Days like this are why I'm here.

One of the teachers I work with gets lazy and rather than actually teaching class, she just encourages students to ask me questions. Usually it's like pulling teeth to get students to ask me questions in English in front of the whole class. But they are much more confident in small groups. Today I had class with this teacher, and after trying to get kids to talk, her interest had shifted to a few students that were near her, and I moved to the back of the class in hopes of making myself more approachable. It worked like a charm.

There are some students in each class who are really curious about American culture, and some who have really good English, and a few who fall into both of those categories. Usually the curious ones all surround me and those who speak better English will serve as translators. In today's class, there was one student who I've had good conversations with before, and he asks great questions that lead to neat discussions and cultural understandings. I was sitting near him, and just as I had hoped, he started asking me questions. We talked about American high schools, and how they are different, than Indonesian high schools, including the topics of school uniforms, subjects studied, elective courses, what high school students like to do, etc. Then we talked about how life is different in big cities verse small towns, how the East coast is different than the West coast, where different states are located. It was a great environment where I talked about whatever topics they wanted to know about. One kid asked what Broadway was, and included a clarification between the city and the state of New York.

The students were very respectful and understood what questions might be uncomfortable for me to field, but we had built up some trust and understanding, so I was happy to aid in the cultural exchange. We talked about racism, religious views, discrimination, prejudice, and why they exist, different views people have in America and in Indonesia, and it was awesome. I left feeling so energized, and excited to be here. This was why I was here. Yes I am an English teaching assistant, but I feel like that's just an excuse to get me into a high school where I can have meaningful conversations with inspired/inspiring young people.

Usually at the end of the day I'm pooped and I want to take a nap, but like I said, this talk left me more energized than I'd been in awhile, and I still had a few hours of daylight left. So I went out for a walk. Usually I walk along the main road, just so I don't get lost, but there was a back road I had seen last week that I was eager to check out, so I set off on an outing. It was nice being off the main road, much more peaceful, more foliage, less garbage, more color, it was very lovely. When I returned to the main road I was quite thirsty, and as I was walking along I came across a coconut stand. So I sat down and enjoyed fresh coconut milk with ice. It was magical.

On my final stretch home, I was passed by a number of my students, all of them beaming at me while they say "Hi Miss!" Whenever I am feeling down, it is always my students that cheer me up. Their enthusiasm is the greatest thing to have around. It's nice to be in a place where hundreds of people are happy you are there, and smile at you whenever they see you. Days like this are why I'm here.