Well, as you may have heard in my podcast, I should've started class yesterday (Monday), but we started properly today. Hmm.... what to say?
well firstly, as I expected, I have been put into the intermediate class. This is because I was friendly and chatty with staff on Saturday and Monday, and now they all think I can do/say/understand more than the usual tourist/intro stuff.
Today all the Darmasiswa students were there, bar 2. I chatted to a lovely guy from Thailand, whose bahasa Indonesia was probably better than mine. However, he was sent to the beginners class! :-(
There are 4 in the intermediate class: me, 2 French girls, & 1 Russian boy. Thus there'll be about 6 in the beginners class.
The real bad news however, is that we also learnt our class schedule...
We have just 3 lessons per week, for 2 hours each time!!! Yes, just 6 hours in an entire week :-( I think that is really crap. Will has 4-6 hours/day, every day at his Uni in Semarang.
So, for 4 days/week, I have quite literally NOTHING TO DO. And on the other 3 days, I have nothing to do after 11am.
oh, cancel that... I DO have something to do. As the only person from an English speaking country, I am thus the sole Darmasiswa student who must 'volunteer' to teach English at the Uni.
- I will get some 'pocket money' for this apparently. I don't have any info yet on just how much I will be doing, or when etc. However; I really don't mind. Anything to meet students and make connections. ~ my tiny sweat box room, is not conjusive to just 'hanging out' in!
ps- please leave feedback on the video/podcasts.
Video podcast from my travels in Java, Indonesia, as I set out on a year of language study at UMM (Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang) - courtesy of Darmasiswa scholarship program 2010-11. Join me as I bring both the hum-drum of my daily life in Jawa Timur (east Java), as well as my cultural observations and experiences, to your iTunes/iPod/iPhone screen!
Not sure whether this is really feedback, mostly just saying hello.
ReplyDeleteSounds like your first week or so has been more an adventure than hugely enjoyable, it must be so different from going to uni in Aus. We just wanted you to know we are praying for you, and hope you learn lots from your time in Indo.