Koen's Entry

Hi everyone! This is Koen Davies.

Me, Mom, Dad, Bryce and Mr. Kuiper

In this picture, you can see me, the one in the green shirt on the left.
Things around here are way different than they are in Michigan. I'm pretty much one out of ten to fifteen kids at my school who has hair that's not black! So anyway, to business.

The kids at Krakatau

About a month ago we went to an island called Krakatau (Pronounced Crack-a-t-ow). Krakatau is also the name of the active volcano that's also on the island. So we camped there for only a night, which was great, because they gave us stone hard mat to sleep on, and the tent was small, and I can tell you, black sand is not as soft as it looks. We went with the Kuipers, the Huizengas, the Fehrs, the Hansens and the Aadmirals. We swam in the ocean and me, Claira Kuipers, Claire Huizinga and Faith Fehr jumped off the boat. Bryce Kuipers almost did it, but he chickened out in the end. Avaleigh Hansen also jumped in a few times, and her brother Luke came up once. After that we hiked up, not to the top, but to the top of a hill near by the volcano. It was very windy up there. Above is picture of the kids on the hill.

Left to Right: Back Row: Luke, Me. Front Row: Bryce, Tysen

Here's a picture of the boys at the restaurant on the island next to Krakatau. In the top right corner is me, Koen. Beside me in the blue shirt is Tysen, in front of Ty in the white shirt is Bryce Kuipers, and on Bryce's other side is Luke Hansen.

Jurassic Park, Universal Studios

The next weekend, we went to Singapore for our work visas. But we didn't have to work or anything, so we flew to Singapore along with the Bittners and the Fehrs. I had planned for a nice hotel, but we got a little room with two bunk beds and no bathroom. So the first night wasn't exactly my style. But the next day we went to Universal Studios. One of my friends in America asked me what was Universal Studios was in email, so I'll just give out the answer. Picture Disney Land in your head. Then think of Disney Land with Transformers, Jurassic Park, Shrek, Puss in Boots and Madagascar. That's what Universal Studios is. Tysen's and my favorite part was Jurassic Park. There were statues of dinosaurs, and they had a "real" Velociraptor. We went on the Transformers ride, which is supposed to be the best ride there. They set up the waiting area like the Autobot base, it had the Autobot symbol everywhere and TVs that tell you the safety rules, except they made it seem like it was connected with Transformers. When we actually got on the ride, they made you wear 3D glasses so it would be realistic. So we got on and the cart turned the corner and I heard blaster fire. Like some people got machine guns and had a war. Apparently the ride had 360 degree screens with a sort of movie on it. So then I see transformers starting to shoot at each other, and all of the sudden a Decipticon dog thing jump onto the hood of our car. It was kind of like this for the rest of the ride. And I covered my eyes when Megatron appeared and starts trying to kill you. And then there's also a part in the ride where you drive off the top of a skyscraper. Megatron tried to jump and catch us, and I thought it was the end. But, it wasn't because obviously I wouldn't be typing this if it had been. So, we barely survived that ride.

Attack of the Velociraptor

The day after that, we went to the zoo. We saw the white tiger, the cheetahs, and many other animals. Dad and I named a few of them. The polar bear is now The Murder Teddy, the white tiger is the Albino Death Kitty, the lion is Death Kitty, and the cheetahs are The Rocket Kitties.

So after that we came back to Jakarta and went back to school. Not very exciting. 

The End!

Indonesian Independence Day!!!

August 17, 2016

Wednesday, August 17th is Independence Day in Indonesia! That meant a day off from school on Wednesday and celebrations on Thursday! Thursday morning was a formal two-hour ceremony for the school: songs, ceremony, flag raising, and prayer. I wish I'd thought to take pictures of the impressive ceremony, yet looking back, I don't feel that it would have been appropriate. I didn't understand a good portion of the ceremony as it was in Bahasa and I'm not quite fluent (ha!), but the sincerity and pride accompanying the ceremony spoke volumes. I did find it a little ironic that there I stood, a little Dutch girl, celebrating Indonesia's independence from the Dutch.

The junior school had a separate ceremony and then they went out on the field for house competitions. The students at SPH are divided into four school houses: Meropi, Krakatau, Kintamoni, and Bromo. Each of the houses is named for a famous volcano in Indonesia. Throughout the year, houses compete against each other in a variety of ways and accumulate points. Our family is part of Meropi! I had a free period during the house competitions, so I ventured out on the school fields to find my kids. Don't they look adorable?

