I haven't posted for a couple of weeks, but it's pretty much because I've just been doing a lot of 'jalan-jalan'-ing. Jalan-jalan is Indonesian for hanging out, and now that I've been here for more than six months, I'm kind of just enjoying my time here hanging out with my friends and family around Makassar. The last week of January and the first week of February I had off from school because the Indonesian kids were all doing a lot of national testing, so I just helped me host mom around the house, went to snorkeling at Samalona Island a lot and had one pretty intense Harry Potter movie marathon with the other exchange students (we managed to get through 5 movies before we called it quits).
I've just begun to truly settle into my life here, which I know isn't terribly exciting, but I no longer crave a lot of things from back in the US, I don't feel sorry for myself for missing out on holidays and being with all of my friends anymore because I feel like I've been starting a new life here in Makassar. Sometimes when people here ask me how often I talk to my parents back home on Skype or whatever and I say about once every week or two they're totally shocked. But I don't think I'd be doing nearly as well as I am here if I talked to them daily or any more than I do now. A lot of my exchange friends warned me, before I left for Indonesia, that after six months I' probably be a mess- missing the U.S., friends, family, being bored and fed up with where I was, etc. But I'm not. Makassar still surprises me every day, and even if it gets a little repetitive, I just look back to where I was a year ago and find myself to be so thankful that I am where I am.
However, truthfully, I really miss going to Target. And chocolate chip cookies. But I guess if those are the two things that I miss the most (besides my friends and family!), I'm not doing too bad.
I've also noticed that the greatest lessons I've learned here have come from just seeing the ways that Indonesians do things. Especially the kids. I've seen kids here have more fun playing games with sticks and running around palm trees than I have kids back in the U.S. using their iPads.
I know that I'm not necessarily learning a whole lot at school, but I feel like the things that I've been learning while I'm in Indonesia are more life-lessons that will carry with me for the rest of my life. The perspective that I've gained while I've been here in Indonesia is, to me, more valuable to me than what I could be learning right now within a classroom. On that note, I am really, really excited to start college soon- except that I'm still really torn with where I want to go to school in the fall. Luckily, since I'll be coming home in May, I'll have some time to maybe visit the schools that I'm looking at and can make my final decision in June. I'm just so ready to take what I've learned here, apply it towards my higher education, and go do something to change to world, or at least the community that I've been living in in Indonesia.
When I have two months left in Indonesia, Rotary told me that I'd be 'free' to travel around Indonesia (as long I'm met by other Rotarians, Rotary knows my whereabouts, stuff like that) which is really exciting! Because I live in eastern Indonesia, on the island of Sulawesi, I'm kinda out-of-the-loop on a lot of goings on in Indonesia because 60% of the population lives on the island of Java (as well as the rest of the exchange students) so I will finally have a chance to do some 'slporing over there and maybe try to pick up some Javanese.
I've had some troubles uploading my pics, but I promise I'll keep trying to upload them as soon as possible!
I've just begun to truly settle into my life here, which I know isn't terribly exciting, but I no longer crave a lot of things from back in the US, I don't feel sorry for myself for missing out on holidays and being with all of my friends anymore because I feel like I've been starting a new life here in Makassar. Sometimes when people here ask me how often I talk to my parents back home on Skype or whatever and I say about once every week or two they're totally shocked. But I don't think I'd be doing nearly as well as I am here if I talked to them daily or any more than I do now. A lot of my exchange friends warned me, before I left for Indonesia, that after six months I' probably be a mess- missing the U.S., friends, family, being bored and fed up with where I was, etc. But I'm not. Makassar still surprises me every day, and even if it gets a little repetitive, I just look back to where I was a year ago and find myself to be so thankful that I am where I am.
However, truthfully, I really miss going to Target. And chocolate chip cookies. But I guess if those are the two things that I miss the most (besides my friends and family!), I'm not doing too bad.
I've also noticed that the greatest lessons I've learned here have come from just seeing the ways that Indonesians do things. Especially the kids. I've seen kids here have more fun playing games with sticks and running around palm trees than I have kids back in the U.S. using their iPads.
I know that I'm not necessarily learning a whole lot at school, but I feel like the things that I've been learning while I'm in Indonesia are more life-lessons that will carry with me for the rest of my life. The perspective that I've gained while I've been here in Indonesia is, to me, more valuable to me than what I could be learning right now within a classroom. On that note, I am really, really excited to start college soon- except that I'm still really torn with where I want to go to school in the fall. Luckily, since I'll be coming home in May, I'll have some time to maybe visit the schools that I'm looking at and can make my final decision in June. I'm just so ready to take what I've learned here, apply it towards my higher education, and go do something to change to world, or at least the community that I've been living in in Indonesia.
When I have two months left in Indonesia, Rotary told me that I'd be 'free' to travel around Indonesia (as long I'm met by other Rotarians, Rotary knows my whereabouts, stuff like that) which is really exciting! Because I live in eastern Indonesia, on the island of Sulawesi, I'm kinda out-of-the-loop on a lot of goings on in Indonesia because 60% of the population lives on the island of Java (as well as the rest of the exchange students) so I will finally have a chance to do some 'slporing over there and maybe try to pick up some Javanese.
I've had some troubles uploading my pics, but I promise I'll keep trying to upload them as soon as possible!
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