. Sometimes I turn on music. Sometimes I put on a movie so my apartment doesn't feel so empty. Sometimes I come home and just sit down on my couch and stay there in perfect silence until it gets dark. Because sometimes that is what I need to do to recover from my day.
This semester hasn't been some deep dank pit of busy-ness and stress though. In the moment, it often feels like it is, but there have been so many moments of joy - great joy.
We've had two student retreats, one of which was with 2 other Christian international schools and both of which I helped organize, and they have both been fantastic. This year, I have witnessed my students cry out for God, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and pray healing over perfect strangers. Organizing high school retreats kind of feels like herding cats, but they resulted in so many precious moments that I wouldn't trade for anything. It's good for me to be reminded that my students are human. They are striving to live Christ-like lives. Like, that is the deep desire of their hearts. But they fall short. Just like I do. What I see on a day to day basis is often the falling short part. I see their frustration and their bad attitudes rather than seeing their hearts.
I've made some great friends - American friends - this semester. And we've had some wonderful adventures all over this great archipelago. They all have such a heart for Indonesia, and they see this place for what it is - a beautiful nation full of beautiful people. I get so EXCITED when I meet people who see Indonesia through God's eyes! Because so many people just write off Indonesia as dirty, backwards, and something to be tolerated.
Last month, an entire team of teachers met with the parents of a struggling student. This family is new to Indonesia this year, and their son was previously in the public school system in America. These parents told us that they have never had an experience like that before - where ALL of their son's teachers so desired for him to succeed that they set aside time to meet together with them and to pray together for their son. I am so thankful to get to be a part of that!
Thanks to El Niño, we have had an extended dry season. This has been a very selfish joy. I hate the rains. They should have started last month, but now, well into October, we are still having blissfully sunny days, and I am soaking them up. Unfortunately, other islands are experiencing serious problems because of the lack of rain. Sumatra and Kalimantan are both experiencing widespread forest fires which are having a SEVERELY negative impact on those areas. People are dying because of smoke inhalation. People are losing their homes, losing their jobs, falling behind in school. It's been months of inescapable smoke. Hospitals are running out of oxygen tanks. Outside of Java, the situation is dire. Many areas are now in a state of emergency. Please pray that rains would come and clean the air!
A lot of things that were keeping me so busy were specific to first quarter. Now that we're in second quarter, I feel like the workload has lessened a bit. I commented to someone the other day that I had some extra time AND energy, but that I'd forgotten what to do with that combination!
14 August 2015
Did I Bite Off More Than I Can Chew?
I didn't realize how worn out I was getting until I went to America last. Suddenly, I had no responsibility, no pressure, no work, no schedule. It was weird. But it was great. And I decided that when I got back to Indonesia, I wasn't going to take on so much. Because I didn't want to be that tired again. So I didn't volunteer for a lot of things this past year. I didn't go out of my way to do any extra tutoring/teaching or be involved in any extra-curricular activities, on or off campus. I didn't even attempt to make any new friends.
The past year was very restful. But it was also kind of boring. I watched a lot of TV and went to bed early frequently. Those are not complaints in any way. But this year, I decided that I wanted to take on a little more. I didn't want to be such a homebody. I needed some balance.
Somehow "a little" turned into "way more than a little". Like, it grew exponentially. Some of it is my fault. But some of it is not. The first week of school just ended, and I already feel like I am drowning. Like maybe I could use five teaching assistants and a lifeboat.
On the plus side, though, I am sleeping great at night. And I made it through an entire week without yelling at anyone. And due to Indonesian Independence Day, I am kicking off a three day weekend.
And I had the following conversation with a student today which made me smile on the inside while I maintained a professionally stern face on the outside.
Me: When you get to part d, you don't need to write a paragraph like it says to, just discuss your answer with your partner.
Student: Do we really have to write a paragraph for part d?
Me: Uh.... I just explained that.
Student: Sorry. I was having trouble focusing, because I was busy swimming in your eyes.
Me: Then ask your partner.
Student: I'm pretty sure he was swimming too.
