The Basics

I think it is time to give a more detailed background about where in the world I am and what the heck I'm doing there.
Let's start with where I am. First, find the continent Asia.
Next, find the country Indonesia.
Then, find the island of Java.
Look at for the center of the island. See a town named Magelang? That's where I'm going to be living for the next 9 months. Magelang is a city of around 100,000 people in the province of Central Java. It is about an hour north of the popular city Yogyakarta. Magelang is near Borobudur where there is a gigantic Buddha statue. It is also near Gunung Merapi--one of the most dangerous volcanoes in Indonesia.
What am I going to be doing there for 9 months? I have a Fulbright fellowship. I am participating in the Fulbright Foundation English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) program. Essentially, I will be teaching English to high school students. The major goals of the ETA program in Indonesia include increasing the use of English as a spoken language, providing alternative ways to learn English, and increasing understanding of American culture. I will be paired with an Indonesia English teacher. We will work together in a team-teaching sort of atmosphere. Please visit the IIE Fulbright website for more information: http://us.fulbrightonline.org/home.html.
Right now I am in week one of a three week orientation that focuses on teaching techniques and lesson planning as well as learning basic Bahasa Indonesia. It is amazing how difficult and time-consuming it is to create effective, coherent, interesting, and dynamic lesson plans. This has made me respect my mother and all the wonderful work that she does in her classroom even more! Even though I know it will be a hard first week, I am really looking forward to getting to Magelang and meeting my students. Orientation has given me some great starting ideas that I can't wait to share in my own classroom.