Monday, August 8, 2011
A Long Sermon: Here's 28 Seconds of 34 Minutes
On our last Sunday in Siantar we attended the nearby HKBP Church and enjoyed the preaching of Rev. Esty Sirait. She spoke forcefully and, as always, the sound system was cranked way up way past the point of distortion. The sound levels are so loud in the church that it quickly made your ears sore. You could hear the service from a block or two away.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Video - High School Drum Band of Girsang Sipangan Bolon of Parapat
After our final teacher meeting in Indonesia, held at a middle school in Parapat, overlooking Lake Toba, we were walking to the car and heard a really cool drum band playing. It sounded like the prelude to a Friday night high school football game in America. We walked towards the sound, entered the campus of the neighboring high school, and found the band in the side yard practicing for the August 17 Independence Day event. We could only listen for a minute but they were awesome!
Jacob Makes Debut on Christian Radio - Siantar
Jacob played several songs on the Christian radio station in Siantar during our first weeks there. Assuming I am successful in posting these, you will be able to see and hear him singing with Sinyo Valentino, the station program director, who is a performing artist you may hear of in the future! I apologize that you'll have to lean over sideways to orient it properly, but I trust you'll figure it out.
The full length song wouldn't fit on Blogger so we'll have to put it on YouTube and provide a link in the future.
The full length song wouldn't fit on Blogger so we'll have to put it on YouTube and provide a link in the future.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Looking Back: Visits to the Methodist School
We spent two days teaching English and Economic subjects to students in the Junior and Senior High Schools of the Methodist Schools. These are viewed as some of the best schools in Siantar. Many of the students are of Chinese descent, though not recent immigrants. The Junior High students wear uniforms of blue slacks/shorts/skirt, white shirt and blue tie. Actually tightening your tie doesn't seem to be part of the deal. 
Jacob led classes in songs, including the "Hokey Pokey" and other classics.
The students greatly enjoyed Jacob's antics.
Herman is a graduate student at Nommensen, where we met him, and is a junior high school teacher at Methodist. He approached us almost immediately at the first workshop and asked us to visit his school. He is wearing the teacher uniform.
When students couldn't reach Jacob then they settled for talking to me.
When we first arrived at the school all the students were assembled for exercises.
With exercises concluded, all students headed quickly for their first class of the day.
The headmaster leads both the junior and senior high schools. He has two offices, probably because there are different assistants and teachers meeting rooms for each school, though the schools are in the same big building complex.
The headmaster is able to see and hear every class live via a closed circuit camera system.
This headmaster served me the only good cup of coffee I had in five weeks. Talk about a wonderful moment, it was without sugar and had all the grounds strained out. The headmaster is a graduate of Nommensen University.
Before Jacob started with the Hokey Pokey we asked the students to move their desks to make some dancing room. This was a big exciting project and I don't think they do it often.
"You put your left hand in...."
Jacob played "Oh Susanna" several times and the junior high boys were very interested.
This young man was sent as the class emissary to request our email address.
The Methodist library was quite advanced with a big computer lab/internet access point in the back. Though it didn't have a great number of books, what they did have was arranged in an attractive way to capture the attention of the students.
The first word is for "library" and the second one, I think you understand.
After a break we walked toward the stairs at one end of the complex. As we walked along the word got out that Jacob was in the courtyard and suddenly the balconies were lined with girls getting a good look at him. Many of them were calling out to him, and I thought I was escorting a rock star.
At class change following one of Jacob's performances, students press up against the windows to check out this incredible celebrity, while the students lucky enough to be in the class mob him for photos. We believe Jacob is probably featured on hundreds of Facebook profile pictures in Siantar.
Next time we will sell tickets for Jacob's appearances here. I believe we could pay for our plane tickets that way.
We retreated to the teacher room just outside of the headmaster office in order to escape the girls. But they followed.
The headmaster took us all out to KFC and ordered enough chicken to stuff everyone. He also sprung for an Oreo cookie sundae for everyone. Remember that at KFC you get the chicken along with a rice ball, wrapped up like a biscuit in America. For sauces they offer ketchup (American version) and a rather mild chili sauce (Indonesian version). A fun fact: "ketchup" in Indonesia is a really thick soy sauce. What Americans call ketchup is called Saus Tomato in Indonesia.
