The commitment to global education was apparent on our third full day in Indonesia. Stationed primarily at the hotel at workshops, the fellows and I participated in panel discussions regarding the Indonesian school system. With little background information, I was planning on a very informative discussion, which Dewi didn’t disappoint. The biggest surprise I must admit is that there are far more similarities than I would have ever imagined. The basic idea that we are looking for what is in the best interest of the students is apparent on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. The means and resources for how we get there is main difference. It seems that the main area that is holding the Indonesia education system back is the quality of educators that are being hired. To my surprise, Indonesia has the best ratio of students to teachers, with 1 teacher for every 17 students. The problem stems though with the quality of teachers hired since the pay is not ideal. More fascinating is due to the perception of being a teacher is often tarnished due to the lack of excitement and quality education for students going through the system as students themselves, causing a cyclical problem of uninspired teachers. This isn’t indicative of all the teachers of course, but a widespread problem none-the-less. The facilities and resources available aren’t at the quality levels of a typical middle America classroom. Encouragingly, despite all these tribulations, parents and students see the profession with endearment. Parents rarely contact or question the teacher’s decisions, assuming they are fulfilling their professional promise. All of the talk regarding education in Indonesia was making me want to leap out from my seat and start heading to a school, to see the learning environment in progress. Education in Indonesia is also different due to teachers across the entire country are on the same salary step schedule. Other main differences are in Indonesian classrooms, students do not rotate classes, rather the teacher rotates from class to class., making planning and preparation a little more challenging, students learn 3 languages (Indonesian Bahasa, a local language, and English),and if a teacher is out of the room, the class will be without a teacher with the students monitored by a camera, there are 37-40 students in a classroom. Without a doubt the biggest difference between our two education systems is the separation of church and state, or the lack there of in Indonesia. Due to the country being 90% Muslim, students have different choices for the type of elementary, middle, and high school they can attend. Without getting into the specifics, essentially there are Muslim schools and non-Muslim school opportunities. After the meeting and grabbing lunch, we headed back to the conference room for a panel discussion on the Indonesian education system. The three teachers shared their personal insights into the education, reaffirming many of the previous maladies mentioned earlier. When dinner time came, a small group and I decided to venture off into the city on our own without Dewi or Sarah for the first time. Seeing the wide discrepancies between city blocks with the safety and environment of the facilities, we made a point to not venture too far out of the way. I never realized how ubiquitous our phones and their GPS systems have become in our lives until we are tasked with navigating a foreign city without them. Using the concierge’s directions, we headed alongside the bustling roadside traffic as it crawled past us. Motorcycles streamed by us as they navigated the smallest of cracks, weaving through the congestion. After clearly passing any signs of restaurants we held a team meeting to figure out where we are concerning our Indonesian restaurant, realizing we are about 12 minutes walking distance out of the way. The group had split between making up lost time, with half the group wanting to break from the safety procedures and hailing a taxi, with Christy and I refusing to get in a cab. We ended up walking to the restaurant as recommended by the US Embassy’s safety protocol. Finally making it to the restaurant, we begrudgingly laughed at how our venture in the wrong direction could have been saved if we made one quick turn early on, as its location was actually very close to our hotel. Two other fellows met up with us and we dined on more amazing Indonesian cuisine. The wait staff couldn’t be more patient and understanding to our language differences. Feeling filled with an exquisite dinner of chicken and rice with a fair amount of heat, we headed back to the hotel where I worked on pictures and of course video chatted with my family.
