I survived teacher orientation!

This is a short video of the prayer that I hear five times a day - 4:00 am, 12:00 pm, 3:00 pm, 6:00 pm, 8:00 pm. There is a guy who comes on a speaker over the city and sings some song in Bahasa Indonesia ("Indonesian Language") and calls the Muslims ("Moslems") to prayer at the mosque or in their homes. The person who sings/talks on the speaker changes up quite often. There's one particular guy who scares the living daylights out of me with his singing. His voice is so scary and it sounds like I'm in a horror movie. :S The first couple nights I would wake up to it and would have trouble falling asleep but now I sleep right through it! In this video I also filmed part of the view of the city. I hope it's clear enough for you guys to see but you should at least be able to hear the man singing.

This is a video of the kampung or the little poverty stricken villages that you see all over Jakarta. I filmed this on the bus ride home from school.

As for my time in Jakarta, the past week or so has been filled with teacher orientation at Bina Bangsa on the PIK (Panti Indah Kapuk) campus. Yesterday, I did my lesson demo which was roughly a half hour. I taught in front of 4-5 observers and 6 Bina teachers. I was a little nervous but as soon as I started teaching, my nerves went away and it felt natural. I was in my zone :) I did a lesson on homonyms and tried to incorporate as much cooperative learning as possible since they stress that here! All the teachers this week have to do their demo lessons in front of large groups for observation because that's what our observations will look like during the academic year. It is a little nervewrecking at first but it helps when you have an awesome staff and admin to work with. I have the coolest principal and vice-principal. I was laughing with my VP yesterday because we dressed the same! So Elaine, the trend continues :)

Me and Ms Lina, my VP :)

 We have learned so much about the Singapore curriculum and Kagan's cooperative learning. One of the biggest things here that they stress is group work and getting the kids to socialize and move around. They focus on four key elements in a lesson plan (this is for all my teacher friends):

1) Think
2) Learn
3) Do
4) Reflect

So basically they encourage you to use some sort of hook/high order critical type thinking question to start class with. Have the kids work in groups to hypothesize what they think the answer is to whatever your question may be. Then, teach them about it, making sure to engage in meaningful conversation/relevance to their daily lives. Also let the kids work in pairs, a variety of groups, and also by themselves. They also encourage lots of games in their learning. Finally, students reflect on what they have learned. This can take the form of a whole group reflection/discussion about the material, students physically writing down their thoughts or discussing it with their partners, and the teacher also summarizing the content for the day. They also encourage you introduce the objectives to the students in the beginning of the lesson and also at the end, making sure to weave it throughout your lesson.

I will be teaching a P3 and P5 (primary 3rd and 5th) English class as well as a P5 science class. They moved everyone's classes around so this is my official one. The students here are grouped according to ability levels. There are five in the primary grades.

Faith (highest)
Grace
Hope
Joy
Love (lowest)

Then, within the classes, students are grouped into desks forming 1 group (total of 24 kids, so 6 groups) and they are also grouped by ability within their leveled class even further (so you have a high, medium high, medium low, and low group of students sitting together, making sure it's 2 boys and 2 girls).

The students here are going to be so much different from the ones I am accustomed to back home. The kids here are very protected and sheltered. Their parents are very successful and wealthy and own businesses. Each kid has a nanny and a driver. So if there is four kids in one family, it's not uncommon for each kid to have their own driver and own nanny who will carry their backpack for them, clean their rooms, and do their homework. The students here also have very limited world views. In one example essay I was reading during orientation, a student had literally said they were glad they were glad their father was rich and "not a poor middle class office worker." Most kids here at this school typically spend their days indoors or at the local mall. Some of them are involved in sports such as soccer ("football") or badminton but that's about it. Apparently the nanny situation got so ridiculous that they implemented a new school rule across all campuses in Bina Bangsa. Students must carry their own backpacks and their nannies cannot do it for them. For awhile they had told us students were literally sending their backpacks upstairs on the elevator so they wouldn't have to carry them. :-O

Despite the amount of wealth so many of these students have, they are supposed to be extremely respectful and eager to learn. Many of them will catch on to material wicked fast so we must constantly have additional activities ready to go.

The only grades they record here are the assessment grades. They have six big exam grades each semester. Homework, quizzes, classwork, etc is not part of the grade book. The exams they make are carefully constructed with meaningful questions that will give teachers insight into each students' thinking process. Teachers work on these exams months prior to administering them and the work is divided among the teachers.

