Pasar Seni ITB

I'm not too sure why I haven't done a blog post on this yet, because it happened a few weeks ago. But here we go: Pasar seni--the Art Market is an event at a local college that happens one every 4 or 5 years (I heard people say both 4 years and 5 years so I'm not sure which one it is. Unfortunately, I don't have a ton to say about it. First, even though I called ahead very early, I came late because of traffic jams that not even a motorcycle could weave through. When I got there, I realized it was nearly impossible to get to the other end of campus where I was supposed to meet my friend. I ended up squeezing through parades, winding through a maze of tents, running up off-limits areas and hoping the security guards didn't notice. Finally, I met up with a friend, Agung and I got to see the fair. Hhhmm I saw a giant tower of bikes, many parades and everything from traditional art to modern day photography. Then came the heat and the crowds. That day I downed about 3 bottles of liquids and When I sat down, I noticed the soles of my shoes had melted through! Then came the search for new shoes. Agung and I had to squeeze through thick crowds to get to shoe stalls and we had no luck for about an hour or so. The one thing I can say PCEP (my American High School) taught me was how to move through crowds. I was able to fall through to the other side a lot faster than others in the mob. The great thing was that Indonesians actually move a little to let you through. It wasn't like at PCEP where to get through, you had to suffer hundreds of shoulders bumping against yours as you got to the other side. There isn't much else to say other than I finally found my shoes and the heat made me so tired I had to go home early. It was a pretty fun day, but made for a pretty boring blog entry haha.

Eliza Miller's Week Off

This week has been so fun haha. I didn't go to school because SMAN 3 had exams, so I've been hanging out instead. Tuesday, I went to a traditional mask painting workshop at ITB (Bandung Institute of Technology) as part of a big Art Festival hosted there on 10, 10, 10. Each of us used traditional colors to paint a plain, fiber glass, dancing mask (the real ones are made out of wood) complete with a flap to bite down on in the back (that is how these masks are held on your face). Unfortunately, there was a mix-up with sand paper so we had difficulty smoothing the mask before painting and there also seemed to be a shortage of white paint. Oh well, I think my mask still turned out nice :).I can't remember which character I got, but once I find out, I will post it in a comment. After that, I met up with AFS volunteers who showed Ricarda and me around the art campus. It made me really wish I was in college haha. Such a stimulating atmosphere, I think I will take some classes there when my Bahasa Indonesia gets better. Dina, one of the volunteers showed me to a place where I could buy yarn and I've been crocheting ever since! Last, I went to Bosccha Observatory, which isn't usually open to public, but that day it was. We went up a hill on an old Vespa that kept stalling, but I was able to see Bandung at night from above, something I wish everyone could see: Bandung lights up, and its like looks at stars from above.
On Wednesday, I decided to join Ricarda and Dina because I had nothing better to do. My host Brother, Dhimas, dropped me off at McDonald's to meet them. McDonald's here is a bit different than the ones in the US: in the us the food is greasy and tasteless and you're likely to get hard or soggy fries with a meal, but in Indonesia, the food is much crispier and comes with a side of rice rolled into a patty, and covered in paper like a burger. Why? McDonald's retains their American prices in Indonesia, which buys only low-quality meat in the US, but in the land of the $.50 USD lunches, means they can afford the best. Overall, I think a Mcdonald's meal is a perfect example of cultural diffusion: Indonesians get American culture through food and American culture changes (adds rice and Teh Botol) for Asia.

And now what you've all been waiting for: Eliza Gets Lost on Angkot!!!!

Anyway, Dina ended up having to cancel, so she suggested I meet another AFS volunteer at the place I bought yarn the day before, gave me directions by Angkot. Unfortunately the place was a little hidden and I missed my stop!! I ended up on the train tracks crossing busy street near a University I'd never heard of. I'd gone so far out, The Angkot I needed didn't go the other way! So I waited at the University until a Taxi came. I finally got to the shop 45 minutes late! Not much else happened that day except that I ended up really late to my Bahasa Indonesia lesson.
Yesterday, I met Ricarda and our Indonesian teacher for lunch at a steak shop. Remember that thick, juicy steak you got for your birthday? Not in Indonesia! The steaks here are cheap, but only a few milimeters thick. I was still hungry after that, so I ordered a burger. Also not like the US haha. It wasn't a sandwich, it was a patty fried in oil with some veggies on the side. After that strange and piggish meal Ricarda and I watched Public Enemies at my house....I have to admit, it was a little disappointing, not to mention all the non-American actors with accent-problems, but no one cares what I think about American movies haha. The thing you should know about movies here is that they are all pirated. Recently, I bought 5 movies for $3, all of which came in a nice cellophane wrapper and needed to be scanned at the video store first to see if there were any problems haha.
Today, I met exchange-student-hopefuls at Telkomsel (an Indonesian phone service that sponsors a two week trip to Australia). Ricarda and I gave our advice on being an exchange student as well as Interviewed a student and helped a little in the selection process. I hope to hear how it goes, although I wish it were me that I could go to Australia! Haha.

