Having arrived home the rest of this blog, which I do hope to continue by way of diary, will continue with some ex post writing.
One question: The notion of tolerance doesn't very well treat its own limits. In many of my talks on this trip I tried to get people to not think so much of what they would tolerate but what they would not tolerate.
My friend Arifin suggested that a Democracy comes with certain responsibilities -- and not be critical of religion was one of them. My own feeling is that criticism is a matter of respect -- you always criticize things you respect; you call them to something better and point out their flaws because you expect something better.
Limiting that criticism ahead of time simply prevents effective criticism.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
History Presentation at my Friend Vipti's school
We watched a presentation, in English, on US history at Vipti's school.
It was classic Indonesian powerpoint with a lot of color, background, and jumping letters. It took five minutes to load.
It was really good! The students in the class probably knew more about US history that US students! They covered the Revolution to the Civil War in 20 minutes. It was very impressive.
There were some funny interpretations
George Washington was "America's big commander"
Slavery was "taper bondage"
Carpetbaggers were an "ethnic group"
but the best was the discussion of anti-tax sentiments and the tea party -- with the text imposed over a background picture of Che Guevera (noted anti tax activist)
It was classic Indonesian powerpoint with a lot of color, background, and jumping letters. It took five minutes to load.
It was really good! The students in the class probably knew more about US history that US students! They covered the Revolution to the Civil War in 20 minutes. It was very impressive.
There were some funny interpretations
George Washington was "America's big commander"
Slavery was "taper bondage"
Carpetbaggers were an "ethnic group"
but the best was the discussion of anti-tax sentiments and the tea party -- with the text imposed over a background picture of Che Guevera (noted anti tax activist)
Rus' School
My friend Rus (short for Rustiadi) is a teacher, administrator, and guidance counsellor at an Islamic boarding school. He fasts every other day and is a very devout Muslim. In the US "devout" does not always carry with it the image of funny, energetic, open, and generous -- one thinks of a serious mind focused on the after life -- but Rus is all of these things. If he can't make you feel good about the world no one can. We got a lot of questions about the Swiss vote on Minaret constructions (for which we were unqualified to answer); sex education; relations between the sexes (i.e. do people sleep together before marriage) and divorce.
The students, in single gender classes, were incredibly lively. Rus had them play a game where he would pose a question (it was a religion class and it was about the ritual washing before prayer (Wudu). Teams of students raced to answer the question and hand it in and he awarded points for the answers.
I was asked to collect on the second question and did so (I can stand and receive paper with the best of them) but I failed keep them in order of receipt -- I missed that part -- thereby screwing up the game. A deep cultural misunderstanding!
During question period -- there is always a question period -- students kept asking if I wanted to sit down. I am old in Indonesia and people just assume I'm frail -- it gets annoying (how are you? are you hot? Please sit down? Oh, that is so far.) and makes me want just pick up heavy loads and carry them around for no good reason.
At the end everyone did a kind of "clap clap clap YEAH" and, of course, I put this into my "indonesian culture is community oriented" box. Thought about writing about "indonesian group cheers" in my blog -- and the Rus told me he learned it at a Cincinnati Reds game last summer.
The students, in single gender classes, were incredibly lively. Rus had them play a game where he would pose a question (it was a religion class and it was about the ritual washing before prayer (Wudu). Teams of students raced to answer the question and hand it in and he awarded points for the answers.
I was asked to collect on the second question and did so (I can stand and receive paper with the best of them) but I failed keep them in order of receipt -- I missed that part -- thereby screwing up the game. A deep cultural misunderstanding!
During question period -- there is always a question period -- students kept asking if I wanted to sit down. I am old in Indonesia and people just assume I'm frail -- it gets annoying (how are you? are you hot? Please sit down? Oh, that is so far.) and makes me want just pick up heavy loads and carry them around for no good reason.
At the end everyone did a kind of "clap clap clap YEAH" and, of course, I put this into my "indonesian culture is community oriented" box. Thought about writing about "indonesian group cheers" in my blog -- and the Rus told me he learned it at a Cincinnati Reds game last summer.
Education
People argue forever over education -- its purposes, methods, costs, and functions. Although the word "indoctrination" is a bit strong -- and "critical thinking" is on the tongue of every teacher and administrator -- education does indoctrinate the student into the society. The burden of acceptable behavior is like strong air pressure -- influential but invisible.
The positive side of this is that belonging to a group or culture seems to be a human universal and that education, in preparing students for belonging, fills an important role. All of this is difficult to discuss in the US because of our culture of individualism (which we also pass on thru education --- and that is fine) -- but in Indonesia the notion of "this is our culture" or "of course we pass on our culture" isn't questioned -- they feel less guilt about being Indonesian than US schools often feel about being from the US.
The positive side of this is that belonging to a group or culture seems to be a human universal and that education, in preparing students for belonging, fills an important role. All of this is difficult to discuss in the US because of our culture of individualism (which we also pass on thru education --- and that is fine) -- but in Indonesia the notion of "this is our culture" or "of course we pass on our culture" isn't questioned -- they feel less guilt about being Indonesian than US schools often feel about being from the US.
