Favorite student quote from last week

Student: Kate, when I see your face it always makes me smile…
Me: Oh, that's so nice! Thank you!
Student: …because then I know that it is Friday, and it is almost the weekend.

(I only see these students once a week. And I'll take whatever compliments I can get.)

Teacher Post

Here is a short story that provides a recent example of why I love my students here at IAIN.

Yesterday, during my Cross-Cultural Understanding class, I passed around the attendance sheet that every student signs. They sign once, for that meeting, and if they're absent, well, of course, they don't sign it. This allows me to monitor who's coming to class and who's not.

I got back after class and noticed that everyone had signed twice, for two meetings, which was weird. Also, students who I knew to be absent had also had their names signed. This kind of annoyed me, since the students KNOW they can't sign for their friends. So, I left a slightly angry post on the class Facebook page, basically saying, "Why did you do this? Explain yourselves."

The next day, a group of six students from that class showed up outside my office, and waited half an hour, until I'd finished teaching, to explain. They'd been confused about how many days to sign, because of the midterm last week. They also admitted to signing their absent friends' names, because they didn't want their friends' grades to go down. I reminded them that they weren't allowed to do this, and they all said they were sorry and wouldn't do it again.

I suppose this story doesn't sound so impressive to the casual observer, but I found the students' honesty  surprising and refreshing. Even though they'd broken the rules by signing for their friends, they didn't lie about it. And they came to me directly, rather than trying to answer on Facebook.

This is one of the ways that teaching in Indonesia has been really gratifying. I am really going to miss these students.

OK. And now it is time for a few photos.

Dinner with Sakti and Steve at their house!

Delicious homemade sambal (hot sauce)

Look at all that traditional Javanese food! The tempe was my favorite.

Weirdly shadowy picture of me, Sakti, Steve, and Jen.

Access Camp!!

Some of "my" kids (they were in my group) hanging out in the main building when it was pouring rain and we were all kind of cooped up.

It's a little hard to tell, but it's POURING outside. And yes, our campsite was gorgeous. And yes, there is a goose in the corner of that picture. I was kind of excited about the geese.

Another weirdly shadowy picture of me and Deirdre hanging out by the rain.

Jackie and Deirdre lead the campers in traditional American cheers. "One more time! Chicken style!"

Another shot of the gorgeous site. This was the (rather murky) swimming pool.

Jess teaches the campers (and me) a rhythm game called Boom Snap Clap.

Goofing around.

Jakarta!!

In Jakarta! After we left the camp, we came back to Jackie's apartment. She lives on the 26th floor in the heart of downtown. It was pouring rain at the time, so things look pretty foggy outside. And this is my attempted glamour shot.

Here's the REAL glamour shot--after we all got cream baths (a massage-conditioning treatment) and our hair blown out and pedicures. It was amazing. And it cost less than $11.

Then we put bags on our heads to walk back to the apartment because it was raining outside.

And we had entirely way too much fun squeezing four people in the back of a taxi to go out to dinner that night.

Jogjakarta!!

Skipping ahead past Native Speaker Day (I will try to steal someone else's pictures for that), this is Jen and I on the train to Jogjakarta. Sweaty but happy!

At Borobudur! They give us sarongs to respect the culture (I guess). It was hot, but beautiful.

With Deirdre and Christen

I just liked this face. Is it a dog, perhaps?

At the top of the temple, there are these things called stupas. Inside each one is a buddha. Kind of cool.

Deirdre meditates as Jon creepily watches.

I used this umbrella most of the time to keep the sun off. Perhaps the leopard print was a little disrespectful.

Cut to later in the day--Prambanan. Can you tell it was about to rain?

So awesome. As Holly said, it kind of feels like Mordor.

Deirdre, me, Christen, and Holly sitting among the ruins.

Today!!

And a total shift in gears: my Vocabulary class today! We were talking about protests and demonstrations, so I had them create slogans for bumper stickers (on the wall behind them). Then I made them all pose for a photo. I love these guys!

Don't Judge

So today, I asked my students to write about a "turning point" in their lives, and to imagine how their lives could have/would have/might have been different if that turning point had not happened (we're practicing conditional right now).

When I've done this topic in the past, I've noticed that it tends to bring up topics from the students' past that can be painful or depressing (how they had to leave their family behind when they came illegally to the U.S., for example). However, I wasn't really worried about students writing those types of stories today, as I naively assumed that because most of my students are quite rich, they generally must lead privileged, happy lives.

Wrong! One of my Japanese students today wrote a story about how she got kidnapped when she was 5 years old. And how she was held for ransom for three days, until her kidnappers gave her up (and were apparently arrested by the police). What am I supposed to say to that?

I guess it just makes me thankful, in a way, that I have as much time as I do (12 weeks, if the students stay for the whole session) to try to get to know these individuals and where they come from. It's a good wake up call now and then to realize that there is no way I will ever have them figured out (as much as I subconsciously assume so), and that is, ultimately, a good thing, I think. It's a reason I love teaching.

"You look tired."

Never a compliment, right?

I have been told this THREE TIMES in the last 2 months while at work. It has motivated me to buy thicker foundation and wear more makeup, since I figure that is one of the small joys of being a woman--you can generally cover it up if you look like crap.

But apparently it's not working, since one of my students commented again today that I look tired.

GAH!

That is all.