English Debate Fiesta in Malang

A couple weeks ago, I joined some students and my lecturer friend Susi on their trip to an English debate competition in Malang, East Java. Fortunately, I had a great time there. Unfortunately, I got sick and I have pretty much spent the last two weeks in bed. And it wasn't even an exotic tropical sickness that I can brag about later (ok, I actually do realize I'm lucky for that). It was just a good 'ol sinus infection-- but it really took me out (the kind where you need about a box of kleenex per day--hope that's not too much information). And as everyone knows, being sick is worst when you're far away from home. I'm glad to say that now I have fully recovered and I finally feel like myself again.

On Friday night, Susi and I took the overnight bus to Malang, leaving Solo at 10 PM and arriving in Malang at around 4:30 AM. We met up with our students, who were staying at a friend's boarding house near UMM's campus (Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang). Malang is cooler than Solo because it's in a mountainous area. This also means that the water there is shockingly cold, which made me revert back to my American ways of bathing once a day. Susi and I also stayed in the boarding house because the location was so convenient, though I wasn't really expecting to share a room with 3 other people and sleep on the floor. But I decided to be a trooper-- I'm not used to being the high maintenance one, and I don't really want to get that reputation. So I sucked it up and spent 3 nights sleeping on the floor, and the nights before and after that on a bus. I'm starting to think that this sleep deprivation might have had something to do with the "lovely" condition I was in after the trip. But I can't say I regret going. It was a fun experience.

UMM's campus, with mountains in the background (it's still not cold there, of course):

Susi and I at UMM's campus
The 3-day competition started that morning, and the students had to complete 3 rounds of debating that day in the style of the Asian Parliamentary System. All the topics were impromptu, so the students weren't able to do any research on the topics and had little time to prepare. I thought some of the motions were really important and significant, such as:

This house rejects restriction on foreign ownership of Indonesian companies.

Others, I felt were not quite as worthwhile, like:

This house believes that Mark Zuckerburg deserves the Nobel Prize.

For me, it was a lot of fun to watch these students debate. It takes a lot of skill to debate in your own language, let alone a foreign one. It's also fascinating to hear the students' arguments about the topic, because they're often moving in a different direction that I would have predicted. When I first started teaching my speaking course, I thought that having some debates/discussions would be the main bulk of my material. But I quickly realized that most of my students absolutely hate giving their opinion about something, and actually won't do it unless I force them to and tell them I'm grading them. This method really doesn't make the debate meaningful or productive, it just makes my students more nervous. So, it's really impressive to see these students who have worked really hard to become good debaters, and can come up with effective arguments in English. The students were in the novice category, because it was the first group from UMS to join the competition, and they ended up getting 3rd place in that category. I was really proud of them, because they worked so hard for it.

Two different debate rounds:

We didn't have much time to see Malang, but one night we went to "Batu Night Spectacular," which is a sort of small theme park with a few rides, a "4D cinema," a haunted house, a food court, and a night market. Here's a couple pictures of us and BNS: Susi and I with our students:

After I returning to Solo, I spent many days in bed because I was sick and had absolutely no energy. I canceled my classes for one week, and pretty much went through the next week like a zombie, emerging from my room only to teach my classes and spending the rest of the time asleep or in a daze. It's amazing how much it brought down my overall outlook and pretty much left me feeling lonely and down in the dumps. Thankfully I've come to my senses, and I have a renewed outlook. I have less than 2 months left here in Indonesia, and I want to make the most of it. So that means definitely keeping myself busy going places, finding friends, learning more about Javanese culture and Islam, and continuing to work on my Indonesian language skills. So now I'm just excited to have an adventure-filled life in my remaining time in Indonesia. I have already succeeded in the past few days, making new friends, going to a gamelan concert, doing yoga, seeing a movie and having dinner with Susi, and making plans for Indonesian lessons, and also to be a judge in a speech competition this weekend. Now I remember why I came to Indonesia in the first place, and I know how much I can really enjoy living here if I just give a little effort towards making things happen.

Last, I'll give a quick update on my classes. I have been making my students do a lot of role play/acting activities lately. When I announce them in class, they seem to dread it, but when they all perform I can tell that everyone is really enjoying themselves. Last week, I made them do an activity called "Channel Surfing" that I found on the internet. I put my students into groups, and told them that each group represents a channel on TV and let them choose the type of show on that channel (soap opera, talk show, cartoons, etc.). I gave them some time to plan their TV program, and then I became the channel surfer, telling my students which channel I wanted to watch, changing the channel after a few minutes to give another group the chance to perform. My absolute favorite was the group of students who chose to act out Spongebob Squarepants-- the entire class was laughing so much because the performance was undeniably entertaining. The other new thing in my teaching is that I've started giving a TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) prep class for 5 students that want to apply to universities abroad for master's programs. I don't think I am the best person for this job, because I don't really know much about the test, and it's hard for me to teach the strategies needed to succeed on a kind of test like that, because I cannot see or experience the test questions like they do. But I'm trying my best to do everything I can to prepare them for the test, and hopefully it will be worthwhile for them.

I almost forgot to tell you the good news: The air conditioner in my classroom is now working!!

As I said, I have a renewed positive outlook and I'm just happy to enjoy the rest of my time here in Indonesia. I'm also really looking forward to seeing all of your faces and giving you big hugs when I return--so be prepared!

Now I'm reading: This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald