March Madness

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On March 1^st my colleagues and I had an opportunity like no other. We were invited to attend the wedding of a millionaire, or billionaire, not sure which. The celebration was for one of the school founders sons. Weddings are important in Indonesia as they are back home and as a teacher and an employee at the school, we were invited to attend. We estimated there to be over 4000 people in attendance of the ceremony alone, but we heard from another source later on, there were upwards of 8000 people in attendance of the following luncheon. It was huge!!! A sister of the groom got married last year so this was a second event of its kind for some colleagues. Word is that at the end of this year there will be yet another family wedding – I’m interested what that will look like in comparison!



This was certainly a public event and a formal occasion. There were cameras, big screens, and giant lights. There were a number of photographers capturing the couples every moment. At least five photographers walked backwards down the aisle snapping furiously during the bridal processional and another six photographers staked out in the greenery on stage. In addition, there were two cameras swiveling on their long arms perfectly into position on either side of the stage capturing every detail. Not to mention hundreds of other people, the guests taking their own shots. The day was well documented. After the ceremony, there were tables of various kinds of foods to choose from. It was very tasty and we enjoyed things that are typically either too expensive here to purchase or hard to get.





Every Spring , the Physical Education department hosts a Soccer Carnival Day mid March. It’s a day in which the entire school – K1-12th grade – comes together, skips class to play soccer, and participate in all kinds of fun activities.



Leading up to the event a group of students and several teachers get together and plan out what kinds of decorations, team cheer and team hand shake will be on that day. The day before the event begins, each executive team decorates their team’s section of the gym. Our students are part of 4 teams, all named after Indonesian volcanoes, and compete as part of this team throughout their entire career at the school.



Sometimes, there are predetermined themes designated to the day, but this year the themes were chosen individually by each executive group. Themes picked included aliens , construction , oriental , and Goldilocks . As a supervisor, I helped the students plan, but everything is student driven and student organized. It was fun to be a part of this process, and another great way to know more students! Since the team came up with the oriental theme, they brought in a gong and constructed a dragon. Both were awesome.



The day started with few team competitions such as who had the best hand shake, team cheer etc. There were judges in place to award points. Points were accumulated throughout the day and in the end a winner was declared. Throughout the year, however there are several competitions and events in which house teams complete against one another. From each event points are recorded and add together, so that by the end of the year the team who has collected the most amount of points, takes it for the win. The soccer carnival for instance, is just one event/opportunity for a team to earn points.



As part of the opening ceremonies, there was a team game. I found this particularly entertaining as each team participated and competed against each other in “soccer bowling”. Every team had to send a student from each grade to kick the soccer ball at the pins, 2 students to reset pins, and about 20 kids to lie on the ground and serve as bumpers. My favorite was seeing the youngest students laying down and doing their best to keep the balls where they should be!



The weather was amazing as we were blessed with sunny skies. The days prior were very wet. Even though the day is centered around soccer and lots of it – over 30 games worth! - there were many other things to do as well. A slip-n’-slide was set up as well as a dunk tank, a bouncy castle maze, carnival style games, listen to live music, lots of food vendors, etc. It was certainly a day filled with all kinds of team spirit!



Coaching sports is a part of being a member of the PE department. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time doing it and getting to know various students from different age groups, but it’s a long season. I have just completed my coaching responsibilities after nine months – since the first week of school. In the fall I coached grades 10-12 girls volleyball and grades 1 and 2 co-ed basketball. This semester I coached grades 7-9 girls volleyball and grades 1 and 2 co-ed soccer. My volleyball team this semester worked really hard and performed very well – they earned first place in our first tournament! I am excited what we’ll be able to accomplish next year! As for grades 1 and 2 they just capped off their season last weekend with a final tournament and did well too.



At the beginning of March, we participated in some PD days as a staff. This was a two day event. It was all in house where a few representatives from other IB schools in Indonesia ran a few workshops with us. Since I am a specialist , most of what we went over didn’t really apply to me, however, I did learn a lot and took notes for when I do someday return back to the traditional classroom.