Jacob led classes in songs, including the "Hokey Pokey" and other classics.
The students greatly enjoyed Jacob's antics.
Herman is a graduate student at Nommensen, where we met him, and is a junior high school teacher at Methodist. He approached us almost immediately at the first workshop and asked us to visit his school. He is wearing the teacher uniform.
When students couldn't reach Jacob then they settled for talking to me.
When we first arrived at the school all the students were assembled for exercises.
With exercises concluded, all students headed quickly for their first class of the day.
The headmaster leads both the junior and senior high schools. He has two offices, probably because there are different assistants and teachers meeting rooms for each school, though the schools are in the same big building complex.
The headmaster is able to see and hear every class live via a closed circuit camera system.
This headmaster served me the only good cup of coffee I had in five weeks. Talk about a wonderful moment, it was without sugar and had all the grounds strained out. The headmaster is a graduate of Nommensen University.
Before Jacob started with the Hokey Pokey we asked the students to move their desks to make some dancing room. This was a big exciting project and I don't think they do it often.
"You put your left hand in...."
Jacob played "Oh Susanna" several times and the junior high boys were very interested.
This young man was sent as the class emissary to request our email address.
The Methodist library was quite advanced with a big computer lab/internet access point in the back. Though it didn't have a great number of books, what they did have was arranged in an attractive way to capture the attention of the students.
The first word is for "library" and the second one, I think you understand.
After a break we walked toward the stairs at one end of the complex. As we walked along the word got out that Jacob was in the courtyard and suddenly the balconies were lined with girls getting a good look at him. Many of them were calling out to him, and I thought I was escorting a rock star.
At class change following one of Jacob's performances, students press up against the windows to check out this incredible celebrity, while the students lucky enough to be in the class mob him for photos. We believe Jacob is probably featured on hundreds of Facebook profile pictures in Siantar.
Next time we will sell tickets for Jacob's appearances here. I believe we could pay for our plane tickets that way.
We retreated to the teacher room just outside of the headmaster office in order to escape the girls. But they followed.
The headmaster took us all out to KFC and ordered enough chicken to stuff everyone. He also sprung for an Oreo cookie sundae for everyone. Remember that at KFC you get the chicken along with a rice ball, wrapped up like a biscuit in America. For sauces they offer ketchup (American version) and a rather mild chili sauce (Indonesian version). A fun fact: "ketchup" in Indonesia is a really thick soy sauce. What Americans call ketchup is called Saus Tomato in Indonesia.
Last day in Indonesia - Medan
On Thursday morning we were up by 5 and said goodbye to our home at 6. It was dark and raining so that helped keep us from being sentimental...but we did have to say our last goodbye to Kristin at that point. Such a great friend, we will miss her! We drove along at a good pace. The truck traffic was low that time of morning and we made good time. The villages that were so jammed with vehicles and motorbikes on the trip from the airport five weeks ago were now almost empty. We were traveling via a taxi van with Reina. The driver found a station playing western music - time warp mid 70s to mid 80s, which helped us begin to make our mental transition back to America.
We stopped after an hour and a half because it was part of the contractual deal with the taxi company. Their driver always stops at this "taxi terminal" I think because they feed the drivers for free in exchange for them bringing in customers. Exactly like Cracker Barrel! The restaurant had the usual assortment of foods and beverages, and featured free tea. We were interested by a few things, starting with the mountains of noodles ready to be eaten. They'd be heated in a wok before being served. It looks like they are ready for a big rush!
Crunchy fish goes great with a mountain of noodles.
These are some other meat and vegetable items, all swimming in hot sauce. The candle, we decided, was to keep the flies away.
Jacob helps himself to some free tea. Warm with lots of sugar. I had a cup of coffee (served in a normal clear glass) and it was super hot. I had to use a napkin doubled over for insulation. Of course it was loaded with sugar and floating grounds.
This is the route to the restroom, a sort walk through mounds of wet sand. Nothing like tracking big layers of sand into the squat toilet. The sand was there to support a construction effort that was not yet started. Given the erosion of the sand piles, I'd say it has been there for a long time.
In Medan we connected with Marnala, who was there supporting a government program to train teachers so they can get a designation of "officially certified" which doubles their base salary. We had just a few minutes with her and it was a tearful goodbye. She has been a great friend to us and have invested a great amount of time in helping make us comfortable and welcome. She is patient and kind and never stops trying to understand what we are saying. We will miss you Marnala!
