Catching up...

The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy as I got back into the swing of things: reacquainting myself with my new 11th grade students (fortunately I had many of their names from 10th grade), teaching a new unit on good study skills, and adjusting to greater proportion of planning that I've been doing.

I also did some flood preparation. Since it's rainy season, city-wide floods are increasingly likely, though fortunately my part of the city is pretty safe from the worst of the flooding. Just in case, though, I went to the grocery store to make sure that I have enough food in my pantry for a few days, and I ordered an extra five gallon jug of water. All I have to do now is wait for a day off from school. I've heard that if 40-50% of the city is flooded, we won't be having school. It seems incredible that that much flooding is possible, and it's definitely one of the biggest problems that the city of Jakarta faces. On the way to the airport, they're rebuilding the highway so that it's higher and out of the way of flood waters. Part of me wants to see what it's like when flooding gets bad, but another part knows that a relatively minor inconvenience for me threatens lives and homes for my neighbors in this city.

In other loosely-related-to-rain news, I found myself on the wrong end of an interesting cultural clash a couple of weeks ago. As a thank you gift from the administration for coming to the Christmas program in December, teachers at IPEKA each received an umbrella. When I playfully decided to try mine out as a desk ornament in our shared teacher room, I was gently informed by an Australian coworker that open umbrellas indoors are a bad omen in Javanese culture. A little embarrassed and not wanting to offend my Indonesian colleagues, I of course took it down. Later, it was interesting to reflect that even in a sterile school building lit by fluorescent lights, Indonesia is still much closer to a world of magic and supersition than I'm used to. My only access to that kind of world has been through my favorite fairy tales, but it is very near for many Indonesians.

I also had fun enjoying a little more of the Chinese-Indonesian culture in the last couple of weeks. I think I've mentioned that my neighborhood is home to many Chinese-Indonesians, so the local mall was all decked out in red and gold for Chinese New Year. Waiting at the mall for a movie to start a couple of weeks ago (a friend had invited me to see a Chinese action/historical fiction film called Redcliff 2, which I recommend it if you ever get the chance to see it), I got to see the Lion Dance. It's an incredibly acrobatic dance performed by two dancers who work together underneath an elaborate costume to imitate the animal. As if that weren't enough, they dance on top of small round platforms six or seven feet off the ground, leaping from one to another with incredible ease. I was fascinated and I had trouble tearing myself away to go see my movie. I also got an invitation from one of my students to celebrate Chinese New Year with her family, but since we had Monday and Tuesday off for the holiday, I had already decided to go to Bali for the weekend. Which was wonderful and deserves its own post.