Celebrity Status

Since our project is at its halfway point and on hold until additional interns join us next week, AIESEC invited Margit, Vinicius and me to volunteer at a junior high school in Pasuruan, a city on the north coast of East Java. We really weren’t sure what we were getting into but it sounded interesting so we agreed to spend three days with the school, encouraging the kids to speak English and accompanying one of the classes on a field trip.

It was amazing how incredibly welcoming the entire school was. They were so happy to have us there since one of their first priorities in the school is to make sure their students can speak English and meet international standards for education. And of course, the kids were all so insanely excited to have three bule (foreigners) in their classrooms. This resulted in about five million photos, at least fifty Facebook friend requests and little girls in headscarves literally screaming whenever Vinicius walked into a room (we should really start calling him Vinicius Bieber).

On the first and last day, we were in the classrooms to introduce ourselves, talk about our countries and encourage the students to ask us questions and chat in English. Their energy levels were through the roof. On day two, we went with a grade eight class of about thirty kids to nearby Surabaya. Quite possibly the best part of the whole day was the time spent on the road. To pass the time, the kids took turns singing karaoke into a mic at the front of the bus. In Canada, I’m pretty sure no 14 year old would be caught dead singing karaoke in front of their class but it only took a couple words of encouragement before two girls got up and starting singing an English soft rock song. They even had every single one of the words memorized – I was impressed. This continued throughout the rest of the afternoon and at one point each of us bule were supposed to sing a song from our countries. Vinicius and Margit both sang some traditional songs in Portugese and Dutch but I really couldn’t think of anything good, so I just went for some good ol’ Justin Bieber. I think I was asked about a dozen times whether or not I knew the Bieb during my three days at the school, so I just went with it. At least all of the teenage girls on the bus were happy.

During the three days we spent in Pasuruan, we stayed with such an amazing host family. They made us feel like we were part of the family from the minute we walked in and pampered us like crazy - cooking everything they thought we might like, driving us across town to sample the local sweets (klepon), and even arranging a masseuse to come to the house in the evening.

Massages aside, the most amazing part of the whole experience was our goodbye party at the end of our third day. The teacher who had been showing us around the whole time told us they had just prepared something small to show their appreciation... this turned into every one of the students piling into the front courtyard, singing songs, performing instruments, giving speeches, and presenting us with gifts while all of the kids took photos and again, screamed whenever they said Vincius’s name. We were all so overwhelmed by the response - Indonesian hospitality is incredible. After posing for photos and the teachers acting as body guards as we made our way to the car (and I’m not even over exaggerating) we headed back to Malang, so exhausted but so happy.