Malang :)
Ahh!! I'm in Malang!! I am so extremely excited to be back, and I think I've been smiling constantly for the past four days!
The train ride was exciting and rather uneventful (which was good), and we were among the first passengers to take the "Eksekutif" train from Surabaya to Malang, so now we 10 are part of Indonesia transit history...which is kind of interesting ;-)
When we arrived in Malang, my host family from last year was there to pick all of us up, and as soon as I saw them I just got this huge smile on my face and I felt like I was home. I know, that's really cheesy, but it's the truth. The best part was when we got to SMAK Santa Maria (the high school I taught in last summer), because there we met up with Joice (yay!!) and the other host families. Joice had arranged the cutest little welcome party for us, and I made a lovely impromtu speech about how much LE means to me and how grateful I was to all the host families...blah blah blah.
Not everything went off so well, though. Indonesians have this idea that all American have to be white. Apparently you can't be American if you are of Asian or Africa descent, so some of the host families were thrown off that we had 2 people of Taiwanese descent and 2 people of Indian descent. The two Hindu girls got placed with a family that basically didn't really want them, so I had to work fast to get them into a better situation. We solved that problem in less than a day. Go us!
We have been having such a blast! My host family is amazing...my host dad doesn't speak any English at all, but he is possibly the cutest little Indonesian man I have ever met. My host mom is adorable. My host sister, Amelia, is approximately 4 feet tall and is quite a good cook! (She made us hamburgers and minestrone soup for breakfast...I am not joking...they are very big into having "real" meals around here!). My host brother, Octa, is a workaholic. He's only 20, but he goes to school full time and works like 50+ hours a week. My host mom and dad work 12-15 hour days at work, and they explained to us that is apparently typical in Indonesia because the government doesn't really help anyone out, so they must work really hard and long hours just to get by. These people are absolutely amazing! They work so hard all day, and then come home and play host to us silly little Americans. I mean, simply just good people. I get to share a host family with Kathy, who goes to AU as well and is volunteering this summer, so it's really nice to have her there. Everyone says she looks just like Andi! :)
We've done so much already - learned how to use public transportation (aka cram as many Indonesians as you can into a little minibus), made a fool out of ourselves trying to call people on the phone (Indonesian housekeepers speak about as much English as we speak Bahasa Indonesian), ridden on the back of motorbikes, seen traditional dancing/gamelan playing, been to a couple of weddings (already!), gone bowling Indonesian style, visited the biggest Muslim university in Asia (which just happens to be in Malang), and been woken up at 4AM every day by the call to worship. I absolutely LOVE it here.
I do miss teaching, though. Jon and Kathy let me sit in on their classes, and it was then I realized just how much I was meant to be a teacher. In one of the schools, there are 2 girls who are absolutely swamped with classes, so I may see if I can take one of their classes off of their hands for them. I just miss it so much!!
Well, I'm off to hang out with some volunteers and my host sister. Check ya laterrrr!!!
~ Tori =)
The train ride was exciting and rather uneventful (which was good), and we were among the first passengers to take the "Eksekutif" train from Surabaya to Malang, so now we 10 are part of Indonesia transit history...which is kind of interesting ;-)
When we arrived in Malang, my host family from last year was there to pick all of us up, and as soon as I saw them I just got this huge smile on my face and I felt like I was home. I know, that's really cheesy, but it's the truth. The best part was when we got to SMAK Santa Maria (the high school I taught in last summer), because there we met up with Joice (yay!!) and the other host families. Joice had arranged the cutest little welcome party for us, and I made a lovely impromtu speech about how much LE means to me and how grateful I was to all the host families...blah blah blah.
Not everything went off so well, though. Indonesians have this idea that all American have to be white. Apparently you can't be American if you are of Asian or Africa descent, so some of the host families were thrown off that we had 2 people of Taiwanese descent and 2 people of Indian descent. The two Hindu girls got placed with a family that basically didn't really want them, so I had to work fast to get them into a better situation. We solved that problem in less than a day. Go us!
We have been having such a blast! My host family is amazing...my host dad doesn't speak any English at all, but he is possibly the cutest little Indonesian man I have ever met. My host mom is adorable. My host sister, Amelia, is approximately 4 feet tall and is quite a good cook! (She made us hamburgers and minestrone soup for breakfast...I am not joking...they are very big into having "real" meals around here!). My host brother, Octa, is a workaholic. He's only 20, but he goes to school full time and works like 50+ hours a week. My host mom and dad work 12-15 hour days at work, and they explained to us that is apparently typical in Indonesia because the government doesn't really help anyone out, so they must work really hard and long hours just to get by. These people are absolutely amazing! They work so hard all day, and then come home and play host to us silly little Americans. I mean, simply just good people. I get to share a host family with Kathy, who goes to AU as well and is volunteering this summer, so it's really nice to have her there. Everyone says she looks just like Andi! :)
We've done so much already - learned how to use public transportation (aka cram as many Indonesians as you can into a little minibus), made a fool out of ourselves trying to call people on the phone (Indonesian housekeepers speak about as much English as we speak Bahasa Indonesian), ridden on the back of motorbikes, seen traditional dancing/gamelan playing, been to a couple of weddings (already!), gone bowling Indonesian style, visited the biggest Muslim university in Asia (which just happens to be in Malang), and been woken up at 4AM every day by the call to worship. I absolutely LOVE it here.
I do miss teaching, though. Jon and Kathy let me sit in on their classes, and it was then I realized just how much I was meant to be a teacher. In one of the schools, there are 2 girls who are absolutely swamped with classes, so I may see if I can take one of their classes off of their hands for them. I just miss it so much!!
Well, I'm off to hang out with some volunteers and my host sister. Check ya laterrrr!!!
~ Tori =)
posted by Tori @ 11:22 AM
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