The past year was very restful. But it was also kind of boring. I watched a lot of TV and went to bed early frequently. Those are not complaints in any way. But this year, I decided that I wanted to take on a little more. I didn't want to be such a homebody. I needed some balance.
Somehow "a little" turned into "way more than a little". Like, it grew exponentially. Some of it is my fault. But some of it is not. The first week of school just ended, and I already feel like I am drowning. Like maybe I could use five teaching assistants and a lifeboat.
On the plus side, though, I am sleeping great at night. And I made it through an entire week without yelling at anyone. And due to Indonesian Independence Day, I am kicking off a three day weekend.
And I had the following conversation with a student today which made me smile on the inside while I maintained a professionally stern face on the outside.
Me: When you get to part d, you don't need to write a paragraph like it says to, just discuss your answer with your partner.
Student: Do we really have to write a paragraph for part d?
Me: Uh.... I just explained that.
Student: Sorry. I was having trouble focusing, because I was busy swimming in your eyes.
Me: Then ask your partner.
Student: I'm pretty sure he was swimming too.
11 August 2015
First Day of School
Well, after a summer break that sometimes felt too long, school has started once again. I successfully navigated the chaos and awkwardness of the first day, and now that that's over, I have the rest of the year to look forward to! Once again, I'll be teaching 9th grade Geometry, 10th grade Algebra 2, 11th grade Pre-Calculus, and 12th grade Calculus.
Some things I realized today.
- There is exactly one graduating senior who has been at this school since Kindergarten.
- I have more students this year than ever before.
- The current seniors were in 5th grade when I came to this school.
- I have taught math to my AP Calculus students for FIVE consecutive years (since 8th grade Algebra 1), which means that I have taught them longer than any other teacher at this school.
When I was introducing myself to my 9th grade Geometry class today, I told them that I hope they like me, because I might be the only math teacher they have for the rest of high school!
One teacher related thing that I absolutely hate doing is coming up with creative bulletin boards. That stuff is for elementary teachers. Unfortunately, I have one bulletin board in my classroom that I can't just leave blank all year. It would be an eyesore. So I made a tree trunk out of burlap, and I cut out tons of leaves from scraps of origami paper, scrapbook paper, and wrapping paper that I found laying around my house. And I passed them out, one to each student, in every class today. I asked them to write something encouraging on it. I said they could write whatever they wanted as long as someone else could read it and be encouraged by it. Things they wrote include:
"Jesus loves you more than you could ever imagine!!"
"Remember the important things in life. Like chocolate."
"I know you can do it."
"Smile."
"Don't worry, math is hard for the rest of us too..."
"You are not alone."
"Mon cher ami... Je suis contente d'avoir un ami comme toi."
"Let's not fail. Let's pass."
"You're awesome."
"Don't worry, there are uglier people out there."
"Keep on truckin!!!"
"Do not EVER date in high school."
"Shine bright like a diamond."
"If Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Melark can survive the hunger games twice, then you can pass this class!"
"Always love each other."
"To those who are bombarded with the workload and find it hard to be positive: God regards you a worthy servant to handle this. Don't let Him down."
I love doing bulletin boards this way because I get to see a little bit of each student's personality, right from the beginning. It also saves me from having to make something super creative. And I can leave it up all year long. It's our little encouragement tree. Here's the finished product...
So that's the end of my first day of school update. Now I'm going to go home and sleep til tomorrow.
Some things I realized today.
- There is exactly one graduating senior who has been at this school since Kindergarten.
- I have more students this year than ever before.
- The current seniors were in 5th grade when I came to this school.
- I have taught math to my AP Calculus students for FIVE consecutive years (since 8th grade Algebra 1), which means that I have taught them longer than any other teacher at this school.
When I was introducing myself to my 9th grade Geometry class today, I told them that I hope they like me, because I might be the only math teacher they have for the rest of high school!
