A day with an expat English teacher<\/p>\n
Ross Gulliver, 38, is a senior teacher at The British Council on
\nJl. Sudirman, South Jakarta. Originally from Bexhill in the
\nEnglish county of Sussex, he moved to Jakarta almost 10 years
\nago. He lives in Cipete, South Jakarta, with his wife Rr. Dewi
\nand daughters Jasmine, 2, and Jade, 1. In conversation with The
\nJakarta Post's William Furney<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): \"Dewi and I share our bed with the two girls. If
\nI'm lucky I'll wake up before they do. Otherwise, they'll roll
\nover and wake me up. At about 5:30 a.m., I'll have a cup of
\ncoffee, some cereal and read The Jakarta Post. I became Muslim
\njust before we got married, but I'm not practicing. I do say a
\nmorning prayer; it's in English and more like a daily reflection
\nor meditation just to get me balanced before the day starts. I
\nwas atheist before I came to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
My working day varies; sometimes I start at 8:00 a.m., other
\ndays it's later. A 10- or 12-hour day is pretty normal for me.<\/p>\n
I've been with The British Council just over a year and it's
\nprobably the most challenging kind of teaching there is in this
\nfield here. Our status is that of a charity and we're not
\nallowed, due to a special agreement with the Indonesian
\ngovernment, to open classes to the general public.<\/p>\n
Very few people make the decision to go into English language
\nteaching; they usually fall into it. I used to be in real estate
\nand was based in the U.K. before moving to Spain. But the market
\ncrashed along with the recession in the early 1990s and I was
\njobless. After about a year of job hunting, I decided to retrain.
\nA friend of mine lent me some money and I did a teacher training
\ncourse. There were about four different jobs going and Indonesia
\nlooked the most attractive. Someone showed me pictures of palm
\ntrees and sandy beaches and it looked great. I had no
\npreconceptions of what the country looked like when I arrived in
\n1991, but my eyes almost popped out of my head.<\/p>\n
With teaching, you have to make an impact and get a reaction.
\nTo a certain extent I wasn't as nervous as other new teachers as
\nI'd had to do that when I was selling.<\/p>\n
I met Dewi at a party and she totally ignored me, which I
\nfound very attractive. Two weeks later, I bumped into her and, of
\ncourse, she'd forgotten my name. I begged her for a date and she
\nsaid no. Some time later, she finally agreed to a date and that's
\nhow it started. She's related to the Kraton in Yogyakarta. I call
\nher my Indonesian princess -- she likes that. We got married in
\nSemarang and I had to wear the traditional clothes and go through
\nthe rituals. I stood on the symbolic egg with more force than I
\nshould of and the yolk went flying across the room, much to the
\namusement of everyone else.<\/p>\n
Before I got married, I was what you might call a wild child,
\nfrequenting bars and the like. But Dewi was not keen on me
\nfollowing that kind of lifestyle. When she told me she was
\npregnant with our first child, I made a decision to stop drinking
\nso I could he a good father.<\/p>\n
It's very different for Indonesian women to be seen with
\nWesterners here. There's a lot of negative reaction to seeing a
\nmixed couple. Maybe it's to do with a mistrust of foreigners;
\nthey've done an awful lot to take advantage of this country in
\nthe past. Perhaps its unpatriotic to go out with someone from
\nanother country. But there's a strong undercurrent of resentment
\nthat we both feel and it's quite often verbalized if we walk or
\ncycle together.<\/p>\n
The worst experience we had was when we were walking home one
\nnight and people threw rocks at us for no reason; just the fact
\nthat we were a mixed couple. They accused Dewi of being a sex
\nworker. I suppose it was incomprehensible for them that she would
\nbe with a foreigner for any reason other than money. Racism is
\nprobably the worst aspect of living here.<\/p>\n
Lunch is about 12:00 p.m., either at the canteen or the food
\nstalls outside. Usually nasi padang, fried rice or gado-gado.
\nPadang food is great. Too much sambal can be bad -- I was told
\noff by a doctor for using too much. A lot of people stick to
\nWestern diets but it's just so prohibitively expensive.<\/p>\n
In the afternoons I have to somehow juggle teaching with
\ntimetabling, running the office and marketing. I quite often go
\nout to visit clients. It's fun doing the extra stuff but I like
\nbeing in the classroom and hopefully doing something that's
\nsignificant for the students.<\/p>\n
A regular practice with students before the end of a course is
\nto offer their teacher a present. One group I had did this, but
\nwhen I gave them the results some of them hadn't passed and they
\nkept the present. The gifts are not bribes though. Sometimes
\nstudents will come up to me and ask if there is any way they can
\nget a higher score, but I remain very British and say no.<\/p>\n
Teaching hours are a nightmare, but the fact that things are
\nnot done the same way twice makes it varied.<\/p>\n
Salaries and conditions have definitely dropped dramatically
\nand prices have gone up. I'm paid in rupiah and can't save any
\nmoney, so I probably have about another two years left teaching
\nin this profession before I have to educate my children. If
\nthings don't get better, I'll have to leave and go to somewhere
\nwhere I can afford the education. I'd like to stay here for good;
\nI like Indonesia and can't see myself living in the U.K. any
\nmore. But it's difficult for foreign men. I'm rather at the mercy
\nof sponsors and government regulations.<\/p>\n
I usually finish work about 6:00 p.m. I drive home in my
\nKijang and I find it useful to play very peaceful music on the
\nway. I play classical music and it keeps me from getting angry at
\ncrazy drivers and arriving home stressed. When I arrive home,
\nboth my kids jump up and down and go \"daddy, daddy ...\". I know
\nit's corny, but it's pretty nice. I get mad cuddles which is
\ngreat.<\/p>\n
I don't eat that much in the evenings; usually after we've put
\nthe kids to bed at 7:30, I'll just have something light like
\nfruit. We go out less often than we should. About once a month
\nwe'll go to an Indonesian restaurant.<\/p>\n
I think trying to reduce your cultural expectations to zero,
\nso that you have none, is the secret to surviving and being happy
\nhere. If you expect things to be done on time; if you expect
\nthere not to be corruption; if you expect people to be broad
\nminded, then you are expecting too much and are going to be
\ndisappointed, upset and frustrated. These kind of expectations I
\ntry and suppress -- sometimes successfully.<\/p>\n
Indonesian students have changed a lot in the last ten years.
\nThey were very frightened when I first got here and weren't open
\nto discussion on anything sensitive. Soeharto was the hero of
\neveryone. Now people are willing to take risks.<\/p>\n
Indonesians have this stereotype that all expats are rich.
\nIt's impossible to get across the fact that some of us are here
\ndoing good jobs but not earning that much. I'm probably being
\npaid less than a first-year receptionist in the U.K.<\/p>\n
What I miss most about England is being able to walk and the
\nprivacy. People here don't understand the idea of personal space;
\nit's very difficult to have time on your own.<\/p>\n
The level of education here does not inspire me with
\nconfidence. For a long time, the education system was controlled
\nby the government and specific skills such as critical thinking
\nwere kept out of the syllabus on purpose. I want my kids to learn
\nhow to think for themselves, not to have the answers fed to them.
\nThere was a study done where Indonesian university graduates were
\ncompared to twelfth-grade high school students in the U.K.<\/p>\n
I go to bed early, usually about 9:30. Dewi tells me I worry
\ntoo much, but I suppose its probably just getting the hang of
\nbeing someone with responsibilities. I have a lot of worries
\nabout the future; Indonesia is still very uncertain.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/a-day-with-an-expat-english-teacher-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}