First Year of Teaching Is Done Already!?!

     Well, I have finished my first year of teaching in Jakarta, Indonesia. The last week was very busy with going over the final tests with students, class parties, Primary 6 graduation and parent teacher conferences. I feel like this year has gone by so fast. It feels like I was just home in America for Christmas not that long ago and now it is the summer holiday.

     I am really going to miss my kids, even though their behaviour was not always the best (haha!). They really improved this year. Even my student who had a lot of behaviour issues in my class earned the award for making the most progress since the first semester. I was so proud of him and I am glad that he started to get his behaviour under control at the end of the semester.

     The students finished up all of their exams and then we had to go over all of them. I had to go over all of the tests in my classes in one day. It felt kind of rushed. I wish we would have had a little more time, but oh well. I got it done.
     On Tuesday we had our class party, and so many students brought food. We had so much extra food, I had to share with the rest of the teachers. Our party was at breakfast time, but then by the time lunch rolled around a student had ordered pizza for all of us! I definitely wasn't hungry, but I did take  some of the pizza home. 

     On Wednesday, we basically had meetings all day. We also had our end of the year meeting with the directors. We did find out that we got the extra housing allowance!! I guess our letter that we wrote to the directors helped after all. We were also able to give other suggestions to the directors and principal about what we would like to see or improve for next year. 

     Thursday was the Primary 6 graduation ceremony. It was over 2 hours long!! It was a very nice program, but I think it was longer than my high school graduation. It was very different than a any graduation that I have been to. There were lots of awards given out and there was a singing program done by the students to thank their parents for supporting them. It was actually very nice. Afterward, we all had a buffet lunch.

     This was also report book day. We had to make sure that all of our grades were entered on the computer and that they were ready to print. This is always a day of waiting. There is always a long line of people waiting for their reports to be printed so we can sign each one and put them inside the books.

     On Friday, we had parent/teacher conferences and then we went out for lunch with all of the teachers as a farewell to our Math HOD, our Chinese teachers and our dear Vice Principal, Ms Lina, who are all leaving us. Ms Lina is like our Mother of Bina Bangsa School and now she is leaving us to go to another school. It's very sad and we will all miss her very much. 

     Some of my students brought me gifts, and I even had one student who took me out for dinner on Friday night. We went to the mall nearest my building. He also got me a very nice watch. I also got a lot of food as gifts from the students, which is very common here in Jakarta. I get all of this food, but then I leave in 3 days! I don't know how I am going to eat it all. I'm not I guess. Haha. I will have to give a lot of it away. 

     Monday I am headed to the Philippines with some other teachers from KJ and Eduardo (he also teaches at PIK with me). I think it's going to be a great trip. After we are in Palawan, Philippines for a week, we are going to Phuket, Thailand. We are going to spend most of our time relaxing on the beach. I would also like to do a little island hopping. There are some beautiful places that I am told that I need to check out in the Philippines and Thailand. I'm sure that I will blog about the trip and post pictures when I get back. 

I Choose to Forfeit My Accommodations Package? That's News to Me!!

