Closing Time

Ladies and Gentlemen, here it is.  The grand finale.  This is the last blog post I'll be writing in Indonesia.  For those who have stayed with me this whole year, thanks.  I'm impressed.  I hope you've learned a thing or two, and have been at least been mildly entertained.

I'll be honest, this has been a tough year for me.  I've tried to keep this blog nice and happy and positive, but not everything was sunsets and beaches.  There have been a lot of rough spots.  There have been been language barriers and boring nights and uncomfortable encounters and culture shocks and lonely weekends.  Basically, all the things that are probably supposed to happen when you're living across the world for a year.  But, as Calvin's Dad would say, they are also all experiences that are supposed to build character.  You know, make you a better person, give you a wider outlook on life, produce a better understanding of the world around you, increase grit, determination, and all that jazz.  So, has that happened?

Couldn't really tell ya.  Maybe?  Perhaps?  I'll let you know when I've readjusted to western life again and had a chance to reflect and absorb the experience.  I can probably go ahead and say I haven't become a new and different person, but it's possible that my perspective has shifted a bit.  We'll see.  In the meantime, I can tell you that I've certainly learned a lot about myself, and about various aspects of the world around us.  If, one last time, you will bear with me, I shall elaborate.

I've learned about my own capabilities.  I've especially learned these lessons in my school.  For instance, if the situation calls for it, I can whistle nearly non-stop for 20-30 minutes.  This has been a solution to calm a discontented student on several occasions.  Often, however, the more common strategy is to hum or sing various songs or made-up tunes for up to an hour.  Didn't know I could do that.  I've also learned I'm not really that great of a teacher.  I don't command attention very well, and I'm rubbish at discipline.  Another hard lesson for me to learn was that I'm not as patient as I originally thought.  That's something that I've been working on.  However, when it comes to playing with the kids, I can do that.  I have no problem getting in contact with my inner child.

I've learned to appreciate steaming hot water in a shower, and ice cold water in a drink.

I've learned that whenever I live somewhere new, I need to find a group with which I can run, a gym at which I can exercise, or both.  I didn't find those opportunities until long past after I needed them, and I will not deny myself that source of physical and mental health again.

I've learned about the Islam religion.   This has been a fascinating experience.  I've learned about prayer customs, a bit about the Quran, some of the stories that parallel bible stories, rules about cleanliness, and a lot about the food and the eating customs, especially since we just finished the month of Ramadhan.  I was raised with a very comprehensive Catholic education, which was supplemented by the Catholic high school and university I attended.  But I had learned only the slightest bits of information about Islam, some of which was influenced by an unfortunately skewed media perspective.  So, it was an interesting experience to listen and learn about an entirely new world of information, and a different sort of challenge to hear about various laws and stories with an open mind, even if I didn't agree with them.

I've learned that nearly anything can fit on the back of a motorbike. Whether it's loaded on the back of the bike, at the driver's feet, or in the arms of a second rider, there's a way to make it fit.  I've seen all sorts of things, including bird cages, construction materials, a bicycle, and a whole family of four.

I've learned that it is impossible to exist in a circumstance where money is not a concern.  My (naive) hope was that since I wouldn't be getting paid, and I wouldn't have any bills, I wouldn't have to worry about finances for a while.  Boy was I wrong.  But, there's nothing to be done about it, so one must simply accept it and move on.

I've learned to embrace the sweat.  Indonesia is a hot country.  There are many circumstances in which people are clumped together as tight as possible.  Bus travel is prime example of this.  Especially in the trans-city buses; they cram as many people as they can possibly get into the bus.  Needless to say, it's hot.  You're sweating.  And there's not a darn thing you can do about it.  Thus, you must embrace the sweat.  The slipperiness, the wetness, the smell...it must be embraced.

I've learned that OSHA exists for a reason.  Ugh.  It annoys me to say this.  For those who don't know, OSHA is the Occupational Health and Safety Administration.  In technical theatre, we know it as a giant pain in the butt.  OSHA has very strict regulations about hard hats, ladders, and all sorts of other stuff that, from the workers' perspective, sometimes tends to get in the way of productivity.  However,  I've realized that I'd rather be over-policed than have no protection at all, at least where safety is concerned.  I've seen construction all over this city, and it's been a little frightening.  I've seen guys wearing sandals while grinding metal, I've seen somebody welding on a ladder, at night, right next to a busy street, and I've never seen even a hint of safety glasses or ear plugs during any activity.  *shudder*  So yes.  Thank goodness for OSHA.

Finally, I've learned that being disconnected isn't all that great. Before I came here, when asked about the possibility of internet, I would shrug and say I wasn't sure, but I wouldn't mind being unplugged for a little while.  Boy was I wrong.  Sure, if you go camping for a weekend and there's no service and you get to relax in the absence of any screens, that's great.  But when you're halfway across the world, and internet is the only link to friends and family?  Being connected becomes pretty important.  Many trips to Starbucks were made to take advantage of the free wifi there.  Luckily, my school bought a wifi modem in February, so I haven't had that problem for a while!

So, no one can say I haven't learned anything this year.  This is the wisdom I can pass on to future generations.  I can be the wise old grandpa now, who can tell the kiddies all about the carrying capacity of a motorbike, a thing which, by that time, will hopefully be the stuff of ancient myths.  Cause, you know, hoverbikes and stuff.  Great, so I've solidified that for my future. However, joking aside, there is yet one matter to be addressed.

