A New Country

I deliberated for a while about what exactly to write for this first post since I have technically been at site for three months now, but am just starting a blog. I think it is appropriate for the first entry to be about orientation in Bandung and then explain my new nickname.

I left Denver on August 10^th for Indonesia, feeling pretty good. Compared to how I felt before leaving for the Peace Corps, I was in great shape! I was ready for the nine-month grant to teach English in Indonesia. The break between my Peace Corps COS and the start of my Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship was far too short though. (A realization I thought about many times since arrival). Peace Corps certainly changes your perspective on traveling and living abroad… and approaching or doing things in large groups of Americans. I could spot nearly the entire group of ETAs in the Chicago airport from what seemed like a mile away, a “mini America” if you will. My initial reaction was to run, or better yet, observe. A part of me already knew what to expect so I didn’t feel the excitement that others felt. I felt exhausted. Long-distance traveling tires me out after hours spent on many marshrutkas flying down the Georgian highways. But these people were stoked! By the time we landed in Bandung we travelled on three planes more than two days with virtually zero sleep. The dinner and performance the hotel planned was a nice gesture of hospitality, but of no interest to me. I wanted a bed!

Over the next three weeks, I met some very cool people in the ETA group, made some friends, and had way too much fun in my Bahasa Indonesia class with guru Yosef! The language training lasted four hours a day, like in Peace Corps, and used the same language instructors Peace Corps Indonesia uses as well. The technical teaching training was not as fun, or practical, and I found myself wondering more about Dave Matthews than about lesson planning. You’d have to be there…

Bandung was a cool city. It’s known as the “Paris of Indonesia,” though I’m not exactly sure why. I’m sure I could look that up online easy enough, but it is a large city with lots of malls and things like designer stores all over the place. A nice place to spend three weeks in.

Bandung and orientation is also where I got my newest nickname: “Honey Badger.” Those who know me well, and know of the Honey Badger, may find this a very suitable new nickname to have. I have often been told that I tell it like it is, am realistic, and maybe sometimes too honest. Straightforward like the Honey Badger! After learning more about the Honey Badger, I have grown fond of this nickname and embrace it with open arms.