     We were informed earlier in the school year (2012) that we would not be provided with housing anymore here in Jakarta through the school, even though our contract (for most of us) says that we will have accommodations provided to us. The school has said that they will give us a housing allowance of about $2,500 USD for the year.
     Just a week ago, the teachers at PIK (me) heard that the other campus (KJ) would receive a higher housing allowance than us. How is that fair to the rest of us at all? We all live in Jakarta, it is not cheap. Their basis on this increase for the other school is that they live in an area that is more expensive than us teachers in PIK....It's not my fault that they chose to house the teachers in expensive apartment buildings that are a lot newer/nicer than the apartment building that I live in. I live in a building that is 10+ years old, but the benefit of that is, the space is much, much larger. All of the new apartment buildings these days have tiny units that you can try and hold two people in.
     The teachers teaching at PIK that live in City Resort are sharing a 2 bedroom that is tiny. The little room in their units fits a bed, which allows you a little walking room. That's it. The other bedroom is okay, but the units do not seem like they are meant for two people at all. We all just want to be comfortable while we are here.
     So, if the teachers in KJ live in a more expensive area, those of us in PIK can't help that. We just don't think the $2,500 USD is sufficient for us to cover the bills that we need to after paying the fees just to live in the building. They did not take our extra expenses into consideration when calculating these figures. The service fee for living in the building has been increased and also the rate for electricity. As of right now we are getting an allowance for water and electricity where if we go over a certain usage amount, we have to pay the excess. Next year, we will have to pay all of it out of pocket, because there won't be any of the housing allowance left to help cover these things.
     I am just very disappointed that I am getting stressed out about something that I shouldn't have to worry about. Why should I be worrying about how much money I am going to have to pay out of pocket next year, when this school told me at the recruitment fair, that I would be provided with two years of housing that is paid for?
     I really hope they understand that what they are doing is not right, and I really hope they take all of the teachers' points into consideration when making a decision. I am not only fighting for myself, but for other teachers that I know are very concerned with this situation.
     The story behind the title of my post...We received an addendum to our contract today at school and one of the first lines says, "I choose to forfeit my accommodations package that was originally stated in my contract..." Uh...when did I choose this? One teacher asked if we could get the language changed to say, "I am being forced to forfeit my accommodations package..." I am refusing to sign this right now along with a lot of other teachers. I hope this makes them realise that we are being very serious about this and that we are very unhappy about all of this.
     Now that I am done with my rant about housing...on with the rest of the week. Only two more days, Friday and Saturday maths course, and then my weekend can start. Bring it on!!

~ The Little Mermaid, Jr ~

     The weekend of 19-20 April, PIK Primary put on the show The Little Mermaid, Jr. The students and teachers had been preparing for this for about 6 months. After all of that hard work and practise the show finally came. The teachers had to stay back from school to help out with props, and there were a lot of teachers that had production roles for the play. My role was to help with the booklet. I did not design it, but I helped put together the contents inside.
     After school on Friday we all stayed back to get ready for the play. I sat and watched the kids practise as they anxiously waited for the show to begin. A lot of students from my form class participated in the play. Most of the students that were in the play are part of the Performing Arts Club at the school. Two of my students had lead roles. One was Flounder the fish and the other was Sebastian the crab. You can see them above on the cover of the programme. I also had 4 other students from my class that had roles.
     They performed three times, and there was actually two different Ariels. They thought that both of them did a good job, so they took turns with the role. I was so impressed by this musical. They put on such a good show for primary students. I never knew how talented they were. I didn't know how talented my class was. Sebastian also played the drums at the beginning of the show. I don't know how they got up there and performed in front of everyone like they did. I guess I used to be in musicals, but I never had solos like most of them did. I was always in a chorus or something.
     I will say that I am glad the musical is over. It took up a lot of time, and pupils were missing class so that they could go to practise. It was hard when my students work in groups and their group members are gone. I think the rest of the teachers are very proud of the students, but they are also super glad that it is all over. I think they wanted to burn the props when they were done. Haha. Some teachers put a lot of time in on the props, like my roommate, Amber. She was definitely glad when we had the curtain call at the last show on Saturday night.
     Next year, the musical will be at the other campus (KJ), so I will be anxious to see which show they pick. Hopefully I will be able to watch it. This weekend I haven't done much. I went to see Iron Man 3 last night with Amber. Otherwise, today I have done nothing except clean up the kitchen a little bit and visit with Andrew from upstairs. It was nice to have a relaxing weekend. In May, I will be at school on the weekends for my Maths course. I need to prepare myself to be busy/tired. Haha! Oh well, the school year will be over soon, and I will be on my way to some island to relax on the beach...(hopefully)!

