Adjustments

Hello again everybody! Sorry it's been a little while since I wrote. I have been trying to settle in and gather my thoughts and emotions. It has been a little rough at some points since I arrived! Jet lag has been hard (I'm still not over it), the hardest it's ever been for me. And my emotions are all over the place. It's funny how things are never what you expect. I tried really hard not to build up expectations for coming here, but of course I did anyways. When these expectations were not realized, I was forced to choose between trust or despair. I think God, in his mercy, is helping me to trust Him and I am pulling through this adjustment time.
Let me update you on the events of this past week. In some ways, it has gone quickly. I can't believe it's already Thursday! Let's see... Sunday night was when I last wrote. After that I tried to go to stay, but stubborn old jetlag wouldn't let me. I ended up staying up all night. Let's just say it was a long, emotional night. On monday morning I went to school with Christine and Hannah. On the way we picked up the principal, Miss Christine, and another teacher. When we got there, I was surprised to find out that Hannah and I will be the only non-Indonesian teachers this coming school year. It was kind of hard to sit through the morning meeting, all in Bahasa (what they call their language). Then Christine showed me the "curriculum" which is basically just a stack of compiled worksheets and workbooks. And instead of just teaching K-5, like I was told, I will be teaching K-4 as well. To top it all off, the kids were all practicing for their graduation night and were acting crazy: running around and talking during the rehearsal...and no one said anything to them!
In order to cope with all this information, I took a nap in the teacher's room upstairs. :)
The rest of the day my emotions went back and forth. That evening I went to the mall with Christine and Hannah, but I couldn't really enjoy it because I was missing home and frustrated about my expectations not being met.
At least that night I was able to sleep better. On Tuesday I went to school again and felt a little better about the school. After all, I brought resources with me for teaching, and the only thing I have to teach is English. Plus I only have to plan two 1/2 hour lessons every day, which I will teach to different classes. That night again I went to the mall with Christine and Hannah, and another Philippino teacher, Ken, came along. We ate dinner at Pizza Hut. :)
Again that night I couldn't sleep after waking up at 1:15 a.m. Instead of going to school that day we went to the hotel that IPH had rented for the playgroup and kindergarten graduation. I went feeling discouraged and very tired. Sitting through the practice by myself, I kept thinking of all the things I was missing at home. Then at the end the teachers were all discussing the ceremony in Bahasa. I was getting more and more upset until finally I started crying. The others who noticed tried to comfort me, which was sweet. In the car on the way back, I had a good talk with Christine and Hannah, who encouraged me. When we got back, we only had 2 hours before we had to leave again for the actual graduation ceremony. I went along with Christine and Hannah to the hair salon, where they had their hair done for the ceremony. Since I was not part of the ceremony, I was not inspired to dress up.
Back at the hotel, most of the time I stayed with the kids in what they called the "keeping room" where they waited for their turn to go onstage. I actually got to interact with the kids, which was fun. It was encouraging to know that they actually do speak English. One of the boys was able to talk very well. He told me a joke: "Why did the 6 run from the 7? Because 7 8 (ate) 9!" Then he wanted me to come over with him and jump in front of the air conditioner to feel the cold air coming out. He said it felt like winter. :)
The ceremony was very long and only having 3 hours of sleep began to catch up with me. I sat down on the floor and fell asleep. When I opened my eyes again, several of the children were staring at me. Then I laid down and fell asleep again. I woke up to a child poking me and saying, "Wake up, miss!" :) It was cute how fascinated they were by me falling asleep.
Then the ceremony was over and I went out to the lobby where the food was set out for the parents. I waited with the other teachers and then they started taking pictures. It was funny because all these teachers wanted to get pictures with me. I felt like a celebrity. :) It was wierd being the only caucasian in the whole place. I was encouraged that the Indonesian teachers seemed more interested in getting to know me than they did at the beginning of the week.
When we finally got back around 9 I went right to bed and slept...until 3. Oh well, at least I'm making progress. :)
Today at school I had another encouraging talk with Christine. She said she felt the same way as me last year when she started. It was also her first teaching job. But she encouraged me that I can do it! I was able to look through a little more of the "curriculum" and bring back things to work on back at the apartment. School does not start until July 19, so I am not worried about getting it done.
Well, today my new roommates arrived! I met them before I came over to check my e-mail. We didn't talk long because they traveled all night and wanted to sleep. Hopefully they will want to hang out with me.
Sorry this is such a long entry, but I wanted to share what's been going on. Please pray for me just to completely trust God and to find comfort in Him when I am sad.
I will close with some random fun facts about Indonesia and my week:
- Bahasa seems like it will be an easy language to learn since it is not tonal and uses the same alphabet as English.
- There are random American chains here like Gloria Jean's Coffee and Citi bank! I never would have guessed they would be here.
- There is a tv with cable in my apartment and the other day I heard two Owl City songs on the music chanel!
- There is a lizzard in my room that I have seen a couple of times. He reminds me of Thailand, although he is the only one I have seen here.
- Dragon fruit is here too! That was a special blessing for me. :)