Having been staying in the US for a couple of months, I started to see the nature truth behind a famous saying which says ‘Wherever you step down the earth, there you hold up the sky’. In other words, things work differently in different places. There are some new things that I have to adapt with the new situations where I live. I don’t say things here much better or worse compared to my home country. But, definitely it is a new experience for me. Here are some of my new experiences that I encountered when I first arrived in the US.
Firstly, when I had just landed at O’Hare Airport, the officer at the airport asked some of us from special countries such as Indonesia and Middle Eastern countries to queue in a special line for the immigration check. In the immigration check, all the stuff including my shoes and socks needed to be taken off as well as my wallet. After all my stuff was scanned, the officers told me to stand in between of a machine (I don’t know what machine that is) in order to be scanned. This first experience taught me how tight American security is after the 9/11 tragedy. One good lesson can be learned from this security process is that Indonesia needs to tighten its security process by creating a computerized system to track people who come to Indonesia.
Secondly, after landing in East Lansing Michigan for the orientation, I directly went to a supermarket called CVS to buy stuffs such as toothbrush and hair cream. After finding the things I wanted, I went to the front of the store to pay for the stuff. I was looking for the cashier in order to pay for my stuffs. I did not find any cashiers there. I saw two guys near the exit windows but I thought there were not the cashiers. I came to that man and asked “where is the cashier?”. The man replied “you pay with the machine and scan stuff”. Man, it was a self-service store where very few cashiers available because it was 8 AM in the morning. Later on I find out that in many US stores, they provide a lot of self-service counters for the customers to ease the process of payment.
Thirdly, most things are paid electronically in the US. Since I come from a county where cash is always the way to pay for stuff, I got confused for the first time on how to pay stuff using credit card. In every place where I buy stuff such as store, restaurants, bookstores or online shopping sites, things are paid electronically. What you need to do is just swipe your card and enters the pin or sometimes you don’t have to enter the pin and then sign the receipt. It seems that bringing huge amount of cash in the US is not a habit or considered to be dangerous. I find this habit of using card is useful and practical because it saves time and does not need to get our change back.
Fourthly, when I was attending a course in the class, I was a little bit shocked to see a student coming in the class with her short pants because it seemed she had just done jogging. She sat in front of the row and she help up her legs in the seat. As a teacher in my home country, I would say to my students to sit properly and politely which mean no crossed legged or help up legs. In the US, how you dress in the class is a matter of personal choice because the lecturer will not bother with what you wear as long as you are not naked. Speaking of dress code manner, it seems in the US, there is no such a strict dress code in offices. When I was taking care of my SSN card at the International Student Office, the man who served me wore a casual t-shirt and jeans. The only civil servants or officers who wear uniform are the police. This is totally different from where I am from where uniform is a symbol of pride but neglecting the service to people. We need to learn more how to serve people rather than asking to be served or respected.
Fifthly, when a friend of mine saw my teacher’s identity card, he was shocked to see that they put my religion in my identity card. My friend said “why do they put it in your ID card?” I said to him “having a religion in my country is a must, unless you will have hard times in taking care of any stuffs”. My friend looked confused with my explanation. He then continued “Man, religion is a personal stuff, it is your business none of other businesses”. When I recalled our conversation with my friend, I remembered one of my friend FB statuses which question a very essential value “If there is no religion, there would be more peace and harmony among human beings”. From the lesson I learn from my home country, I might say yes to her opinion. In the US, religion is a matter of personal value. The government has nothing to do with your religion. You can also be an atheist here. That’s why it is called the land of freedom.
I do hope that my country could provide a better service to its people someday in the near future.
Rabu, 08 Februari 2012
Selasa, 29 September 2009
DEMOCRATIC EDUCATION
Kemarin, saya secara tak sengaja, saya menemukan tulisan yang saya tulis ketika kuliah dulu. Saya menulis hanya untuk iseng saja..Rupanya masih tersimpan di fash disku dulu.....Aneh juga
As an Indonesian, I am happy and as well as proud of my country because this country has taken better steps to be a fully democratic country. The democracy in this country is growing so fast, and this can be seen from the first Indonesian direct presidential election on September 20, 2004. The election itself shows us that in Indonesia, every voice of the Indonesian people is respected. A sentence in Time magazine says that the 2004 election in Indonesia is one of the shining examples of a fully democratic country in Asia. We, Indonesians are also proud of our country because Indonesia is the first country in Southeast Asia which allows the people to choose their own leader. The good facts mentioned above about democracy in Indonesia are a sign of better democracy in the political context.
Since I was a kid until becoming a teenager, I had been taught the concept of democracy only in political contexts or merely associated to a form of government and most of us have understood the meaning of democracy in this case. T.V Smith argues in his book that democracy is more than a form of government; it is also a way of life. In my opinion, here democracy is seen a way of life which respect differences, uniqueness in every aspect of life. As democracy can be applied in every aspect of our life now we are going to see how the concept of democracy that has been applied in our educational system in Indonesia. Does the curriculum teach students about democracy? I do believe that our curriculum teaches us about democracy, but the problem is that the democracy in the curriculum is the concept of democracy in politics, history, civics etc that most people think only can be applied in politics. What about in education?
As Smith mentioned above that the democracy is a way of life, so the concept of democracy can also be applied in educational system in our country. The meaning of democracy in education or classroom particularly means that everyone involving in the process of learning respects each other in term of thinking, being able to forgive and being able to see differences or uniqueness as something normal in the classroom. In fact, many teachers cannot apply the concept of democracy in class, our teachers still use a system what is so called “monocultural education system” which kills the concept of democracy. Monoculutiural education gives the highest authority to teachers to decide everything in class, teachers are always right and students have to do exactly the same as the teachers do. Because of this system, teachers find it is hard to appreciate students’ opinion; students may talk if they are asked to talk, so the only correct answer in class is the teacher’s answer. This kind of system kills students’ creativity and makes them good listeners instead of critical thinkers.