Today marks the last day of teacher orientation! I cannot believe I have been living in Jakarta for over a week now. It seems so surreal. I am adjusting and learning bits of the language! I am learning it is a must if I want to get around. Some of the words I have learned are..

macasi (mah-kah-see) = thank you
ya = yes
tak (tuck) = no
bodoh (bow-dough) = stupid <-- Josh's new name
Berapa (beer-apa) = how much?
di mana (insert store name here) = where is..?
bicara (bee-char-ugh) = speak
   Bichara Inggris? (Do you speak English?)

OH! And the cockroach situation is slowly improving. They are coming by throughout the week spraying and cleaning out our apartment. Me and Aasha were actually laughing and sitting on furniture last night. Our dear "unofficial" roommates on the 24th floor (Andrew, Ben, Ike, & Josh) thought that maybe we were eaten by a large cockroach since we took so long to come upstairs for the night. Usually we jet out of our apartment but last night it was a 100 times better so fingers crossed it will stay that way. On top of the chemical spraying from the apartment guy, we've had a plant called "pandan" placed around the house to help deter the bugs. It smells like popcorn and for whatever reason, the cockroaches don't like it. You can get it real cheap around town just about anywhere. One of the older teachers bought us some the other day and it has helped some. We also received some bait that you sprinkle around the apartment that kills the bugs. It's kind of fun watching the cockroaches flip on their backs, antennas and legs moving rapidly and then come to a sudden stop. I feel so evil for celebrating their death but man.. they are just disgusting.

pandan

Overall, Jakarta is great and I am having so much fun. I already know I am going to be extremely homesick for Jakarta come December when I go home to visit for Christmas break. In the mean time though, me and my friends are planning a trip to Bali over Ramadhan (ram-ugh-dun), the Muslim fast that lasts for roughly 2 weeks in mid-August. Jakarta is supposed to be a ghost town with everything shut down and the Americans aren't going to be too happy about that.. We've found some super cheap tickets and are in the process of looking for a villa or hotel to stay in. There are 11 of us for sure going! 6 boys and 5 girls.. we're really excited! We will also be going to the Gili Islands the last 5 nights to chill out from all our fun in Bali :)

Also, next Tuesday a fairly big group of us will be in Singapore for the day to receive our official work permits! The school has to send us there to get everything processed so we will do some sightseeing. I will make sure to take pictures.

Miss you guys!

xoxo
amber

Pics!

dinner you can buy from the mall

bajaj! the fumes are horrid

outside view of one mall

most malls are 5 stories or higher - take THAT mall of America!!

lots of bread selections..strawberry, chocolate, cheese flavored

grocery shopping at carrefour

traffic

gymnasium with some of the tables set for teacher orientation

:)

they have KFC but no biscuits, just rice lol

Jakartans

typical view of Jakarta from my friend's apartment on the 24th floor, those red homes are called "kampung" - they are overcrowded villages with no running water, indoor plumbing or electricity and can be found all over the city and look far worse in other areas.. didn't realize this was such a 3rd world country

my best friend on the 19 hour flight.. I watched so many Family Guy episodes, lol - they also have music, movies, news stations, and news stations

Yes, I am alive. The thought of writing this blog is already giving me a headache because I have experienced so much during the past 5 days. I'm not quite sure where to start.

The level of frustration I have experienced so far cannot be put into words and the 90 degree weather everyday isn't helping. Everything feels so backwards here. I look around and think to myself, "Oh Amber, we're not in America anymore." I have had SO many "What the ... " moments, and from what I am hearing, that is going to be the situation for sometime. Pictures are really worth a thousand words, especially if I am going to be here for 2 years. I'll have to get in the habit of uploading pictures elsewhere because my Internet access at the apartment is dial up and unbelievably slow. It took at least 7 minutes to upload the two pictures above -_______-


We landed in Jakarta on Monday without any problems. The flight from Hong Kong went by much faster -- it was a little under 5 hours. As soon as we got off the plane, a school representative met us at customs. He took our passports and sent us on to the baggage claim area. I thought our suitcases would never come. I was introduced to the culture almost right away as soon as we entered the airport. Short little Asian people everywhere. For the first time in my entire life, I feel tall. And if they are in a rush, they run. I mean full-fledged running, even the airport staff. All the workers here look like they are maybe 15 years old.. I know that they're not, but Jakartans must have good genes. They push their way into elevators. This was even evident in Hong Kong. It doesn't matter if there are 10 people on the elevator waiting to get off, someone will enter regardless, without a care in the world. They do not say excuse me when pushing their way through elevators or cutting you in line for that matter. It's every man for himself here.

