It’s Always Hottest Before the Rain

I know that title sounds a little like a proverb but it's the truth in Borneo. I can tell when it will rain based on how hot it gets just before the clouds gather and let loose. I think this is one of those laws of thermodynamics, Cat, you're teaching Chem this semester maybe you can tell me which one. Puji and I were standing in line at the big Macro store, looks and feels like an Indonesian Costco, but you don't necessarily have to buy in bulk. We complained about how hot it was… I said global warming but I realized with her response that they don't have global warming. She smiled and said "global hotting." Yes global hotting here. I asked people and they say yes, they've noticed a climate change over the years. What do they say… "admitting the problem is the first step?" I hope the gulf coast is weathering Ike okay. Alright, enough of the weather, by the end of this month I won't notice how much I need to rehydrate anymore. It's becoming a way of life.

And week one of teaching has come to a close. My schedule isn't half bad. I teach 12 units (about 12 hours) and that's comprised of 2 sections each of 6 courses. All my regular classes meet on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. These students are in the English department at IAIN and aspiring to be English teachers. This semester I'm only teaching skills courses: Speaking and Writing A as well as Speaking C. Each class only meets once a week so coming from the intensive English program at SFSU's ALI where students met 4 days a week I wonder "how will they learn this stuff?" My curriculum plan merely gives a suggested topic which I'm free to expand on or change. For example next week's writing A class will do "basic sentences and compound sentences" and that's all that is in the curriculum for this 2 hour class meeting. They have some books I can use to pull activities from and I brought my own so I'll be supplementing and if time permits, making handouts. Since copyright laws aren't even considered here, it's common to tell students what books/pages you will cover and they go and copy it themselves. I've been lazy, though, and need to buckle down. The plan is to get the core materials up through week 6 settled and then get the latter half of the semester settled once I really see what these guys can do.

They are not half bad with their English and comprehension skills except in the afternoon during Ramadan when they all have that glazed over look like they are ready to go take a long nap and any attempt comprehend English is just way more energy than they can possibly spare. I have a multilevel class and had to explain (more to the higher students so that they don't try to answer everything I ask) that I want to make sure everyone is following. I speak slow, long pauses with simple language, comp check… all the usual tricks. Level A is probably just below ALI's level 42 (which doesn't mean anything unless you're one of my colleagues at home). They are always smiling and look at my height with amazement. And of course attempting to pronounce their names will be my comedy act every week.

On Wednesdays I will run a discussion group with the rector and vice rectors and other administrative staff, at some point, maybe this will start next week. A big word I hear around here a lot is "maybe." Side tracking for a moment, in DC during our Pre-Departure Orientation it was suggested to really look at body language and intonation with this word "maybe." Yes, good advice, but I also realized that most of the time "maybe" really means "maybe" and it is part of the cultural consciousness here. In some ways it's comforting and in some ways very Buddhist (even thought they are Islamic). I'm finding it hard to explain what I mean so I will just continue with listing my schedule…

And on Fridays I have the discussion group with the faculty from all departments. Last week 10 came, this week about 10 but some not all the same people. These meetings are by invitation and optional so it's up to them to come. Yesterday I addressed opinion language and began discussing the answers to their questions from last week, especially the one about families and the idea of "independence" since that seemed to be a hot topic. One teacher asked me about the idea that 18 year olds leave home and parents don't take responsibility of them after that. I said yes, generally/somewhat true, I gave them a general sense of what that means for many, not all Americans and then gave my own story of my dad saying "You can stay here as long as you are in school (college) but if you drop out of college then you will need to move out and you are 'on your own.' Then they got into groups and expressed opinions as to what is positive or negative about the way children become independent in the U.S. They are a very thoughtful group. To briefly boil down the results, they came up with the idea that kids can learn self sufficiency, responsibility, and succeed in life easier and faster, but the down side is disrespect for others and selfishness… the notion of 'too much independence and self sufficiency'. This was a very cool discussion.