Religious Education
This is a grant that looks at the way in which Indonesia and the US handle religious diversity. The term “religious diversity” has a nice, polite, social science “lets all just love each other” feel but, in fact, coping with it has been an enormous historical challenge. It is about peace and war; belief, tolerance, and salvation.
Not a simple stew.
Both countries are large, religious, diverse, democracies.
The US takes a “negative” approach to religion – government stays away from issues of conscience and religion is not taught in a devotional way in the schools. This system is not without controversy; many of the more stringent forms of separation are recent; and, if given the chance, many in the US would make changes such as allowing prayer in the schools.
Indonesia takes a “positive’ approach. There is a “Ministry of Religious Education” responsible for religious education in the schools. Public schools all require religious education, and students pray each day (in a way – Islam, as the dominant religion, sets the schedule) and schools routinely have us visit the school Mosque (I haven’t been to a school without one) as well as the collection of Catholic or Christian students learning about their religion and praying.
The approaches are so different as to stun students when they hear about the other's practice – but they are rooted in history and culture and both are good faith efforts to solve the very difficult dilemma presented by the conflict between belief and freedom.
One freedom not evident in Indonesia (and this is an observation, not a criticism) is the freedom not to believe. You must declare a religion – it goes on your ID card (Islam, Christian, Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist, and Confucian).
I remember one school where we visited the Christian students while they were praying. There were 10 to 12 students and a teacher. The room was sparse but had a cross and a small Christmas tree. The call to prayers was very loud in that vicinity and one had the impression of a somewhat embattled minority – but I don’t think, in this case, that my impression was right. The students did not feel left out (although one girl said she could date a Muslim boy but not marry him, and she felt sad) and, overall, the system often works.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Scott Brown and Indonesia
I was wrong. I have to figure out a way to debase myself in front of my parties and elections students to whom I said two or three times "Scott Brown has no chance". I was wrong.
In my defense, I did say that he was a very good candidate. But he couldn't win. I said that Coakley was the perfect demographic candidate for the primary (one woman, three men, had a head start -- short campaign) but not a great candidate -- in all that I was right -- but I thought she would win. I was wrong.
Almost everyone was wrong -- and some of those who were right are of the "all clocks are right twice a day" variety of right -- and very few people are owning up to it. The press is full of "the national media did not anticipate" -- just say it authors, you were wrong. You had no idea. You turned in your copy without looking and looked ahead to the next story. You were wrong. At least there is a lot of company.
Why? First of all, it isn't irrational to be wrong. The data, history, and early polls all reinforced the inevitable Coakley victory. Some of it -- maybe a lot -- has to do with the campaign.
Brian McGrory, in an funny if condescending article article in the Globe captures the campaign differences -- with Brown as the handsome stranger who captivates us by paying attention to our conversation at a party.
But it is also about issues -- and larger patterns of American politics. David Broder argues that Americans like a "supportive but not imperious government. His advice
"If I were President Obama, I would spend the next year showing how government can serve a humble, helpful and supportive role to the central institutions of American life. Even in blue states like Massachusetts, voters want a government that is energetic but limited — a servant, not a leviathan."
Although I think Brooks in on to some thing, I'm not sure what humble means -- we already have an enormous and powerful government and could never get rid of it -- it always surprises me when conservatives seem to deny this obvious fact -- but it also amazes me that liberals still look for top down national solutions in the face of their unpopularity.
But whatever it was, a diffuse sense of anger at the world, a poor campaign, opposition to health care -- a great republican campaign run by a talented and experienced group of republican operatives -- all of them are true-- Massachusetts has a Republican senator. What does this mean? Given that I was so wrong about the election, let me now attempt to be wrong about this as well. Here are a series of random thoughts.
Republicans will over interpret this election just like Democrats over interpreted the Obama victory. The interesting race last year was Clinton v Obama -- it was a high personal and political drama more than a contest of ideas. The general election was fairly close to a given. The Bush administration was largely seen as having failed at providing solutions to problems and they wanted to give someone else a chance. Obama's personality, ideology, and campaign all helped in his victory -- but it was a rejection, not an affirmation.
Americans are getting very hard to govern - if we take governance as actually "doing something". Obama did act quickly to pass a stimulus package (in a way different from what Bush would have been done but utilizing a precedent set by the Bush administration). There was (and should have been) an air of emergency about the economy. Aside from that, he has been given remarkably little time to work through his agenda. Talk all now seems to focus on the "fairness and democracy" of 41 senators (Scott Brown's chant "41" "41") stopping things. Past republican criticism for special rules for minorities has now changed to a concentrated concern for minority protection in the US senate. When our government debate is about overcoming a small minority in our already elected bodies, action is in the waiting room while process is given the interview -- and the job.
Obama has been far too nice. Here is a man elected by a reasonable majority -- elected to do something different -- and with an overwhelming majority in the house and the senate and his party can't pass their centerpiece legislation? If I was them, I would stuff it down the throats of republicans using every procedural trick they can -- the republicans would.
The democrats have no balls in this case. People don't care at all about process (for long -- sometimes they do in the short term) they care about results. If Democrats really believe in health care reform pass it and let the results speak for themselves -- people may well really like it once it isn't a theory any more. I'd rather lose defending an action then lose defending a possibility. Does anyone seriously think that Dems won't be attacked for supporting health care reform whether it passes or not? Do the right thing and let the chips fall where they may (I am not at all sure about the health care reform bill -- but if I was a supporter I would take the stance listed above). concern for minority rights and fairness have now appeared in new.