I had several goals in mind when I decided to volunteer in Indonesia.  Some were more selfish, like experiencing a different culture, stepping outside my comfort zone, seeing the world, and so on.  But the most important goals involved other people.  I wanted to spend a year thinking about someone other than myself.  I wanted to help the kids in my school in whatever way I could.  And most importantly, I wanted to make a positive impact on whoever I met.  I didn't need to "make a difference," though that is the cliche' goal of most volunteer interviews.  I merely wanted to have even a slight impression.  I hope I did; I like making people happy.  But I have no way of really knowing.  I would certainly like to think so, but I'm a fairly optimistic person.  So in the end, the best I can do is hope that I've made a few peoples' lives a little brighter.  And can we really ever hope for more than that?

Thank you again to everyone who has supported me, financially and emotionally, American, Indonesian, and otherwise.  This has been one heck of a year.  You all have my sincerest gratitude and the promise of my own support in whatever you may need.

Kepada teman-teman saya, semoga kita bisa bertemu lagi.
To my American friends, I'll see you soon!

It's a Brand New Day

I've always hated the phrase "There's a first time for everything."  It's like, yeah, thanks Sherlock, well done.  Chalk that up with other facts that are completely unnecessary to be spoken, like the sky is blue, Indonesia is hot, Emma Stone is attractive, pickles are nasty, and cats are better.  Like, duh.  Therefore, I will not be uttering that phrase as a clichéd and overused beginning to a piece on new experiences.  However, yes, I will be talking about new experiences.

In all seriousness, though, I had many goals and reasons for choosing to do volunteer work in Indonesia. Doing and seeing new stuff, living in a different manner and experiencing a culture other than my own were some of the priorities.  I had spent my life on the northeast coast of the US and I needed a change of pace.  I tried moving to Texas, but apparently that wasn't far enough.  So here we are.  It goes without saying, but I certainly have had my fill of new experiences, beginning from the minute I stepped on the eastbound plane at the Philadelphia International Airport, way back in August 2015.  I mixed up my two tickets and sat in the wrong seat.  Oops.  Is that worth writing home about?  Nope, but it was the first time I'd done that, so it still counts!  Actually, various travels have made up a bunch of "firsts" this year:

• Making a flight that totaled 24 hours
• Riding a train for 13 hours
• Taking a bus for 16.5 hours
• Riding a motorbike in any way, shape, or form.  And I've definitely done that quite enough for a while.  Longest time I sat on a motorbike was a bit over 3 hours, and it was seriously rough.
• Being in a country that drives on the wrong side of the road

Granted, I've already probably mentioned a few of the firsts I'll list out in previous posts.  However, this post is about reflecting, and isn't it always fun to take a trip down memory lane?  (Actually, I'll be the first to admit that no, it's not. *cough*high school*cough cough*.  But these aren't that bad, I swear.)

So, the more I think about this, the more I realize that many of the causes of these new experiences ("NEs" from here on out) are not necessarily because of things I've done  or situations I've encountered, though many fall under those categories as well.  A large amount of these NEs have happened simply because this is Indonesia.  It's a tropical island.  Indonesia has these particular landscapes and life forms.  For example, because this is Indonesia, it was my first time:

• Hiking up a volcano
• Hiking down into a volcanic crater
• Taking an island vacation

• Seeing the sunrise from a mountain, and the sunset from the beach and from a boat
• Holding and encountering particular animals, which probably would not be allowed in western countries

        

Flying squirrel-Luwak-Iguana-Python

Macaque monkey

The nature of the Indonesian lifestyle has led to NE's as well.  If I had volunteered in a western country, I probably would have never:

• Washed my clothes by hand
• Slept for an entire year without any blankets or sheets (that's just how it is)
• Lived almost entirely amongst Muslims, therefore eating Halal food everyday, attending certain Muslim feast days, coming to see daily prayer as a perfectly natural occurrence, and learning a ton about Islam
• Eaten rice every day
• Become accustomed to taking a nap in the middle of the day (and no, college doesn't count)
• Attended traditional Indonesian weddings
• Washed paint off of my hands with gasoline

Of course, my own choices have introduced some NEs as well.  I'm learning to take advantage of the opportunities in front of me.  Seizing the day, if you will.  I've had a couple chances to do some new things, and I've jumped at that.  These decisions have led to:

  

• Running my first official 5K and my first official half marathon
• Hanging out and having a beer with people from several different countries
• Crafting my own Christmas tree
• Learning to surf
• Eating a hard boiled egg that was cooked by the heat of a volcanic crater
• Snorkeling the entire circumference of an island

And of course, let's not forget the entire reason I'm here: volunteer work.  This was my first time ever doing any serious volunteer work.  It was also my first time teaching, and especially my first time working with kids with special needs.  

I also did a bunch of minor volunteer projects, all of which were NEs for me, such as teaching English and judging all sorts of events like spelling bees, English story telling competitions, English speech competitions, and a dessert competition (I thoroughly enjoyed that one.)  I also visited various schools just to give the students a chance to practice their English and answer any questions they had for me.  

Find the white guy!

Now, you may ask, if have had all these new experiences, certainly I must have learned something from them, mustn't I?  To that I say, of course!  I've learned a great deal over the past year.  But I still have 2 months and one more blog post to write, and the lessons I've been taught will be more than enough to deserve their own post.  So fear not!  Until then, enjoy each of your own first experiences.  Because you never know, you may someday need to write a blog post and inadvertently become a big ol' braggart!

