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!