After we finally gathered all of our things, we walked outside the airport and were greeted by more Bina Bangsa School staff. To finally meet the faces of all the people I have been communicating with was such a relief.. I had so many questions. We were all greeted by smiles, hugs, and handshakes. We were given welcome bags from the school (they're quite nice actually, remind me of those recyclable bags from the grocery store but these have the school logo on them and are much more durable). The bags contained travel sized items, a converter/adapter for my electronics, booklets of information on the teacher orientation schedule, the Bahasa Indonesia language, snack food, and local maps. We also were given a SIM card to activate our phones.. phone activation.. (shakes head) I don't even want to talk about it.

We loaded up in the vans and were taken to our apartments. They place you in apartments based on the campus you will be teaching at. Nicole is at a different school and different apartment. Eduardo is at the same school as us but was placed in another complex as well. Andrew and I ended up staying at the same apartment complex, but on different floors. Our apartment is called Mitra Bahari (meechra-buh-are-ee). Security is awesome. It's gated and they have around-the-clock security men in uniforms by this gate that resembles the gates you might be greeted with at a train track. Once you enter the apartment, there are two towers, A and B. Tower A is actually the hotel part of the apartment compelx and tower B is where the rooms may be rented out. We stay in tower B. However, before you can enter tower B, you walk by another security man who sits at a desk and watches you swipe your card before you can enter the glass doors to the elevator. I thought he had a pretty sweet job -- who doesn't love to people watch? My dream was fulfilled when I realized that one of the channels here actually projects from cameras from downstairs by the elevators. So I can sit on my couch and be a creeper and not get caught. It's pretty awesome.

There's 24 floors but no 13th floor. Jakartans are very superstitious. But guess who "technically" lives on the 13th floor? Yep, you guessed it... and this may explain all my newly found cockroach amigos. We've bonded quickly. Unfortunately, we will be parting ways as soon as I can successfully communicate the infestation of cockroaches that currently occupy every corner of my apartment and watch me shower. I learning quickly that gestures or charades won't work for communication here and I am going to have to learn the language if I want to get around. Just the other day, I tried communicating that I needed bug spray when I went to the local "Carrefour" (car-four). As quoted by Nicole, "It's like Walmart on crack." I tried imitating a bug in the store to a local employee and when that didn't work, I tried pretending to step and squish a bug. He laughed and looked at me in confusion. I apologized for being an American.

Jakartan 1, Amber 0

I'm learning the best way to find what you need in a supermarket with unfamiliar product and names is just to walk up and down every single aisle. Oh, and don't expect customer service. You can look confused as you want but they aren't going out of their way to help. You can ask and they might point if they understand you. They may also point if they don't understand you.

Yeah, the cockroaches, I guess I should explain that culture shock. Definitely a, "What the.. " moment. Apparently having cockroaches here are "normal." They'll say, "Oh, you don't have cockroaches back home?" Um, no actually, that's disgusting. But to them, it's inevitable. Depending on your region in the states, you could compare it to having ants or houseflies or ladybugs or knats. It's just the way it is. You can spray and keep the place clean but they'll never just "go away." I went through an entire can of cockroach spray in 1 day. It's called "anti-nyamuk" or "anti-cockroach" spray. I am the queen of cockroach stomping, squishing, and killing in Jakarta. It's kind of like a video game. See how many you can squish in 1 minute and bonus points for the ones that splatter. Needless to say, I'm getting over my high-maintenance ways real quick.

Traffic is fun. There are no rules. Everyone drives how they want, cut you off if they want, and honk as much as they want, even if it's not necessary. Sometimes I think they just honk to honk. There are very few, if any traffic lights. Many people choose to ride motorcycles because the traffic is just so awful. Anytime you sit in traffic, which is 23 hours out of the day, you see what looks like motorcycle gangs! It's insane. Words cannot express... there will literally be 20 or 30 motorcyclists all crammed in between vehicles trying to squeeze past. There are no lanes on the roads. So each side attempts to have 3 or 4 lanes but many like to take over 2 of those lanes. I have seen up to four people on a motorcycle here. Families mainly with little children in the front holding on for dear life with no shoes or helmets.

People also ride bikes and drive trucks, taxis, wagons, or these smelly little vehicles call bahajs (badge-eyes). I'll have to try and take a picture sometime today. I've been avoiding it because the men who drive these have ice-cold stares. And it doesn't matter if you make eye-contact with them. Staring is not considered rude here. Especially if you are an American then they have every right to stare and yell "BULE!" (boo-lay) which means "albino" or "whitey" in Bahasa Indonesia. I haven't had that problem but Andrew and our new friend Josh have, lol. Poor Josh, his 6'3 or 6'4 statue isn't helping. He broke the car panel as soon as we got in to a taxi the other day. The taxi driver laughed and said, "BIG!" Hahahaha.