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Today will be nearly impossible to top. We've been in Indonesia for 3 days and we've already experienced many unforgettable moments. After spending a day immersing ourselves in Indonesian culture, we headed over to the ginormous mall in Jakarta. I rarely use the word ginormous, but I definitely feel it was warranted. It’s as if this mall ate the Mall of America. Walking through the security check points and into the lightly air conditioned foyer, it strangely felt like home. Looking at the copious amount of stores, illuminating English sales and deals, with familiar brands such as H&M and Forever 21, it was easy to forget we are halfway around the world. Given the directive that we had an hour to enjoy the mall before meeting back up, a small crew joined up to venture out into the unknown. Almost immediately though we realized that something was awry. In front of us was a sea of people with cell phones hovering high above everyone’s heads, with a loud commotion commencing. Not knowing what was going on, perhaps foolishly, I headed over towards the commotion. The little angel on my shoulder, I call a conscious now ran through what was supposed to happen that didn’t occur the previous day. We were supposed to keep low key and away from massive crowds, but needless to say, my curiosity was calling. Who could this be, the Indonesian Justin Bieber? It had to be someone one important as the crown continued to grow. Through the commotion, as people could easily spot that we were foreigners, let us know what the hubbub was about. This was President Jokowi, taking a stroll through the mall, or at least attempting to. Moving about three steps every minute and flanked by security that seemed to be allowing the chaos but keeping it in check at the same time, he smiled and posed for pictures. Rarely ever uttering a single word, but waving politely at the camera for the lucky few in the front to take a selfie, he was calm in the eye of the hurricane growing around him. Being that this was a foreign dignitary, let alone the leader of the 4th most populated country in the world, I couldn’t hep but think this was super relaxed security. Would Donald Trump ever allow common folk to chaotic swirl around him? I can’t imagine, but this man without knowing his policies was sending to me a clear picture, he was one of the people. The slender and modestly dressed president crawled past a few stores at a time. I wondered if this was something special we were seeing, was there a purpose, and how often does this happen. Realizing that in Indonesia, my 6’1” height made me feel like a giant, I joined the scrum and walked towards the mosh pit. Holding my camera high, I was able to take a few, what I presumed bury pictures. Looking at Doug, the other social studies teacher, we were abuzz with how cool this moment is. The aisles above and below us were littered with people as well, looking at the sight of the mob of people. The angel on my shoulder kept telling me to stay away from this type of scene. Trying for a moment to get closer was futile, as it was pretty packed, so I retreated to the outside, safely. Moments later I saw Doug walking out from the center, having taken a selfie with the president! The rest of the group walked away, amazed at what we saw. Shopping with all this commotion going on seemed impossible, so Jennifer asked me if I wanted to go back and get a picture. Telling the angel on my shoulder that I’ll be in touch later, I joined her as did Craig, and tried to scope out the best spot and the perfect angel to B-line directly to Jokowi. Hoping that since she’s a female, she shouldn’t be forced around as much as everyone else, and the fact that our brightly colored outfits made us stick out, let alone our ethnicities, maybe this could serve to help our cause. Inching our way, with every swerve, nook and cranny being taken by us, we made our way in front of him, about 5 layers of people away. Jennifer told me she had a plan, “Let’s tell the body guards we are American teachers”. If I could facepalm myself at that moment I would have, but my arms were clearly stuck at my side due to the close quarters. Since I had really no other option, she tried her strategy as we got close. This could turn out as planned with a picture or that little angel would be telling me, “I told you so”. As we were butted up against the glass of the chic store Mango, we were within moments of success or utter failure. Jennifer went in for the kill as I looked for Craig and couldn’t find him. Still cool as a cucumber, Jokowi smiled and took a few selfies occasionally, barely moving forward. The guards were getting more agitated and forceful, pushing the man who was forcing his way to the center out of the way. Finally once Jennifer got to the closest body guard, she said, “We are American teachers, we’d like a picture”. He had her repeat herself, and the security guard told Jokowi. He signaled with his finger to have us come forward. With the triumph of the trip upon us, I felt a strong tug on my shoulder, being pulled by security. Not now! I was so close. I scrambled with what to say, knowing that I hope he understands English. I told him, “Wait no! I’m with her!” Looking puzzled, like who is she, which is honestly a good question from his point of view, another guard told him that I was in fact with Jennifer, and to let me go. Here I was with her, standing with Jokowi, but I wasn’t sure how to take a selfie to make this an actual decent picture. So amidst the chaos, I handed the camera to a guard, possibly the one that moments prior tried to kick me out, and he started to take a few pictures. Thankful so much for that amazing experience, I looked him in the eyes, smiled, said, “Thank you”, which he said the same back to me, and I shook his hand. Tumbling and bumbling my way out of the pit, relieved that the