The Brown election will increase Democratic retirements and improve the quality of Republicans who decide to seek office. Good politicians are professionals and a professional knows when she has a chance to win. Brown's victory alters their calculations in the "if it can happen there" mode. A combination of dem retirments and better rep candidates reinforces the normal off-party gain -- and the Republicans pick up more seats.
Local MA republicans should now have a better poll of candidates as well -- although the party has never been good in translating such gains locally -- my gut feeling is that Deval Patrick and the House and Senate Dems (very few of whom have any real campaign experience) are in serious trouble.
The election of Brown may help Obama in Afghanistan. The Massachusetts electorate even applauded his support of waterboarding -- and may be yet another signal that despite a new and very different face, American foreign policy may not undergo a drastic change.
The republicans may do well in the mid-term elections but I still believe that they have a fundamental problem. Generational change on moral questions, and an aging and restive religious right, seriously hampers their national coalition. Being against Obama is a great short term strategy (unless he succeeds -- see above) but in the long run they need a broad, governing agenda -- and the coalition that was successful starting with Reagan is not what it was. Even Brown may find it hard to win re-election in liberal Massachusetts. One danger for the right is that this will be seen as reinforcing their agenda and they will, like the Democrats did in this campaign (It is rumored Coakley mocked Brown for shaking hands outside of a special Bruins game held outside of Fenway park and that she didn't know Curt Schilling played for the Red Sox -- both bizarre in the extreme if true) ignore the local elements of the campaign. They may well overreach and find, when they do, that there is no broad voter support there for a national campaign.
When I give my talk in Jakarta it will be to a largely Indonesian audience in love with President Obama. They have recently built a statue of him here (as a child, releasing a butterfly -- it is above -- I can't figure out how to place the picture in a different place) I will tell them that the Presidency is an institution and not a person. As human beings we naturally gravitate toward evaluating personality and character, but that elected officials are limited by public opinion, culture, and the power of other institutional leaders.
I will also say that the US is now experiencing rapid political change -- it has only been one year from the Obama inaugural to the Brown election; the change those two events suggest is startling -- but I think they both share in common a general discontent -- a discontent -- even anger -- that Obama didn't create -- but that he hasn't erased.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Talk at University
I had been invited by my friend Wahyuddin to talk at the University where he teaches. Ahmad and Dhindin -- both former participants, are also at the school and I visited it last year at a different campus. The rector, who we met, had lived in Minnesota, spoke English, and vaguely remembered me. I am best remembered vaguely.
Through a miscommunication I had prepared a talk on President Obama's first year but the title turned out to be "Democracy and Tolerance: The American Experience". I worked on my talk off and on in the car and upon arrival it was a little bit more of a panel discussion where the rector, Wahyuddin, Sam, and Julienne all spoke and it was very good. My talk was short and was centered on the strangeness of tolerance. We all want it but the word is a little ambiguous --- you don't "tolerate" your friends. And, in fact, Old English usage is "bearing a hard burden". So the point is tolerance is hard.
I also argued it was a political virture, requiring the hard work of law, education, and respect for institutions. Finally, I suggested that the important question isn't tolerance, but what would you not tolerate -- are the boundary conditions -- the fence and enclosure -- of thoughts on tolerance acceptable and what political conversations and actions are available to increase the size of the fence in a way acceptable to (but not subservient to) the culture at large.
Through a miscommunication I had prepared a talk on President Obama's first year but the title turned out to be "Democracy and Tolerance: The American Experience". I worked on my talk off and on in the car and upon arrival it was a little bit more of a panel discussion where the rector, Wahyuddin, Sam, and Julienne all spoke and it was very good. My talk was short and was centered on the strangeness of tolerance. We all want it but the word is a little ambiguous --- you don't "tolerate" your friends. And, in fact, Old English usage is "bearing a hard burden". So the point is tolerance is hard.
I also argued it was a political virture, requiring the hard work of law, education, and respect for institutions. Finally, I suggested that the important question isn't tolerance, but what would you not tolerate -- are the boundary conditions -- the fence and enclosure -- of thoughts on tolerance acceptable and what political conversations and actions are available to increase the size of the fence in a way acceptable to (but not subservient to) the culture at large.
Athirah Makassar School Visit
our first school visit in Makassar was to a private Islamic school. It was founded by Yusuf Kalla's family -- he is the former Vice President of Indonesia and the richest, and maybe most powerful, man on the Island of Sulawesi.
The school ws called the Athirah Islamic School
www.athirahmakassar.com
We were taken to an auditorium where the school officials, in a combination of Indonesian and English spoke of their desire to improve the English skills of their students "I can speak to my friends and family in my local language or Indonesian. I can speak to the world in English".
This is a big school, parent funded, with four campuses and all age groups. It is considered one of the finest schools in Indonsia. They too were very interested in Exchange programs, short and long, and an English teacher at their school. On a strange and embarrassing note -- the headmaster attended Ratna's party later in the trip and we didn't recognize him and say hi. This is the kind of social mistake one trys to avoid. I hope sending an email will help -- they were exceptionally well organized and would be an ideal school for some forms of partnership.
