Final Days

This time every year is a strange time for me. Each spring, teachers say goodbye for the summer like it is any other weekend. “Have a great holiday!”. However, in the back of my mind I know that I will be seeing them again in the fall. Really, it’s only two months. Most times, I play some golf, go camping or have a BBQ with the ones that mean a lot to me.

This year, however, is a weird time. The teachers I am saying goodbye to are leaving for Spain, Germany, Canada and South Africa. One teacher is heading to Thailand- so he’ll still be in the neighbourhood. Chances are, I will not see them ever again- and like always, its just a simple “Goodbye!”.

To make matters worse, the school is being packed up. Literally. Air conditioners, white boards, bookshelves, everything. They have purchased 1600 boxes to get the packing done and think there might be more then 2000 by the time all the stuff is packed. In my science lab alone there must be more then 50.

Today, they started to take the playground equipment down. Not such a bad thing although Caden was playing on the swings as they started. He began to cry. This whole thing is really tough on all of the kids in the school.

Tomorrow, we have to say goodbye to the security guards, the ‘Bees’ and all of the Indonesian staff that has been so wonderful to us. They have a difficult situation. Many of them have been here since the school opened over 20 years ago. Packing up their school is really wearing on them. To top it all off, after they are done packing they are all fired. Nice.

One nice thing is that the grade 9 and 10 class invited all of their teachers out for a great dinner. They met us at the door, walked us to the tables, bought wine (not the cheap shit, either) and beer for all of us, etc. All in all, I’ll bet they dropped $1000 on us. It is a tradition of theirs. After our year, it was exactly what we all needed. It was much better then our actual staff party which included us going to the place where the new school will be, go through the indoctrination and be told how wonderful the new school will be. “What a shame none of you will be part of it” we were told. To top it off, at about 9:00 pm, we were told that the bus was there to pick us up and take us home. That was after we saw two new jugs of beer arrive. We were carted off and the beer was never drank- shame. Let’s just say the kids know how to entertain much better then the adults, around here.

Final Days

We are at school, wrapping up the final few things. I must admit, this is a lot more strange then other years. Instead of just saying "Have a great summer." to colleagues, this year, they are headed to Spain, Germany, back home. There is a good chance I never see those people again. There is no 'Welcome back BBQ' where I get to see old friends.

The 'Bees' are packing up the school to move it to the new venue. Twenty years of dust, roach shit, rat turds, etc. needed to be packed. They wanted to take my chairs but when I said there were still students sitting on them they agreed that was not so convenient. We cannot watch movies- they took the projectors. Many classes have no chairs or desks. There is a soccor ball in the gym....A soccer ball.

In my science lab I am finding many years of old, unlabelled chemicals. In fact, yesterday, I found two bottles of mercury. I haven't seen mercury since I was in junior high. You cannot even have that in a school back home. When I went to see someone about disposing of it they mentioned how they would get me some sand, pour the chemicals into the sand and then dump it out. Wow! When I explained how that would NOT be happening the Indonesian staff went into overdrive to find a proper way of getting rid of it. I did mention that the amount of mercury I had could poison a substantial number of people they were a little more willing to listen.

Today is our awards presentation. It proves to be a success. With 30 awards given out and 42 students there will definiately be some happy kids....or 12 really ticked ones. But, just to make the year end on a fabulous note, I get to give the closing address. Yay me! I was going to use some parts of a speech given by the Dean of Medicine at the U of A but that proved to be a bad idea.

The students are bouncing all over the place. The grade 1 class has no teacher. The other teachers VISA ran out and there has been a revolving door of coverage there. Parents are not impressed. If I was paying $15000 to have my student here, I would be pissed, too.

There are no substitute teachers. Many people have been 'sick' lately and we are supposed to cover their classes. But, often we do not know people are missing and the kids just go and hide in a dark, empty room. I am certain they are behaving themselves.

We move on Saturday. Our apartment is beautiful. We are excited to get to a school that has some idea of normal.

Banking

Allegedly, Indonesia is wrought with fraud. Whether it be through the internet, identity theft or bank fraud. That being said, banking is a pain in the ass. However, I am sure it is not only in Indonesia.

Joint accounts don't exist here. Marni and I having all our money go into one account, while convenient for our banking at home, is not so wonderful here. The bank will only give us one bank card. Great if we are both in the same place.

Can you use a credit card? Only if it from and Indonesian bank. Can I use my debit card? Only if it is issued by a certain bank (never my bank). Many businesses will have three or more debit machines and depending on the card type, they need to pull out the phone line and try again.

Marni and I are trying to book flights to China. Great! China Southern airlines flies directly from Jakarta to Nanjing. We check the website- good price. Except you cannot actually book the flights online. Why? Their website only has limited seats.

So, we phone the airline and I am put on hold for an indefinite amount of time once they realize I speak only english. So, we phone again and hooray, we get service in english (after pressing 2). Then, we get the quote. More expensive then the website. Why? Because we waited a day. So, you cannot book on the website, but when you phone the next day you pay more. Great way to make a profit. Anyway, halfway through the phone call (on skype) the internet goes down. So, no actual tickets, yet.

Another wonderful thing that often happens is that even if you are lucky enough to get tickets for any airline online, they tell you that they cannot process a credit card that is not from Indonesia. Even more fun. Can I get a credit card? Yes, but not from the bank that I am required by NJIS to use.

But, if I am able to use a Canadian credit card I need to pay in person at there office.....in south Jakarta. Basically, our office is in Red Deer, please come down and pay it. But, it is time sensitive, as well. You have 1 hour. Not bad if you actually live in Red Deer.

Three days later, the tickets are getting more expensive. My blood pressure is increasing with every Yen, too.

So, I phone Garuda Airlines that also flies with China Southerm. I am told that if I go to the local branch I will be able to book flights there. Wonderful! I jump on an ojek, drive around the block and go to the Garuda office. When I ask the attendent if I can book a ticket on China Southern he points to the large letters behind him and says "Meester, this is Garuda." After not choking him I explain that I was told they could help me. So, he gave me the phone number to China Southern (which I already had).

Well, to make it short. We did get the tickets. We had to go to a local travel agent. The tickets were not too expensive. So, we are off to China on the 24th.