One teacher related thing that I absolutely hate doing is coming up with creative bulletin boards. That stuff is for elementary teachers. Unfortunately, I have one bulletin board in my classroom that I can't just leave blank all year. It would be an eyesore. So I made a tree trunk out of burlap, and I cut out tons of leaves from scraps of origami paper, scrapbook paper, and wrapping paper that I found laying around my house. And I passed them out, one to each student, in every class today. I asked them to write something encouraging on it. I said they could write whatever they wanted as long as someone else could read it and be encouraged by it. Things they wrote include:
"Jesus loves you more than you could ever imagine!!"
"Remember the important things in life. Like chocolate."
"I know you can do it."
"Smile."
"Don't worry, math is hard for the rest of us too..."
"You are not alone."
"Mon cher ami... Je suis contente d'avoir un ami comme toi."
"Let's not fail. Let's pass."
"You're awesome."
"Don't worry, there are uglier people out there."
"Keep on truckin!!!"
"Do not EVER date in high school."
"Shine bright like a diamond."
"If Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Melark can survive the hunger games twice, then you can pass this class!"
"Always love each other."
"To those who are bombarded with the workload and find it hard to be positive: God regards you a worthy servant to handle this. Don't let Him down."
I love doing bulletin boards this way because I get to see a little bit of each student's personality, right from the beginning. It also saves me from having to make something super creative. And I can leave it up all year long. It's our little encouragement tree. Here's the finished product...
So that's the end of my first day of school update. Now I'm going to go home and sleep til tomorrow.
23 July 2015
The Beach
There are few things on earth so frightening and comforting to me as the South Sea of Java.
From Antarctica to the south coast of the island of Java, there are no major land masses. This means that there is nothing to break up the current, and the water is extremely strong and dangerous. It is difficult to wade much more than knee deep into the water because even if the waves are relatively small, the undercurrent drags at your legs and makes it hard to stay upright. The water on the south coast has such a frightening strength, and it has claimed more than a few lives.
But I am drawn to the water. I love everything about it. I love the color of it. The sound of it. The way it moves. The consistency of it. The endlessness of it. The feel of it on my skin. The way it washes over the sand and smoothes it. The way that it sustains life.
As our last hurrah of the summer, the group that I travelled to Gunung Bromo with last month decided to spend a night camping together at a remote beach on the south coast. With not a soul in sight, we pitched our tents in the sand and built a bonfire. We spent the evening climbing rock formations to find better and better views, watching the stars emerge one by one, listening to the waves come closer as the tide rose, eating food cooked over a campfire, and singing all the hits of the past 20 years.
It was a quick trip, but it was a trip full of laughter and quality times with quality people and enjoying the beauty of our Creator.
Coming home from this trip, I was a little sad. Though we were basically just acquaintances only a month ago, I’ve grown quite fond of our little travel group. From the beginning, we experienced each other in areas far outside of our comfort zones. We have spent hours in close quarters sharing our hearts and our lives with one another. We have been through what felt like near death experiences together. We have trekked across three provinces and back again. We discovered shared interests we didn’t know we had. And all this allowed us to bond quickly.
But this week, we had to say goodbye to 50% of our group. Just a few hours ago, one friend landed in America to begin studies as a college freshman in Idaho. And tomorrow, another will be moving to start a new job in East Java.
Our adventures are over. For now…
07 July 2015
Things I Have Learned This Week
1. How to build and install an Indonesian septic tank.
2. Defamation of character is a crime punishable by prison time in Indonesia.
3. Indonesian allergy medicine is less than 50% as potent as American allergy medicine of the same brand and dosage.
4. When Ibu Sri climbs a mountain, she can't come to work for the next two days because she can't move her body.
5. My friends can find something to complain about in every situation. No matter what. Seriously.
6. During the fasting month, you should go nowhere between the hours of 5 and 6 PM.
7. My dear, darling Melanie is moving back to town on FRIDAY.
8. Kindles cost almost twice as much in Australia as they do in America.
9. Nothing is safe from thieves during Ramadan.
10. Broken helmets can be professionally glued back together.
11. Ice is a hot commodity.
12. If your internet breaks often enough, the technician will finally just give you his personal cell phone number.
13. No matter how well I take care of my clothes, they will get tiny inexplicable holes in them.
14. Ants will never stop coming.
15. My neighborhood is building a camel for the Idul Fitri parade this year. I know this because I almost crashed into it on the road in the dark. A GIANT CAMEL. It was horrifying.
