Settling into host families and a Yogyakarta routine
Has it really only been one week since the SSTer’s arrived? The first week of SST was brimming with new experiences: the first days of jet-lagged orientation, meeting host families, language class, bus trips, a lecture, new food….
Language class starts bright and early at 8:00 am four days each week during the study portion of SST. Our teachers, Ibu Mega and Ibu Arida, are using a lot of Indonesian, which is good and challenging for all. They are enthusiastic and language class is off to a great start. Late morning is generally free for meeting independently with language buddies, hanging out with friends, and grabbing lunch at the school cafeteria. In the afternoons, we will do a variety of activities, including language adventures, lectures, activities (like traditional Javanese dance), and Tuesdays at Rumah Goshen (the Goshen house) where we will debrief our experiences.
On Monday, our language teachers, Ibu Mega and Ibu Arida, invited selected UKDW (Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana) students to join our Goshen students as their language buddies. They were randomly assigned by giving each student the name of an animal and then students had to find their “match.” Below you can see Camila finding her butterfly-language partner. Language buddies will meet twice a week for an hour each time, giving each student 1:1 practice in using Bahasa Indonesia.
Generally students will eat at the UKDW cafeteria, which hosts a number of food stalls– known as “kaki lima” here. Students have also found the cafeteria juice counter. There are so many amazing juices here in Indonesia- sirsop, dragon fruit, mango, and many more.
In the afternoon on Monday, our brave students ventured out in groups of four to different locations in the city where we will visit over the next 6 weeks: the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies at Universitas Gadjah Mada, the Universitas Islam Negeri, and Fort Vredeburg on Malioboro Street. Each group had success (and challenges)! The Gadjah Mada group found the campus, but the specific building eluded them (we will visit the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies next week, so we’ll find it then!). The UIN (Universitas Islam Negeri) group easily found the place, but on returning back to UKDW, they waited. And waited. And waited for the return bus. Ultimately they learned the necessary skill of ordering a go-car (Indonesia’s Uber) back to UKDW. Our google maps (which generally seems to be correct) said the bus should come every 15 minutes, but apparently this bus is coming every 50 minutes this month!
The final group navigated straight to Fort Vredeburg, snapped some pics, and returned without incidence. This group had to actually navigate to a different bus stop to return back. We were impressed with all the students’ willingness to jump in like this and try out the bus system (Ben & I had a philosophical discussion the night before about whether or not we should go with them… but ultimately decided that it was best if they embraced the challenge and did it in student groups).
The final pictures are of students in various interactions with their host families and our magnet “stories” from our Tuesday afternoon at Rumah Goshen. Families have so kindly embraced students and are showing their care for them in a lot of ways. In the magnet stories, students were invited to take a handful of magnets and create a story/free verse poem about their first couple of days in Indonesia. As you can see, we have some creative stories!
