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This morning I went in a bit early to 'get my head in gear' before my 7:10 Curriculum Dev't class and found a student named Ronnie waiting, wanting to re-confirm for about the sixth time that I would follow through on my promise last week to surprise Tia, a girl in the class that he has a crush on, and whose 20th birthday is today, by having the class sing 'Happy Birthday' to her right off the bat.He quietly pointed her out to me as we walked from the Language Center to our new classroom in the English Ed. Dept. ( not only no AC but no fan, as it turned out ).He also told me that last night he'd finally told her of his feelings for her, and she flat-out rejected him, but he wanted me to go through with the plan anyway, and I did.She didn't look surprised, but didn't look displeased either.Ronnie is a real clown and she is, or seems to be, a 'good girl'.Not much of a match there.
The class was quite different from my Monday section - almost all women, and Indonesian-stereotypically soft-spoken at best ( in other words, at first it was like pulling teeth to get most of them to say anything ).After a few warm-up questions, I gave them the course description and went through it, emphasizing the no-make-up quizzes to start class each week, at 7:10.That sobered them up in a hurry; many in fact were late today.A fair number seemed unable to comprehend much of what I had written, and even less of what I said.I think the only reason they made it to Semester 5 is that it's almost 'not done' here to fail any but the most irresponsible students and thereby get them out of synch with all the friends-classmates that they started with.The 'Introduction to Curriculum Development' handout went over better, since I set it up in a more accessible Q&A format with short answers and bullet points, and while going through it I added lots of examples from the vast range of situations I've found myself in, from Saudi lockstep control to "do whatever you think best".Then after a slow start they all gradually got involved in the 'English in Indonesia' survey I'd made up, and most groups finished it with time to spare and apparently substantive explanations for their opinions.I think we'll be OK. My way of teaching is just a radical adjustment for them.
Right after class I had to rush over to the post-Lebaran 'Halal bi Halal' formal ceremony for faculty and staff ( BTW, I was told the phrase is literally meaningless - but of course everyone knows what it refers to, so it doesn't matter. )It was a great example of 'jam karet' or 'rubber time': though I arrived at 9 for a 9 am start, I was one of the first 5 to arrive and it took close to an hour for others to trickle in.The auditorium was set up for 1000, already ridiculous with under 200 potential attendees, and in the end far less than 100 'showed'.I passed the time chatting with important personages including the Rector himself, who came and sat with me, front-row-center.He again lived up to his nickname of 'The Orator', but was easily outdone by a professor who spoke for an hour on ( I was told ) Islam's message of brotherly love and tolerance.Both speakers again made repeated references to me; luckily I knew to pay attention non-stop and nod my head in recognition even though I could barely catch a word of what was being said except for my name.At the end the professor came over and asked me if I understood him and I replied no, but I agreed with everything he'd said, which made him laugh ( people here REALLY appreciate anything that makes the mood 'lighter'. )
Back at the office I found Erlan, the guy who won the Palembang 'Teacher of the Year' award last year which is no surprise as soon as you get to know him - dedicated, smart, open-minded, a good listener, etc. etc.He wanted to sound me out on his home town public school's interest in changing to a content-based, international-school-type English curriculum - by coincidence next week's topic in Curriculum Development and I had lots of my sources out to look at.He will ask Herizal to clear it with RELO for me to come up there and 'consult', be part of a panel, etc.
Today the guys asked me to choose our lunch menu, and I chose martabak ( omelets with gravy ).Everyone was busy so we just sat at our desks to eat.Also the lounge area has been filled with students all day since yesterday. The semester is well and truly begun, finally.
Later I got into the UO Blackboard site ( my password hadn't changed since June ) and explored the online Critical Thinking course materials posted so far, downloaded the readings, read 51 forum posts from around the world, etc.I also emailed the teacher to tell her how slow and undependable our internet connection is, hoping she'll give my two guys more time to do their first assignment.
For dinner I just had some fresh fruit juice and part of the chicken Hanifa brought over on Sunday, mildly curry-ish and delicious even cold.I found that some vegetables I'd bought last week had already started to 'go off', as had fresh fruit juice I bought Sunday - even in the fridge.Here, produce is meant to be and really needs to be consumed ASAP after being bought.Lesson learned.
Later I read a Ray Bradbury story, "I Sing the Body Electric', and some others in a literature collection the RELO office had sent over.Good selections, but way-beyond-lame semi-generic follow-up questions - not that my students could even begin to handle the stories/poems anyway.But for my own reading….hey, it's all that's available at this point.
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