That's the phrase that all of my students at my university say to open and close their presentations. It means something like "Peace be upon you with God's blessings and prosperity." I thought it would be fitting to use that phrase in my last post from Indonesia, seeing as how Islam has been such a huge part of my life here. Teaching at a Muslim school for the past 10 months has led me to become much more curious about this religion, if for no other reason than to better understand the people I have lived and worked with in this country. Of course, not everyone here is Muslim; if I travel to Bali almost everyone is Hindu, while on the islands of Flores and Ambon and Papua, there are large groups of Christians. All of which goes to show how difficult it is to classify this country. Ten months is really too short to visit any country, let alone a country consisting of more than 17,000 islands and 300 languages.
So, my feelings upon ending this fellowship? I am mostly satisfied with what I was able to accomplish here. I tried to think of things on the small scale: students that got to interact with a true foreigner and learn something about a different culture, being able to try and set straight misconceptions about American society and the West; introducing teaching techniques that focus on communication and interaction rather than translation and grammar. There were of course moments (or days), of frustrations and actions that I'd do differently next time if I had another 10 months. However, I have overall been happy with the way things have progressed.
Will I come back to Indonesia? I have been asked this question by so many people here. Sadly, I think the most realistic answer is no. It is so far away, and I only have two or three people that I'd really hope to see again in the future. (I actually felt much the same way about Germany after studying abroad there for one year in college.) However, I don't know yet how much of an impact Indonesia has had on my life. I think I'll need to wait for a year or so before truly being able to assess my relationship with this country.
I am a firm believer in living abroad whenever possible, rather than just visiting for a few weeks, largely because I hate that feeling of having just woken up from a dream. By visiting Indonesia, and living in its totally foreign culture for 10 months, I hope it won't feel like a dream. It's much too vital.
2 comments:
I find that most of the people who still believe the USA is the greatest country on earth are those who have never lived in another country. When, if they did, they'd soon realize that just isn't true on most all categories. In fact we are only #1 in 3. #of citizens in prison, # of adults who believe in angels & defense spending which is greater than the next 15 countries.
Fitting conclusion for your journey! Love it. I feel like I lived somewhat vicariously through your posts and I'm glad you kept it up throughout the 10 months! And I'm also glad you left a positive impact on all your students.
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