3 Terms Down...1 Term Left to Go!

     Well, we just had a week off from school for our term 3 break. I will write about my trip to Thailand in a different entry. I was thinking that I don't write about school on here very often, so I should probably start. I have been blogging about all of my trips! Haha. Anyway, I can't believe that 3 terms have already passed by since I have started my new adventure teaching in Jakarta. I think it has flown by! Summer vacation will be here before I know it.
     I know I wrote before how my Primary 4 class was a little hard to handle. They still are, but I think they have gotten better with their behaviour. Of course, some days they are the same as they always were, but then other days they are great. I have figured out some classroom management strategies that seem to work for them. That is something that I can always work on and I hope that is something that I improve on for the next year.
     I feel like I have also gotten used to the flow of things at the school. I really have learned how things work in the school and how things should run in the classroom. I have gotten used to how fast paced the subject material is and and how the lessons need to be done. The pupils have to have so much information covered in a short amount of time for a test. I have been able to cover all the material needed with my students before the tests. I was having troubles with that during the first couple of terms.
     This first week back has gone pretty smoothly. I feel like it was so calm, but I am sure things will pick up soon. We start remedial and co-curricular activities again next week, so that will be two days that I have to stay back after school. It has been really nice to come home at 2:45 pm everyday this week. I have been keeping up with my marking so that I don't have a ton to do on the weekends or at night (that was my New Year's Resolution).
     Just before the term break, we had the annual Sports Festival Week. The school is divided into 4 houses (Blue, Green, Red and Yellow) and they compete in sports events throughout the week to earn points for their house. I am in the Blue house and we got 2nd place this year. I guess in the past years, our house has always lost. We are improving! Yay :)
     They participated in events such as soccer, badminton, sack race, basketball, shoer race and the tug-of-war, just to name some of them. I think sometimes I was more excited than the students! Haha. Although they can be pretty competitive, they still have a lot of fun.
     You're probably wondering what the shoer race is. I didn't know what it was either until the day of the event. The students have to take their shoes off and put them in a box at the end of the court and mix them with the others on their team.  They must run down to the box from the starting line, put their shoes on as fast as they can and tie them, and then run back and tag the next person in line. I could not believe how many kids in Primary 3 and 4 that could not tie their shoes! The Blue team lost because there was a student who could not tie his shoes properly. He was sitting there forever. Their nannies tie their shoes for them, so they don't know how. I just couldn't believe it....Haha!
     We also had some very sad news this week. One of the other American teachers that worked at the KJ campus passed away. He fell from the 29th floor of his apartment building. They are not real sure what happened yet. That was so sad to hear. I only met him at orientation and maybe saw him a couple of other times at meetings. I feel so sorry for his family and his friends that were close to him. It was such sad news to hear after the term break. Please keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers as they are going through this hard time.
     Well, the weekend is here and I am going to relax, do some lesson plans, and get ready for the next week of teaching. I hope that everyone has a good weekend :)

Karaoke, Euchre, and a Bonfire on the Beach ~Pelabuhan Ratu Part 3

01 - 03 March, Pelabuhan Ratu, Indonesia

     For dinner that night, we decided to actually ask for the menu. Before we had just been reading the Western menu that was posted when you walked into the restaurant. I ordered some Indonesian food and it was tasty and cheap compared to the Western food. We sat around having good conversations and listening to my iPod on the speakers that the bar had. 

     Karaoke was next. We didn't even make it into the room. We sat outside listening to the terrible singing and started to play Euchre. We had to reteach Eduardo how to play. It takes awhile to learn again after you haven't played for a long time. He got the hang of it after while, which was good. He was my partner, and I wanted to win. Haha! We actually ended up losing by 2 points! 

     After one long game of Euchre, it was getting late. We decided we had better head up to our rooms if we wanted to get up early and enjoy the half-day that we had left at the beach. As we were getting up to leave, a local Indonesian started talking to us. He invited us to their bonfire on the beach. Of course we accepted the invite. It was really nice of them to invite us. I had never been to a bonfire on the beach before. 

     It was a big group of people that had actually rode their motorcycles from Jakarta to Pelabuhan Ratu for the weekend. We met one guy named Dani along with many others. Dani is the one that invited us. They were all very friendly and were happy to practise their English with us. They wanted soooo many pictures though! They always do when they meet new people....or Americans. 

