Domesticated?
The new house I am now staying in is comfortable and it is nice to be able to do my laundry, iron my clothes and cook, or at least heat up my food.
There were quite a few knick-knacks to heats for the house and I was glad to have been recommended to shop at a 4-storey household and hotel supplies store. From rice-cooker (with stainless steel pot) and iron, cups and plates, to brushes and pails.
But the house is not completely ready. During the week, there were doors to be fixed and walls that is yet to be fully painted.
And the water-pump kept acting up. For quite a few times, I had no water at night and had to trouble people to come fix it.
Then, there is also no proper Internet connection at the moment. It will take a while to figure out the best arrangement. So, for now, I will have to make do with very limited internet.
Looking back at the week, I am thankful for all that I have.
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I was kept up all night the Sunday before school started, and no, it wasn't because of first day nervousness. It was my first very bad bout of diarrhoea. Thankfully, I was still able to go through the first day of school and recovered well taking porridge for the next few meals. The rest of the week was interesting as I met the students and learn the day-to-day routines. The students are cheery and most are friendly. They look like they truly enjoy coming to school. We are also preparing ourselves for eLearning in early August and started making discovery of what Google apps can facilitate (and in most parts, we have been fascinated). The teachers have been keen to learn and they too look like they truly enjoy coming to school. And I am very blessed to be able to be part of Stamford International. (I have just moved into my permanent residence yesterday. Look out for the next update about this lovely house I am staying in.) This is the week we start welcoming the teachers back, and for me to officially meet them. Starting with the wee hours of Sunday night, we had the arrival of new teachers from China and Philippines. One of them lost her luggage in transit and understandably, this affected her. But we are thankful that tonight, her luggage which has gone on a detour to Dubai is back to the owner much to her delight. We had a welcome lunch at a paperless Korean restaurant. Each table came fixed with an iPad through which we place our orders, and also make song requests as well as take photos and these will then show up on one of four huge screens. The HR Manager felt that it was most fitting for a new P known for his interest in educational technology. At our first staff meeting on Wednesday, I had a most wonderful time leading a workshop for everyone. Thanks to Apple, we were able to borrow iPads for everyone to help us in our learning as we explored Covey's 7 Habits, Cooperative Learning, Assessment for Learning and of course the effective use of technology in learning (now, isn't that quite a mouthful?!). I am glad that my attempt to share through modelling what was shared went smoothly. Despite my earlier concern about information overload, the teachers showed great enthusiasm which was very encouraging for me. This week, I was expecting to move into the house the school has provided for me but alas there has been some delays. Hopefully next week. Come Monday, it will be the start of the new academic year and I will get to meet the students too. Passionately curious, a phrase I saw on Facebook this week, seems to be an apt poise for me as new year gets underway and God continues to unfold His plans. I was terribly late for church today. When I first visited Bandung in Feb, I was brought to the Bandung International Church, and for some reason I remembered that service starts at 10 am. As it turned out, I had remembered it by Singapore rather than Bandung time which meant that service started at 9 am. I did catch the majority of the message today on the significance of Egypt in the Bible and the Holy Communion was at the end of the service. The days between arrival and today have been generally smooth. While there were some hiccups and slight delays, things are slowly falling into place. I am still staying at a temporary accommodation and expect to move latest by Thursday. One thing to adjust to is accessibility. Not easy to get around, and to get to food. Took the opportunity this weekend to go to 3 malls to have my meals and at the same time find out what and where I might buy things. Assured that the mighty hand of the Lord is upholding me. So the adventure begins. On arriving in Bandung, after a nice morning send-off, I was met by driver Pak Eman. What happened next was rather amusing. Our vehicle in the parking lot was stuck, blocked on all sides. When Pak Eman got some help from the parking attendants, it was a life-size version of the Parking Lot puzzle. One car was pushed forward, our van went went forward, then that same car was into where our van was and finally our van reversed in order to get our of the tight-spot with a few more gentle nudges to a car or two on the way out. How similar this is to how I feel as I negotiate through the procedural and relational maze as I start my stay - getting to know people, places, norms and taboos. Puzzling and mind-boggling at times, amusing and a good challenge at others. Thankful for the wisdom from above. |
About this blogThis will be the occasional records of Moses' adventures living and working in Bandung, Indonesia. He is an educator at large who started working in Bandung from July 2013. Archives
June 2016
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