Details
OK. We're on to our second week of teaching. This is officially our first full week of teaching classes solo. At EF we teach people of all ages. Typically from children aged three up to adults aged 40 and potentially beyond. Anyone under sixteen is usually in one series of courses, while adults are generally in a seperate series of courses. The first series (for younger folks) start with Early Learners, which is effectively just an English play-group. Then comes high flyers, for those children who are a little older. The final stage is Trtailblazers. For adults, we start with Beginner one and two, then Waystage, then Keystage, then finally Threshold.
On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I am currently teaching a Trailblazer class at 4:30, and then a Threshold 2 class at 6:10. The traiblazers are fun, though sometimes hard to control (puberty). And YES, the DO have teenagers here! I think it was Hannah's uncle Marty who was doubtful, either that or he was being sarcastic, I couldn't tell. The Threshold class tends to be easier to teach, mainly because by that time the can speak a lot of English, and I can generally explain new concepts USING English. Also I get to have genral converations with them, which is really nice! I sometimes find it odd to be put in a position of such responsibility, teaching people who are older (sometimes quite a bit older) than myself, some of whom have taugh at a University!
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have another Traiblazer class at 3:00, and a second one at 4:30. They are both fun, and the first is extremely energetic. Sometimes during an activity I find them SCREAMING English at me! Which I suppose is very good! (maybe not in primary or secondary school in the states though).
Now, get ready for some a the details of cultural differences here in Jayapura. First off, it IS a third world country. Essentially this means that there is a lot of disorganized imported technology. Incidentally, technology does a fair bit of harm before its really start to make drastic improvements in standard of living and quality of life. For example, one of the first things I noticed when Hannah and I began to approach Jayapura in the car from the airport is that there is trash pretty much everywhere. Since Jayapura is so remote (it is the only area of all Papua, the largest island in the world, that is occupied predominantly by Indonesians. There are many who feel the Indonesians shouldn't be here at all, or at least that half of Papua shouldn't belong politically to Indonesia, but that will come up later.), everything that doesn't already grow here, mainly everything but pigs, chickens, a selection of native fruits and vegetables, is imported. Besides this making Jayapura the single most expensive place in Indonesia, it also imports a lot of trash material! All of these heavily packaged, Western type food items have been introduced to this area without simultaneously establishing any sort of trash service. So practically, this means that all the rivers and streams and aquaducts and sewers, and many of the beaches in the main bay, are filled with trash. Also, whatever isn't littered is thrown into a pile in the street outside your house, and torched until it burns to ash. (This is very smelly).
There is a very primitive form of waste management, although not a very conscientious one, that involves men in a truck picking up trash from your house. But, they have no schedule, and seem to show up whever they feel like it, which tends to be less than once a week. Instead of being buried in a landfill though, collected garbage is uaually loaded into a ship, taken off shore, and dumped into the ocean, leaving a nice trail of garbage behind!
In short, as a result of technological imperialism from the west, technology has been introduced to quickly here, and it may be a long time before it matures.
I'm running out of time, but next time I write, hopefully I will remember to tell you about Timika and its mountian, now the only place in all the tropics, with a glacier.
Adios!
-Nick
On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I am currently teaching a Trailblazer class at 4:30, and then a Threshold 2 class at 6:10. The traiblazers are fun, though sometimes hard to control (puberty). And YES, the DO have teenagers here! I think it was Hannah's uncle Marty who was doubtful, either that or he was being sarcastic, I couldn't tell. The Threshold class tends to be easier to teach, mainly because by that time the can speak a lot of English, and I can generally explain new concepts USING English. Also I get to have genral converations with them, which is really nice! I sometimes find it odd to be put in a position of such responsibility, teaching people who are older (sometimes quite a bit older) than myself, some of whom have taugh at a University!
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have another Traiblazer class at 3:00, and a second one at 4:30. They are both fun, and the first is extremely energetic. Sometimes during an activity I find them SCREAMING English at me! Which I suppose is very good! (maybe not in primary or secondary school in the states though).
Now, get ready for some a the details of cultural differences here in Jayapura. First off, it IS a third world country. Essentially this means that there is a lot of disorganized imported technology. Incidentally, technology does a fair bit of harm before its really start to make drastic improvements in standard of living and quality of life. For example, one of the first things I noticed when Hannah and I began to approach Jayapura in the car from the airport is that there is trash pretty much everywhere. Since Jayapura is so remote (it is the only area of all Papua, the largest island in the world, that is occupied predominantly by Indonesians. There are many who feel the Indonesians shouldn't be here at all, or at least that half of Papua shouldn't belong politically to Indonesia, but that will come up later.), everything that doesn't already grow here, mainly everything but pigs, chickens, a selection of native fruits and vegetables, is imported. Besides this making Jayapura the single most expensive place in Indonesia, it also imports a lot of trash material! All of these heavily packaged, Western type food items have been introduced to this area without simultaneously establishing any sort of trash service. So practically, this means that all the rivers and streams and aquaducts and sewers, and many of the beaches in the main bay, are filled with trash. Also, whatever isn't littered is thrown into a pile in the street outside your house, and torched until it burns to ash. (This is very smelly).
There is a very primitive form of waste management, although not a very conscientious one, that involves men in a truck picking up trash from your house. But, they have no schedule, and seem to show up whever they feel like it, which tends to be less than once a week. Instead of being buried in a landfill though, collected garbage is uaually loaded into a ship, taken off shore, and dumped into the ocean, leaving a nice trail of garbage behind!
In short, as a result of technological imperialism from the west, technology has been introduced to quickly here, and it may be a long time before it matures.
I'm running out of time, but next time I write, hopefully I will remember to tell you about Timika and its mountian, now the only place in all the tropics, with a glacier.
Adios!
-Nick
posted by Nick at 6:35 PM
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