There was another random mid week holiday for us all middle of March. A friend and I were planning on going away to a remote island for a day trip, but since the weather was poor, we visited an indoor market instead. It was a little disappointing, but we have many other mid week holidays coming up in May, so we’ve decided to save this trip till then.



A bunch of teachers are moving away at the end of this academic year. Some to another country, but most back home to either the States or Canada – all for various reasons. One friend of mine who will be moving, has agreed to sell her motorbike to me when she leaves. This means that I’ll be finally getting myself some wheels after months of having a license! Since it’ll be a second hand bike, I’ll be saving myself some money too! I just need to practice some more and learn how to fill the thing up with gas and where to get it! I’m pretty stoked. Other expenses have come up over the last months so this large purchase has always been pushed to the back burner. By the time family and friends arrive for a visit, I’ll be an old pro on that thing! It’ll be great for next year as I won’t have to worry how I’ll get home when it gets dark out and I’m stuck at school for longer because of sport related things etc. I’m looking forward to having my own transport independence!



Typically the skies in Jakarta are cloudy with all the smog and pollution in the air. It’s a rare occasion to see blue skies until lately! Few weeks back I was playing ultimate Frisbee like I typically do on Sunday afternoons with members of all ages from the community on the school’s soccer fields. The skies were clear, the birds were chirping, the sun was setting, dragon flies were flying about and it felt, like a summer evening back home. I give credit to the clear skies – it’s amazing how it changes the atmosphere. Not to mention last week when I was out on the soccer field with my grade nine class, we saw a rainbow in the sky – it was a little odd seeing it considering the skies where blue with scattered clouds, but nevertheless, a beautiful sight!



Lately my weekends have been filled up with various events from games night with a large group of people, to going on a peddle bike ride through the villages tucked behind the school where I work. Two weeks ago a friend took me on a quiet bike ride one Sunday afternoon through the village and along the acres upon acres of rice fields. It was super peaceful and very different scenery from what I see around my apartment. There were four small boys that we came across at one point trying to fly their homemade kites. They were busy trying to run down a short segment of pathway at attempts to airborne their device. It was picture perfect, but unfortunately I didn’t have my camera! They smiled and giggled as we said hello and peddled by. That same weekend two of us helped a friend out with a photo shoot. We used the school’s photography equipment and learned lots. The photographer is in the midst of finishing up an online course which she has started months back. We’ll need to go back soon to finish off the assignments. I have also recently joined a book club and we’ve met once already over breakfast together one Saturday morning. After book club was over, we ventured off to a charity bazaar.



Summer holidays are coming up quickly! We are off starting mid June. Everyone that I know is headed home to North America for a visit. I have decided to stick around since I was just home in October and there’s a world to explore and see around here. I will be meeting up with one of my best friends in Tanzania. This trip is “ladies only” and she’ll be leaving her husband behind at home. I’m super stoked about it and can’t wait to share this experience with her! We’ll be starting our three week trip off with a four day African Safari, followed by a trek up Mount Kilimanjaro and then capping it off by relaxing on Zanzibar Island. It’ll definitely be an experience of a lifetime! People say training for this trek is necessary, or at least it’s highly encouraged. The huge concern mainly on this climb is altitude sickness, although getting into shape isn’t a bad idea either! I have started a 30 day challenge with I am doing with one of my other friends here. It’s called “Buns, Guns, and Abs” – we basically are working our way up to do a certain amount of squats, pushups and leg lifts by the end of it. So far, so good and we’re over half way! We already have another challenge lined up to go for May. Yet another friend and I climb the stairs in our building every Thursday after work as well. Since I have gotten hiking boots, I have been climbing the stairs in them while carrying my daypack stuffed with random heavy objects from around my apartment in efforts to increase my strength and stamina. We typically do 2.5 rounds of stairs each - totaling 47 flights of stairs per round. There is no air conditioning in these stairwells and needless to say, we sweat a ton, but it’s worth it and it’s been great having an accountability partner in it all!



