Students appreciate their time at international schools

By Tam Notosusanto

JAKARTA (JP): How do you make it through your adolescent years if you live in a foreign land, thousands of miles away from home?

Teenagers Lindsay Green, Patrick Brosch, Flora Legendre and Takuya Koga all live in Jakarta, and they never seem to lose that upbeat feeling. But why should they when they all go to international schools here?

Being students at an international school is a lot of fun, mainly because of the small size of the classes. "There's a very personal connection between the students and the teachers. They know each other very well. In the United States that doesn't happen," said Lindsay, a 12th grader from Jakarta International School (JIS).

Patrick, who goes to North Jakarta International School (NJIS) -- no relation to JIS -- agrees.

"In German public schools, the teachers are not that nice and friendly and it's harder to get friends. But here it's very nice. The teachers are nice to you and the students are more friendly too and you can make better friendships."

Fifteen-year-old Patrick goes on to describe the difference in the teaching methods. "In Germany, the teachers just write the stuff on the board, tell you what to do, and that's it. If you need help, it's your problem, you have to find out yourself," he said.

"Here the teachers always help you, they have time for you, and they help each student individually if they need to."

A variety of facilities and extra-curricular activities add to the enjoyable hours spent at school. Ninth-grader Flora Legendre was in the French International School swimming team last year, while Lindsay joined the stained-glass club at JIS. But even when you're out of class and it's not yet time to go home, the school is still a pleasant place to be.

"My campus is beautiful," said Patrick, "It has many trees and stuff. And you can always go to the gym or the cafeteria."

Nothing can beat being an international student in Indonesia. Hanover native Patrick and Takuya from Okayama in Japan even get to visit scenic and interesting places like Bali, Yogyakarta and Lombok on school field trips.

"I really liked North Sumatra because we got to do lots of hiking and rafting," Lindsay said, "We got to see nature and everything that you don't normally get to see in Jakarta."

The schools also help students to understand Indonesian culture and provide lessons in the Indonesian language. Expatriate teachers also have Indonesian staff to help them and the students with language difficulties.

The schools also make it possible for the children to interact with Indonesian children. Lindsay explained that her school arranges trips to local orphanages and hosts local children at JIS from time to time.

Fourteen-year-old Takuya said she always enjoys the twice- yearly get together between children from the Jakarta Japanese School (JJS) and the nearby Pembangunan Jaya Junior High. The children sing, dance and light candles together, and then exchange name cards prepared earlier. Takuya has made a number of friends through the gatherings and has since remained in regular contact with them.

The diversity of cultures and people you meet is probably the most memorable aspect of going to school here. In his two years at JJS, Takuya has had friends from Tokyo, Nagoya and a number of other places in Japan, something he never had back home. Lindsay's boasts of schoolmates from 55 different nationalities and in four years at NJIS Patrick has added a smattering of Indonesian, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese to the German, English, and Rumanian he could speak before his arrival in Jakarta.

"It's nice to be with people from all kinds of different places around the world," said Lindsay, "You can learn about different cultures, learn different things from them."

"Knowing people from other countries and different cultures is a totally different beautiful experience," Patrick said.

With all the facilities that they have, is there anything the schools need to improve? The children are stumped by this question until Patrick says, "I'll probably add a high school to NJIS so we won't have to leave after finishing the ninth grade." A second later, he said, chuckling, "I'll probably improve the cafeteria food, and have McDonald's back on the menu," explaining that Big Macs disappeared from his school cafeteria shortly after the monetary crisis began.

The teenagers all agree that when it's time for them to leave, they will miss their schools very much. Takuya's father's contract in Indonesia expires on May 12, and he is not looking forward to saying farewell to his beloved school. Once back in Japan, he will never again experience a journey to school on a Big Bird bus with his friends, or having the school principal and all the teachers lining up in front of the JJS compound to wave to the children as they leave at the end of each school day.

"When I go home to France, I'll be sad," said Flora, who is about to end her three-year adventure at the French International School. "I will miss the people and miss the relationship with my teachers because we know them and they know us, not like in France."

"When I think of it," said Patrick, who is continuing his education at JIS in May, "This is where I actually grew up. I came here when I was about to go to middle school, when I was about eleven. This is where I spent most of my middle school years, the school is like a home to me already. I will miss it, miss the small atmosphere and a lot of friends who will be leaving to go to other countries."

All the quality education, valuable experiences and unforgettable memories, however, come at a price. Nathalie Legendre, Flora's mother, has to pay tuition fees of 18,000 francs a year for her daughter's education, roughly the same price as a private school in France. JJS students pay an average of US$2,000 a year, and junior high school students at NJIS pay US$9,900. JIS charges students about US$10,000 per year.

But it is all worth it? "These kids have lived with Islam and Buddhism and Hinduism and Christianity on a daily basis," said Lindsay's mother, Pamela Green. "They've seen volcanoes and rice paddies and they've been to villages and they know what a bamboo forest is like. They've been around the world traveling as their families go different places and I don't think there's that many students in the United States who will ever get that experience.