The school ws called the Athirah Islamic School
www.athirahmakassar.com
We were taken to an auditorium where the school officials, in a combination of Indonesian and English spoke of their desire to improve the English skills of their students "I can speak to my friends and family in my local language or Indonesian. I can speak to the world in English".
This is a big school, parent funded, with four campuses and all age groups. It is considered one of the finest schools in Indonsia. They too were very interested in Exchange programs, short and long, and an English teacher at their school. On a strange and embarrassing note -- the headmaster attended Ratna's party later in the trip and we didn't recognize him and say hi. This is the kind of social mistake one trys to avoid. I hope sending an email will help -- they were exceptionally well organized and would be an ideal school for some forms of partnership.
Makassar Visits and Activities January 15th, 16th 17th
NOTE: One Day still needs to be added to this entry:
Today was exceptionally active. As a group we visited with three schools, a newspaper, and had a television interview. It is remarkable to me how hard it is to remember the schools we have visited so on this trip I have made more of an effort to enter the name, headmaster, address, and email of the school just to remember it.
This morning we visited SMA Negri 1 (Makassar).
Headmaster Drs. Herman Hadine, M. PD
The school had abut 800 students and they were in on a Saturday to work on extra projects, classes, and clubs. This is our friend Fitri’s school and the students were excellent. They were arrayed in a U shape instead of classroom seating and the students, juniors in high school, had a host of questions. After about an hour of questions we adjourned to a television interview in the same room. The man gave me 14 questions ahead of time and I asked how long the show was and he said “15 minutes”.
I left Sam and Julienne to go to a local paper and met with George Scholz of RELO (A State Department program designed to provide English language learning. It started very strangely with them telling us about their paper. It continued this way for a long time – they asked no questions – but were very proud of their text message/facebook program. They invite citizen texts about local government problems and corruption and try and get an answer from the town government right away (hey, what about this pot hole?) they print the question and the response in the paper. It has been a very popular and it made me think that their readers would love the chance to “ask an American a question” so I proposed a monthly facebook program where people would post questions to the Civic Initiative and to Alumni in the area. The questions might be about daily life or politics – and the paper loved the idea – they want to start right away.
In the afternoon I went to a vocational school
SMK 4 Makassar
Principal Asmah Baharudding
Assistant Rahmat Wiyrayo
rahmatwijaya68@yahoo.com
08124296961
This was a vocational school (business management, tourism, and technology). I told them I would send some books and ask about sending them an English language teacher.
I also will send them the debating material used by Nurul's group (the Sex Ed debate team) They were also very interested in an Exchange. The small group of student’s represented the schools debating club and they had a lot of questions about the US (questions in a separate post)
At night we went to Ratna’s house for a dinner party. It was a small, very neat and new house across from a Mosque along a narrow street. Over 20 people attended including three English teachers, all young women, from America. They were here for training and teach in different locations in Indonesia. The remarkable thing was that they were all from UMass – and didn’t know each other before coming. One even went to Amherst High School. That was the ultimate small world moment
January 17th
Typing, finances, and packing – we fly to Jogyakarta today on another roundabout trip leaving Makassar for Bali and then for Jogya – four hours for what could be a one hour flight. Note to self – tell travel agent next time to book other airlines (not Garuda) if convenient. I think I believed that Garuda was safer but I am not sure that is still true. Lion, SilkAir, and Merapi all seem good.
Today was exceptionally active. As a group we visited with three schools, a newspaper, and had a television interview. It is remarkable to me how hard it is to remember the schools we have visited so on this trip I have made more of an effort to enter the name, headmaster, address, and email of the school just to remember it.
This morning we visited SMA Negri 1 (Makassar).
Headmaster Drs. Herman Hadine, M. PD
The school had abut 800 students and they were in on a Saturday to work on extra projects, classes, and clubs. This is our friend Fitri’s school and the students were excellent. They were arrayed in a U shape instead of classroom seating and the students, juniors in high school, had a host of questions. After about an hour of questions we adjourned to a television interview in the same room. The man gave me 14 questions ahead of time and I asked how long the show was and he said “15 minutes”.
I left Sam and Julienne to go to a local paper and met with George Scholz of RELO (A State Department program designed to provide English language learning. It started very strangely with them telling us about their paper. It continued this way for a long time – they asked no questions – but were very proud of their text message/facebook program. They invite citizen texts about local government problems and corruption and try and get an answer from the town government right away (hey, what about this pot hole?) they print the question and the response in the paper. It has been a very popular and it made me think that their readers would love the chance to “ask an American a question” so I proposed a monthly facebook program where people would post questions to the Civic Initiative and to Alumni in the area. The questions might be about daily life or politics – and the paper loved the idea – they want to start right away.
In the afternoon I went to a vocational school
SMK 4 Makassar
Principal Asmah Baharudding
Assistant Rahmat Wiyrayo
rahmatwijaya68@yahoo.com
08124296961
This was a vocational school (business management, tourism, and technology). I told them I would send some books and ask about sending them an English language teacher.