Towards the end of March one of the student committees called Student Outreach organized a 30 Hour Famine event. Students had to sign up and it ended up being so popular that there was a long waiting list! I helped supervise and slept over with some of the other teachers. We played games, listened to a guest speaker etc. before getting some sleep. The girls slept in the library where as the boys slept in a different space. As students were settling in, some of the teachers and I went to the outdoor basketball courts and gazed at the stars –something we can’t often do as the sky is covered with smog. The moon was full too which made for an even more spectacular view. The committee made everyone a pancake breakfast and fruit smoothies the next morning – it was tasty after not eating for a while! This committee also organizes events for the street children of Jakarta, children with disabilities, hospital visits etc. The staff who is currently heading this up will be leaving by the end of this year, so a friend and I will be the next supervisors starting next year. I am super excited to get involved more in the school community in this way as it will broaden my commitments from strictly doing sports. I love the sport/coaching component of my job, but there are several other awesome things to be a part of too. Plus, it’s yet another outlet and opportunity to get to know even more students as it’s sometimes tricky getting to know them well when I only see them once-max twice a week!



We had yet another long weekend at the very end of March. A small group of us went on a road trip a couple hours away to a place called Bogor and Puncak. We spent time hiking to a waterfall, relaxing at the pool, and visiting a tourist attraction called Taman Safari. A fabulous time was had by all BUT it didn't come without a few frustrations! My friend describes it perfectly. Please read her blog posting below - courtesy of LS:



I walked down the highway chatting with my friend as the sun shone down on our shoulders. The street was lined with trees and the mountains rose behind us, creating a backdrop that re-demanded attention and remarks about its beauty every few moments.

And, as we walked, we inhaled the fumes of hours of stand-still traffic and did our best to ignore the constant catcalls that were sadly misplaced due to a lack of control of the English language.

Really, this dichotomy of beauty and frustration is quite symbolic of my life here in SouthEast Asia. I live in one of the most stunning countries on earth. From the coral nestled deep in the seas to the cauldrons of the looming volcanos, there is no denying that Indonesia is naturally fascinating. However, at the same time, life here can be endlessly disheartening. Things don’t go as planned, people don’t show up on time, and no one will give you a straight answer.

This was one of those days which started off with the highest of hopes but quickly morphed into issue after issue. At the time, I was definitely not enjoying myself, but looking back it is undeniably ridiculous to the point of laughing at the sequence of events.



8:00 a.m.

Having spent the long weekend a few hours south of our current abode, my friends and I woke up early to beat the traffic in the area. We had plans to go hang gliding and spend the afternoon at a tea plantation, and our driver was scheduled to arrive at 8:00.

I’ve lived here for two years now, resulting in (more of) an understanding of the way that things work, so I checked with the hotel staff to make sure our driver had actually showed up. “Yes,” they assured me, “he’s ready when you are!” So the six of us brought our various bags out to load of the van, only to find that he was, in fact, not there.

I spent a good while explaining to the hotel manager that we had somewhere we needed to be and time was important (this is counter-cultural). After determining that driver #1 was in traffic (read: never called and/or not in the mood to show up), she called another driver.



9:30 a.m.

Driver #2 arrived and was quite eccentric. The entire car was covered in trash, and #2 was very excited to practice his broken English by asking me barely coherent questions throughout the entire journey.



11:00 a.m.

After about an hour and a half of driving, we had successfully covered the 20 miles to the tea plantation. Leaving one friend there to read, we continued the final 2 miles to the hang gliding location. When we reached the top of the hill, we inquired with the people behind the hang gliding company’s desk. They knew nothing, and seemed quite frustrated that we would consult them; it turned out they had simply been looking for a seat. We located a random restaurant owner who called a random man who told us that maybe we could hang glide.

Though his logic was faulty on many levels, I managed to work out in some mix of English and Indonesian that we would wait until 12:00 to see if we could hang glide, but that we would need to return to Jakarta after that to avoid traffic.



12:10 p.m.