Sorry I think my blog posts are starting to get boring...I will have some more interesting ones up soon, just let me know what you want to hear about :)

Once, I went to school very tired and I didn't want to do work, then I remembered that was everyday of my 5 years of high school

Well I think now that I have been to school for 7 days I should talk about my school in Indonesia. I go to SMAN 3 Bandung (Public Senior High School 3 in Bandung. pronounced es-em-ah TEE-guh). Its located in Old Bandung in a building built by the Dutch, which it shares with a different high school, SMAN 5 Bandung. Everyday, Students put on (in my oppinion) ugly and uncomfortable uniforms consisting on a white collared shirt embroidered with your name and school, and an ankle length bluish skirt (bluish pants for boys). Recently, I got my skirt caught in the door of the Ankot on the way home from school. By the time I got off, it was wet from puddles the ankot had driven through. On fridays, you where a shirt patterned with your schools batik. Hopefully, I will be able to post some photos of this. I've been told this is the best high school in Bandung and that if you want to study, you go to SMAN 3 and if you want to have fun, you go to SMAN 5. Getting into high school in Indonesia is more like getting into college in the US: you get into high school based on the grades you had in middle school, not based on where you live. This means I have a long way to drive to school everyday haha. As classes start, the school plays a little western folk tune. I kind of wonder if the school realizes what they are playing since fiercely anti-alcohol SMAN 3 plays “Little Brown jug” on a daily basis. Also, instead of going from one teachers class to another, you stay put on wildly uncomfortable wooden chairs (I've been taking a cushion to school to sit on) and the teachers come to you! Sounds nice since there is less walking, but it means you can't really choose your classes beyond picking a major in science or social studies. I'm majoring in Social studies at our schools only tiny 11th grade social studies class.
Now I'd like to introduce you to the controversy; the reason why my class is so much smaller than all the others: If you major in Science in high school, you can major in whatever you want in college, but if you major in Social Studies, you can only major in a field of Social Studies in college. As a result, students have to take tests to get into a pure science class, and if they fail, they are placed in social science. Also, students are encouraged by parents and teachers to take science even if their interest is in social studies, and those who taking social science anyway are labeled as slackers. This was strange to me coming from PCEP, where most of our best teachers are in social studies, and it seems a lot of kids are pushed the other direction. This school system was set up by the Dutch and my schoolmates postulate that it was to keep Indonesians from fully understanding government, making them less politically powerful and easy to govern. If you haven't already figured this out, the reason my class is so small and that it is the only social studies class in the 11th grade is because SMAN 3 has a reputation to uphold. Not only are the parents of students at SMAN 3 more likely to push their kids into Science, but the school does as well, because the more engineers from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB for short. Its the Indonesian equivalent of MIT), the better the reputation of the school. At this point, I drew a parallel: I remembered how Mrs. Caldwell, my 10th grade bio teacher, used to tell us she was preparing us to get into the University of Michigan and our school counselors telling us the school requirements were based on those to get into the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. It seems Indonesia is in a frustrating educational position that many students want to change. Good luck to them!
I'll end on a good note telling you about some of features of my school. Our school has really good, cheap, food which you seem to be allowed to eat in class. SMAN 3 has a very nice cafeteria, and (to the annoyance of 3's students) students from SMAN 5 will come to each there causing it to get a little crowded (but not PCEP crowded haha). My school also has two fountains, a garden, and wifi so I find it very pretty to go there. I'm liking my teachers, although I have no idea what most of them are saying, except my German teacher who teaches part of her lesson in English (I think because English is closer to German) and my civics teacher who I think made her lesson partly in English for me.hmm...if theres anything else you'd like to know about my school, shoot me a comment.