The past few weeks have been so busy that I've only just gotten a few hours to myself to check my messages and update my blog.
I moved into my second host family! My first family was in a city called Gowa, closer to the mountains and a lot more rural than where I am now in Makassar. I also got switched to another school, mostly because my old school in Gowa would be an hour's drive from my new house and waking up at 5 am to hop on a pete-pete, a bright blue taxi/van thing that'll take you anywhere in the city for about one dollar, as long as you don't mind sharing a 6-person van with 20 Indonesians, isn't exactly my morning cup of coffee. But my new school is really, really great. The first day, walking into the building, I braced myself for what I thought would be the inevitable storm of 'Mister, mister! Hello, bule! Photo, photo!" sure to ensue, but when I stepped into class the students treated me just like anyone else. I really enjoy having a break from the 'special' treatment that I've dealt with on a daily basis here in Indonesia just to be a normal person. And now that I'm pretty good with my Indonesian, I can ask the students at my new school about more serious topics like politics in Indonesia and the impact that religion has on their everyday life as opposed to talking about movies or music we like. I even got to sit in the 'hot seat' for sociology class and the teacher had the students ask me pretty much whatever they wanted about the US, which was a ton of fun and also really informing for me, as well. I noticed that the perspective and attitudes of students at my new school, one of the better high schools in Makassar, are really different than that of the students at my first school (a vocational art school). Most of the kids at my old school wanted to work at hotels to make money or make a living selling their art to tourists and stuff, but at my new school 9 out of 10 kids all want to be doctors or dentists. But when I was talking to them, a lot of the students were really surprised that I wanted to finish college and get a job before I'd consider getting married. For most Indonesians that I've met, including my first host sister, getting married and having kids is paramount (especially for a woman) than any other life goal, and there's a lot of pressure by the parents to find a 'good match', too. All the kids were also really interested in my regular high school stuff back in the US, like proms and football games that they see when they watch American movies. I also found out that, in Indonesia, it's very much taboo to marry someone of a different religion than your own. I was shocked when I heard this, but after living here in Indonesia for more than three months now, I wasn't totally surprised. All Indonesians have an ID card, and on it, next to your name and birth date is your religion, and you have to associate with one of the religions offered and if you choose not to disclose your religion you could be arrested at any time. It was also a kind of neat experience being in Indonesia during the time of the US election and getting a feel for just how much Indonesians know about the rest of the world and their opinions on Obama/America. (Oh, they all love him by the way because he lived in Jakarta when he was a kid for like 7 years).
It's so hard to think about when I come home in 6 months. The past few months, I've just felt like I have all this infinite time in Indonesia, and until a few days ago when I introduced myself to other people I'd always say, "Yeah, I'll be here for one year..." but I've only just realized that in 6 months I'll already be back in Chicago. It's also pretty tough to focus on college apps/scholarships over here, but I'm working on it.
Lots, lots of pictures will be in my next post, I promise!
I moved into my second host family! My first family was in a city called Gowa, closer to the mountains and a lot more rural than where I am now in Makassar. I also got switched to another school, mostly because my old school in Gowa would be an hour's drive from my new house and waking up at 5 am to hop on a pete-pete, a bright blue taxi/van thing that'll take you anywhere in the city for about one dollar, as long as you don't mind sharing a 6-person van with 20 Indonesians, isn't exactly my morning cup of coffee. But my new school is really, really great. The first day, walking into the building, I braced myself for what I thought would be the inevitable storm of 'Mister, mister! Hello, bule! Photo, photo!" sure to ensue, but when I stepped into class the students treated me just like anyone else. I really enjoy having a break from the 'special' treatment that I've dealt with on a daily basis here in Indonesia just to be a normal person. And now that I'm pretty good with my Indonesian, I can ask the students at my new school about more serious topics like politics in Indonesia and the impact that religion has on their everyday life as opposed to talking about movies or music we like. I even got to sit in the 'hot seat' for sociology class and the teacher had the students ask me pretty much whatever they wanted about the US, which was a ton of fun and also really informing for me, as well. I noticed that the perspective and attitudes of students at my new school, one of the better high schools in Makassar, are really different than that of the students at my first school (a vocational art school). Most of the kids at my old school wanted to work at hotels to make money or make a living selling their art to tourists and stuff, but at my new school 9 out of 10 kids all want to be doctors or dentists. But when I was talking to them, a lot of the students were really surprised that I wanted to finish college and get a job before I'd consider getting married. For most Indonesians that I've met, including my first host sister, getting married and having kids is paramount (especially for a woman) than any other life goal, and there's a lot of pressure by the parents to find a 'good match', too. All the kids were also really interested in my regular high school stuff back in the US, like proms and football games that they see when they watch American movies. I also found out that, in Indonesia, it's very much taboo to marry someone of a different religion than your own. I was shocked when I heard this, but after living here in Indonesia for more than three months now, I wasn't totally surprised. All Indonesians have an ID card, and on it, next to your name and birth date is your religion, and you have to associate with one of the religions offered and if you choose not to disclose your religion you could be arrested at any time. It was also a kind of neat experience being in Indonesia during the time of the US election and getting a feel for just how much Indonesians know about the rest of the world and their opinions on Obama/America. (Oh, they all love him by the way because he lived in Jakarta when he was a kid for like 7 years).
It's so hard to think about when I come home in 6 months. The past few months, I've just felt like I have all this infinite time in Indonesia, and until a few days ago when I introduced myself to other people I'd always say, "Yeah, I'll be here for one year..." but I've only just realized that in 6 months I'll already be back in Chicago. It's also pretty tough to focus on college apps/scholarships over here, but I'm working on it.
Lots, lots of pictures will be in my next post, I promise!
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