Brielle is the core of the group--giggling all the way.

PULL!!!

Filling the bucket one sponge-full at a time.

View of the Junior School games from my classroom window.

Everyone wore red tops and white bottoms to represent the Indonesian flag. Usually, kids wear their team colors on competition days which means green for us!

The competitions consisted of relays, races, and tug-of-war. The senior school also had a house competition in the afternoon. Teams wore house colors and participated in trivia alongside races, relays, and tug-of-war. What a celebration!

Prayers for us:
-Praise for a day off from school--a much needed break!
-Continued prayers as we settle into this school system and community.
-Prayers for good friends, especially for Koen, Tysen, and Brielle.

Third Week Thoughts

August 13, 2016

My intentions of keeping this blog current haven't been realistic. I jot notes on what we've done along the way, and I often think of writing, but I just haven't had the time to devote to it. Being prepared for my classes each seems more pressing than documenting our life here. So here I sit, almost a month after these events, writing. Better late than never, but I'm sure I'll miss a few important details.

Our fish, Brielle, swimming in the rain.

SPH has a number of after school sports clubs, and the swimming club sounded good to Brielle. She went for a swimming evaluation on a raining afternoon. The fact that it was raining may seem insignificant, but the pools are all outdoor! She'll join the beginner class next week every Tuesday after school; she's thrilled!

We asked each of the kids to choose at least one sport to participate in, so Koen selected basketball. He played on his 5th grade team at GRCMS and enjoyed playing with some great guys and even winning the championship! This season has started out a bit rockier. About 30 5th & 6th grade boys came out for the team. Between the large number of players and a new, inexperienced(?) coach, he's not as excited about it.

Tysen chose to join the badminton club at school. It hasn't begun yet, but he's enthusiastic about learning this sport after playing it in backyards over the summer!

Lanterns at the school picnic.

Lanterns at the school picnic.

The school student council hosted a Friday night barbeque which was fabulous way to end the week. It was so well attended that they ran out of food! It's a good problem to have! I met Seth and the kids there after my first Indonesian pedicure and cream bath. My lovely neighbor, Ceri, invited me to join her at the salon for some pampering after another long week at school; what a wonderful way to relax! While most of you are familiar with a pedicure, a cream bath may have you envisioning bathtubs of luxurious cream. Nope! A cream bath is a hair treatment and involves a conditioning hair therapy and a relaxing head massage. Amazing. It was the first time since                                          school started that I forgot to worry about something!

Fresh coconut!

Saturdays seem to be social swimming time. Many families head to the school pool to cool off, play, relax, and catch up. We unexpectedly stayed about 4 hours this particular Saturday--much longer than usual! Mr. Rod, our next door neighbor, arrived at the pool and demonstrated his tree climbing skills, scaling a palm tree to collect two coconuts. He shared the treats with us as we chatted with his wife and boys. Our unexpected lengthy stay at the pool resulted in some pretty severe sun burns. Ouch! Thankfully, we have an aloe plant growing in the backyard!

Ouch!

Remember our disappointing visit to the movies last weekend? We tried again this weekend and successfully viewed Ice Age Collision Course! This movie experience is like no movie theater I've ever visited! It caters to kids. You buy a ticket for a certain time, but that isn't the time the movie begins. The movie begins an hour after the start time; the start time is when you show up for the play area! Our kids sprinted around the obstacles and slid down the slides numerous times before we put our food order in. The food was then delivered to us once the movie began. What service! The only downside was the seating. The kids had their hearts set on sitting in the popular beanbag chairs, or even the couches, but both seating options had already sold out, so we were "stuck" with traditional movie theater seats.

Play area!

A slide right into the theater!

Our friend, Claira, Brielle, Tysen, and Koen

Zip line!

The cushy orange bean bag chairs--
maybe next time we can sit there!

On a side note, do you remember that Koen's recovering from poison ivy? That, combined with the extra sun earlier in the day, made his face extremely flushed. When we entered the movie theater, the attendants stopped him and used a hand-held device to scan his eyes. Seth and I puzzled over what that meant for a minute before Claira, who's lived here for a year, explained that they were scanning him for diseases! Thank goodness he passed the movie attendants' health exam. Crazy!