I also will send them the debating material used by Nurul's group (the Sex Ed debate team) They were also very interested in an Exchange. The small group of student’s represented the schools debating club and they had a lot of questions about the US (questions in a separate post)
At night we went to Ratna’s house for a dinner party. It was a small, very neat and new house across from a Mosque along a narrow street. Over 20 people attended including three English teachers, all young women, from America. They were here for training and teach in different locations in Indonesia. The remarkable thing was that they were all from UMass – and didn’t know each other before coming. One even went to Amherst High School. That was the ultimate small world moment
January 17th
Typing, finances, and packing – we fly to Jogyakarta today on another roundabout trip leaving Makassar for Bali and then for Jogya – four hours for what could be a one hour flight. Note to self – tell travel agent next time to book other airlines (not Garuda) if convenient. I think I believed that Garuda was safer but I am not sure that is still true. Lion, SilkAir, and Merapi all seem good.
January 14th
We packed, prepared for our flight, compared notes, and handled finances. The flight to Makassar from Balikpapan went through Jakarta which is like going to Washington, from Boston, through Pittsburg. Monsoon storms made the flight one of steady interest. We checked in at 12:30 am -- our local partner, Ratna Haris picked us up -- she must have been exhausted -- and the wind shaking our rooms continued the feeling of the flight. Our rooms thrust out into the ocean like an overbold small animal trapped on a thin stilt. and were held up on wooden stilts.
January 13th
January 13 Balikpapan
This was our last day in Balikpapan and it was a very efficient and interesting trip. Having done this twice, you have the feeling you know what you are doing (sometimes true; sometimes dangerous).
SDN 001 is a very nice elementary school with a charismatic headmaster and a wealthy group of kids (many of the children had cell phones and blackberries)
We arrived and were greeted with traditional dance and music by the kids (the video is on Sam’s web site) and then the students came out, lined up perfectly (about 200 of them) sang songs, shouted back answers in unison, and sat with remarkable patience as about 7 adults (me included) spoke. The sea of uniforms and students perfectly lined up (they spaced each other out at arm’s length) then sitting at the same time and responding loudly, together, is a visual representation of a big difference between an American and Indonesian school – the “communal sense” and the “individualistic” sense. It is easy to make too much of this. Not all of the schools we have attended were as well organized, and American’s often show organized group behavior at rallies and meetings, so, while the difference is real, it is in no way absolute.
This was my first visit to an elementary school and I was frightened – “what am I going to do with little kids?” fortunately, Ms. Julienne, my colleague, is a third grade teacher (who speaks Indonesian as does Sam Camera) was a total stud and had pictures, pen pal programs, a book of greetings from her third grade children – everyone loved it.
I have never seen so many curious children. They stared at us; shook our hands – took pictures and could not decide whether to come with us or run away. There is a great picture of me (taken from above) surrounded by children.
In the afternoon we visited the school of our host’s children – and we also met his wife. I have known, and worked with Sam, for a number of year’s and have always enjoyed working with him but I had never met his wife. We were very excited to meet each other and, for reasons I can’t express, the meeting was emotional. This was not a poor school, but it was not rich, and many of the people, Sam included, felt the difference. Sam gave an emotional talk about how committed he and his family were to improving the school –and I spoke, saying that the school was in the hearts of the teachers and the students – a worn sentiment but one that was appropriate at the time. Short talks, toasts, and speeches often sound maudlin in the recounting but work well in the moment of delivery.
The school was more chaotic, but still good and the kids were incredibly cute and the administration committed to exchanges, international connection, and improvements.
That night we hosted a reception for local leaders participants, and families. It was remarkable to meet the families – they were so happy for the opportunity to see us talk to the people their husband or wife had met in America.
This was our last day in Balikpapan and it was a very efficient and interesting trip. Having done this twice, you have the feeling you know what you are doing (sometimes true; sometimes dangerous).
SDN 001 is a very nice elementary school with a charismatic headmaster and a wealthy group of kids (many of the children had cell phones and blackberries)
We arrived and were greeted with traditional dance and music by the kids (the video is on Sam’s web site) and then the students came out, lined up perfectly (about 200 of them) sang songs, shouted back answers in unison, and sat with remarkable patience as about 7 adults (me included) spoke. The sea of uniforms and students perfectly lined up (they spaced each other out at arm’s length) then sitting at the same time and responding loudly, together, is a visual representation of a big difference between an American and Indonesian school – the “communal sense” and the “individualistic” sense. It is easy to make too much of this. Not all of the schools we have attended were as well organized, and American’s often show organized group behavior at rallies and meetings, so, while the difference is real, it is in no way absolute.
This was my first visit to an elementary school and I was frightened – “what am I going to do with little kids?” fortunately, Ms. Julienne, my colleague, is a third grade teacher (who speaks Indonesian as does Sam Camera) was a total stud and had pictures, pen pal programs, a book of greetings from her third grade children – everyone loved it.
I have never seen so many curious children. They stared at us; shook our hands – took pictures and could not decide whether to come with us or run away. There is a great picture of me (taken from above) surrounded by children.
In the afternoon we visited the school of our host’s children – and we also met his wife. I have known, and worked with Sam, for a number of year’s and have always enjoyed working with him but I had never met his wife. We were very excited to meet each other and, for reasons I can’t express, the meeting was emotional. This was not a poor school, but it was not rich, and many of the people, Sam included, felt the difference. Sam gave an emotional talk about how committed he and his family were to improving the school –and I spoke, saying that the school was in the hearts of the teachers and the students – a worn sentiment but one that was appropriate at the time. Short talks, toasts, and speeches often sound maudlin in the recounting but work well in the moment of delivery.