Bonus Round: Australia
First time:

• Visiting Australia
• Petting koala and kangaroo
• Going to a casino
• Eating kangaroo and Vegemite
• Going to a Fringe Festival
• Being in a country where my American accent was the cool one!

   

Persons of Interest

May is my favorite month.  Among other reasons, it’s usually the perfect combo of spring leaking into summer, which means T-shirts and jeans, warm breezes, and longer days.  At least, that’s what it means in Pennsylvania.  Here in Indonesia, the weather is pretty much the same as it was last month.  And three months ago.  And pretty close to six months ago.  Oh well.  The point is that May is my ninth month in Semarang.  I’m on the last quarter of my year here.  I’m not going to lie, while I still have a bunch of cool plans for the next three months, I’m pretty excited to be able to see my flight home getting closer on the calendar. 

I’ve covered a bunch of topics over the last nine months.  There are some things you simply must talk about when you want to describe a country.  The last of these seems like it should be the most obvious: the people.  After all, living anywhere can be pretty bland without other humans around.  Just ask WALL-E.  Or Will Smith in that one zombie apocalypse movie.  I mean yeah, he had his dog but...anyway. So in this post, I want to try to paint a bit of a picture of the individuals I’ve met and with whom I’ve spent so much time recently. 

As I’ve lived and talked and eaten with Indonesians, I can’t help but notice various behaviors that differ from those I’m used to in Western culture.  I’ve seen these behaviors frequently enough to know that they’re not just the particular quirk of one or two persons, nor are they a variation of a certain actions portrayed by folks in the West.  As far as I know, these are definite differences, and can set the scene for some interesting interactions.

For starters, Indonesians can be very friendly.  Like, extremely friendly.  To the point where they will go out of their way to say hi.  I can’t count how many times I’ve been walking through a public place, and I’ve had “Hallo Mister!” called at me from somewhere.  I’ve had people start conversations with me on the bus, or in the mall.  Sometimes it’s just because they want to practice their English, but they’re still brave enough to start a conversation, which is more than I can do.  I once had a student strike up a conversation at the bus stop, and since we happened to live in the same neighborhood, the conversation continued up to my very street.  That’s pretty courageous.

Now, the obvious question is, am I sure people are legitimately friendly?  It’s not just because I’m white?  That is a legitimate question.  Foreigners are a novelty here.  It’s pretty unusual to see one, especially in Semarang, which is not a huge tourist attraction.  So, when Indonesians themselves go touring, I become part of the attraction.  It’s not exactly my favorite thing in the world.  I stopped consenting to having my picture taken with other tourists many months ago when I realized I wasn’t the reason for the picture, but my skin and my height and my nose were. So again, that begs the question, are people actually being outgoing and friendly when they say hi and start conversations, or do they just feel special talking to a white person?  I like to think it’s a bit of both.  Perhaps sometimes it’s one more than the other.  A picture or a brief greeting is a momentary thing, it takes ten seconds, and then you have your bragging rights.  But even a few questions – “Where are you from, why are you here, how long have you been here?”—these are signs of friendliness and curiosity.  And I definitely know you probably won’t get even that from most places in America. 

Now, many times it goes further than the questions.  A very common form of offering friendship is an invitation to one’s house.  This happens all the time.  I’ll have been speaking with someone for five or ten minutes and they invite me to visit them in their home.  So, naturally, I have begun to do the same thing.  (This means there might be a slight chance of an Indonesian I met once showing up at my door to say hi.)  But the point is that this is another big difference.  To most Americans, if I met someone on the bus or at a bar, and I say, “Hey, you should come visit my home and meet my grandmother and parents and sisters and cats!” the other person might appreciate the gesture, but might also wonder what sort of person  invites a complete stranger into their home after a ten minute conversation?  But Indonesians don’t see it that way.  It’s a perfectly natural offer.  In fact, most households have a sitting room in the entrance especially for entertaining guests.  The table is often stocked with water and snacks, and folks will often just hang out there for a while.  Actually, odds are good that there will be more than enough snacks for the evening.  Indonesians love their food, and they love serving their food to whoever is around.  Which brings me to my third point...

Hospitality.  Indonesians are extremely eager to be hospitable.  Sometimes too eager.  If you read my post from last month, you’ll recall that my various hosts have been very eager to have me rest before or after any activity.  Well, the same goes for food and drink.  There’s a common stereotype for Italians (particularly Italian grandmothers) that depicts an everlasting pile of food being offered to you, and it won’t stop.  Well, Indonesians are the same way.  You will always be offered something else to eat, and something else to drink.  I’ve been out with a friend for dinner, and then we’ve gone back to his house where his mother has been cooking and the question is inevitable: “Do you want to eat again?”  Once, I stayed over at a friend's house, and I wasn’t feeling well the next morning so I declined breakfast.  However,  the friend was so convinced that I needed to eat that he offered me breakfast three more times after I said I wasn’t feeling well.  Can it get a little annoying? Sure.  Is it all out of care for one's guest and the wish to make them feel welcome?  Definitely.  So I've learned not to begrudge anyone for it too much.  I've also become quite skilled at smiling and declining.  There's an art to it.

Honestly, I could go on and on about various differences in behavior, but I've come to realize that these posts are sometimes absurdly long, so I'll call it here.  Over the last nine months, I hope I've been able to clearly portray Indonesia with its customs and traditions, its weather, its cities, and its people, because from here on out, I'm on the home stretch.  My last two posts will be all about reflection, so be sure to get your Mulan soundtrack ready.

