You make beautiful things.

So basically, my devious plans to write one of these suckers a month was a fail. There's a well-known Japanese idiom, 三日坊主 (mikka bouzu), which means "someone who begins something but doesn't last for more than 3 days..." haha, figuratively speaking, that is. Moral of the story: I don't want to become a 三日坊主.

I don't even know where to begin, and to be honest, don't feel like writing about EV-E-RY SINGLE EVENT that the last two months entailed. I guess this is why it's better to write on a regular basis. haha..
Aaaaaanyways, I've decided to go with the top 10 list method, so to hit the major highlights.

#10. So God has a way of totally rocking my world of expectations. In my little 'yuhei mind', I had come to BAIS to teach LEP and K-2 Art. That's what I told everyone before I left Canada and that's what I had been telling people here. Little did I know that God had planned something completely different for me. Here's the quick version of the story: On the second week of school, my "bosses" walk into my class room with weighty looks on their faces... to which I responded in my head, "[insert curse word here].. what did i do now..??"  And basically, I was told that I had to drop my LEP and Art courses to take on a whole new program called The Immersion Program that the school had decided to adopt only a few hours ago. Panic?? Yeah. But despite the rush of stress that came with such sudden change, my bosses were quick to mention that this program is an answer to prayer for three of the Korean families who had no other schools to send their kids to. And as I reflect back, I can see that God has blessed me immensely through these handful of students in ways that I would never have imagined. ever.

#9. Ibu Taryati, our pembantu (house helper) is amazing. The meals she makes = SOOOO good. This is ibu's first time working as a pembantu, and so she often asks us whether we liked the food she cooked that day or whether we have suggestions for her. So last week, I texted her about how much I enjoyed the dinner she made for us--rendang padang, kangkung cah, tempe, and rice--and she writes back (in Indonesian), "Thank you so much sir! I'm glad you enjoyed it!!" Sweetest lady ever.

#8. So Pak Yudi, who happens to be the husband of Ibu Taryati, is one of our trusted campus security guards :) He looooves connecting with anyone and everyone, partly because he likes to practice his English, and mainly because he's just a super friendly guy. Anyways, one late night, as I was toiling away on my lesson plans, I get an intercom call from the security hut: "Sir, you need to come see this. We caught a snake." So I run out of my classroom and head towards the front entrance, thinking that it's probably one of those 2-3 footers at best. I make my way to the hut, and the first thing I see is Pak Yudi on top of an 8 ft. python, trying to untangle his leg out of the snake's constriction while Pak Pur (his partner) is trying to cover the snake's head with a piece of cloth. How much work did I get done that night? zilch. *sigh~ I love Indonesia.




#7. I love Indonesian holidays. So far, we've had the Independence Day (Aug. 17), the Lebaran National Holiday (Sept. 8-14), and coming up is the Idul Adha National Holiday (Nov. 17)-- the slaughtering of the goats... hehe. I love that BAIS integrates both American and Indonesian holidays into the school schedule... mainly because I could use all the breaks I can get to plow through all the lesson planning^^

#6. Sea Tribes. Every year, BAIS sends out a group of teacher leaders and students to "the islands" just a few miles south of Singapore. The purpose of this trip is to spend time with the people there; build relationships and to be a bridge for the sea tribe team next year. And if Lord wills it, we may have opportunities to share our life stories and testimonies with the island people. I have been blessed to be one of the leaders this year. A part of me feels inadequate, but since when does God choose adequate leaders, right? My prayer is that I could be real with the people on the island; with the people on the team. for unity. for positive attitudes. for humble hearts.

#5.  So I had a student run in to my class after school to tell me that he had gotten a lunch detention for speaking a non-English language during his biology class. Apparently he was caught speaking Korean, so his teacher asked him, "Hey, wasn't that Korean I just heard?" To which he responded, "Uhhhh, no.. that... was Japanese." So she gave him a lunch detention for speaking Korean (slash Japanese) in class. And apparently, he felt the dire need to come tell me that. Love that. He may or may not have had a big grin on his face... which worries me.

#4. So the same student that ran into my class room with a lunch detention slip is now my mentee... hah! Great kid. I'm looking forward to hanging out and connecting with him. He's big into music (specifically the guitar) so I'm definitely planning some jamming sessions. Slash, it's probably going to be more like a guitar lesson for me. I've seen him shred his electric--aka, he can play the entire Canon Rock.

#3. I don't know about kindergartners in other schools, but the ones in BAIS are ridiculously adorable. Apparently, I have a fan club. Every time I am in their peripheral, the entire class, without a fail, screams, "Mr. Taguuuuchiiiiiiiiiiiii!!" The funny part is, I was their teacher for only one art class--ONE--and they've remembered me ever since. A few days ago, I walked out of my classroom and the kindergartners were lined up outside of the Indonesian classroom adjacent to mine, and the entire class was soon hopping up and down screaming my name again while one student yelled out, "We miss you!!" aww... they miss me. They are ridiculous.

