Teaching at Krida

Today was our first full day at Krida Nusantara. After breakfast, without students due to their Ramadan fasting, Daniel and I attended the morning "Roll Call". This is a time for the principal to give special daily announcements to the faculty and to have a morning prayer. The principal introduced us to his faculty and as I greeted them I gave the principal a letter of greeting which had been prepared by Lt. Governor Todd Lamb as well as an Oklahoma flag sent as a gift from my principal, Roy Smith, from Southmoore. We were then off to class time with students.

Betty had arranged for Daniel to teach in English classes and for me to teach in geography classes. Our teaching topic, which was assigned prior to our arrival in Indonesia, was "American Culture". I used both my Oklahoma prezi and postcards from my Southmoore APUSH & APHuG students as a way to engage the students at Krida in discussions about life in the Sooner (and Cowboy) State. There were several points in which we were able to express similarities between Oklahoma and Indonesia: for example, both locations have experienced the impact of terrorism. Finding common ground and similar experiences is one of the great ways to build bridges over those things that separate cultures.

Following the four 70-minute class sessions, Daniel and I retired to the guest house for lunch and a brief rest. In the time we've each been enjoying our summer breaks, our bodies have forgotten how tiring a day of teaching can be...and then add to that the obstacles of cross-cultural and language interaction, the humidity in the non air conditioned classrooms, and the lack of ability to take a drink during class time due to Ramadan. We were both TIRED.

Betty then arranged for a late afternoon to evening adventure in the city. We went to one of the local malls to see the new Batman movie. The next showing was sold out so we walked around the mall until the our show would start. While shopping I'm discovering that it may be very difficult fore to find a Batik shirt that will fit; Indonesians are just not as big as I am, LOL. The tickets for the movie were for specific seats in the theater...Betty did great at picking these out.

Following the movie and en route back to the Krida campus, we stopped for dinner. This was such a great feast of lamb sate and rice; I could get used to skewers of lamb or chicken sate with peanut and soy sauces or dipping.

As noted yesterday, the wifi connection is not strong so I will post pictures as soon as I able.