The time has come to leave for Jakarta and its bittersweet....
What I will miss about Jakarta...
1) The great cakes and desserts
2) the good service where u are greeted with a smile whether u buy or not
3) the warm people
4) my friends ( some of whom I may never see again)
5) the cheap haircuts
6) the spas
7) the restaurants with the most impressive decor and reasonable prices
8) the shoppping!!!!!
Hai... but it is time to really move on to new experiences and new people so goodbye to a country that has really nurtured me so much.
Friday, March 11, 2005
Have you ever gone for a movie where people laugh at the wrong parts ? Well I just went for "Hitch" and these pple sitting next to us spoilt it by laughing everytime Will Smith came on screen! Its like " oh this is a comedy and we must laugh and show it is funny" How do you even begin to tell these people off? haiii.... It was a good movie though and dont mind watching it again.
I went for the musical put up by my ex-school in Jakarta. It was quite good considering that at the last minute, the lead actress had to be changed. She decided to jump over something and sprained her ankle real bad. So the understudy took over. Here is the strange thing though. The understudy was originally supposed to play the main role but backed out because her boyfriend didnt like her playing a romantic role. In the end she ended up playing the part anyway. Some things are just meant to be?
I went for the musical put up by my ex-school in Jakarta. It was quite good considering that at the last minute, the lead actress had to be changed. She decided to jump over something and sprained her ankle real bad. So the understudy took over. Here is the strange thing though. The understudy was originally supposed to play the main role but backed out because her boyfriend didnt like her playing a romantic role. In the end she ended up playing the part anyway. Some things are just meant to be?
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Beading
The heat is here and it is horrible. There is no respite from occasional showers as the dry season has started. Thankfully I don't spend a lot of time outdoors.
Fine viv, you have made me feel very very guilty for not posting more regularly. Will try : ). Well at the moment I am giving tuition in Jakarta. Its only 2 students but its ok - In the beginning it was quite boring but now the students have started talking more freely - not so bad. I am also pursuing a new hobby or rather revisiting an old one. I used to try doing beading some time back but got bored with the limited materials and designs available. Now I found this place that sells unusual beads and got started again. They even make the jewellery for you once you tell them what you want. I am trying it out myself for starters and I think I have made good progress. Well lets see how long it lasts.
The heat is here and it is horrible. There is no respite from occasional showers as the dry season has started. Thankfully I don't spend a lot of time outdoors.
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Sometime ago I mentioned that I would explain the reasons I left the school I was working in Jakarta.
Reasons being……..
1) I really needed a break
2) The environment – claustrophobic
3) The management – that looked at only short – term solutions and not long term ones
4) The loss of a sense of purpose
One of the main reasons I went into teaching? I needed a job that was fulfilling – something that gave me a sense of satisfaction and where I could see the results of my work, work that was meaningful.
It is this satisfaction that kept me going despite a lot of obstacles I faced along the way.
I have tried office based jobs before and home based jobs. None have given me the satisfaction that teaching in a class does.
This school in Jakarta certainly had its fair share of challenges – many systems not in place, untrained teachers and a management that thought anyone could be teachers.
It was quite an adjustment for me but I took it in my stride. Along the way I introduced new systems, mentored local teachers and offered solutions.
Then came the problems in the form of untrained teachers from Singapore. These were people who were sick of their lives in Singapore, had recently lost jobs or were unable to get jobs. You would think that they would come with a positive attitude - one of accepting and adjusting to a new environment.
WRONG!
These people openly looked down at the local teachers. The attitude? “ We are from a developed country and you from a third world country.” One comment by a Singaporean expat to a local teacher (who had graduated from one of the top universities in Indonesia – the expat didn’t know this ) “ You know, a lot of people like you don’t get jobs in Indonesia – you should be lucky to get this job.
Second these people had not taught in a school before. So they do not have a system in place to deal with students or even know how to teach. Yet the attitude is that “I’ll just wing it – as long as I get my pay at the end of the month, its ok”
When I became HOD, I had to check on some of these people – when I questioned why classes were so behind they would say I had an attitude because I was trained.
I could just ignore these problems but what really was the last straw was that year after year, the same problems cropped up as the management refused to look at long-term solutions.
eg They refused to train the local teachers as they were afraid the teachers would leave, once trained. So teachers had to pick up things on their own. It was indeed very frustrating.
Eg. They would hire people who were untrained as they were cheaper. But this brought a whole series of problems.
So although the local teachers were nice and the students were great , I generally didn’t see any purpose in the job anymore.
Reasons being……..
1) I really needed a break
2) The environment – claustrophobic
3) The management – that looked at only short – term solutions and not long term ones
4) The loss of a sense of purpose
One of the main reasons I went into teaching? I needed a job that was fulfilling – something that gave me a sense of satisfaction and where I could see the results of my work, work that was meaningful.
It is this satisfaction that kept me going despite a lot of obstacles I faced along the way.
I have tried office based jobs before and home based jobs. None have given me the satisfaction that teaching in a class does.
This school in Jakarta certainly had its fair share of challenges – many systems not in place, untrained teachers and a management that thought anyone could be teachers.
It was quite an adjustment for me but I took it in my stride. Along the way I introduced new systems, mentored local teachers and offered solutions.
Then came the problems in the form of untrained teachers from Singapore. These were people who were sick of their lives in Singapore, had recently lost jobs or were unable to get jobs. You would think that they would come with a positive attitude - one of accepting and adjusting to a new environment.
WRONG!
These people openly looked down at the local teachers. The attitude? “ We are from a developed country and you from a third world country.” One comment by a Singaporean expat to a local teacher (who had graduated from one of the top universities in Indonesia – the expat didn’t know this ) “ You know, a lot of people like you don’t get jobs in Indonesia – you should be lucky to get this job.
Second these people had not taught in a school before. So they do not have a system in place to deal with students or even know how to teach. Yet the attitude is that “I’ll just wing it – as long as I get my pay at the end of the month, its ok”
When I became HOD, I had to check on some of these people – when I questioned why classes were so behind they would say I had an attitude because I was trained.
I could just ignore these problems but what really was the last straw was that year after year, the same problems cropped up as the management refused to look at long-term solutions.
eg They refused to train the local teachers as they were afraid the teachers would leave, once trained. So teachers had to pick up things on their own. It was indeed very frustrating.
Eg. They would hire people who were untrained as they were cheaper. But this brought a whole series of problems.
So although the local teachers were nice and the students were great , I generally didn’t see any purpose in the job anymore.
Monday, January 10, 2005
I am back in Jakarta after more than a month in Singapore. It is strange after getting used to Singapore. I didnt meet a lot of ex-students this time - why? just didnt feel like it. I did catch up with friends , some that i hadnt seen for more than ten years . Amazing how when u leave uni, you lose touch with people. But whether ex-students friends or colleagues the question is always why no kids. While I understand the concern after a while it becomes tiresome to answer their questions. At the same time its good to meet with people and share things so on the whole I enjoyed meeting my friends.
One thing I really liked was getting to the nearest mrt without getting wet as it was sheltered all the way. So a lot of the times I would just try my luck without the umbrella. Dont know if it is murphy's law or what. Whenever i brought my umbrella out - it wouldn't rain!
More later......
One thing I really liked was getting to the nearest mrt without getting wet as it was sheltered all the way. So a lot of the times I would just try my luck without the umbrella. Dont know if it is murphy's law or what. Whenever i brought my umbrella out - it wouldn't rain!
More later......