2. Defamation of character is a crime punishable by prison time in Indonesia.
3. Indonesian allergy medicine is less than 50% as potent as American allergy medicine of the same brand and dosage.
4. When Ibu Sri climbs a mountain, she can't come to work for the next two days because she can't move her body.
5. My friends can find something to complain about in every situation. No matter what. Seriously.
6. During the fasting month, you should go nowhere between the hours of 5 and 6 PM.
7. My dear, darling Melanie is moving back to town on FRIDAY.
8. Kindles cost almost twice as much in Australia as they do in America.
9. Nothing is safe from thieves during Ramadan.
10. Broken helmets can be professionally glued back together.
11. Ice is a hot commodity.
12. If your internet breaks often enough, the technician will finally just give you his personal cell phone number.
13. No matter how well I take care of my clothes, they will get tiny inexplicable holes in them.
14. Ants will never stop coming.
15. My neighborhood is building a camel for the Idul Fitri parade this year. I know this because I almost crashed into it on the road in the dark. A GIANT CAMEL. It was horrifying.
30 June 2015
How Things Get Done
I've been having this recurring problem. My shower keeps getting clogged. I assumed there was probably some 50 foot long clump of wet hair stuck somewhere causing drainage issues. But apparently, it's bigger than that. I mean, the problem is bigger than that. Not the clump of hair is bigger than that. Ew. Now I'm grossing myself out thinking of a clump of wet hair BIGGER than 50 feet. Sick.
Anyways, the fixer men (as I like to call them) have come repeatedly to fix the problem over the past several months. They make my shower work for awhile, but then within a month or two, it's clogged again. And it's not a gradual thing either. Saturday, I took a shower, and everything was fine. Sunday, I took a shower, and within 10 minutes, I was standing in ankle deep water that took the next 5 hours to drain while my kitchen sink made very disturbing noises. So I called for help yet again.
Yesterday morning, two men showed up with the tools of the trade: a railroad nail, a hammer, and a garden hose. Naturally, they showed up right as I was finishing a giant cup of coffee so I REALLY needed to pee very badly but I couldn't on account of the fact that two men were standing in my shower peering down the drain.
They eventually decided that their first move would be to shove the hose down the shower drain. And much to my consternation, about five pounds of terrible smelling silt and rock came erupting up out of it. All I could do was look at them in shock and yell, "I PROMISE ALL THAT DID NOT COME FROM ME." I mean, everybody has those days when you come home just covered in rocks. But I make sure to brush them off outside, not wash them off in the shower. Because OBVIOUSLY rocks clog showers. So I don't know who put all those rocks down there, but IT WASN'T ME.
Anyways, the two men cleaned my shower out for me. Then they tried running some water down the drain to see if they had already fixed the problem. It was a good news/bad news situation. Because the water drained out of the shower, no problem. However, it all came up through my kitchen sink. And then flooded the cupboards under my kitchen sink. So we got that under control.
Their next move was to determine if a pipe was clogged somewhere outside. This involved them taking out their giant rusty nail and hammer and using it to demolish the sidewalk outside of my house by slowly chiseling away the concrete in the general vicinity of where any drainage pipes passed. They slightly miscalculated the location of one pipe which resulted in a lovely fountain at one point. Then they left and said they'd come back tomorrow.
Yesterday's tomorrow is of course today's today. Clearly.
True to their word, they showed up once again today. AT SEVEN AM. When I was still in bed. They promptly announced that they would be building me a new septic tank because the old one is full. That made a lot of sense in my half awake state. Until I got more awake and thought about it. BUILD me a new septic tank? Seems sketchy. Also, can't you just pump out the old one? Apparently we don't do that in this country. So I chose to trust them. ish... And they got to work digging up the old septic tank.