...get it?  Cause the famous song is Reflection? Never mind, it's not funny if I have to explain it.  Anyway, Enjoy the rest of your merry month of May!

A Day in the Life

I've talked a lot about the various differences between Indonesia and Western Culture. I've explained interesting facts, stuff that surprised me, differences that I enjoy and some that I don't.  The thing is, when you look at the bare bones of life itself, many things are pretty much the same.  People get up and go to work or school, do the daily grind, come home and spend time with family or friends or Netflix (which is now available here as of February.  Bangarang.)  I assume that's pretty much the same in most countries around the world.  It's just the way life works.

But, as any actor or screenwriter will tell you, nobody wants to hear about normal life.  That's boring.  It's the stuff out of the ordinary that intrigues us, keeps our attention focused on the stage, or follow certain blogs.  So, with that in mind, here are the details of daily life that I now consider typical or ordinary, but to my friends and family in the West might be the interesting, unusual, or intriguing bits.

For many Indonesians, the day starts at sunrise, or just before.  Remember, about 85% or the country is Muslim, and the first Muslim prayer of the day is, depending on the time of year, around 4 or 5 am.  So, many people will be up around that time.  (I say many...I have it on good authority that some people aren't as strict with this one.  But hey, nobody's perfect.) So from my point of view, Indonesians seem to be very good at getting up early.  Before heading out to work, they'll make breakfast.  Breakfast doesn't have any special foods, like it does in the West.  You can have a piece of chicken for breakfast just as easily as for lunch or dinner.  My own breakfast, and any of the other meals for that matter, usually consists of rice (obviously), some vegetables to mix in, and some sort of protein, a fried egg, some chicken or beef, or a fried soybean concoction called Tempe.  And of course there's sometimes fresh fruit, possibly picked right off the tree.

A shower happens somewhere before work too.  Indonesians typically shower twice a day, because it's so darn hot here.  A typical Indonesian Water Closet consists of a giant basin for water, and a plastic scooper to use for showering, washing hands, and brushing teeth.  It's also used when flushing the toilet, which is usually a plastic basin in the ground that drains into the sewer.  Overall, it's a very economic room.  Very wet, too.  Water goes everywhere, but it doesn't matter because the floor is tile and there's at least one drain in the floor.

Then, it's all about dropping the kids off at school, dropping spouses off at work, and driving oneself to work.  Many jobs are the same as what we have in the West, but there are also a few we don't have.  There are guys that wait by the roadside, ready to refill, or even repair, your tires and sell you gas from a glass bottle.  There are also the parking assistants.  You'll find these fellows everywhere, because no matter where you go, you either have to pay to park, or you'll need assistance in getting back out onto the road.  These guys will wave a flag or blow a whistle to slow down oncoming traffic so that you can merge back in.  There are also certain jobs that are gender-specific here.  You will always have a male driver in your bus, angkot, or taxi.  However, the ticket person on the bus will usually be a female, as will most of the venders in the traditional markets.  There are some large markets which have a large location specifically for that purpose.  But there are also some smaller ones that spring up in the mornings, maybe in the middle of a neighborhood, consisting of a few vendors who have some wares to sell.  These traditional markets are a great place to get any fresh food item you might want, from fruit to vegetables to meat.  I, however, usually avoid them as best as I can, namely because you have to bargain for anything you want.  If you know me at all, you'll know that I'm not the biggest fan of haggling any sort of deal, but especially if money is involved.  I've needed to do it on a few occasions, but I haven't enjoyed any of it.  Some of my friends are straight-up experts though.  If I can, I usually let them do it for me.  But I digress...

When lunch time rolls around, there are a few options.  You can pack your lunch, using the foods stated above.  You can always go out to eat, as little food stands (called warung) are extremely common.  Most of these serve only a few dishes, so if you're in the mood for something specific, you know where to go.  If not, there will be other options right next door.  The third option for lunch is one that we don't really have in the West.  The closest thing we get is an Ice Cream truck.  Basically, there are men that wheel a cart around neighborhoods, or outside of businesses, and stop and chill there during lunch hour.  They have a stove built into their cart, as well as necessary ingredients to prepare whatever the singular meal is that they sell.  Many of them have some sort of noise-maker that they use to alert the world to their presence, like a wooden bowl that they bang on, or sometimes they just clank a spoon on a plate.  If you're familiar with the carts that come through the area, you can usually tell who is outside by the  noise, which, of course, is the point.  A common one outside my school is the Bakso guy -- Indonesian meatballs.  His noisemaker is clacking on a wooden bowl.  However, these cart vendors aren't limited to lunch and dinner options.  There are guys that go around with giant bags of crackers (actually it's a specific kind of cracker called Krupuk, there are a ton of various types, and everyone has their favorite), or guys that serve sweet bread treats.  Actually, I get annoyed when the sweet bread guy comes around, and no, not because it's a delicious temptation.  It's because his noisemaker is an obnoxious recorded tune that's about 11 seconds long, then repeats, and can be heard all the way down the street.  And I mean all the way.  I don't know how that guy hangs onto his sanity, having to listen to that all day.   These cart guys will patrol from sun up to sundown, and sometimes later.  I have, on occasion heard somebody out at 10pm, (probably the Fried Rice guy).  You never know who will be hungry.

Something very common here is what's typically translated into "taking a rest."  Maybe this means taking a nap, maybe it's literally just resting and not doing anything.  But it's super common, after any large activity, or after getting home, or before starting a new activity.  It's quite an acceptable way to spend an hour or so.  It's even been nearly mandatory for me at times, when I return from some event with a friend, or arrive somewhere new, my host will insist that I take a rest.  I will admit quite shamelessly that I've become quite used to taking naps at various times during the day.