The hang gliding random man told me to wait 10 more minutes, or maybe until tomorrow. I re-informed him that waiting longer was not an option and danced through a circular conversation* only to arrive at the fact that we would not be hang gliding that afternoon.

We started back down the hill, only to immediately stop in traffic that was not moving. At all. Apparently, the system set up to help with traffic in Bogor is having a one-way road that alternates back and forth. Without a schedule.



1:00 p.m.

We sat for an hour, and all rejoiced as traffic started moving… and then our driver pulled over to the side of the road. “Sorry, sorry! I buy gas!”

Groaning, we waited and watched our sliver of hope disappear. By the time he was back, traffic had grid-locked again.

“It’s okay, ya?” he asked. “No,” I told him,”please buy gas while we are stopped instead of the one time traffic is moving.”



2:00 p.m.

Sick of sitting in an overcrowded car on an overcrowded road, several of us decided to walk down to the tea plantation and wait there for our driver.** Which brings us back to where we started: the sun, the mountains, the exhaust, the catcalls. We finish our trek in all of ten minutes, and go in to buy some tea before returning to the entrance of the plantation to wait for our driver.



3:00 p.m.

Traffic speeds up significantly, and all of the cars that had been in front of and behind ours have passed us. Our driver still has not showed up.

Now, let me set the scene for you. We are six white people sitting on the side of a road very full of people that think all white people are celebrities worth harassing. There are three policeman, a news anchor with her camera man, and a handful of ojeks (or motorcycle taxis) at the same entrance.

Our driver has all of our things, and we are becoming increasingly concerned that he has driven off with them. The longer we wait, the more significant items I realize I would lose – my credit cards, passport, laptop, camera, student tests (God forbid).



Working together, we mentally and verbally flip through our slim options.

1. Ask the police for help.
This idea is immediately rejected since police here only take your money, not find it. However, they did seem quite amused by watching our helplessness.



2. Call the driver.
We call the hotel for the driver’s number, and are given the wrong one. We call back and are given the right one. We call him six times and he does not answer. This increases our anxiety.



3. Cry.
This almost happened.



4. Count down the days until I move back to America.
This definitely happened.***



5. Take motorcycle taxis to search for our lost driver.
At our wit’s end, we sent two members of our party on ojeks to search for our long lost driver – and valuables. While they are gone, we begin planning an alternate way to get back to Jakarta.





3:30 p.m.

Our friends call us, telling us that they have found the driver. He had stopped for gas (again) as soon as the traffic had started moving (again) and was apparently just hanging out up there. Needless to say, they climbed into the car and accompanied him toward us.



3:45 p.m.

As we continue waiting at our perch for him to make his way to us, we hear an enormous crack of thunder and the rain begins. Let me remind you, dear friends, that Indonesia is a tropical country. This means major rain storms.



We begin to trek our way back up the hill, seeking the cover of the vehicle. As we trudge up the side of the hill, through the pollution, in the rain, all of the people in the cars along the way roll down their windows.



Many take pictures, many try to hit on me by calling me “mister,” and others simply state “hujan***.”





4:00 p.m.

Needless to say, I was not in a good mood when we finally arrived at the car and the driver stuck out his hand and said, smiling, “It’s okay, ya?”



8:30 p.m.

After stopping twice more for gas (the second time I gave him money and told him to fill up the car, that we would not be stopping again), major car sickness, multiple requests to please roll up his window to keep the pollution in the car to a minimum, and endless stop-and-go traffic we arrived at our apartment.****



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*In order to save face, people here will not tell you no. They simply avoid saying yes until you give up.



**This is one of the nice thing about Indonesia! Maids, drivers, nannies – they’re a fixture in the life of normal people


***Recently, I have been quite sad to leave Indonesia. I absolutely adore my students, and our lifestyle here is pretty cool. This was not one of the moments in which I was upset to be leaving.


****Hujan = rain. Yes, thank you, I do realize that it is pouring.



*****Our apartment was approximately 60 miles away from the starting point, which we had left more than 8 hours before.

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