Sunday brought us to church once again. It's quite powerful to worship the one true God in Indonesia with fellow believers. There are two local English services near us, so we've visited each a few times, still unsure where we see ourselves weekly. One is connected with the local Christian college and one is a church plant originating in Ann Arbor, MI. It's odd that though the services are quite different from each other they each offer aspects of familiarity and home. There are two other options in Jakarta, but we have yet to experience worship there. Many people travel into the city to worship, but it is a commitment as the weekend traffic makes the commute longer than usual.

I finally got to bake! Not only did the delicious aroma of banana bread linger around the house for the afternoon, making it smell like home, I took time to do something I enjoy doing! It was the perfect break from school work.


Prayers for us:
-Pray for us to settle into a church community.
-Thanks for opportunities for the kids like swimming, basketball, and badminton. Pray that each of our kids learns new skills and enjoys doing so!
-Pray that we don't live our lives by comparing ourselves to others. This prayer request is probably more for Valerie than for anyone else. Help us to remember that God has blessed us each with different gifts vital to His work and pray that we use our gifts to our fullest potential!

Creating Our Own Fun

August 6, 2016

Not surprisingly, we were ready for the weekend! Our first outing on Saturday was to the free garage sale--that's right, FREE! Families who had moved away, and even a few who had stayed, donated a bunch of stuff, and it was all free for new families! We grabbed home decor, a chair, dishes, books, movies, shoes, extra school uniforms, hangers, storage shelves, a bike, and a grill! Grills are expensive and hard to come by, so we were thrilled with it! It needs a little TLC and then we'll be grillin' up some good food! We appreciated the thoughtfulness and the people behind this event; we found so many items that helped our house feel like a home.

Feasting with friends.

Our plan for the afternoon was to enjoy the new Ice Age Collision Course movie with friends at the local movie theater. Unfortunately, when we arrived to purchase the tickets 90 minutes before the show, it was sold out! We had some bummed out kids on our hands. Plan B: race to the grocery store and pick up tons of yummy snacks, race to the basement of the mall and buy Ice Age 3, and race home to try it out on our new TV and DVD player. Plan B for the win! The kids' excitement restored, we settled in to giggle together and stuff ourselves silly with snacks.

It took us a while to find it in the store,
but we had popcorn with our movie!

 To round out the weekend, we ate at Pizza Hut. I've never seen Tandoori chicken on the menu in the states though!

Tandoori chicken at Pizza Hut!

Tysen stuck with traditional pizza.

Prayers for us:
-We are thankful for the friends we've made here!
-Thankfulness for the generosity of others!
-For a better grasp of understanding on the curriculum and assessments the school uses.

The First Week of School

August 5, 2016




We survived. The past week has been a whirlwind of new students, new classes, new expectations, new, new, new. The kids seem to be adjusting well which we are extremely thankful for. That certainly is an answer to prayer!





In all the newness, I'm still struggling to find balance--balancing the work of understanding this unique curriculum and being a good teacher with the privilege of being a supportive, loving, involved mother and wife to my family. I've realized over the course of this week that I'm not very good at asking for help. I feel like I should be able to do everything flawlessly, but deep down I know I simply can't be everything to everyone. I quite certain I'm not the only one who feels this way, but it's a difficult thing to recognize and share; often I feel alone in this struggle. Please pray over me for peace and acceptance of my limitations.

And if you didn't notice, I'm focusing on myself quite a bit, It's easy to become self-absorbed when you're in survival mode. Another prayer is for the Holy Spirit to work in my heart to share more compassion and offer more help to others.

We wear uniforms to school each day, as seen in the photos above, but Fridays are Batik days. If you aren't familiar with Batik, you should know it's an art form. Batik involves wax-resistant dying of cloth, often in layers to achieve different colors and patterns. Stunning! And dressy! A long sleeve men's shirt is equivalent to a suit on the fashion scene. We wear shorts and jeans with our Batik to school, but if we would wear it out anywhere else we'd need to step up the formality.

Batik day at school!