Except that, true to form, the only tools they brought with them today were a hammer, some various sized screws, a pair of pliers, a crowbar, and a hoe. And people, EVERY SINGLE ONE of those items was used in the digging process. So go figure that out.
They dug for a little bit. Then they declared that it is too hot, so they left and said they'll be back tomorrow to dig some more.
Fingers crossed that they bring an actual shovel. And that I will someday soon be able to flush the toilet without fear of it erupting out of some other pipe in my house.
Anyways, the fixer men (as I like to call them) have come repeatedly to fix the problem over the past several months. They make my shower work for awhile, but then within a month or two, it's clogged again. And it's not a gradual thing either. Saturday, I took a shower, and everything was fine. Sunday, I took a shower, and within 10 minutes, I was standing in ankle deep water that took the next 5 hours to drain while my kitchen sink made very disturbing noises. So I called for help yet again.
Yesterday morning, two men showed up with the tools of the trade: a railroad nail, a hammer, and a garden hose. Naturally, they showed up right as I was finishing a giant cup of coffee so I REALLY needed to pee very badly but I couldn't on account of the fact that two men were standing in my shower peering down the drain.
They eventually decided that their first move would be to shove the hose down the shower drain. And much to my consternation, about five pounds of terrible smelling silt and rock came erupting up out of it. All I could do was look at them in shock and yell, "I PROMISE ALL THAT DID NOT COME FROM ME." I mean, everybody has those days when you come home just covered in rocks. But I make sure to brush them off outside, not wash them off in the shower. Because OBVIOUSLY rocks clog showers. So I don't know who put all those rocks down there, but IT WASN'T ME.
Anyways, the two men cleaned my shower out for me. Then they tried running some water down the drain to see if they had already fixed the problem. It was a good news/bad news situation. Because the water drained out of the shower, no problem. However, it all came up through my kitchen sink. And then flooded the cupboards under my kitchen sink. So we got that under control.
Their next move was to determine if a pipe was clogged somewhere outside. This involved them taking out their giant rusty nail and hammer and using it to demolish the sidewalk outside of my house by slowly chiseling away the concrete in the general vicinity of where any drainage pipes passed. They slightly miscalculated the location of one pipe which resulted in a lovely fountain at one point. Then they left and said they'd come back tomorrow.
Yesterday's tomorrow is of course today's today. Clearly.
True to their word, they showed up once again today. AT SEVEN AM. When I was still in bed. They promptly announced that they would be building me a new septic tank because the old one is full. That made a lot of sense in my half awake state. Until I got more awake and thought about it. BUILD me a new septic tank? Seems sketchy. Also, can't you just pump out the old one? Apparently we don't do that in this country. So I chose to trust them. ish... And they got to work digging up the old septic tank.
Except that, true to form, the only tools they brought with them today were a hammer, some various sized screws, a pair of pliers, a crowbar, and a hoe. And people, EVERY SINGLE ONE of those items was used in the digging process. So go figure that out.
They dug for a little bit. Then they declared that it is too hot, so they left and said they'll be back tomorrow to dig some more.
Fingers crossed that they bring an actual shovel. And that I will someday soon be able to flush the toilet without fear of it erupting out of some other pipe in my house.
22 June 2015
Ramadan
We are now on the 6th day of the fasting month known as Ramadan. I have friends on all sides of the fence when it comes to fasting. I have Christian and Catholic friends who don’t fast. I have Christian friends who DO fast, either as a show of solidarity or as a personal time of prayer for Indonesia. I have Muslim friends who strictly fast. And I have Muslim friends who fast for a few days, then kind of give up. In light of all the different comments and complaints I’ve heard from all my friends over the last six days, I decided to post some of my favorite fasting memes that I’ve seen so far this Ramadan. Because I think they’re pretty funny. And a lot of them reflect real life conversations I’ve heard. And I’m sorry to everyone who can’t read all of them.
Question: If Nobita eats in the morning before the fast starts then gets in a time machine and travels to after the fast ends, and she eats then… does that count?