After work, the day ends just like anywhere else.  Massive amounts of traffic interrupting the commute home, eating some sort of dinner from any of the many options, hanging out with whoever is around.  It's common for households to contain many people, including grandparents and grown children.  It's very much a Western custom for children to move out before they get married.  Here, there's nothing wrong with having everyone stay in the house for many years after university.  It's also very common for relatives to come by and visit, or friends and neighbors.  Evenings can be full of visiting and just hanging out with whoever drops by.

Of course, that doesn't mean everyone's not counting the days until  the weekend.  Weekends are great no matter where you live.  However, in Indonesia, depending on your job or where you  go to school, your weekend might not be two days.  Many schools conduct classes, or at least organize events on Saturdays, and many jobs require a six-day week, instead of a five-day.  But for anyone who doesn't have to work, Saturday can be full of shopping, chilling, or exploring the various natural or ancient wonders Indonesia has to offer.  The university campuses are full of students holding meetings, sports, or events all over campus.  I'm actually a little jealous about how much goes on at the universities on the weekend, my University never came close to that.  Since most people will have off on Sunday (except, obviously anyone in public service, food service or retail -- we've all been there) Sunday has something special to offer, something that does not, and probably cannot, exist in the West.  From 5:30am to 8:30am, the streets leading to the City Center are closed.  Hundreds of people gather to crowd the vacated streets with bikers, joggers, vendors, performances, aerobics classes, promoters, musicians, dancing, and even some wild animals.  Unfortunately, it's so early in the morning I rarely make it there, but it's always interesting when I do.  I can't imagine any American cities closing down major roads for several hours every single week.

So that's the long and short of it.  Turns out the daily grind looks pretty similar on the other side of the globe.  Obviously there will be differences, but nothing too significant.  In the end, we all do what we have to do in life, and we'll do whatever we need to accomplish it.  Hopefully by the end of the day we'll be happy with the results.  Either way, we'll all be going back to work tomorrow...

Fun Facts! (Alt. Title: I promise I'm not Buzzfeed)

After an extended time anywhere, you get pretty used to the way things are, despite how different they might be.  I was pretty well adapted to life here in the first few months, and so not a whole lot surprises me any more.  However, seven months later, there are still many things that I find interestingly different from my own culture.  Now, you may remember towards the beginning of my stay, I wrote a post about details I was not expecting, like the prominence of Selfies, or Tofu, or the Muslim Call to Prayer (see that one here!).  The items on that list don't surprise me anymore, and indeed, I have come to expect them.  The items on this list are things that still make me think "I've gotta tell everyone about that when I get home," or at least make me give that small expulsion of air from my nostrils that qualifies as the smallest physical indicator of amusement.   However, I don't really want to be that guy who spouts random facts about Indonesia into an otherwise normal conversation so that everyone around me gets real bored, real quick.  Therefore, logically, I decided to put them here.  So! Here's a bunch of random fun facts.

Fun fact #1) Of course, there are gas stations around here.  But, at least in Semarang, there's only one brand.  Pertamina basically has a monopoly on gas sales here.  However, along with all the various food stalls and motorbike repair stations you can find on the side of the road, there are also folks selling gas.  I had no idea what it was at first, as the display consisted of a cart of yellow liquid in glass and plastic bottles, and quite frankly, I tried not to think too hard on that.  But there it is.

Fun Fact #2) The national language of Indonesia is Bahasa Indonesia (which, literally translated, means Indonesian Language).  However, every Indonesian person speaks at least two languages: Bahasa Indonesian and the language of their region.  For instance, the people in Bali speak Balinese.  However, the greater the island, the more languages there will be.  On Java, where I live, it's Javanese in East and Central Java, but in West Java it's Sundanese.  And then, each region has its own accent.  In all, Indonesia, throughout its islands, contains over 300 different languages and dialects.

Fun Fact #3) In America, many suburb neighborhoods have a nice, little sign by the entrance, that says something along the lines of "Welcome to Perkiomen Woods".
(Yes, I'm from Pennsylvania, we have weird names, move along.)
Here in Semarang, both inside the city, and in the surrounding villages, each entrance to the neighborhood has a big ornate gateway that you pass through, telling you which neighborhood you're entering, and which part of that particular neighborhood.
 (I did warn that these were really random fun facts.)

Fun Fact #4) Wanna know a pastime that's really big here?  I'll give you a hint.  In America, you can usually find it in a smokey bar, on, like, a Tuesday night, on a tiny stage, and see a mix of drunk/tone-deaf/drunk and tone-deaf singers.  That's right, it's karaoke!  Except you won't find it in the bars around here... mostly because you won't find any bars around here.  However, there are entire buildings dedicated to karaoke.  You rent out a room with a bunch of friends, order drinks or food or whatever, and sing your heart out for 2 or 3 hours.  I was surprised to find that it was more fun than I expected.  Karaoke is so popular that you can find it almost everywhere: it's even a perk of various tour buses, right there along with Wifi and a snack.  And I'm pretty sure I saw a karaoke machine at  my gym...