Cruising along the streets of Medan we saw many interesting sites, perhaps less interesting than they would have been five weeks ago. This motorcyclist is carrying around two huge stacks of baskets. I don't know how he kept them from tipping over. The red and white banners along the sidewalk fence are being sold for the Aug. 17 Independence Day celebration.
After enjoying a tour of offices at Nommensen's Medan campus, the Rector (the big big boss) took us out for a very nice lunch. It was perfect until they serve the durian cake for dessert. Being brave travelers we had to take a few bites of this delight, which is the favorite of some Asians. This will never become a western favorite. Unfortunately it put a rather vile last taste in our mouths after a truly great meal. After getting in some good internet time on campus, we continued to the Palace for a tour. Kings of this area (around Medan) lived here until 1945, when they were thrown out, along with the Dutch colonists.
Crunchy fish goes great with a mountain of noodles.
These are some other meat and vegetable items, all swimming in hot sauce. The candle, we decided, was to keep the flies away.
Jacob helps himself to some free tea. Warm with lots of sugar. I had a cup of coffee (served in a normal clear glass) and it was super hot. I had to use a napkin doubled over for insulation. Of course it was loaded with sugar and floating grounds.
This is the route to the restroom, a sort walk through mounds of wet sand. Nothing like tracking big layers of sand into the squat toilet. The sand was there to support a construction effort that was not yet started. Given the erosion of the sand piles, I'd say it has been there for a long time.
In Medan we connected with Marnala, who was there supporting a government program to train teachers so they can get a designation of "officially certified" which doubles their base salary. We had just a few minutes with her and it was a tearful goodbye. She has been a great friend to us and have invested a great amount of time in helping make us comfortable and welcome. She is patient and kind and never stops trying to understand what we are saying. We will miss you Marnala!
Cruising along the streets of Medan we saw many interesting sites, perhaps less interesting than they would have been five weeks ago. This motorcyclist is carrying around two huge stacks of baskets. I don't know how he kept them from tipping over. The red and white banners along the sidewalk fence are being sold for the Aug. 17 Independence Day celebration.
After enjoying a tour of offices at Nommensen's Medan campus, the Rector (the big big boss) took us out for a very nice lunch. It was perfect until they serve the durian cake for dessert. Being brave travelers we had to take a few bites of this delight, which is the favorite of some Asians. This will never become a western favorite. Unfortunately it put a rather vile last taste in our mouths after a truly great meal. After getting in some good internet time on campus, we continued to the Palace for a tour. Kings of this area (around Medan) lived here until 1945, when they were thrown out, along with the Dutch colonists.Outside the palace we found a little building with a thatched roof. It housed the famous "Split Up Cannon" which you can read about in this sign.
First of all, it was really weird to have a sign in English. This was a baffler. It doesn't give a date, but the tour guide inside had a wrinkled piece of paper with the story also in English, with the date of 1630 for the event. So the deal is that the king of Aceh (northern kingdom) demanded that the royal family in Medan deliver their daughter as a concubine. Her brothers thought it would be fine for her to be the Queen of Aceh but not a concubine, so they send the king a rejection note. Of course this did not settle well with the King, so he sent his forces to attack. The two princes of Medan then changed forms to prepare for battle, one becoming a dragon and the other this cannon.
The cannon was fired non-stop during the battle and subsequently exploded. This section remains in Medan while the other is somewhere in the Caro (highland) region. The palace itself was pretty nice for a place that had been unoccupied since 1945. Here we stand in front of the "everyday" thrones.
The entry area just inside the front door was beautifully painted.
The main room was big enough to play basketball in, but there were no goals. This is the king's throne for formal sessions with visitors. I first thought it was his bed but Reina later was able to explain that the platform was really short because the king sat on it rather than laid down.
Reina has been a great friend to us and, though very busy with her responsibilities as Head of the English Department, wife and mother, has always made the time for us and our friendship.
The Dean bought a book about the kingdoms and the Dutch colonists and discussed the point of view of the author at great length. It seems the Dutch were quite brutal in their treatment of the locals, and the king was content with the arrangement because he received 1% of the Dutch profits from their operations in his kingdom.