#2. So my Immersion class consists of 6 Korean students. Their grades range from 1st to 9th and i have two 5th graders whose English levels are not the same. As Pete puts it, I basically teach a one room school house. And as stressful as it has been to plan lessons for each of the students at their individual levels, I have had so much fun with these kids. So blessed. They're parents are great too. I've had several opportunities to connect with the parents of these students, and they're always thanking me and giving me amazing knickknacks... such as a tupperware full of kimchi... dried squid... dalg-gogi bokkeum...
Love my neighborhood. Love my class.

Daniel and David--a.k.a. the Kim brothers.



David and Sung Chen--the two 5th graders



Sung Ha and Jae Yun--cousins.



class pic.


oh yeah... and these are my LEP10 students :) love them.


#1. 28 sleeps [insert bliss here]

So a little bit about the area I live in. First of all it's beautiful. It's not quite Bandung, but I have to keep telling myself, this is Kota Baru. It takes about an hour to travel downtown (Bandung) so most people save the trip for the weekend. Kota Baru, which literally means "New City/Town", is what it is. The city has been under development for the past few years and is still growing with restaurants, hotels, and well-guarded housing complexes.

In case you had an inkling, you were right. The above title IS where I live, "Jingga" (short for Jingganagara). It's one of the closest complexes to the school, about 15 minutes away by foot.

So these are pics of the scenic path that I get to walk to and from school everyday.. at least until I get a motor cycle :)


 

Apparently, this is NOT a river. It's a weirdly shaped lake.



 
The gate to the Jingga complex. Umm.. that would be my dad.




This was the laundry system before we purchased a rope that is now beautifully hung in our courtyard. And yes, we have a courtyard.




Last Saturday, I made pancakes for breakfast. A small victory. I guess some traditions are never forgotten. Light as a feather^^






Can I just say that Ibu Taryati, our pembantu, is an amazing cook?? I have the luxury of having my lunch delivered to school on a semi-regular basis. This was today's.
Nasi goreng (fried rice), kangkung cah, and a fried egg. The fruits were a good touch. I love food. I LOVE food.

 

On the more serious end of things, through all of this transitioning, God has been teaching me to have an attitude of learning. Constantly. Everyday, I find myself in situations where I have absolutely no clue how to do things, but somehow, I make it through the day and that is a miracle. It's really neat that the theme for our school this year is Selfless Service in Humility. Can't wait to see what God has planned for me and the students that I will be connecting with this year!!

 So first of all, the title has nothing to do with the content of this journal entry. It's from an episode of The Office where Michael is trying to make a point on the seriousness of depression... anyhow, just wanted to say that I've been experiencing 'homesickness' for my friends and families back in Canada--the things we used to talk, joke, and laugh about; quotes from movies that we would literally converse with. I never thought that I would be homesick for anywhere other than Indonesia or wherever my ACTUAL family lived. But I'll be honest, I MISS CANADA.

It has been quite a transition for me to be back in the country. A lot of people assume that 'settling in' is not even a concept I have to deal with because I've lived here for the majority of my life, but it is oh so difficult. Having my own house (well, Bryn and mine) is such a foreign concept to me still. Having to take care of electricity and water bills, figuring out the essential bathroom and kitchenware for the house to function, communicating with our pembantu (helper), etc. etc. ALL SO NEW.


- our humble abode -

On the positive end of things I absolutely love being back in indo. I love the people here, the culture, the atmosphere, the kampungs, the rain, the food, the language, the transportations... so many things that had been pushed to the back of my memory are all coming back now.


- rain. i love the rain here -


- the road to school -

The biggest changes for me in coming back to BAIS is that (1) the school has been completely relocated and (2) I am no longer a student here. The city of Kota Baru is so different from Bandung. The crowded streets and traffic noises vanish as soon as you enter the gates of Kota Baru. It's quite a phenomenon. It'll take some time for me to get used to this environment, especially as it's so far away from downtown Bandung.
So one of the weirdest part about being a teacher here is that I obviously have to address other teachers/staffs by Mr., Mrs, or Ms. during school, but outside of school time, I hesitate to call some of the teachers I've had back in the days by their first names. It just doesn't sound right. Mr. Taguchi doesn't sound right either. Every time I hear that, I'm like, huh? And I look around to see if my dad is in the vicinity. Speaking of last names, there are some sweet ones amongst the staff members here. My roommate, Bryn Rice, and David Lamb co-teach the music classes, so all the students are greeted with "Mr. Rice" and "Mr. Lamb" on the door every time they enter the room. Rice and lamb . Brilliant.

So moment of the week: I was teaching Angela Bae, my 4th grade LEP student, on how to use pronouns. She had just found out, through series of questioning prior to this point, that Mr. Taguchi has a girlfriend. So as I was writing an example on the board, "Kelsi plays volleyball. She loves...", Angela interrupted me with a big, "...YOU!!" And she was rolling on the floor laughing so hard I had to stop teaching for about 5 minutes. Angela - 1: Mr. Taguchi - 0.