 

     They were actually cooking fish and octopus on the fire. I didn't try any, but Danna tried a bit. I just stood around and talked to all of them. It was getting late so Danna and I decided to head back to our rooms to get some sleep before the next day. It was already midnight. 

     The next morning, I got up very early. I was woken up by my hotel-mates. They went back to sleep and I stayed up. I read my book, before getting some french toast for breakfast. I decided I should probably take advantage of the little time I had left to relax, so I grabbed my book and headed for the cabana by the pool. The group of guys that we had met the night before were leaving, so a few of them came over to say goodbye to us. They were going to be making their long motorcycle trip back to Jakarta. 

     We actually ended up leaving a couple of hours after them. I did not want to go back to the city of Jakarta where the air is not fresh and the beach is not clean for miles. I loved where we were and we all decided that we should have just called in sick on Monday. We wish! As we were leaving, I checked out the map that they had hanging in the lobby. I actually figured out where we were after the whole weekend was over. We were so confused as to what the town was called that we were in, oh well, we just knew we didn't want to leave. 

     After paying and chatting with the owner for awhile, we all piled in the car and got ready for the long trip back to the big city. We made one stop, and the trip took us about 5 hours again. I thought maybe it was going to be worse because of the traffic, but it really wasn't all that bad. I was sick of being in the car though, so I was not looking forward to the taksi ride back to Mitra Bahari. 

     I finally made it home around 6:30 pm or so. Back to reality....I had to get some work done for school after unpacking and starting some laundry. Monday was coming already, but I had a great, relaxing weekend. 

Soaking up the Sun ~ Pelabuhan Ratu Part 2

01 - 03 March - Pelabuhan Ratu, Indonesia

     After dropping our things off at the room, we went back out. This time we decided to sit down by our pool with our books and read. The sun was soooo hot, we were sweating in no time at all. It didn't take us long to want to go down to the water and cool off. After Lynsey and Nicole came back from the water, Danna and I decided to head down to the beach. Of course, she found a place to rent a boogie board, so she wanted to do it. I went out with her so that she wouldn't be alone in the water. She only paid about $1.50 to rent it for 30 min! So cheap! I just stood in the waves and enjoyed the nice cool water. 

     We decided we had better go and get some lunch. After looking at the time we had no idea that it was already 3:00 pm! We had been out in the sun all day long. We headed in to get some lunch. I tried ordering from the Western menu again and got some Med Terranean chicken (as it was called on the menu). The lady brought out our food and there was a small, whole chicken sitting on my plate. I couldn't believe how much food it was, but it looked delicious. It definitely was. I at all of it! The sauce to dip it in was amazing. 

     At this time the owner of the hotel actually came by. His name is Ron and he is from Canada. We had contacted him about staying at the resort before we went. It was nice to meet him. He had lots of stories to tell us about how he came to live there and about other guests that he has had at the hotel. He invited us to karaoke later in the evening. He said he had better see us there and that it would start whenever we wanted it to. Haha. 

     After lunch, we decided to take a walk down the other side of the beach. It was the late afternoon and it was starting to cool down, so of course all of the locals were out now. Before, there had been no one on the beach, because they don't like to be out in the sun. They don't want to be tan like we do. Haha, so funny, but true. There were a couple of groups of boys playing soccer on the beach, and a lot of people in the water cooling off. 

     We walked up onto the street, and of course, got a lot of stares from the locals as we walked by. Americans get stared at everywhere they go. I guess because we stand out. Well, everyone else stands out a little more than I do. I get mistaken for a local all of the time, or at least someone who can speak the language. I don't look American so therefore I speak Bahasa Indonesia...Haha, NOT! 

     Ron had been telling us about some green stairs, and we found them. As you walked up the hill, you came to a spot where you had to pay. It was only $0.10 to go on the little tour. We didn't know what it was, but it seemed worth it. The man spoke English and took us along a path. We came to some stairs that lead down to the meditation chair. There was a very nice view of the beach from there. 