This is the exterior view of the palace.
After leaving the palace it was time to head for the airport. The Dean enjoyed playing his Batak greatest hits music at high volume and doing some Batak dancing demonstrations as we drove along.
Traffic was quite heavy, it being rush hour, and there were boys selling Independence Day items. When I mentioned that we would like some then it became a priority to stop and get some. We tasked the Dean with being a tough negotiator and he conducted some tough bargaining with the boys, who will be great used car salesmen in the future.
We're nearly at the airport and this Sharp billboard caught my eye. These ladies are wearing the native headdresses, with the one on the left wearing our favorite one of the Simalungun.
This entryway to the Medan airport is decorated with the peaked roofs found in the traditional Batak houses.
As a final official act, the Dean gave each of us an official certificate verifying our work for and representing Nommensen.
First of all, it was really weird to have a sign in English. This was a baffler. It doesn't give a date, but the tour guide inside had a wrinkled piece of paper with the story also in English, with the date of 1630 for the event. So the deal is that the king of Aceh (northern kingdom) demanded that the royal family in Medan deliver their daughter as a concubine. Her brothers thought it would be fine for her to be the Queen of Aceh but not a concubine, so they send the king a rejection note. Of course this did not settle well with the King, so he sent his forces to attack. The two princes of Medan then changed forms to prepare for battle, one becoming a dragon and the other this cannon.
The cannon was fired non-stop during the battle and subsequently exploded. This section remains in Medan while the other is somewhere in the Caro (highland) region. The palace itself was pretty nice for a place that had been unoccupied since 1945. Here we stand in front of the "everyday" thrones.
The entry area just inside the front door was beautifully painted.
The main room was big enough to play basketball in, but there were no goals. This is the king's throne for formal sessions with visitors. I first thought it was his bed but Reina later was able to explain that the platform was really short because the king sat on it rather than laid down.Reina has been a great friend to us and, though very busy with her responsibilities as Head of the English Department, wife and mother, has always made the time for us and our friendship.
The Dean bought a book about the kingdoms and the Dutch colonists and discussed the point of view of the author at great length. It seems the Dutch were quite brutal in their treatment of the locals, and the king was content with the arrangement because he received 1% of the Dutch profits from their operations in his kingdom.
This is the exterior view of the palace.
Traffic was quite heavy, it being rush hour, and there were boys selling Independence Day items. When I mentioned that we would like some then it became a priority to stop and get some. We tasked the Dean with being a tough negotiator and he conducted some tough bargaining with the boys, who will be great used car salesmen in the future.
We're nearly at the airport and this Sharp billboard caught my eye. These ladies are wearing the native headdresses, with the one on the left wearing our favorite one of the Simalungun.
This entryway to the Medan airport is decorated with the peaked roofs found in the traditional Batak houses.
As a final official act, the Dean gave each of us an official certificate verifying our work for and representing Nommensen.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Safe Return Home
Just a quick note to say we have returned home safely and are looking forward to sleeping for a long time. We are already missing our friends of Indonesia but are really enjoying being in air conditioning. Be patient for a day or two and we will put up more photos.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Boris the Spider: RIP
Now that we have left Siantar and the close relatives of Boris cannot seek revenge, I can tell the story of the end of Boris.
On Tuesday night we had not seen Boris since Saturday, so I assumed that he, like many students in Indonesia, had taken the week off for Ramadan. So I stepped into the tub and was enjoying my "cold water dumped by pail" shower when I saw something scamper up the side of the tub and right up the tile wall by my shoulder. I didn't have to look, I knew that Boris was giving me his "up close and personal" inspection. For an old man I jump quite high and instantly cleared the side of the tub, landing next to the door. Simultaneously I let out a loud scream to Jacob, to report the latest sighting of his pet. It took a long time for my heart rate to settle down to normal.
I think this episode motivated Jacob to action. The next morning he was in the bathroom and Boris decided to taunt him a bit. Jacob, angered that Boris had bothered his father so, pulled off his flip flop and took a whack at Boris. Boris dodged the attack and assumed Jacob was incapable of being on target to hit him. This smug attitude cost Boris his life, as Jacob reloaded and coverted Boris into spider mush in one powerful blow. Rest in peace Boris, our eight legged friend.
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