03/26/2008
I have been at EF Central Jakarta for over seven years now. Yes, indeed that is a long time.
When I got here on a rainy day in November 2000 I have to admit that Jakarta scared the cotton socks right off me. Then after the first time I got lost and nearly fell down a big hole into an open sewer I realized I loved it here. I threw away my preconceptions and the arrogant ‘we do it better back home’ mentality and I found that the people here are fantastic.
Indonesians look at the world with a spontaneous state of mind which is not a bad thing at all. If anything, it is liberating. Kids don’t complain and stress about being late for things, they don’t worry about being open to people and asking the stupidest of questions simply because they want to know. Indonesians stare at things and people waiting to see if it is friend or foe. So, with that knowledge smile and become an automatic friend.
Jakarta has gone from a city of about 500,000 people in the 60’s to a city of well over 10,000,000 with little or no planning. So, guess what the city looks like? As my Indonesian friends say ‘Chaotic Harmony’. The city is great fun to explore. Indonesia is breathtaking, you have to see it! As for me, I have still only seen a fraction of its beauty.
The schools are filled with personalities from the parking guys outside to students to teachers to staff to the owner herself. Take the time to get to know all of them, you will have great conversations and learn a lot about yourself in the process.
Teaching experiences…. Let me think… I have thought the Supreme Court Judges of Indonesia in their court rooms. I have sat and had morning coffee with the Speaker of the House Representatives and put my 2 cents worth into his speech which was presented to the UN in New York. I taught the Physics Young Nobel Prize winner, while he taught me about quarks. I sat drinking tea with a confessed spy who was imprisoned and tortured by an unnamed Government. I have sat with students as they poured out their emotions in tear sobbed English about family problems and matters of the heart. I hope that I have helped a lot of people to get their thoughts and feelings across in English and left a value in their lives.
I Love my job, it’s a privilege and I am thankful for it. If you come here with a hint of arrogance and contempt for anything that is not the way you think it should be, all I can say is, it may be difficult for you. Come here with a desire to expand and understand yourself, as a teacher and a human being. Come here broaden your world view, and to be of service to those around you. Plus, please bring me some baked beans.
Peace, Glenn Thompson DoS, Corporate Language Training