One miracle for the week: It's typical in Indonesia, expected really, to hire a home helper--someone who helps clean, cook, and care for the kids. We have been praying over a home helper ever since we decided to move to Indonesia, specifically that she be someone who is good with the kids. As of the Friday before school starting, we didn't have anyone lined up and we were getting a bit worried. That night we had a knock on the door. A man we didn't know but who worked in our sister-school, University Pelita Harapan, introduced himself and said he had a woman with him who was looking for a home helper position, a woman his home helper recommended. He had heard we were looking for someone, specifically someone who spoke English. We were stunned. We interviewed her with the help of the man who brought her to our home and offered her and the job on the spot! Many home helpers don't speak English, but Ibu Susi speaks English quite well which makes communication simple for us and for the kids who will spend time with her everyday after school. We are so thankful for her!!! She made this week so much easier as we adjusted to a new school year. We pray she continues to fit in with our family!

Prayers for us:
-Thanks that the kids settled into the school year easily.
-Pray for Seth and Valerie figuring out balancing a new curriculum with being good parents.
-Thank you for the arrival of Ibu Susi! She's been a life-saver!

Finding Joy in Every Moment

July 29

I believe there is power in prayer! Even though we've had struggles since moving here as I shared in the prior post, we would not be at this point without everyone's prayer support! For me, today was a bit better as far as attitude and joy go.

Joy. It's been a part of every moment of this journey, but sometimes I'm not actively looking for it. I'm trying to change that. Sometimes those joy-moments are large and impossible to ignore, but other joy-moments settle into the crevices of anxiety, sadness, overwhelming feelings. These joy-moments can be difficult to identify, but they are there! God gives us joy, and I refuse to let the devil steal my joy-moments.

Since posting about my struggles, I've heard from three people who sent me perspective and encouragement. One encourager was my mom who shared this from Ann Voskamp:

God hasn't given up on me; I won't give up on His will for my life.

I still have a l-o-n-g way to go in the preparation department! School starts at 7am Monday, and this teacher is not feeling very prepared! A dear friend reminded me, though, that it's not about what is (or isn't!) on my walls, it's not my amazing (or not so) lesson plans; it's about being available to these students as someone who trusts them, believes in them, and wants the best for them. I can do that.

SPH hosted an orientation session this afternoon for new students. We took Koen, Tysen, and Brielle on a campus tour, found their classes, met their teachers, and ate a poolside buffet with other new families. The kids were excited to find out about about some sporting opportunities through local clubs: basketball, badminton, Tae Kwon Do, swimming, soccer, and more!

We raced home from the school picnic to avoid the oncoming storm. We've witnessed the torrential rains a few times since moving here, and they aren't something we want to be caught up in. It's incredibly convenient to walk to school, but we may be driving more during rainy season!

Prayers for us:
-Look for joy in each day!
-We have an overly ambitious weekend planned between continuing making our house a home and preparing for the school year to start on Monday.
-The school is on a beautiful but large campus. The kids are concerned with knowing where to go to find their classes.
-Pray for our students and classmates.

Struggles

July 28

This is hard. Really, really, overwhelmingly hard. Don't get me wrong--the school and the people here are top-notch! It's not that I regret coming here.

I'm struggling with weariness after moving across the world. I'm struggling with the daunting task of teaching a completely new-to-me curriculum. I'm struggling with not having my classroom set up in anyway, shape, or form. I'm struggling with being strong and encouraging for our kids when they're tired and overwhelmed. I'm struggling with mommy-guilt now that I'm not able to be the same mom to our kids that I've been able to be for the last 11 years.  I'm struggling. I still believe God led us here, despite my struggles. I'm relying on Him to shine through my struggles--soon.

I almost didn't post this. I tend to be a private person, and being vulnerable with others is not something I do regularly. But I need prayer for myself and for my family. Thankfully, the kids and Seth seem to be adjusting better than I. I just need to catch up to them in this regard. We're here by God's design, for His purpose even when it's hard to see that.

On a more positive note, I attended chapel for the first time in my professional career. Tears. Fortunately, I was able to contain them for the most part. Seth may have been the only one who noticed. I stood next to my husband and sang worship songs with members of His international church. Powerful praise. I'm looking forward to more of those moments.

Prayers for us:
-Thanks that the kids are doing so well as they get shuffled around to different places while Seth and I have school meetings.
-Thanks to those who cared for our children: Carli, Raema, John, and Cindy.
-Peace and reduced stress regarding the upcoming school year.
-Pray for the students who will be in our classes.
-Pray that our family finds a comfortable "new normal" soon.