The school was more chaotic, but still good and the kids were incredibly cute and the administration committed to exchanges, international connection, and improvements.
That night we hosted a reception for local leaders participants, and families. It was remarkable to meet the families – they were so happy for the opportunity to see us talk to the people their husband or wife had met in America.
January 12th
January 12
Visited SMAN 1, a high school where our friend Haryati teaches. On the plane over I talked about how American schools should integrate local environmental knowledge, biology, and work by having students farm or garden at some level. (hardly, I admit, an original idea) In Indonesia many schools do this. SMAN 1 has an enormous number of plants, maintained by the students, with the plant qualities used to illustrate local conditions, biology, and botany. We visited a number of classrooms and talked about the differences between US and Indonesian approaches to religion and the schools. You can see them struggling (and the teachers, and us) with the “positive” approach Indonesia employs with the government insuring equal access to religion in schools. Access is provided by state law and funding through the ministry of religious education. Teacher boards sometimes list the religion of the teacher (Muslim, Muslim, Muslim, Christian (protestant) and so on – and also have white board counts of their student’s religious affiliations (658 Muslims; 23 Protestants; 13 Catholics; 0 Buddhists – I don’t know why they listed a “0” – maybe in case one comes along)
The principal was very happy that his teacher went to the US and is willing to support American students who might come on exchange; even for short cultural visits. He knows a number of potential home stay opportunities and is very excited that we brought email addresses of American students who subsidies with a religious ministry and school.
It always fascinates me how much people want to improve their English. One teacher pulled me aside and asked a number of cultural and “slang” questions including:
-Is it ok to ask a woman her age?
(answer: many don’t care but safer not to if you can avoid it)
-Is it ok to say “hanky panky”
(answer: not many people say it anymore and it has vague meanings hidden and orchestrated bad-doings with historically remote sexual overtones. So, if another word works, and it is hard to imagine one couldn’t be found, he should avoid it.)
-Is it ok to ask people how much money they make? (answer: less of a taboo than it used to be but still best to be avoided unless asked the same question first)
In between school visits we visited the Mayor of Balikpapan. While in the waiting room there was an emotionally arresting painting (I can’t judge the style) of a Dyak (native people to Borneo) on a hill looking at the city. His back is turned to the viewer and you can see he is at the place where the forest ends at the clear cut logging line. The city looks as if it is growing toward him and, if you look closely, you can see that the bottom part of his leg is beginning to mesh with the ground underneath, like they are growing into each other. All of the US visitors saw this as an analogy of encroaching civilization driving out people more closely connected to the earth – maybe because of our own current understanding of the America’s but the Indonesians had a variety of opinions and didn’t inevitably see the man as I did.
The mayor turned out to be a very practical, experience operative who spent almost a full hour with us. He is very interested in exchanges and pledged his full support at finding accommodations for students. He is keenly interested in technical teaching help – Balikpapan is an industrial place with oil rigs off the coast. You can see them from the hotel. I was very encouraged with the meeting – and it was very refreshing to talk specifics.
SMKN 4 Nurul’s school HRM vocational debate club on sex education
In addition to meeting with students and talking about the things they picked up from the Democracy and Tolerance discussions with the students we also watched a debate on Sex Education (in English). This is a vocational school which specializes in Hotel and Restaurant management. The kids (seniors I think) were in two teams of four and they debated the motion “should sex education be taught in the schools”. They did a very nice job. The arguments were exactly the same as they are in the US. The pro side argued it would prevent the spread of disease; reduce unwanted pregnancy; and help to prevent sexual harassment. This last argument seemed their weakest and, during the question period, one of the audience went right after it. It was a more aggressive debate than I have witnessed in Indonesia before.
The “no sex ed” side had about one argument “more sex ed would lead to more sex”. They cited some arguments. First, the referred to a study in Dallas that suggested sex ed leads to earlier and more frequent sex. They also used the somewhat off-topic example of a science book in one of the local school libraries that contained “inappropriate descriptions.” Finally, they argued that 75% of the teens in Balikpapan have had sex. Some said “7500” others “75%” so we weren’t able to get a handle on that one. In all, the pro side had the better argument.
The similarity of the arguments (you can almost hear a conservative school committee member lamenting a lascivious book or an earnest liberal describing the brave new world of disease free happiness that would accompany government efforts) obscures and important institutional difference. In Indonesia, these kind of decisions are made at fairly high levels (even federal) while at the US the debates are often local. The localness seems right to me on this one. One function of federalism is to fob off these hot topics and let local standards serve as a basis for argument. It seems silly to me to not teach sex education in some manner but it seems even worse for the federal government to send people into conniptions by demanding they teach something they don’t want to. I admit this pro federalism argument could be thrown back to me in the extreme “well what is someone didn’t want to teach evolution”. I suppose I would say they are choosing to make their kinds non-competitive in science and that is their choice. A more difficult issue might be “what if they want to teach racism?” That is a much harder question. It is hard, but not impossible, to imagine it now. But an argument for federalism is not an argument for no standard setting at higher levels; it is an argument for making prudent choices about what merits such an effort.
Our friend Nurul was very proud of her students and I committed to looking for some Hotel and Restaurant books. The school has rooms where people can stay, and it has a practice bar and restaurant. People who have a particular view of Islam should take note that a frank (and detailed) debate on Sex Ed took place around the corner from a school with a practice mixed drink hotel bar.
Visited SMAN 1, a high school where our friend Haryati teaches. On the plane over I talked about how American schools should integrate local environmental knowledge, biology, and work by having students farm or garden at some level. (hardly, I admit, an original idea) In Indonesia many schools do this. SMAN 1 has an enormous number of plants, maintained by the students, with the plant qualities used to illustrate local conditions, biology, and botany. We visited a number of classrooms and talked about the differences between US and Indonesian approaches to religion and the schools. You can see them struggling (and the teachers, and us) with the “positive” approach Indonesia employs with the government insuring equal access to religion in schools. Access is provided by state law and funding through the ministry of religious education. Teacher boards sometimes list the religion of the teacher (Muslim, Muslim, Muslim, Christian (protestant) and so on – and also have white board counts of their student’s religious affiliations (658 Muslims; 23 Protestants; 13 Catholics; 0 Buddhists – I don’t know why they listed a “0” – maybe in case one comes along)
The principal was very happy that his teacher went to the US and is willing to support American students who might come on exchange; even for short cultural visits. He knows a number of potential home stay opportunities and is very excited that we brought email addresses of American students who subsidies with a religious ministry and school.
It always fascinates me how much people want to improve their English. One teacher pulled me aside and asked a number of cultural and “slang” questions including:
-Is it ok to ask a woman her age?
(answer: many don’t care but safer not to if you can avoid it)
-Is it ok to say “hanky panky”
(answer: not many people say it anymore and it has vague meanings hidden and orchestrated bad-doings with historically remote sexual overtones. So, if another word works, and it is hard to imagine one couldn’t be found, he should avoid it.)
-Is it ok to ask people how much money they make? (answer: less of a taboo than it used to be but still best to be avoided unless asked the same question first)
In between school visits we visited the Mayor of Balikpapan. While in the waiting room there was an emotionally arresting painting (I can’t judge the style) of a Dyak (native people to Borneo) on a hill looking at the city. His back is turned to the viewer and you can see he is at the place where the forest ends at the clear cut logging line. The city looks as if it is growing toward him and, if you look closely, you can see that the bottom part of his leg is beginning to mesh with the ground underneath, like they are growing into each other. All of the US visitors saw this as an analogy of encroaching civilization driving out people more closely connected to the earth – maybe because of our own current understanding of the America’s but the Indonesians had a variety of opinions and didn’t inevitably see the man as I did.
The mayor turned out to be a very practical, experience operative who spent almost a full hour with us. He is very interested in exchanges and pledged his full support at finding accommodations for students. He is keenly interested in technical teaching help – Balikpapan is an industrial place with oil rigs off the coast. You can see them from the hotel. I was very encouraged with the meeting – and it was very refreshing to talk specifics.
SMKN 4 Nurul’s school HRM vocational debate club on sex education
In addition to meeting with students and talking about the things they picked up from the Democracy and Tolerance discussions with the students we also watched a debate on Sex Education (in English). This is a vocational school which specializes in Hotel and Restaurant management. The kids (seniors I think) were in two teams of four and they debated the motion “should sex education be taught in the schools”. They did a very nice job. The arguments were exactly the same as they are in the US. The pro side argued it would prevent the spread of disease; reduce unwanted pregnancy; and help to prevent sexual harassment. This last argument seemed their weakest and, during the question period, one of the audience went right after it. It was a more aggressive debate than I have witnessed in Indonesia before.
The “no sex ed” side had about one argument “more sex ed would lead to more sex”. They cited some arguments. First, the referred to a study in Dallas that suggested sex ed leads to earlier and more frequent sex. They also used the somewhat off-topic example of a science book in one of the local school libraries that contained “inappropriate descriptions.” Finally, they argued that 75% of the teens in Balikpapan have had sex. Some said “7500” others “75%” so we weren’t able to get a handle on that one. In all, the pro side had the better argument.
The similarity of the arguments (you can almost hear a conservative school committee member lamenting a lascivious book or an earnest liberal describing the brave new world of disease free happiness that would accompany government efforts) obscures and important institutional difference. In Indonesia, these kind of decisions are made at fairly high levels (even federal) while at the US the debates are often local. The localness seems right to me on this one. One function of federalism is to fob off these hot topics and let local standards serve as a basis for argument. It seems silly to me to not teach sex education in some manner but it seems even worse for the federal government to send people into conniptions by demanding they teach something they don’t want to. I admit this pro federalism argument could be thrown back to me in the extreme “well what is someone didn’t want to teach evolution”. I suppose I would say they are choosing to make their kinds non-competitive in science and that is their choice. A more difficult issue might be “what if they want to teach racism?” That is a much harder question. It is hard, but not impossible, to imagine it now. But an argument for federalism is not an argument for no standard setting at higher levels; it is an argument for making prudent choices about what merits such an effort.
Our friend Nurul was very proud of her students and I committed to looking for some Hotel and Restaurant books. The school has rooms where people can stay, and it has a practice bar and restaurant. People who have a particular view of Islam should take note that a frank (and detailed) debate on Sex Ed took place around the corner from a school with a practice mixed drink hotel bar.
Flight and Arrival in Balikpapan
This flight seemed much easier than past flights. I wasn’t all that tired when I got to Singapore or Balikpapan. The jet lag is still brutal – and even as of this writing I am going to sleep at 9 and getting up at 4.
January 9th
Departed from Hartford on NW Flight 7249 at 8:00 am. After stops in Detroit and Tokyo we landed in Singapore at midnight on the 10th, stayed for a few hours in the Changi Crowne Plaze, and flew to Balikpapan on Monday, January 11th where we were greeted by our friend Syamsul (We call him “Sam” but in this blog, to make sure I don’t confuse him with Sam Camera I will call him “Som” which more closely matches the pronuciation. ) and our friends Haryati, Ashari, and Nurul. Sam, Haryati, and Nurul all came to the US. Ashari did not get his Visa in time and wasn’t able to join us.
We checked into the Grand Hotel (Le Grandeur Hotel) in Balikpapan and began planning for the week
January 9th
Departed from Hartford on NW Flight 7249 at 8:00 am. After stops in Detroit and Tokyo we landed in Singapore at midnight on the 10th, stayed for a few hours in the Changi Crowne Plaze, and flew to Balikpapan on Monday, January 11th where we were greeted by our friend Syamsul (We call him “Sam” but in this blog, to make sure I don’t confuse him with Sam Camera I will call him “Som” which more closely matches the pronuciation. ) and our friends Haryati, Ashari, and Nurul. Sam, Haryati, and Nurul all came to the US. Ashari did not get his Visa in time and wasn’t able to join us.
We checked into the Grand Hotel (Le Grandeur Hotel) in Balikpapan and began planning for the week
Indonesian Trip 2010
The new text here is being posted to a blog I did while speaking in 2008. This new data is actually not connected to that trip -- and to be more confusing -- it is related to a trip I took in 2009. The 2009 and 2010 (this trip) are both funded by a US State Department grant we call "Democracy and Tolerance: A Two Nation Exchange.
I did not keep a record of the 2009 trip on line.
The reason for attaching this to my 2008 trip is that many of my 2008 observations may be interesting in light of newer comments.
The following posts have the quality of a "We did this and then we did that" but I wanted to at least post events before I forgot them. Internet access is limited and it you can't ignore how tired you are after a day of meetings and talks in the midst of adjusting to jet lag -- your energy level does not always match the availability of technology.
The program “Democracy and Tolerance; A Two Nation Exchange” involves four separate trips.
The first was in February of 2009 and involved Newton teacher Michael Kozuch; Amherst teachers Samantha Camera, Tom Fricke and Kristen Iverson; and myself.
During that trip we traveled to Jakarta, Balikpapan, Makassar, and Jogyakarta. We learned as we went, made contacts in schools, and recruited teachers for the second trip when 15 Indonesian would come to the US for one month. Our fifteen friends arrived in June of 2010 and returned from Washington DC shortly after the Fourth of July.
Our 2010 trip, for which this blog is a record, is designed as a follow up to deepen partnerships and examine the use of curricula developed earlier, I am accompanied by Samantha Camera (again) and newcomer Julienne Webster. Both Sam and Julienne have lived in Indonesia and speak some Indonesian; both come from schools that are interested in building long term relationships with Indonesian schools; and both are committed to making western Massachusetts a center for the study of Indonesia.
For more information on our grant and past exchanges go to our Indonesian program website
My colleague Samantha Camera (Sam) is also keeping a blog for her students – she both is and has a camera – so for visuals both still and moving go see her site.
I did not keep a record of the 2009 trip on line.
The reason for attaching this to my 2008 trip is that many of my 2008 observations may be interesting in light of newer comments.
The following posts have the quality of a "We did this and then we did that" but I wanted to at least post events before I forgot them. Internet access is limited and it you can't ignore how tired you are after a day of meetings and talks in the midst of adjusting to jet lag -- your energy level does not always match the availability of technology.
The program “Democracy and Tolerance; A Two Nation Exchange” involves four separate trips.
The first was in February of 2009 and involved Newton teacher Michael Kozuch; Amherst teachers Samantha Camera, Tom Fricke and Kristen Iverson; and myself.
During that trip we traveled to Jakarta, Balikpapan, Makassar, and Jogyakarta. We learned as we went, made contacts in schools, and recruited teachers for the second trip when 15 Indonesian would come to the US for one month. Our fifteen friends arrived in June of 2010 and returned from Washington DC shortly after the Fourth of July.
Our 2010 trip, for which this blog is a record, is designed as a follow up to deepen partnerships and examine the use of curricula developed earlier, I am accompanied by Samantha Camera (again) and newcomer Julienne Webster. Both Sam and Julienne have lived in Indonesia and speak some Indonesian; both come from schools that are interested in building long term relationships with Indonesian schools; and both are committed to making western Massachusetts a center for the study of Indonesia.
For more information on our grant and past exchanges go to our Indonesian program website
My colleague Samantha Camera (Sam) is also keeping a blog for her students – she both is and has a camera – so for visuals both still and moving go see her site.
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