Teacher orientation started this week. Yesterday was the first day and it went really well. We played lots of get-to-know-you games and I lost just about every single one it felt like leaving me as one of the chosen ones to perform the chicken dance in front of all my fellow co-workers. I guess those ice skating lessons paid off. When I was about 6 years old, I learned the chicken dance and performed it as part of an ice-skating routine with the rest of my class. So thanks, grandmama. You prepared me well. :)

They picked us up from our apartments around 6:30 in the morning but I must say I'm up as early as 4 or 5 sometimes. My body is still adjusting to it's new internal clock. My appetite is small if there is one at all. I'll get hungry and eat something, such as a chicken sandwich, and then I'll quickly realize it's dark meat or if I'm eating chicken friend rice (nasi gerung), those random rubbery pieces of "chicken" are actually gizzards.. or some part of the body of some animal. Barf.

Any consumption of water here must be bottled, that includes brushing your teeth. The school provided us with water dispensers, you know, the type you find at doctor's offices or something.

Now, I know it sounds like I'm having an awful time and anything that could possibly go wrong has. And part of that is true. Things have been very difficult but the more I drive around town in the taxi, the more I realize how worse it could be. The kampung are just so sad. I mean, these homes are literally built by hand using scrap metal or wood. The children run barefoot. 1 year olds walk on the street with their 4 or 5 year old siblings. Old women walk around with their newborn grandchild in a sarung, begging for food or money. People sell water, rice, fruit, or funky looking meat as they walk in between the traffic. It's their life and how they make it day by day. It's all they know. And I feel so selfish everytime I start to complain because I realize just how bad things really could be. So I'm trying to make light of the situation.

I must say, I am learning to love this place. I really am. I'm very happy and I feel like I am here for a reason. It just feels right. Some days I want to pull out my hair, especially when it comes to communicating with the real world, whether it be the language barrier or lack of internet/phone service but I am realizing that everything here is a work in progress and you must be patient. If someone offered me a ticket to go home today, I'd say no in a heartbeat. Really.

I have so much more to say and many more pictures to update you guys with but it is almost 6 am here and I need to shower and get ready for day 2 of teacher orientation.

To be continued...

xoxo
amber

Jakarta .. culture shock

It's a whole new world here! I am settled into my apartment now! The first several days have been quite an adventure and I have so much to tell you guys. I'm sitting in a restaurant with my friend Andrew and we get WiFi here! We are trying to get our internet and phones set up today here at the mall so fingers crossed!

Will update you guys soon - my time is limited on the Internet here.

xox amber

Ms Amber Yarbrough
Jl. Pakin Raya No. 1, (Pasar Ikan) Penjaringan #14-01B
Jakarta 14440, Indonesia

Greetings from Hong Kong :)

Well we've landed in Hong Kong! I'll have to blog about our adventure later but here are some pictures. We've got to get moving. We just finished up our breakfast at the airport and have to head to the gate! Update you guys later!

our itty bitty beds.. seriously, could they be any smaller or any closer!

I had no idea Best Western was international

Our cute little taxi - the driver is on the right side

My breakfast from McDonald's.. that's a "large" orange juice -__-

This one is for you mom!

The flush was on top.. I'm just glad they had Western toilets

Another shot of our room and our chandelier, lol

One of the many views from our hotel room on the 32nd floor

Our red TV that definitely clashed with the color scheme

Another view from the hotel - they had fields in the middle of the city, so strange

Saying goodbye :(

It's so hard to believe I leave tomorrow afternoon! The past couple weeks have just absolutely flown by. At first I felt bad for dipping out so early from Tennessee, but the more I think about it, the more I realize it was probably better I left when I did. If anything, I lingered around in Knoxville.. a place that has become my home the past 6 years. I remember moving into the dorms! And driving away from 40-East was definitely hard. I have made so many friends that have really become family and I will miss Knoxville. It's been good to me. I'll definitely be back for a football game in a couple of years! I'll never forget Rocky Top and all the sweet memories and good times. It's been quite a ride if I do say so myself.


Me and Brittany went to Gurnee Mills Mall today and jumped in the photo booth. We were meaning to when she came up and went to Atlanta over the weekend but we all got distracted with other things going on. Anyway, since we were missing the other part of the trio (Ashley), we tried cropping her in by drawing her face on a napkin. Check out the pic below. Dumb and dumber pretty much sums up our friendship :)

Me and my little brother Nathan at dinner tonight in Kenosha ~ I'm gonna miss this guy!

