The First School Week = First Impressions

August 11, 2010

Wow! After four years of college, I finally have my own classroom and a “regular” “full time” job! School started Tuesday. This is an International school so we are using American Curriculum and attempting to meet American standards, yet we are less than half Americans. I have children from Switzerland, Holland, Korea, India and the United States. Many of them are still struggling with the English language and they all experience varying levels of difficulty being “third culture kids.” A since of where do I belong? And Where am I from? Lingers. I also put “full time” in quotations because like many first year teachers, I have spent many hours at school since I have been in Indonesia. I feel like I have lived at school the last few days, only going home to crash at 11pm.

I have been really busy and slightly overwhelmed by my first year of teaching first grade and all that it entails…….. but over all I have been loving almost every minute of it! I love teaching, having my own classroom and students. I feel especially blessed to be at an amazing school like Mountainview. I only have 10 students (so far), so the class size is really nice, the students are really good(so far;)), I get along really well with all the faculty. I have great support staff like our fill in Principal (Ginger), Secretary (Ibu Hesti), and my TA (Pita). They have been great about if I need something, they will find it or make a suggestion of how to improvise. At first I didn’t have my curriculum and know how I wanted to teach, so I didn’t know what to do with my help, but now I have found a ton of things that an assistant can help with! The curriculum was not as rigorous as typical for the United States last year and many were set back by just learning English for the first time. The new curriculum is closer tied to the U.S., so now I have to play catch up with these kids. They are sweet fresh babes who are overwhelmed by a reeeeaaaalllllly long day. This is their first week back, and none of them have gone to school all day every day of the week. Before lunch, they are already asking, is it time to go home soon? I love their sweet smiles and joyful hearts!

Thank you for all your prayers and support in this time, I really feel your prayers…I have had way more strength than I should the last few days. And many of you made encouraging comments on my facebook wall too that really blessed me!

Some first day shocks………….When you go to an international school in Indonesia it typical that your helper brings your lunch freshly prepared to school, and that your driver comes and pick you up!...Im not joking, these are my first graders! Manuel labor is really cheap here, and the saying I have heard often to describe what seems a little ridiculous is, Either you have a helper, or you are one. Having a helper, is giving someone a job. Honestly, I could not teach, at least not well without my helper. The way shopping is done here (daily in the very chaotic market), clothes are washed here (by hand), food that I know how to cook is expensive, fruits and vegetables need to be washed very well (or I will get sick), things get dirty very quickly….to say the least, I wouldn’t survive very well without my helper…Ibu Citi…..and my wonderful friends who translate for me about random things at random times.

My new Home

My pre-school teacher meetings are now done, and my classroom is almost set for classes to start on Tuesday…or at least as ready as it is going to be before school starts. All last week I tried to get up with the sun in order to exercise and explore the town before I had to be at or 8am meetings. Then I typically stayed at school until 9pm or so working on my classroom, trying to get it ready! It has been a very fun and exciting yet also tiring week.
Some highlights were when my roommate(Valerie) and I bought used bikes in the market. That way I can get to school quicker, explore/navigate through the town, exercise, and ride out in the mountains by the rice paddies…so beautiful!
On Friday, we had a worship service with all the national workers, and then went out into the nearby streets and park and did some clean up.
We also had a family reunion once all the staff had returned with team building activities, burgers and potluck and fireworks. I never thought baking my favorite cookie bars could be such a complicated process(trying to say, find, and buy the ingredients, get the stove to work)
I constantly find myself trying to say things in Spanish. The language barrier makes doing just about anything outside of the Mountainview English speaking community extremely difficult.
We had to hire a new helper named Ibu Citi that does most of our grocery shopping (in the market), cook us a meal a day, washes all our laundry by hand, and cleans our house. Hired help is essential when being a foreigner and trying to also teach. When I first got here, I doubted how much we would need here, but know I understand. Shopping is done mostly in the market and involves going to many different stores and bargaining in Indonesian for each item you buy. Having Ibu Citi’s help makes a big difference! We have internet at our house, but it also broke twice this week, and we had to go home for someone to fix it.
Today I rent a car with five other teachers to go to Semarang with a walmart like place, movie theatre, and mall. And tomorrow will be back to work after church!

My new Home

My pre-school teacher meetings are now done, and my classroom is almost set for classes to start on Tuesday…or at least as ready as it is going to be before school starts. All last week I tried to get up with the sun in order to exercise and explore the town before I had to be at or 8am meetings. Then I typically stayed at school until 9pm or so working on my classroom, trying to get it ready! It has been a very fun and exciting yet also tiring week.
Some highlights were when my roommate(Valerie) and I bought used bikes in the market. That way I can get to school quicker, explore/navigate through the town, exercise, and ride out in the mountains by the rice paddies…so beautiful!
On Friday, we had a worship service with all the national workers, and then went out into the nearby streets and park and did some clean up.
We also had a family reunion once all the staff had returned with team building activities, burgers and potluck and fireworks. I never thought baking my favorite cookie bars could be such a complicated process(trying to say, find, and buy the ingredients, get the stove to work)
I constantly find myself trying to say things in Spanish. The language barrier makes doing just about anything outside of the Mountainview English speaking community extremely difficult.
We had to hire a new helper named Ibu Citi that does most of our grocery shopping (in the market), cook us a meal a day, washes all our laundry by hand, and cleans our house. Hired help is essential when being a foreigner and trying to also teach. When I first got here, I doubted how much we would need here, but know I understand. Shopping is done mostly in the market and involves going to many different stores and bargaining in Indonesian for each item you buy. Having Ibu Citi’s help makes a big difference! We have internet at our house, but it also broke twice this week, and we had to go home for someone to fix it.
Today I rent a car with five other teachers to go to Semarang with a walmart like place, movie theatre, and mall. And tomorrow will be back to work after church!