Monday – Friday
July 18th – July 22nd
What a great week! We are exhausted in a good way. We presented workshops to the University students on Classroom Discipline (yes, there are classroom trouble makers in Indonesia just like America!), Writing Skills, Reading Comprehension, Internet Usage, and Listening & Speaking Skills. Each seminar involved creating a power point, pulling together resources, printing handouts and then presenting it for over two hours in a hot, noisy room. But, the classes were well attended, and filled with students anxious to learn.
Our afternoons were spent at the HKI (the Lutheran Protestant Church of Indonesia) finishing up our official training workshops with the Sunday School teachers and Pastors. Again, we prepared songs, teaching techniques, powerpoints, etc. The last session included a ceremony which the Bishop attended, certificates were given to the participants as being officially “trained” (by those big, white Americans!), and lots of love and thanks were spread around. It was very humbling because the SS teachers adored us and thought we were wonderful and amazing and had so many great ideas… and we were just talking from our heads and hearts. God at work!
One of the great things at HKI was the ride there and back. It was only a 10-15 minute drive, and our van was loaded with at least 9 people every day. Jacob brought his “gimp fish” with him and was teaching everyone how to make them. The girls in the back giggled a lot and the ride was hot, filled with conversation, lots of noise, and lots of fun. The seminar began at 3:00 each day. Day 1 – we were already at HKI, so we were there 1 hour in advance. Day 2 – we were picked up at 2:15. Day 3 – we were picked up at 2:45. Day 4 – we were picked up at 3:05. Day 5 – we were picked up at 3:10 (for our 3:00 presentation and 15 minute drive). Ah, Indonesian time!
Between one morning workshop at Nommensen and the afternoon at HKI, we were whisked off to a teacher’s meeting with Marolo (a superintendent for 31 school districts). We shared a US School Cultural program with 60 teachers. They were all wearing their school uniforms, the directors were chain smoking, and the room was hot, hot, hot. We smiled our way through three hours, talking loudly over children’s voices outside, traffic, and lawn equipment. Jacob was a GREAT sport and answered questions, smiled at all the teacher-ladies, and had his picture taken with tons of people. The windows of the concrete building were lined with the faces of beautiful children, curious to see who was talking, and what were the “foreigners” doing in their building. Lunch was served, and all the teachers were given a brown bag, tied with a string and a “tail” sticking it out. They unwrapped it, and it was filled with rice, a spicy meaty red sauce, and a big ol’ fish (tail, eyeballs and all)! They also received a baggie filled with water and closed with a rubber band. It was used for them to wash their fingers before and after eating their rice. No utensils. No napkins. Did I mention is was surrounded by a big banana leaf? Again, everyone loved our presentation, asked questions, thought we were wonderful, thanked us profusely. Very humbling.
One day we went with Sun (pronounced Soon) to the school where she teaches English two days a week. It was in a small village, Balimblingan, Simpang Tangsi that required a thrilling 30 minute micro bus ride to the middle of nowhere. We passed palm oil plantations, rubber tree plantations, small shops and farms. The mini-van driver drove like a maniac! Jacob thought Disney should have a micro-bus ride through Indonesia in the theme park. We arrived at our stop and were surrounded by 100 students who had just completed their day at school. They all were wearing their uniforms, even in this tiny village. We walked through the crowd, and down a narrow, rocky, dirt road with small shops on either side. The occasional motor bike would drive by, loaded down with sticks or baskets or rubbish. We walked for 7-8 minutes and arrived at a tiny spot called “English Express Course” – this is where Sun teaches junior and senior high students. It’s what we’d call an after-school tutoring program, but don’t think: Sylvan. No. The room for 40 students had well-worn, small wooden desks and benches, no books or posters or papers on the walls, a stained ceiling, a narrow white board on the front wall, a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling, concrete floor, stained dirty walls… did I mention it was hot? But, the minute we walked in, we were greeted by Ibu Sitorus (Mrs. Sitorus) the woman whose husband was the headmaster. She welcomed us warmly (though she spoke no English), and walked us through her home (which was the next room beyond the classroom). Her husband, Mr. Sitorus, arrived and welcomed us in English (he teaches English at the local senior high school), and was sweet and thrilled we were there. We didn’t know it, but we were to be served an amazing and generous lunch! Right there in their home! The generosity of the people is overwhelming! She served us huge portions of rice, pineapple, cucumbers, buffalo cheese, and grilled goldfish. It was a feast! They say goldfish is for good luck. For dessert she brought out fresh slices of mango. Yum!
After lunch, we walked to a room to meet with the 4th graders (they looked so little!) who were there to practice science. There were three text books for the class of 25 to work with. We introduced ourselves and shared a little with them, translated by Marnala, sang a few songs, had them read to us, and then walked back through the house/kitchen/dining area to the English classroom. We had a blast with the students! Jacob sang, using the headmaster’s very old guitar, we played some learning games, we asked questions, and when the 1 ½ class was over, we all went outside and took lots of pictures. As we walked back down the dirt road to catch our bus, the entire class walked with us. It was like a scene from a movie. Very moving, very special.
One strange thing is the lack of control we have over our schedule. Like today… we were going to have lunch with Anton (a student, lecturer here at Nommensen). He’s a young guy, Chinese, speaks English quite well. His family has a noodle shop in Sinatar Center area. He picked us up and drove us in his mom’s car (nice mini-van) and served us an amazing lunch of noodles (no meat for me, thank you), soup, duck eggs, pork, etc. We had orange drinks (with ice!) and some kind of sweet breads for dessert. Anton, his mother (kims), dad, Anton’s girlfriend, and three workers all were there watching us eat. Two other customers came in during that time, but otherwise, we were the entertainment. We talked and laughed and looked at pictures and discussed different cultural things. It was a delightful experience.
When we got home, there was a quick, whopper rainstorm, then we went to the hotspot. Marolo was going to stop by to get a copy of our presentation for tomorrow’s event so he could make copies (no technology where we are going tomorrow I guess). This should have been a 5-minute exchange. Instead, he arrives with his wife, two daughters (Christian – 13, and Priscillia – 9) and a niece and nephew. We stop by our house to drop off our computer, and sing songs for a while. (Yay, Jacob and the ukulele!). Then we go to his brother in law’s house, also a Nommensen professor, sit in his living room and eat bananas. Then, two more people join us and we all drive to a very nice place for dinner. Yes, there are 11 of us in the mini-van (granted, these people are small… ). We had a fabulous gathering (though we didn’t eat much since we had just eaten), practicing English with their children, sharing customs and culture, and soaking in the atmosphere of eating in such a traditional place with the locals. We finally arrived back home at 7:30 pm ready to prepare for our two workshops tomorrow. Never a dull moment. We thank God for our safety, our energy, our health, and all the amazing people we have spent time with this week.
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