Well folks, the next time I blog I will probably be in Hong Kong with Nicole, Andrew, and Eduardo! Wish us luck! I bought a Cantonese phrase book...

xox amber

Less than 48 hours to go...

Hey guys! Thanks for checking out my blog. As many of you know, I will be flying out to Jakarta in the next couple of days. My flight leaves this Saturday, June 16 at 3:25 pm. I am actually flying out with a friend named Nicole who also will be working under the same Bina Bangsa School system. We also just found out that two more American teachers will be flying out of the O'Hare Airport here in Chicago as well and they are male so now we feel extra safe! Their names are Andrew and Eduardo. We've exchanged information and plan to meet before boarding the plane.

After the plane departs Chicago, we will be flying for 15 hours (!!!!) to Hong Kong. I plan on sleeping a majority of that flight.. I do have a Nook and some other reading materials to bring along.. and it will be nice to see a familiar face but I have a feeling this is going to be the longest 15 hours of my life (unless you count like, labor or something but I don't have kids and that's another topic). Anyway, after we arrive in Hong Kong, the school is putting all four of us in a Best Western (YES! I was surprised those existed overseas!) hotel for the night. The two guys have a room they will share and me and Nicole will have another. We also have to take a taxi which should prove interesting considering all the luggage everyone will be bringing..

I also have purchased a phrase book for my traveling in Hong Kong although spoken English shouldn't be a problem there. However, with all my food allergies I figured I should be prepared. :)
After we spend a night in Hong Kong, we catch a flight to Jakarta the next morning and that flight is supposed to take 5 hours which will still be long but I'll probably sleep that one off too, especially because of all the jet lag and I'm not really a morning person anyway.. Once we clear with customs and everything, we will meet a school representative holding a sign with our name on it!

Before I go, I thought I would go ahead and have a FAQ section about the school I will be working for because no offense, but so many of you ask the same questions :)

1) Are you just teaching English? No. It's a full-time paid position as a 5th grade elementary school teacher. I am responsible for 3 subjects: Science, English (the standard Language Arts), and Math. I'll have my own class of roughly 24 kiddos and will be working alongside another 5th grade team (6 other teachers).
 
2) Do they speak English? Yes. The students have to speak English fluently in order to go to Bina Bangsa. They must take a fluency test. All subjects are taught in English except for the Chinese (Mandarin) class students take (which I will not be teaching, obviously).

3) Do they provide housing? Yes. All teachers live in apartment complexes provided by the school. They are safe :) and there will be a random roommate and no Nicole will not be my roommate because she is living in a different apartment complex.

4) What is the weather like there? It's 90 degrees F year round with lots of humidity. They have two seasons, dry and wet. The dry season lasts until roughly May-Oct and the wet season lasts until roughly Nov-Apr.

5) What about tsunamis? There are natural disasters there just like everywhere else in the world. However, Jakarta is one of the least likely to be hit places because it is so far down south on the Java island. They are a civilized city with TV and news stations that are always in tune to the weather.

6) How will you get around? The school provides transportation to and from school and also on the weekends.

7) Do you have to speak the language? No, I do not have to speak Indonesian (aka Bahasa Indonesia) but I'm sure I will pick it up many of the common phrases while living there. I also have a phrasebook a friend bought for me so that will help :)

8) What will you eat? They have lots of street vendors and fresh fruit and veggies as well as many popular fast food chains. However, my travel nurse recommended staying away from all meat until I figure out what's safe to eat. I will mostly be eating fruits and veggies (and probably shedding some pounds which hey, won't hurt!) and drinking lots of bottled water until I get used to the food.

9) Can you wear whatever you want? For the most part, yes. However, since the weather is hot and booty shorts and spaghetti strap tanks aren't the most looked upon choice of clothing, I'll be wearing shirts with sleeves and longer shorts which I must say is probably appropriate for a teacher representing herself in another country anyway :)
 
10) When are you coming back? I have many vacations since Bina Bangsa is basically a year-round school. I plan on coming home for sure in December for roughly 4 weeks, during the week of March 23rd (yay Lauren and BJ on your engagement ~ can't wait for the wedding!) and probably in June once school ends.

I think that's it! If I come up with anymore FAQs, I'll post those. My goal is to post to Blogger at least once a week, if not twice.

Make sure you come back to check for updates!

xoxo amber

  Bye bye Knoxville :(