craziness was over, we all decided to get as far away from the pit as we had had our fill. I thought, I hope Sarah from IREX didn’t see that, because that’s two days of us causing a scene. Gathering our thoughts and losing half our mini group, Jennifer and I gushed at what we were able to obtain. Unfortunately, Craig wasn’t able to join us. Indonesia trip was made. With 40 minutes left to kill, I was on cloud nine, and nothing was going to take this high away. The closest experience I can compare that moment to, was in Alaska when at the beginning of the trip we were lucky enough to see whales. At that moment I thought that this trip was made, and I could go home and be happy. Finding along my elated walk through the mall other fellows, I was giddy to share my insane experience with anyone who would listen (even if perhaps they didn’t want to). Meeting back up with Sarah and Dewi, I wasn’t sure what there reaction would be, but thankfully we were met with sheer excitement, and from Dewi especially, humorous jealousy. She said “I’ve never seen Jokowi and that what we experienced is the same as me coming to your country and taking a picture with Obama or Trump”. This solidified that we experienced something special. And now... everything else that happened... Breakfast never ending buffet featuring an insane amount of traditional Indonesian cuisine, we had a fantastic presentation on my bread and butter, the culture, geography, and history of Indonesia. Throughout the entire presentation, similar themes continued to appear, such as that Indonesia is very unique by the many islands separating the people, creating different cultures and customs. After the presentation, we went to the Batik Textile Museum in Jakarta. The museum housed Batik traditional artwork from every main part of Indonesia. Each unique place had a very unique spin on batik tapestry. Batik is the Indonesian technique for creating beautiful tapestry. It involves dipping a special wooden device, with a piece of metal on the end into a pot of hot wax. Trust me, I know it’s hot because it dripped on me a couple of times by accident. The quant museum had us trying to create our own Batik design, which was really relaxing and enjoyable. Dipping the device into the wax and outlining our design was a great surprise for us to work on in Indonesia. When we were finished, we handed our work off to two gentlemen who had a process where they they dipped our cloth into boiling hot water and later into a dye color of our choosing. The finished results looked extremely impressive, and I really appreciated the intricate craftsmanship put forth by the Batik artists in their time intensive work. Afterwards, we toured the museum, which had different Batik pieces from each province in the country. The styles varied from region to region. Finishing up at the museum, we went to the mall (see craziness above and rejoin me back here). After the mall, we headed back to the hotel for dinner on our own. A small group of us were the only ones brave enough to exit the confines of the hotel, and we walked several blocks to where we thought the directions we were given told us to go to. Seeing Jakarta from the street, amidst the chaotic traffic on the other side of the barricade, this personal view of the city was a great way to soak in the amazing day. When the group realizing that we had gone the wrong way after a while, it made me thankful for the times when we were in the states and could access our phones and GPS. Eventually arriving at the planned restaurant, I had an amazing noodle meal that showcased fine Indonesian dining. Making our way back to the hotel, it was time to try and calm down. Resting my head on the pillow never felt so good.
To my amazement, my body clock was adjusting as admirably as I could imagine. With little jet lag holding me back in the morning, I made my way down to scope out the offerings for breakfast, hoping that there would be something worth eating since we’d be dining here every morning. Well, no worries once I feasted my eyes on the cornucopia of food on display. With 8 large stations from which to create a multicultural breakfast, some tough decisions were going to be made. Do I go for the hometown favorites from the pancake bar, hit up the omelet station which offered up Indonesian flare, load up on different variations of beef or chicken that seemed better suited for a dinner, or go experimental and try the plentiful options that I honestly had no clue what they were? Being that the goal of this trip is to immerse yourself in the culture, I decided to spread out and try the Indonesian food first, and wow, it was amazing. I hate to sound like all I care about is food, but believe me, we were dining like kings and queens. It was a great way to start the day. Knowing that indulging may have occurred, I proceeded to head over to the pool to take a couple of laps. Alone in the pool, I could see into the distance numerous buildings, many of them being erected as I swam. With little work to do on the agenda as to allow people to acclimate themselves to the time change, I had to just wait until lunch for the first official meet up. Lunch was again provided at the same location, with new yet similar offerings. I went light with a salad (and maybe some dessert) since little time had passed in between. After this meet up where we heard various recommendations for how to conduct ourselves in the city, we boarded a bus to check out the nearby national monument. I had a front row seat in the bus to witness the legendary chaotic congestion of Jakarta roads. As chaotic as the roads were, which they most definitely were, they still weren’t as bad as I pictured. None-the-less, our calm bus driver seemed never flustered by the weaving of motorcycles in front of him, the people crossing the street in the middle of the highway, or the seemingly endless gridlock through