Bike Java Day 4: Applying Our Fulbright Teaching Skillz.

May 26th, 2011

We began our volunteering at 9:30am. All the children assembled on the basketball court with a book for shade. The 9th grade were already gone having finished the national exam. We, as in Heather and me, were introduced and we introduced ourselves then had the students think of 5 questions per class. We tried to get Mas Wang to come out; every time we asked him to come out he insisted he’d be out in a minute. He never came out except to take some pictures of us, not with us. As for the question section, of the 8 classes only 1 boy representative was brave enough to come out. It’s always interesting to see that generally girls are more brave when it comes to English.

SMPN3 - Batujajar Students.

SMPN3 - Batujajar Teachers.

We sang our BikeJava song on a whim – I wasn’t sure when to end the song and Heather wasn’t exactly sure what to sing. Then our Sunda song, the hokey pokey with the whole school, and the student’s song (“Over the Rainbow”). This was followed by a smaller class of students interested in English playing “Fruitbowl” (Brett, whatever you're doing in Chicago thank you for this amazing icebreaker), Simon Says (turned into Pak Aji Says), then commands from the students. We were asked to dance twice, I was asked to open the door, and Heather was asked to do a few pushups. The school emptied out pretty quickly soon after, the students excitedly scurried home and the teachers left quietly around 1pm. The BikeJava team gave our donated supplies to the school principal in a symbolic gesture. Those supplies were not air dropped, or delivered by the post office, rather Heather’s very good friend Bu Cuncun (Pronounced like Choon-choon) took time over 2 days to both buy, deliver those supplies, AND stayed well under the budget. Ms. Cuncun, you are a superhero to BikeJava. Since we managed to purchase everything on the list for under the estimated amount, our donation goal has dropped. We purchased a 12 packs of pens, 12 marker sets, 36 pads of paper, 2 futsal balls, a set of spool for their sewing class, 12 packs of pencils, a box of white more markers, 12 white board erasers, and 12 boxes of chalk. In addition, Gramedia will send them 70 books to fill their library - They haven't arrived quite yet.

Students Performing "Over the Rainbow".

50 Students of Fun!

Student Handicraft Sandals as Gifts.

Here are some photos from our boat ride back during the day.

Let's Roll! Wait.. I Need My Helmet.

With the SMPN3 - Batujajar Teachers Who Helped A Lot.

Loading the Boat.

Future Bike-Boat Models.

...It Doesn't Look Like I'm Lifting With My Legs.

"We're Not Going to Sink, Right?"

Then we visited a really cool park under Jl. Taman Sari Bridge with murals.

Flyover (Overpass) in Bandung.

Reminds Me of California.

Giant Bike Mural.

Eiger and Polygon, Thanks!

Senior Photo... at a Bike School.

 

Haha, So Over-the-Top Yet, I Kind of Like It.

The Taman Sari Park Below the Bridge.

We arrived at Mas Wang’s place at around 7pm after some delicious iced durien and some Sundanese food. The house we stayed in reminded me so much of Northern California and my great aunt’s home. I miss her and everyone at home. I’ll let Heather explain in detail what it was like here. All right, gotta pack up and get ready for Garut.

Cycling Python; Check!

BikeJava, Go!