Now for those wondering what I've been up to, I apologize again for my lack of post and videos. My internet isn't the fastest and it takes a lot of time to write these posts, upload pictures, and make it presentable to post on the internet. But that's not really an excuse.
School has been tough for me, and I come home lazy and wanting to do nothing but eat, sleep, and curl up with my Korean dramas.
I made a decision to switch classes, which was supposed to be an exciting, freeing experience. Before I was in a class with my host sister and her friends, but I left to experience the Social track rather than the Science track. My first day in there was awful. It triggered some of my 'beginning of exchange' feelings and I went back into a dark place I had settled in at the beginning of my exchange. But my host family, who I have grown to love and truly appreciate, helped me through that rough patch in a single night. And things are looking up already.
That being said, Indonesian school is something to really talk about. It's mainly self-education, a lot of reading and presenting rather than lectures and memorization. The presenting is all done by the students, and the teachers tend to just assign topics. It's an...interesting concept, but I'm not a huge fan of it as of yet.
And about the teachers...substitution hasn't really made it's way to Indonesia, so if a teacher doesn't show up for one reason or another, the class tends to turn into a field-day. It's really interesting to watch teenagers run around playing tag, soccer, and some funky version of leap frog in the middle of the classroom.
But the school life can be really entertaining when you have teman-teman, or friends. We have several scheduled breaks throughout the day where you can go down to the kantin and buy food and drinks and chill with classmates on the many benches and walkways throughout the school. And then there are those times when you didn't get enough sleep last night, so feel free to take a nap during that time, no one will judge! But don't expect anyone to get quiet for you, ha-ha.
Life has gotten so much better for me, especially since I was on holiday for most of November. First I got to go on a class-trip with my previous class. We went to Bandung and went to a huge lake and also got to stand inside of a sulfur-filled crater! While I may not have hung out with my classmates as much as I had liked,we still got to bond and take tons of AWESOME photos:
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| Here's a group shot of all the students who came along. Can you spot me? |
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| The girls said to pose 'hipster' and this is what came from that. |
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| Here I am, crossing a sulfur-filled crater over very unstable rocks. My shoes were soaked. |
Tons more photos on my facebook page for those who have access...it takes about 5-10 minutes to upload one photo and I've already been on the computer for two hours today so I'm sorry.
Christmas came two days after. But the very next day was Christmas Eve and I was so sad. I knew it was going to be an awful day so I curled up in bed and ate chocolate and fried chicken and watched old movies like Clueless and a Christmas Story. Around 6 or 7 I decided to come out of my slump and went downstairs to see my sister and her boyfriend looking over sheet music for a violin and guitar. I remembered them saying they didn't really have too much knowledge on notes and I decided to show them what I knew from choir. That was so much fun.
I was surprised how much of an impact I had on them, and it helped us come up with new ideas for the school chorus and everything. And around 9 or 10 PM my family surprised me with gifts, something I had not been expecting. A little stuffed-Santa Claus from my bapak, a very cute messenger bag from my ibu, and a chain for my broken necklace from my sister. It was great. I was so thankful and it was all so unexpected, and my homesickness washed away in an instant.
The next day, Christmas, we went to a large mall down by bapak's office, and I went to a bookstore with Jasmine, where we got some sheet music to practice with, which excited me a ton (plus I got to stop at my favorite Taiwanese snack stand and enjoy the amazing fried chicken)! But I was starting to feel ill and sure enough the next day I woke up with a fever, curled up in bed at 5 AM, not able to talk because my throat was hurting so much. But I felt well enough a day or so later, where I joined AFS Jakarta for their Christmas party. I had to do a power point on Christmas in America. That was interesting.
A couple days later, ibu casually told me that we were going to take a trip in the morning. I didn't realize that we were waking up at 6 AM to drive down to some gorgeous place about 2 hours away, but I had no regrets. Just look at this view.
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| Me, Jasmine, and Alfian! |
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| Totally "candid" shot of Alfian, Bagas, me, and Jasmine! |
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| We got more adventurous and went out on the water. Cheer pose! |
After that, my days grew better and better. New Years Eve was tons of fun for me. While laughing and playing with my family in the kitchen, grilling fish and chicken, our neighbors were putting on firework shows. Here, people tend to just shoot the fireworks off in their yards. Needless to say, fireworks were coming from everywhere. By the time we got up on the balcony at midnight, the sky was lit up with huge fireworks coming from every which way, and it was one of the most beautiful things I had seen. Prettier to me than many of the views I experienced during my travels in Indonesia.
There's just something about bright sparks against a dark sky, lighting up palm trees and beautiful homes that makes you go wow. Jakarta can really be a beautiful place at night. Especially on New Years Eve.
And now here I am, sitting at this computer, about to complete my daily routine of eating, sleeping, and Korean Drama watching, before getting up at 5 AM for school tomorrow. But everyday brings new surprises. Like yesterday, I received an AMAZING package from my father, and today an equally awesome package from my mother. We got let out of school early today for some reason I'm still not sure of.
Everyday brings new adventures for me, and I've gotten to that point where I realize them, and sit back and enjoy every minute. I'll update you all soon when I get the chance.
Sampai jumpa lagi,
-Baillie