Fun fact #5) Parts of Indonesia are huge tourist spots.  Bali is the most well known, but it's a country of islands, so there are beaches everywhere.  Beaches where, among other things, Westerners come to get a nice, solid tan to take back to work and be the envy of all their pale, sickly co-workers.  Except... that's just a western thing.  In fact, Indonesians are the exact opposite.  The majority prefers to stay out of the sun, and they often wear long sleeves and pants for full protection.  But the contrast goes even further than that.  Almost every single bottle of skin cream or lotion or soap has a "whitening agent," which is designed to do exactly that: make the skin whiter.  Talk about opposites, huh?

Fun Fact #6) You won't really find too many pets around here.  Sure, there are stray cats that run around the neighborhood, and some Christian families will have a dog or two. (Dog saliva is considered unclean in Islam, therefore, there are very few dogs. [Look at that, a fun fact inside a fun fact! Fun Factception!])  However, you will see birds.
 Not only is there an entire market dedicated to selling birds of all shapes and colors, but you'll also frequently see at least one, if not three or four,cages hanging outside someone's house.
There's a food vendor down the street from my school who taught his bird to do a back-flip.  It's always a little entertaining to see someone on their motorbike with a giant bird cage strapped behind them, but it happens more often than you'd expect.

Fun Fact #7-??) I could probably write an entire post on Bahasa Indonesian.  I'm not going to, because who wants to get edjumacated when they only came to this page to read some (hopefully) interesting and (possibly) entertaining tales of Indonesia?  However, I do want to make a few interesting notes of some of the details of Bahasa Indonesian.  Except, I'm not going to talk about the language itself.  I want to share some things about the actual speaking of the language.  Cause that's the stuff I really find interesting.

First off, each of the vowels make only one sound.  In English, the letter "A" has a bunch of different sounds, like in Father, Fade, Fad, and a few more in between.  In Indonesian, "A" just makes an "Ah" sound.  Even when it's paired with another vowel, like "I," (which, like in Spanish, makes an "Ee" sound,) the vowels make their own sounds.  For instance, Air (which means "water") is pronounced Ah-eer.  Now, the consonants are even simpler.  Usually, you can't get too much simpler with consonants, since even in English they mostly only make one sound. However, when you listen to native Indonesian speakers, it can be hard to tell the difference between certain consonants.  At least for me.  I mean, It's no secret that I've had trouble learning this language, but hear me out.

There are a few letter pairs that, when vocalized, are the exact same, they just sound different.  In pairs like F/V, P/B, K/G, T/D, S/Z, your mouth does the exact same thing to shape them and make them.  The only difference is that one has an audible sound, the other is more like a by-product of air passing through the mouth. (If you want to get technical, this is called "voiced" and "unvoiced".  It's a distinction caused by whether or not the vocal cords are vibrating at the time the sound is produced.  Thanks Anne Lewis!)  Anyway,  I've found in many cases that native Indonesian speakers will not differentiate between a voiced and unvoiced consonant, or the will at least  minimize the difference.  Here's an example.  The word Bisa means "can," as in "You can put strawberries and pickles in the blender together, but I'm not sure if you should."  But for the longest time, until I saw it in writing, I thought everyone was saying Pisa, as in the Leaning Tower.  Here's another example.  In English, my name is pronounced "Dae-vid".  However, because Indonesian doesn't have the "Ae" sound, and they blend the "F" and "V" sound, I've had to get used to introducing myself as "Dah-fid".

Another part of this whole "learning a new language thing" that I wasn't expecting was the differences in non-verbal communication.  For example: hand-motions.  One specific motion that has confused me multiple times is the one that means "come here."  In America, that motion involves bringing the hand towards the body in a sort of scooping gesture.  Here, however, the motion involves putting the hand right in front of you and flapping it up and down.  In fact, it's very similar to the American gesture used to shoo someone away, which, of course, is the exact opposite.  So, you can understand why I've been confused.

Another difference is the non-verbal sounds that we make.  In American English, something like "Mm hm" means agreement, "Mm" means acknowledgement, or surprise if you put an exclamation point on it: "Mm!"  "Uh uh" is usually "No."  However, in Indonesian, or at least with the native speakers that I'm around, both "Mm!" and "Uh uh" can mean "Yes."  It's led me to asking the same question multiple times, thinking that my friend didn't really hear or understand the question and was merely making a grunt of acknowledgement.  Oops.

So.  There you have it.  Wow, that was much more school-y than I intended.  My bad.  And now that I've given you a headache with a dissertation that wasn't about language, I suppose the rest of my fun facts will actually have to wait until I can randomly insert them in conversation.  There are so many more tidbits I can share about TV censorship, and text message spam, of the lack of aftershave, and travelling food carts, of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings.  But alas.  That will have to wait for my return.  Which, by the way, has been set in stone.  My flight has been officially booked, and I shall be back in the States on July 31st.  So, if I scared you off, and this is the last blog post you end up reading, I'll see you then.  If not, we'll talk next month.  Sampai Jumpa!

Yogasmara Special Needs School

Well, here it is folks.  The halfway mark.  I've been in Indonesia for exactly six months, and will be here for roughly another six.  In my past six blog posts, I've tried to paint for you, my lovely audience, a picture of various aspects of this country.  I've talked about the weather, the traffic, the food, the customs, the weddings, the volcanoes, the motorbikes, and so on.  However, I've yet to touch on much of my personal life, or my project here in Semarang.  I figure that's kind of important, seeing as it's the entire reason I'm here.  So, today, I want to tell you about the school where I work, Yogasmara Special Needs School.

Field trip to a train museum

It's a very small school; we only have about 20 students.  The most we ever have at one time, however, is eleven.  That's because we have eleven for the first two hours of the morning.  Other students come at 10:00 for two hours, or at 1:00 for one hour, or only on Tuesdays and Fridays.  The students range in age from about five years old to sixteen, but the majority of them are between five and ten. 

