My very first day of school turned out somewhat disorganizedly. Pak Tanto told me to be at school at 6:30, but Bu Yenni said 6:45 (I went at 6:30). Then, once I was there, I couldn't find the people I was told I would meet there, and the people those people told to meet me there couldn't find me. Also, the Mandarin teachers invited me to share their office downstairs, but I found out a few minutes later that the higher-ups want me to stay in a bigger office with more teachers (including the English teachers) in it. Much later, I found out that there are some people at the school who want to make one big office for all the teachers, but I haven't seen a room that big in the building.
At some point, I was pulled aside to stand in a line with other teachers and shake the hands of students as they arrived. Apparently this is done regularly at the beginning of the day. I was amused by the varying reactions. I saw excitement, nervousness, shyness, fear, curiosity and surprise. I also saw students who reacted as though they were just having a bad day, and shaking my hand was insignificant enough that it didn't provoke any reaction beyond that dictated by the student's current temperament. A good reminder that I am not the center of the universe.
After that, I went to watch the school's weekly flag-raising ceremony. This was perfectly well-organized outside of my presence, because the words were in Indonesian and I knew not a single one of them. I felt guilty about being unable to follow along with the speaking and singing. To be fair, I wouldn't be able to follow along with singing in English, because I cannot sing, and I cannot try to sing without yawning, and yawning at a ceremony to honor the country you're in is a really bad idea. There were also different stances and saluting in the ceremony, and fortunately, I only got that wrong once (I think). After the flag ceremony, I introduced myself to the student body.
After the flag ceremony, we resumed disorganization. I had a class schedule that turned out to be what I'm supposed to do next week, and the coordinator of the English teachers had a different idea for what he wanted me to do this week, but I didn't run into him until I had already done a significant part of the other schedule. After that, I did what he told me to do.
Over the course of the whole day, I got to meet the preschool students, two kindergarten classes, a third grade class and a fourth grade class. I did not do a whole lot of teaching. I'm not sure if I posted this previously or not, but this week is to be orientation only for me. In the pre-school class, I did get up and do a dance that the whole school is supposed to be practicing. I was hoping that the students would see that I could do it, and I just got here, so they could try too. It did not have that effect. Instead, it provoked every student to either fear or amusement. I suppose that in Indonesia, 100 kilo man-apes are not supposed to make large, sweeping movements next to tiny children. Good to know. I also taught the fourth-graders the meaning of the word "experience," which is evidently not a word that Javanese speakers of English as a second language needed to use before they got a book that required them to teach it. I'm glad I was there.
Overall, my first day at SBTH was neither extremely exciting nor frightening or disappointing. Next time: My very first school holiday (in Indonesia)!
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