First Day of Work

Straight of the plane and onto a bus, we sped through the renowned capital city of Jakarta en route to Bandung, a mountain retreat built by the Dutch so they could escape the heat—now the fourth largest city in Indonesia. A 35 or so hour commute, little food, even less sleep, and the social pressures of meeting thirty other Americans with whom I am sharing the Indonesian experience exacerbated the surreal feeling of this final leg of our journey. Rice paddies, trash
fires, insane traffic and formulaic conversation (So what school did you go to?) made the ride seem short compared to the excruciating jaunt from the United States to Singapore. Since arriving, we have risen early every day only to spend most of our time in a classroom setting learning how to be culturally sensitive and not get ourselves killed in this place. It is an agonizing experience for recent college graduates fresh from a summer of recreation to have their day filled with structured activities and presentations from 8 am to 5 pm. The hotel feels a bit like a summer camp where everyone has their own room and we “interact casually” during and after dinner, staying awake much later than is customary for the piously Muslim Indonesian. The problem is the jet lag. Even when I arise with the sun, my body can’t seem to get over the fact that 4 AM here is 10 AM in the States, so I wake up feeling fully rested even if I had gone to bed only two hours before. Rather annoying.

The only real event to report so far is my “first day of work” experience, a report especially dedicated to the former members of the private residence. I am one of the special English Teaching Assistants who was placed in a Pesantren—an Islamic boarding school—which basically means the American-Indonesian Exchange Foundation thought I was qualified to handle the most extreme version of culture shock available in this country. When a Pesantren is mentioned, all of the Indonesians in the room begin to ooh and ahh like the institution itself is as mysterious as an obscure archeological find or as mythical as a secret style of kung-fu reserved only for the most learned masters. I had no idea until today.

Bandung is a city in Java, in the midst of many population centers and Java is probably the most “touristy” island second only to the infamous beautiful beaches of Bali. Nevertheless, the majority of English teachers at the Pesantren I visited had never spoken to a native English speaker or even seen one—except on American Idol. Even more shocking, the students (from elementary to high school) had spent most of their lives within the confines of the Pesantren forbidden to leave the campus. Their only connection to the outside world: internet and a monthly visit from their parents. This is a co-ed Pesantren, but the boys and girls are absolutely prohibited from talking to each other ever! Imagine graduating from high school and leaving the Pesantren at age 18 never having exchanged a word with a member of the opposite sex save the occasional bashful glance. That is a different kind of life.

The students treated me like I was Carson Daly on an episode of MTV’s Total Request Live…begging for photos and screaming with delight. Their exuberance was more invigorating to me than shotgunning 5 rockstar energy drinks. They were hanging on my every word, and the girls screamed and giggled with delight and embarrassment when they found out I wasn’t married. All of the teachers treated us as celebrities as well—following us around the campus shooting video, imploring our assistance in teaching English, and taking as many pictures of us as possible. We were incredibly honored guests. They brought out their finest food and even took us on a tour back to the female dormitories, a place where my friend the male teacher had not once set foot during his six year tenure on campus. When it came time to leave, the principal was begging us to stay and live there to help teach the students and staff. I can’t stop thinking about those two hours. In terms of “cultural experiences” it is my single greatest. Unfortunately, there are no teaching assistants scheduled to be placed there, but the visit really boosted my confidence and excited me to teach in my Pesantren in Makassar. Check out a few of the photos from the Pesantren visit. Big smiles from everyone!