Now, I've never worked with kids in a scenario like this before.  Sure, I've been a camp councilor, but this is my first time teaching in a school, and especially my first time working with this particular population.  Most of our kids are diagnosed autistic.  I don't know how other special needs schools run in America, or even in Semarang, but this is the way our program works.  Ideally, there is a 1-1 ratio of teachers to students.  That way, each teacher spends an hour at a time with one student, and is able to work on their specific goals.  There are two parts of the program: occupational therapy and  behavioral intervention therapy.  

Occupational therapy is designed to hone gross motor skills; in other words it involves physical activity and moving around.  Different kids have different abilities, but a lot of them do activities like climbing a ladder, bouncing on a trampoline, crawling, hopping, throwing a ball, and pushing a wheelbarrow.  Also included in this section is a certain type of massage that we give to the kids’ arms and legs.  I have found this to be a nice, calming way to start the day.  I usually sing or whistle to the kids while I do it, it keeps me attentive, and most of them seem to enjoy it. 

Behavioral intervention therapy involves mental learning and fine motor skills.  This part of the program varies dramatically with each child.  Some are learning to recognize letters, or colors or animals.  Some practice picking up and moving beans with large tweezers.  Others trace lines and patterns or numbers and letters.  A common task in many of their programs is to learn to match items that are the same, like a doll or a pencil.  Some of the kids practice ripping paper, or balling it up, or cutting it with scissors.  A few of them have personal skills built into their program, like learning to wash a dish, sweep the floor, button their shirt, or put on sunglasses.  We guide the children in different ways, depending on what's necessary.  Sometimes it's verbally, sometimes it's physically.  Sometimes they have to watch what we do and imitate that.  It all depends on the child’s capability, and where they are in their development.  As they progress, some of the activities require a growth in difficulty.  So perhaps instead of choosing between two different items to match the identical one, they have to choose between three, and later four.  Or once they learn to cut the paper along the line straight across, then they learn to cut it diagonally.  Sometimes the progression is quick, and it only takes them a few days to learn a new letter.  Sometimes not so much, and that particular activity spans several weeks.  Usually, if a few months pass and we see no progression, we change the program and try something different.  Having been here for half a year, I've seen both cases happen.  Fortunately, it is more common to have a gradual progression and then see recognition after maybe a few weeks of constant practice.  This, of course, that's always very encouraging, for both the teachers and the students. 

And sometimes we just play Snakes and Ladders

So, having explained how the school day works, let me introduce you to some of the students.  Obviously this won’t be all of them, but these are the kids I interact with the most on a weekly basis.

First, we have Rara.  Rara is usually very quiet, and very compliant.  She is non-verbal, so she doesn’t say much, but sometimes she’ll make a sort of vocal rhythm, like her own version of beat-boxing.  Sometimes she’ll even do a stomp pattern along with it.  I like to think she has music in her head, and occasionally lets us in on it too.

Then we have Veno.  Veno is one of our most active students.  He loves running around and investigating pretty much everything there is to investigate.  If there’s something he can pick up or move or open or shift or pull or push, he’s on it.  He’s also developed a fascination with my digital watch.  I’ll set it to the stopwatch mode, so that it beeps when he hits the center button.  He gets so happy when he does it that it’s like he hits the lottery over and over and over (and over) again.

This is Anang.  Anang is one of our oldest students.  He is extremely friendly, and very often wears a huge grin.  He knows everybody’s name and will always greet you repeatedly.

Next there’s Didi.  Didi is also a very happy child.  He’s also very affectionate; sitting on laps is one of his favorite pastimes.  He loves to giggle, even when he knows he’s in trouble.  Pretty much everything makes him giggle, actually.

This little girl is Nadia.  Nadia is one of the students with whom I have one of the best relationships.  When I first arrived, she was very shy, and wouldn’t even lift her head off her desk when I came into the room.  Then one day she climbed onto the see-saw, and I started bouncing her up and down.  Since then, we’ve developed a great rapport, and she’s always willing to come with me, even if she wants to keep swinging.

Finally, we have Bagus.  “Bagus” means “very good” or “excellent” in Indonesian.  There are indeed times where he holds to his namesake, sitting very quietly, repeating whatever you say, or doing his vocab words.  Other times, he somehow gets super-charged with energy and cannot contain it.  He explodes into a flurry of energy, which while making a big mess, is also kind of hilarious.

So, that’s a sample view of my school, and my daily life.  It has plenty of challenges, but also plenty of learning experiences.  I promised myself I would step out of my comfort zone by coming to Indonesia, and do something I’ve never done before, and I certainly have done that.  And I’m also learning about myself and the rest of humanity in a way that may not have been possible anywhere else.