     As we walked farther down there were big rock formations that you could walk onto in the ocean. They had built a bridge across a couple of the rocks so that you could walk across, but there was no way that I was going to cross it. I am afraid of Indonesian made things. Haha. The bus way bridges that they made here are made out of thin sheets of metal. I don't think so! I walked across one once, and it scared me to death. I would rather take my chances crossing the street with the traffic. Anyway, I decided not to walk across the bridge, but the other girls did. I walked around on the other side while waiting for them to come back. 

Lynsey found her own mediation chair :) 

The bamboo bridge that I would not walk on

     We walked down and made our way back along the beach. We decided to stop at the local Indomaret and have a Magnum Ice Cream bar before dinner. Haha, dessert before dinner. We met up with Eduardo on the beach and again, had lots of stares from the people along the road watching us walk back to our hotel. 

Watch Out For the Green, Java Sea Queen! -Pelabuhan Ratu Part 1

01-03 March: Pelabuhan Ratu, Indonesia 

     I had not been out of Jakarta since we went to Tidung! That was so long ago it seemed. I was ready for a trip away from the big city. Of course, we scheduled our trip on a weekend where we had a Saturday event that we didn't know about. I did not know that I had to be at school on Saturday until 3 days before and the trip was already planned. Well, after passing it by the principal, I was able to leave on Friday after school for my mini vacation.
     As it started to rain, Eduardo, Linda and I took a tasksi from school to meet up with Danna, Lynsey and Nicole. We got to their place just in time. The driver had just gotten there and we were ready to go after getting a few snacks for the long drive to Pelabuhan Ratu....and yes, it was a long drive. The driver came all the way from Pelabuhan Ratu to get us and take us back with him. The drive took us through the VERY curvy roads of the mountains. When we got close, the driver rolled down the window to show us the ocean. It was night, but it was still amazing! It took us about 5 hours to get there, which landed us there at about 9:30-10:00 pm. The driver said that it would normally only take about 3 hours, but because we left during a bad traffic time, it took us longer.
     We checked into our rooms and got some dinner before settling in for the night. Eduardo's stomach didn't like the roads too much on the way there, so he pretty much crashed right away. The place was pretty nice. They had a restaurant/bar right there, where we were able to order Western and Indonesian food. After dinner we all called it a night.
     The next morning I got up pretty early and went out on the balcony. What an amazing view to wake up to. I was so excited for the day, because I knew I was going to be spending it relaxing on the beach.

     After eating some nasi goreng (fried rice) with egg for breakfast, I quickly put my swimming suit on, got my things together and headed toward the beach with Lynsey, Danna and Nicole. As we walked along, there were crabs everywhere! I had never seen so many in my life at a beach. Good thing they ran before you even got close to them, because I didn't want to step on one or have one scuttle over my foot.

     We walked down the beach looking for a good place to put our things. We got all the way to the end and it looked like a good spot so we put our things down. The other girls started to take pictures on the nearby rocks in the ocean while I stood by our things and put sunscreen on. I am putting sunscreen on, and all of a sudden, a huge wave comes out of nowhere! It takes all of our stuff! I grab my bag quickly since it is right next to me and try to grab anything else that I can while yelling for the other girls to come and help. I had to chase my sandal into the ocean. I mean, it wouldn't have been a sad loss, but I really wanted to wear shoes for the weekend.
     I got both of my sandals back and luckily, everything else was in my bag. My bag only got a little wet on the bottom. Unfortunately, we ended up with 1 cell phone not working, an iPod not working, and a missing shoe. Danna had lost her shoe and we could not find it. Since I was running around chasing my shoe with my sunscreen bottle open, I think I wasted half of the bottle all over my bag and on Nicole's shorts...oops! We could not believe what had just happened. All of the girls' stuff was soaked! Of course, after that there were no other waves that reached that far back, but we decided to take all of our belongings back to our room.

     After this happened, we learned of a myth about the Java Sea Queen. Her name is Nyai Roro Kidul and the myth says that if you wear a green garment in this area, it will anger her and bring misfortune on the wearer. Well, Danna was wearing a green tank top...hmm...is the myth true?!?! She is the only one who lost a shoe. Even if it isn't, we are still giving Danna a hard time about it. Haha.