Stay calm, bro. It’s still awhile until we break the fast.
Right now, looking at a cockroach is like looking at a fig.
This actually happened to a friend of mine.
And one more, just for kicks…
20 June 2015
A Story (As Told by Jafro - 4 years old)
One time when I was a baby, I ate a wasp. It didn't bite me. But I spit it out because it tasted bad and because people don't eat wasps, not even if they're fried. But then because I ate a wasp, all my hair turned straight. And my foot fell off. And my hands fell off. And then I couldn't move. I needed to get healed. So I ate some ice cream. Then I went to bed. I slept for a long time. And when I woke up, I rode a horse. But I fell off. So I got back on. Then I fell off again. So I got back on. Then I fell off again. Then my mom got mad at me and she hit me with a broom and said "Don't do that!" Then I ate a grasshopper and I didn't tell her. Because then I was all better. Oh, I have to go now. I'll tell you more stories tomorrow.
16 June 2015
Gunung Bromo
Remember how I decided to do a mildly spontaneous weekend trip with some people from church? Well, that happened over the past weekend. And it was SUCH a good trip in every possible way. I continue to be amazed by the people God puts in my life. He knows what I need even when I don’t. This weekend was full of meaningful conversations and belly laughs and sharing heavy things and seeing each other not at our best and just being real with one another. I wasn’t close to any of the people I was travelling with, but 56 straight hours of togetherness has a way of changing things…
Let me tell you about the trip. Oh, and in case you don’t feel like reading all my words, feel free to just look at the pictures. I understand.
The two guys and I left Salatiga at about 2 PM on Friday. We went by car to the train station in Surakarta, about one hour southeast of home. Then we caught the 5 o’clock train to Surabaya (a city in East Java) where the other one-fourth of our group was waiting. We arrived shortly after 8 PM, met up with our fourth, then went to Carl’s Junior for three hours to wait for our ride to Bromo.
What we did was book a tour package thing that was all inclusive. We got to visit five different locations around Bromo, and they also provided all the transportation costs to and from the mountain. This is often the most convenient/cheapest way to do things. But it also means that we don’t get to operate on our own schedule.
So anyways, our driver picked us up at Carl’s Junior (which, BTW, I didn’t even know was a thing in Indonesia…) at 11 PM, and the four of us hit the road! It was a three hour drive to the base of Mount Bromo. At this point, I had been up since 6 AM, and I was really hoping to get some sleep during the car ride. I don’t think I got more than a total of 20 minutes though, as the car ride was extremely rough and I was prepared to go flying through the windshield at any moment. We arrived at the base of Bromo sometime around 2 AM. From there, we had to switch vehicles. So we moved all of our bags over to a waiting Jeep, and the four of us piled in the back on bench seats along the walls. It was a tight fit.
This Jeep ride was one of the more horrifying vehicle experiences of my life. I mean, I’ve lived in Southeast Asia for seven years. The driving typically doesn’t faze me. But this guy was Takumi and we were his tofu. We were having trouble staying put as he fishtailed through hairpin turns with the engine roaring in second gear the entire way up the mountain. He also thought it would be a great idea to pass all other vehicles… in the dark on the one lane road with a sheer drop-off on one side. It was a nail-biter, for sure. But after about an hour of that, we finally made it to the top.
I was told ahead of time that I would probably have to pay 10 times as much as my friends to get in. When people try to pull that on me, I just whip out my KITAS – my residency permit – and they are always like, “Oh, you LIVE here? OK. You pay the local price then.” But the tour company said that the people at Bromo didn’t care. White is white, KITAS or not. They wanted me to be prepared. So I was kind of dreading that. Because if there’s one thing I hate, it’s injustice, no matter how minor. But when the Jeep stopped for us to get out and pay, I dropped to the ground, legs all aquiver (I may have kissed the ground at one point), and walked boldly up to the payment counter. Or at least as boldly as I could on my cramped, shaky legs. A very gruff looking man gave me the up down and asked, “How many people in your Jeep?” I said in Indonesian, “Four”. He asked, “All foreigners?” I looked him straight in the eye and whispered very dramatically, “All locals”. He narrowed his eyes and stared at me for a long minute. Then gave me the local price.