Fire and Brimstone meets Salt and Sand

I'm a big fan of contrast.  Especially in art.  I'm always fascinated by a character who does something at the end of a play or movie which is the exact opposite of what he may have done at the beginning.  Or in photography, seeing a hunk of ugly man-made something in the the forest, or vice-versa, seeing a lovely piece of green in the midst of the concrete jungle.  That sort of thing.  Well, I've discovered that Indonesia has one of the most interesting contrasts I've seen.  In my previous posts, I've given you a slight idea about the city of Semarang: the traffic, the weather, the crowds.  I'll be honest and say that Semarang is not exactly a pretty city.  Especially since I'm coming from a Western culture where the standards of living in a city (at least some parts of it) are very different than they are here.  There's trash along the streets and the sidewalks, many of the buildings are old, or not in great shape, the streets are bumpy and uneven, and you don't really want to even think about touching the river that runs through.  I'm not criticizing or complaining, it's just the way it is, and I've become accustomed to it.  But here's the interesting thing.  Outside the city, that all disappears.  You're in the middle of jungles, and farms, and mountains.  You can even feel the lighter, cooler, unpolluted air. It's great.  Indonesia has so much natural beauty, and it doesn't all just happen on Bali.  Yes, I know, everyone knows Bali, the island paradise, white sands, clear waters, etc., but that's a mere taste of the pleasurable landscape this country has to offer.  So now, I'd like to talk about a few of my favorite experiences with the natural wonders of Indonesia.

My closest point of interest is only an hour from my school, and  maybe half an hour outside the city.  It's that close.  It's a place named Curig Lawe.  You have to first drive, then hike up a mountain, usually over some pretty rough terrain, but it's totally worth it.  There are two separate waterfalls that look like something out of a fantasy novel.

The first descends from high above from the mountain, creating a marvelous picture in the middle of the jungle.  The sight from afar is awesome enough, but when you get close you can truly feel the vitality and the life exuding from the unending deluge of water.  The second of the falls is not as high, but it's spread out over a semi-circle of stone, creating many smaller waterfalls.  I went during the dry season, and it was beautiful then, I can only imagine what it's like now, during the rainy season, when the falls are at their strongest.  Both falls are excellent examples of the proximity of green and gorgeous beauty next to gray cityscape.

Now, you may or may not know that Indonesia falls in a large section of the Ring of Fire, (no, not the Johnny Cash Song,) a wide space of the Indian and Pacific Oceans that is prolific in earthquakes and volcanic activity.  Indonesia is an enthusiastic contributor to the Ring, containing over 130 active volcanoes.  And yes, I have had the opportunity to visit one.  In East Java, there's a volcano called Mt. Bromo.  Its most recent eruption was this past November, a few weeks after I was there.  This, however, was a minor eruption compared to its predecessor in 2011.  That was a big'un.
I stayed with some friends in a village on the very edge of a large valley, in the center of which stood Mt. Bromo and its extinct brother volcano, Mt. Batok.  Early in the morning, we hiked around the edge of the valley to climb to a viewpoint for the sunrise.  It was really quite remarkable, watching the sun come up on our left, illuminating the valley below us, which was filled with fog.  In the middle of it stood Bromo, always smoking.

After we had witnessed a stunning concerto of color, we hiked into the valley itself.  (It was extremely tempting to compare the walk to Frodo and Sam's venture across the Plains of Gorgoroth, in the midst of Mordor.  However, it wasn't nearly depressing or difficult enough to justify the comparison.  The only similarities were hiking across a rather hot valley towards a volcano.)

We arrived at the volcano and ascended the stairs.  And...couldn't see a darn thing.  Sure, the giant, continuous column of smoke and steam was cool enough I guess, and the smell of sulphur was pretty intense, but besides that, we weren't terribly impressed.  But, we wanted to see as much as we could, so we continued around the rim.  As we walked, the sight certainly became more awe-inspiring.  Finally, we climbed to a peak that was about a third of the way around from where we started.  There, we could see everything.  We could see into the pit, see the entire column of smoke and steam billowing and fluctuating.  We could see that the volcano was actually breathing.  The column would lessen for a minute or two, then double its size and fill the pit again.  It was incredible.  I've never been so close to the raw power of nature.  It was simultaneously wonderfully thrilling and terrifying.  But, it was awesome, in the truest sense of the word.

Finally, I simply must talk about the beaches.  Obviously Indonesia is a collection of over 13,000 islands: that's a lot of beaches.  But one thing I've learned is that not all beaches are created equal.  Some have an interesting black sand, some have pure white sand, sometimes the water is dull and green, in other places it's a clear blue, or, even better various shades of blue.  I spent my Christmas vacation in Lombok, an island which has been frequently praised as an "unspoiled Bali."  I can certainly confirm this statement.  I spent most of my time at a village in the south called Kuta.  At most of the beaches I went to, there were less than 20 people at any given time.  There were even occasions where there were less than 5.  A friend and I went to a certain location we had heard about.  After a long and difficult drive, suddenly, the road opened up, the sky appeared, and just over a large dune was the sea.

 It was one of the loveliest sights I'd ever seen.  The sand was a yellow-white from behind, but from the water it seemed to appear slightly reddish.  And the water...oh the water!  As it touched the beach it was an icy blue, and it was warm and clear.  As it returned to the sea, it turned a beautiful dark blue.  Cliffs rose on both sides of the beach, enclosing it to a sort of heavenly privacy.  And private it was.  When we came back from exploring several hours later, our footprints were still the only ones remaining in the sand.  To add to the storybook feeling, there was even a heap of large rocks and boulders on one side, which led along the cliffside to a small cove where one might expect to find buried pirate treasure.  It was simply amazing.

So, what more could you want, eh? Waterfalls, volcanoes, beaches, jungles, islands, giant trees, wild monkeys, caves, and mountains, Indonesia has everything you need for a perfect adventure story.  Luckily, those are one of my favorite genres (I've recently developed an affinity for castaway novels.)  I'll be honest, it's totally refreshing to know that beyond the streets and buildings and crowds and cars that I can see from where I'm writing this, there's a gorgeous wilderness that's has indeed been explored...but only just.