narrow corridors of highway. I was able to enjoy on the bus the beauty of Jakarta, with the spectrum of poor shanty looking buildings towered by mammoth skyscrapers nearby. Once arriving at the national monument drop-off., for the first time in which I can imagine perhaps ever, I felt what it was like to be stared at. In order to make it to the monument, we had to cross a crowded market place, where nearly eyeball was fixated on us, but never to look us directly in the eye. Staying closely to the group, I offered a smile with no reciprocation. Past food huts, coconut water stands, and people hawking American t-shirts, we finally made our way to the gates to the monument, some 300 yards or so away. Taking pictures continually, it was an impressive structure that looked like a cross between the Olympic torch, the Washington Monument, all sitting in a candle dish. As we got close enough for a group selfie, it was still apparent that we were being gawked at. Finishing another group selfie, a brave soul came to us to ask if he could get a picture with the group. We were puzzled, but happily obliged. This seemed to break the ice with whatever tension the group had and with any trepidation that the locals having with us. After the selfie with one group, another group wanted our group photo, followed by another, followed by another. Slowly but surely, we were beginning to feel like celebrities. Later I was singled out by a woman and her aunt, wanting a picture. I made sure that we used my camera for my own collection as well. This happened again too. This flattering experience for the group eventually did get old as it was hard to really enjoy the surroundings, but as I write this, realize that yeah, it was a pretty amazing experience to be welcomed like this. The last group that came by was a group of Boy Scouts and asked us to pose with them and say something for the camera. We hilariously butchered their request, but they had no worries. Heading back was a much different feeling then when we arrived as the ominous town that I felt was replaced with awkward welcoming arms from the city. We were as curious about them as they were of us. Taking the bus back to the hotel, we had more time again to ourselves to keep adjusting to the timeshift. Luckily since I seemingly had already done so, I hung out and caught up on photos after calling home and seeing Aiden smile when I played peek-a-boo over FaceTime. Finally night crept on us and it was time to go to dinner at a restaurant in Jakarta. The place was a traditional Indonesian restaurant. Thankfully there were others in the group that were willing to share their meal so we could each sample the cuisine. The food was to die for as it felt like a combination of Chinese, Indian and Thai. Fully stuffed, we headed back home to the hotel, ready for another day of adventure to follow tomorrow.
To say that I’ve longed for the comforts of sleeping in a bed, is possibly the understatement of the year for myself. After beginning this adventure early on in the morning with little sleep on Thursday, I now have started my first day in Indonesia, which thankfully they’ve given us to adjust to the time change. Somehow I’ve adjusted I think admirably well to the change, all things considered. This mainly due in large part to constantly fighting sleeping during the grueling 13 hour flight, the 4 hour layover in Japan, and only sleeping a little when we were headed to our destination in Jakarta on a 7 hour flight. Setting my clock on my phone when we were in Houston to Jakarta time helped me begin to adjust my body clock to the new timing schedule. After touching down at around midnight, Jakarta time, our group was giddy with excitement on the inside, but probably looked more akin to zombies. As I exited the terminal, hints of Asian architecture surrounded us with statues of dragons and Buddhist artifacts. A drowsy smile strewn across my face as we swiftly made our way through customs. Being greeted by Daywee (spelling on that to come), she was showering us with much needed enthusiasm as we waiting for our bus to take us to the Le Meridian Hotel in Jakarta. The amber lit midnight sky radiated as we waited for the shuttle to arrive. To my surprise, vehicles were driving on the left side of the road. One we boarded our spacious coach bus, I peered from my window in awe at the massive skyscraper buildings. Truth be told, seeing the massive buildings is not unique, but the minute variances in their appearances and design offered enough change from the often mundane gothic to modern buildings littering the Detroit skyline. To our sheer relief, at around 1:30am the bus made a sharp turn through a guarded gate to the hotel, where they inspected us through a metal detector. Getting access to my room was a sweet, sweet feeling. The opulence of the hotel left me speechless. In the mad rush to get to my room, it wouldn’t be until a stomach flipping moment caused me to rush backdown to the lobby when I forgot my book bag, which had my passport. Thankfully they put it aside for me (this also happened on the first night in Germany!). Longing for home even in the midst of this amazing new environment, I called my wife who was just getting up with Aiden. The benefits of technology letting me obtain a sense of home when being halfway around the world is appreciated. To see my little one at piece getting ready to start the day put a smile on my face. Throughout the waiting in the airport, I would monitor him on our “Cubcam” baby monitor at home. Again, giving me the reassurance that he’s really not that far away. Saying goodnight (or would that be good morning?), inside my lavish hotel room, I thankfully was moderately tired after getting about 4 hours of sleep on the last flight. I crashed in bed, but woke up at around 6am, waiting two hour before breakfast and officially starting my first full day in Indonesia.
