One life at a time

A huge reason for my decision to come to Beijing this summer was the opportunity to do an internship at an educational NGO. I have worked for NGOs in the past, and I have worked on educational projects before, but never have I put these two fields together. Plus I could not turn down the opportunity to work in a country facing so much change, with such an enormous youth population, and such a wide gap in income and achievement. There are many ways to learn about a culture, but I believe learning about their education system is one of the best. In my search to better understand China, I am looking through the eyes of the schools and their students.

students playing outside the classroom before art class

I am working CAI, which stands for the Children’s Art Initiative. The Chinese character cai (才) also means talent. The goal of CAI is to give Chinese migrant children access to creative programming that they do not have in their school or daily life. CAI volunteer teachers use after school and weekend activities like art, sports and music to teach about the 4Cs: care, courage, commitment, and confidence. It sounds very serious — and it is — but it’s also a lot of fun!

making under the sea clay designs

Summer break in most of China is July and August, so I am actually here at a time when not many educational programs are happening. I was only able to go to two schools on two different days in June. Both of them are located on the outskirts of Beijing; technically they are towns, but they are also part of the giant Beijing prefecture. To get there, I got on a bus and kept going until the very last stop. The first school had music and art programs, so I got to be with the kids as they finished up their clay designs and rehearsed their songs. A week later I returned to that school and got to see their final art exhibit and music performance. With only a couple weeks of language lessons, I was barely able to communicate with the kids. But that didn’t stop me from making clay animals with them!

music and basketball students on their last day

The second school had music and girls’ basketball. The most imporant thing to remember about these schools is that they have no resources. So a music class is taught by a volunteer with her laptop computer playing the music. The school has no instruments. Basketball is played as a dribbling and passing game. There are no hoops. If they want to play with shooting, two girls stand on chairs on either end of the court and catch the ball when it is shot at them. I’ve never seen anything like it, but they still had so much fun!

My job at CAI this summer is to work on the curriculum, so by visiting the schools I have gotten a better idea of what their needs are and how the programs have been running so far. I’m also working on some fundraising projects and teacher training seminars. In fact, next week I will be traveling to northwest China to help run a teacher training program for six days. Since I’ve never been to western China, I think there will be a lot to learn. And, you know, I’ll probably have a few things to say.

singing performance

peeking at the music performance from outside

Bali part one: the tourist

this is probably what people mean by paradise

Most people who have an image of Bali think of it as a tropical dream vacation: beaches, pineapples, jungles and volcanoes. They would not be wrong. However, going to Bali alone is a much different story. Well, I’m not alone exactly. I am here with Kasihani, but we are in separate rooms and she is in meetings all day. So in practice, I am here alone. I have never been at a five-star resort alone before, and I plan to put effort into making this not happen again. It is a bit depressing to watch honeymooners holding hands on the beach while I am still trying to come to terms with the fact that I am going to be away and alone all summer. But of course I have to make the best of it. I am in Bali!

Bali is a small island off the east coast of Java. The people of Bali are Hindu, a minority in the largest Muslim country in the world. The Indonesians I have talked to have told me to go to Bali. It is a beautiful place. However, staying in a resort like this makes me feel like I am not really seeing Bali. See, Kasihani is here for a conference in the hotel. I am tagging along because we are also going to a teacher training event together in the north of the island. She has her room for free, and she is getting mine at a discounted rate. I could have stayed at a normal hotel I guess, but we didn’t plan that far ahead. So here I am, at a five-star resort next door to the Grand Hyatt. My hotel is called Inna Putri Bali, and it is full of Aussies and Russians.

inna putri bali hotel

It’s not that I think this place is bad. And I definitely do not think badly of anyone who chooses to come here; some people’s idea of vacation is to sit on the beach and have drinks with little umbrellas delivered by friendly locals. That image makes me squirm. I feel restless knowing that outside of the security walls and perfectly manicured lawns of this resort there is a real city, a real island with real people. But I have not been completely stuck. Nusa Dua, the area where I am staying, is near the capital city of Denpasar. North of Denpasar are mountains and jungles, so I decided I needed to see that to really see Bali. The only way to do this is to hire a driver.

relaxing at the pool

Once again, hiring a driver is not usually my cup of tea. In the past I have preferred taking the local transport, which also turns out to be the cheapest and biggest (most fun!) challenge. This time, I had no other options. I ended up with a fantastic driver, Nyoman, who was very easy to talk to and who showed me lots of things on his island. Bali is full of artists, so Nyoman took me to many places where people produce and sell art, including wood carving, painting, gold and silver jewelry, and batik. Batik is the national cloth of Indonesia. For nice events, such as a conference, everyone wears batik. I bought myself a gorgeous blue batik skirt, plus some gifts for secret lucky people.

women making (and wearing) batik

We also went to a fruit and coffee plantation up in the mountains. They produce lots of drinks like cocoa, coffee, ginger tea and lemongrass tea. They also make that kind of coffee that is made out of cat poop. It’s not really a cat: it’s a luwak. I’m sure you have heard about this. It is the most expensive coffee in the world, but the animal originates in Indonesia so it’s cheap here. The way it works is the luwak eats the coffee beans, poops them out, and then the people gather them and make them into coffee. Unfortunately I don’t drink coffee, so I was not willing to pay the extra three bucks to try the delicacy. I met the animal though. He was super cute! If you get a chance, you should definitely drink his poop.

kopi luwak coffee!

just a small part of the Hindu temple

On the tour, I also visited a huge Hindu temple, watched a Balinese dance performance (a classic tale about the battle between good and evil), and ate lunch across from a volcano. Eating lunch while looking over a landscape of mountains and rice fields is truly spectacular; the only downside is doing it by yourself! Alone time is totally overrated. But all in all, Bali is awesome. The only downside is that everyone already knows that. At least everyone in Europe and Australia. It was packed with tourists, and that means most things are at tourist prices. A meal in Bali will cost you $8, while a similar meal – if not better – costs you less than a dollar in Java. So I guess my best advice is that if you plan on going to Indonesia, make Bali just one of many destinations on your trip!

Barong dance

my lunch in front of Mt. Batur. there's no glass between us!

me in front of rice fields on the hills