Getting Here

Hi Friends!!!

As I hope by now everyone knows/realizes I have left for Peace Corps service in Indonesia. The journey first started with a trip to San Fransisco on April 3 for staging which was on April 4th. Staging wasn't anything intense, it really just gave a general overview of aligning our expectations with PC's expectations with us. The journey then continued the 5th when we got on our 14hr flight to Hong Kong. The flight actually wasn't that bad because one of my fellow trainees and lucked out and we had an empty seat between us. Once we got to Hong Kong we stayed overnight and from there left for Indonesia the next day. The who journey was tiring, but it really wasn't bad. I enjoyed each point of it and took every step as it came.

Yesterday and today were our first two days in Indonesia. We stayed in a hotel and had a basic orientation that covered each of the main points. In general the orientation was good, but overwhelming simply because we were getting a lot of information. Mostly the sessions consisted of a overview of what our training will look like in each aspect; language training, TEFL, and cultural.

I know that none of this describes Indonesia very much. In actuality I can't say that I have really experienced very much of this country yet. We have pretty much been held up in the hotel and therefore I haven't yet walked around or had a home cooked meal, so I don't exactly know what food is traditional Indonesian food and what is "other" food or just had other general cultural exchanges. One meal one of the cultural facilitators came up to our table and asked "How do you like the food?" We all responded that it was very good and we liked it a lot. He then said "Well that's good, but that's not Indonesian food its Chinese!" What I can tell you is that our staff is great. They are incredibly friendly and very good teachers. So far I we have all been very comfortable and because of how prepared they were for our arrival, our minds were put much more at ease.

Tomorrow is the big day during PST (Pre-service training): We move into our PST homestay's. I would say that it is a bit scary knowing that I will not be able to communicate well. I am sure that my family will be very nice and welcoming, but it is still daunting. I think I will feel much better after just a few days with them. Once I get there I am sure my experiences will be more "blog worthy" but until then TTYL!