(Full disclosure – it may not have been that dramatic. But I like to think that it was. Because gosh darnet, I fought for my rights and I WON!)
Anyyyyyyways. We drove the rest of the way to the peak of the mountain. We had to get out and walk the last little bit to the sunrise lookout spot. Sadly, our driver was so hell bent on getting to the top of the mountain before anyone else (hence all the crazy half-off-the-road passing other vehicles) that we basically did get to the top of the mountain before anyone else – AT THREE AM. Do you know how cold it is on top of a mountain at 3 AM?! And do you know what time the sun rises in Indonesia?! FIVE FIFTEEN!
BUT… let me tell you. Those two frigid hours of waiting were not wasted on us. We ate some delicious burgers that we had packed from Carl’s Jr. Granted, we couldn’t feel our fingers by the time we’d finished eating. BUT that was one of the best burgers I’ve EVER had. Like, in my life. So good. Also from the top of the mountain, we could see the Milky Way. Millions and millions of tiny stars everywhere. If sitting under a view like that doesn’t put you in awe of our great God, then I think you should get your eyes checked.
I tried to take a picture of the stars. But by that point, other people were trickling up to the lookout area, waving flashlights around and taking phone pictures of themselves repeatedly with the flash on. So that didn’t work out so well for me given that I was being blinded everywhere I looked and that the exposure kept getting messed up. But I did get this one of the stars in their 90 seconds of orbit.
By the time the sun started to rise, I was basically in my worst nightmare. I was shivering uncontrollably even under all my layers. (And lest you think I came unprepared, let me tell you – I packed a BLANKET. And I got made fun of for it. BUT IT WAS WORTH IT.) My stomach was hurting really badly (probably because of that massive burger I had just downed). I had been awake for 23 hours. AND by now the place was SO packed with people who had absolutely zero consideration for my American need for personal space. I mean, at one point, a lady parked her toddler on my lap while she tried to wipe the kid’s nose with a tissue. Also, there were so many selfie sticks and Gopros waving around everywhere, I could hardly enjoy the view.
It was an hour long battle of trying to stay upright while being jostled from all sides by tripods, elbows, small children, inconsiderate adults, etc. While attempting to take as many pictures as possible in between all the selfie sticks in the air. One nice thing about the crowd though was that they gave off an incredible amount of body heat. So… you win some, you lose some. And I did get some pretty stellar (I think) shots of the sky changing color as the sun started to rise.
We all eventually reached a point of not being able to tolerate the crowd anymore. Unfortunately, that point came before the sun actually came up. So we decided to walk around and try to find some other interesting vantage points. This was a winning idea, and it produced the following shots of craters and steaming vents and the earth waking up wrapped in a blanket of fog.
After we finished walking around the top of the mountain (AKA the point at which we feared we just might freeze to death), we started walking back down to our Jeep. Thankfully, there were many people capitalizing off the cold weather, and there was no shortage of places at which to buy hot beverages and noodles. So obviously, that’s what we did. We sat and had coffee and noodles and talked about God who made the mountains and the stars and the sunrise and all of the obnoxious people. And it was good.
When we got back to our Jeep, our driver took us down lower to a kind of sandy plain. Still at the top of the volcano, but lower than the peak. It looked like this from above.
Once we got down there, our driver parked on a hill and basically just looked super epic sitting on the bumper while we walked around and took a bunch of pictures like the tourists that we were.
After the sand plains, we went to a place called Teletubbies Hill. It’s less than 5 minutes from the sands, but it’s all lush and green.
It kind of looks like something from a painting. We put my blanket to good use here and had a picnic of leftover chocolate chip cookies and half eaten bags of chips we found in the Jeep. This was also the point at which we began to warm up now that the sun was getting higher. This was also the point at which we started to become delirious due to so many hours of no sleep. We made some ridiculous videos which also included strangers urinating in the background. Unfortunately for you, you will never see these videos as I am not in possession of a single one of them.
After Teletubbies Hill (but really, who named this place!?), we drove to the whispering sands. Just to be clear (because I asked our driver), these are NOT the same sands we went to earlier. Those sands don’t whisper.
But apparently neither do the so called “whispering sands”. We tried really hard to hear them whispering. But… nothing.
We were pretty tired by this point, so we had our Jeep driver take us back down the mountain. But not before we did some serious drifting on the sand flats. This activity seems much less scary in the daylight.
Before I move on to the next part of our adventure, I need to confess something. You might want to sit down for this. Are you ready?
Here is true confession time. We took approximately eleventeen hundred selfies up there.
That’s right. Like total tourists. We did it. We did it shamelessly. Selfies everywhere. So here’s a summary of some of our better selfies (that I totally stole from my friend’s Instagram account). Top left shows us at the peak right as the sun was rising. Notice the crowd in the background. Also notice my fleece blanket wrapped around my friend’s neck. After he made fun of me for bringing a blanket to a mountain. Top right is us on the non-whispering sand flats. Notice the crazy person in the background doing a cartwheel. Oh wait… he’s one of us. Bottom left shows us having our picnic and soaking up the sun at Teletubbies Hill (sans peeing man in the background. You’re welcome). And bottom right is us at the whispering sands after giving up on hearing the sands whisper. Notice how we are wearing fewer and fewer layers in each picture.
Anyways. Confessions are over. We made it back down to the base of the mountain and met up with our first driver who had driven us there from Surabaya. He had spent the night in the car waiting for us. He said there was a waterfall nearby that we could hike to, and he asked if we wanted to see it. We felt like we had a little energy left in us, so we decided to do it. It was an easy hike. I mean… there was a sidewalk the entire way. It’s not like we were bush-whacking our way through the jungle or anything.
It was only about a 10 minute walk upstream to the waterfall.
Not the most amazing waterfall I’ve ever seen. But to be fair, this was only part of it. To get to the second part, you had to hike through the river, UNDER the first waterfall, and back behind it to see the rest. I was wearing jeans and carrying my DSLR, so I was not keen on this. The boys wanted the adventure though, so they donned rain ponchos and headed on back. About 15 minutes later, they came back not too wet for the wear, and declared the other waterfall “so-so”. I don’t feel like I missed out on anything by sipping ice cold water in the shade while they did their thing.
For whatever reason, I have no photos of our trip after this one. But what a way to end the pictures, because… check out that photobomb.
After the waterfall, we got some lunch, then made the long drive back to Surabaya. Instead of going to bed early, we made the terrible decision to go watch Jurassic World and get dinner (but it wasn’t REALLY terrible because we had fun doing it). We all dropped into bed, exhausted, at about 10 PM. Sunday morning, we slept in, had pork for breakfast, watched some Netflix, then caught an afternoon train back home.
I’ve written so many words and posted so many pictures. But I feel like I’m failing miserably at giving you even a glimpse of what this trip was like. First of all, even if I could recall every single word of every single conversation that was had this weekend and post it all here, you still wouldn’t understand how good it was for my heart and soul to be surrounded all weekend by these three people so in love with their Creator. I came home from this physically exhausting weekend feeling spiritually and emotionally refreshed simply because of time spent with them. And secondly, pictures really cannot do justice to everything I saw this weekend. You know those verses in the Bible that talk about how creation declares the glory of God? Well, Gunung Bromo couldn’t be shouting any louder!
“Langit menceritakan kemuliaan Allah, dan cakrawala memberitakan pekerjaan tangan-Nya; hari meneruskan berita itu kepada hari, dan malam menyampaikan pengetahuan itu kepada malam. Tidak ada berita dan tidak ada kata, suara mereka tidak terdengar; tetapi gema mereka terpancar ke seluruh dunia, dan perkataan mereka sampai ke ujung bumi.” – Mazmur 19:2-5
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