The epic journey to Indonesia begins. We are 3 hours on our way from Houston to Japan, a 13 hour trip. With the 7 hours from Tokyo to Jakarta following being a mere blip on the time radar. Kissing my wife and little goodbye in the wee hours of the morning was an unenviable task, though now reality has set in that I am on a mission to Indonesia, to learn about another culture, so far from from my own. I must admit, never did I think ten years ago I would be traveling as much as I have. Being fortunate to experience the world as much as I have, has been a blessing, and I’m sure Indonesia will be the same. This trip is the culmination of a lot of time and work. Sitting with Anu and enjoying a conversations on National Parks and fellowships has made time go by a little faster. Technically it is 2am in Jakarta, but it’s 3:43pm and I’m running on 3 hours of sleep. I need to get some sleep now, but it’s not happening. Simply put, I’m too excited about what is coming ahead (continued hours later after an announcement stopped my writing, followed by me getting a quick catnap). Trying to adjust my sleep is key to my success, and I’m hoping to stay up as long as I can. It seems like old friends with the people from IREX, even though we’ve only known each other through Facebook and from our quick 3 days in Washington DC. Here’s to 3 weeks in Indonesia. It seems so far away at times on the plane, but I’m so close to the culmination of all this excitement.
It's so close to happening. After a long time of preparation, I'll soon be traveling to Indonesia with IREX. Going back to January 2016 when I was applying for this application to a year and a half later, a lot has happened to help me prepare for this journey. Fast forward to September when I took a rigorous ten week course to learn about global education. With an impending pregnancy taking up much of my time, on top of normal work obligations, participating in the program was an effort in time management. The class pushed me further than any other online course has ever pushed me. Incorporating copious types of technology project with the theme of global education, I thoroughly enjoyed this class. I've participated in the Global Education Symposium in Washington DC with my principal. This was a great opportunity to reaffirm the goals of IREX, as well as bring my principal on board with the program's mission for global education. After finding out that I'll be partnering with Doug Banwart, we were partnered up with Rudhi Julianto in Purwokerto, Indonesia. We've worked together and created what seems to be a life changing itinerary in Purwokerto. I'm SUPER excited about the temples we'll be visiting, the wedding we are attending, the Indian Ocean, and Baturraden Park, amongst many other experiences. On top of this, I'm thrilled to visit Rudhi's school and collaborate with the teacher's at his school and learn, share, and experience the world with SNMP 8 in Indonesia. Yesterday I found out what I'll be doing in Jakarta, and it sounds thrilling. We'll be learning about global education with the big group of 15 IREXers. We'll also be able see and taste much of the city's offerings. Lastly, I have to pack, something that I've been strategically preparing for, with me being gone for 3 weeks. I know a common theme throughout the trip will be how I miss my wife and my newborn son, but their support for me on this life changing journey means the world to me.
Upon hearing I received an amazing opportunity to visit Indonesia, I started to think... wow, this is so different from my experience visiting Germany. While Germany I was able to list many relevant pieces of information pertaining to its rich culture and history, I'm left with an almost blank slate regarding visiting Indonesia. Coming in with very little information is actually a great benefit as no preconceived assumptions will have taken place. If I had to say three things that I know about Indonesia, they are very, very basic.
1. They have the highest Muslim population in the world (almost under the radar since most people don't think of Indonesia as having a high Muslim population, they often think of a place in the Middle East or South West Asia. 2. Indonesia is a country that is an archipelago. They have many, many islands in the South Eastern Hemisphere. 3. The country of Indonesia has the 4th largest population in the world. This too is surprising as it as well I feel is under the radar with this. Possibly it's because we don't hear about the country in the news as often as compared to other countries. This I must admit I cheated as I believe I found this out after the fellowship. I'm very excited to announce that I've been accepted to the Teachers for Global Classrooms (TGC)/IREX fellowship for the 2016/17 program on behalf of the United States Department of State. This program will provide a great wealth of knowledge regarding how to incorporate teaching about global education into the curriculum. Starting in the fall I have a 10 week course that will provide plentiful resources on global education. In the spring I will be attending the Global Education Symposium in Washington DC. The culminating activity will have me visiting another country in the summer of 2017. I'll find out where it is after the 10 week course.
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About Matthew CottoneExperience the World! This is my creed I bring to my classroom and my life. I'm a World Studies teacher at Van Hoosen Middle School and I have a passion for learning and experiencing the world. Archives
December 2022
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