Saturday, August 28, 2010

Arrival

We spend the night in a tiny room in a noisy hotel in Singapore as the last ferry for Batam left an hour before my plane landed. I take an instant liking to Ms. Heni, who reminds me Miranda Bailey on my guilty TV pleasure "Grey's Anatomy." (Wow, I can't believe I just casually outed myself like that.) I keep her talking all morning about her hometown but the minute we find seats on the ferry she falls fast asleep.

The ferry is circa 1965 but there are two brand new flat screen TV's on the wall. I become completely engrossed in the featured Kung-Fu movie in the way only the fantastically jet lagged can. The Principal is waiting at the ferry terminal when we land. He buys me an iced tea but I have to stand behind a screen to drink it because it's Ramadan and almost everyone is fasting.

When I finish my luggage and I are whisked away in the school bus. "You are basically here to increase enrollment," Mr. Principal tells me. Gee, no pressure.

Straight to school, where I am paraded through the classrooms like a prized Christmas present. in every room I am greeted with cheering children and applause. I feel like a rock star. Mr. Principal buys me lunch - chicken and rice and a spinach like vegetable - then we hide out in his office until it's time for the fire demonstration.

The school's fire extinguishers have expired and need to be replaced so it's been decided the old one's should be used to demonstrate how to use them. outside there an oil drum has been cut in half like a trough and filled with gas. The kids are gathered round in a circle while the maintenance men light the gas on fire. The kids push back from the punishing heat which is not actually that much hotter than the air, while I stand with Mr. J -the only other bule* in the school aside from Mr. Principal, and crack jokes about insurance and law suits. When the pin is pulled on the first extinguisher and the foam is released the wind blows it straight towards us and we all begin to choke.

This is my new workplace, my new school, my career. I am eventually driven to my new home, across the street from the campus and my new life begins.

*bule = white foreigner

Bahasa Indonesia Word of the Day: buku = book

1 comment:

lwoodmass said...

Darling....your presence is always a gift....but....honestly!!! I LOVED that you made that connection between the temp and the fire! Anyway, they will love you!!! Hopefully, you will learn to love their culture.