I have a story as an illustration of how the undemocratic situation has been built in our education in Indonesia.
Every student at SMUN#2 Sanggau West Borneo has to come on time to school everyday. All of the students have to be at school before 7 am in the morning, afterward the gate is locked. If the students come late they will be punished by the teachers. The students are asked to clean or throw the trash in the rubbish bins etc. as students; we are taught to be good students. Many teachers at SMUN2 always come late at school because our school is a state school, so when they come late they do not explain why they are late, they just say sorry in class. One day, Endar, a student writes in the wall magazine an article titled “student comes late is punished, teacher comes late is ok”. When the teachers read that article on the wall, the teachers asks the student who writes it to put it down, Endar is considered as impolite student, he is scored. On Monday ceremony, that teacher tells us that students have to follow students’ rules and teachers have to follow teachers’ rules. Our class is considered an impolite class. Since that time our class decided not to write any wall magazine anymore.
As seen above, Indonesian teachers still cannot apply the concept of democracy in education. Teachers cannot accept when they are criticized, they feel humiliated by the students. How can we make democratic people in education if the actors of education itself cannot show the democratic ways of life. One thing which is worth noticing is that the actual task of transmuting democratic theory into school practice belongs to the teachers and school officials. Teachers have to realize that their democratic behaviors in the learning process will make democratic students.
So in conclusion I would like to restate that democracy is much more that a form a government; but is also a way of life. A way of life which respect differences, uniqueness etc. democracy in education means that every individual in classroom has rights to be respected in term of differences they have, the differences they have shown by their participation in class process, the more the students participate in learning process, the more democratic the class is, since participation is a sign of democratic situation. Democratic in class does not always mean having the same agreement about something, but the process in arriving at that agreement is much more important in Democracy. One way of changing our education to be democratic education is by using multicultural education instead of monocultural education. Multicultural education gives more freedom.
As an Indonesian, I am happy and as well as proud of my country because this country has taken better steps to be a fully democratic country. The democracy in this country is growing so fast, and this can be seen from the first Indonesian direct presidential election on September 20, 2004. The election itself shows us that in Indonesia, every voice of the Indonesian people is respected. A sentence in Time magazine says that the 2004 election in Indonesia is one of the shining examples of a fully democratic country in Asia. We, Indonesians are also proud of our country because Indonesia is the first country in Southeast Asia which allows the people to choose their own leader. The good facts mentioned above about democracy in Indonesia are a sign of better democracy in the political context.
Since I was a kid until becoming a teenager, I had been taught the concept of democracy only in political contexts or merely associated to a form of government and most of us have understood the meaning of democracy in this case. T.V Smith argues in his book that democracy is more than a form of government; it is also a way of life. In my opinion, here democracy is seen a way of life which respect differences, uniqueness in every aspect of life. As democracy can be applied in every aspect of our life now we are going to see how the concept of democracy that has been applied in our educational system in Indonesia. Does the curriculum teach students about democracy? I do believe that our curriculum teaches us about democracy, but the problem is that the democracy in the curriculum is the concept of democracy in politics, history, civics etc that most people think only can be applied in politics. What about in education?
As Smith mentioned above that the democracy is a way of life, so the concept of democracy can also be applied in educational system in our country. The meaning of democracy in education or classroom particularly means that everyone involving in the process of learning respects each other in term of thinking, being able to forgive and being able to see differences or uniqueness as something normal in the classroom. In fact, many teachers cannot apply the concept of democracy in class, our teachers still use a system what is so called “monocultural education system” which kills the concept of democracy. Monoculutiural education gives the highest authority to teachers to decide everything in class, teachers are always right and students have to do exactly the same as the teachers do. Because of this system, teachers find it is hard to appreciate students’ opinion; students may talk if they are asked to talk, so the only correct answer in class is the teacher’s answer. This kind of system kills students’ creativity and makes them good listeners instead of critical thinkers.
I have a story as an illustration of how the undemocratic situation has been built in our education in Indonesia.
Every student at SMUN#2 Sanggau West Borneo has to come on time to school everyday. All of the students have to be at school before 7 am in the morning, afterward the gate is locked. If the students come late they will be punished by the teachers. The students are asked to clean or throw the trash in the rubbish bins etc. as students; we are taught to be good students. Many teachers at SMUN2 always come late at school because our school is a state school, so when they come late they do not explain why they are late, they just say sorry in class. One day, Endar, a student writes in the wall magazine an article titled “student comes late is punished, teacher comes late is ok”. When the teachers read that article on the wall, the teachers asks the student who writes it to put it down, Endar is considered as impolite student, he is scored. On Monday ceremony, that teacher tells us that students have to follow students’ rules and teachers have to follow teachers’ rules. Our class is considered an impolite class. Since that time our class decided not to write any wall magazine anymore.
As seen above, Indonesian teachers still cannot apply the concept of democracy in education. Teachers cannot accept when they are criticized, they feel humiliated by the students. How can we make democratic people in education if the actors of education itself cannot show the democratic ways of life. One thing which is worth noticing is that the actual task of transmuting democratic theory into school practice belongs to the teachers and school officials. Teachers have to realize that their democratic behaviors in the learning process will make democratic students.
So in conclusion I would like to restate that democracy is much more that a form a government; but is also a way of life. A way of life which respect differences, uniqueness etc. democracy in education means that every individual in classroom has rights to be respected in term of differences they have, the differences they have shown by their participation in class process, the more the students participate in learning process, the more democratic the class is, since participation is a sign of democratic situation. Democratic in class does not always mean having the same agreement about something, but the process in arriving at that agreement is much more important in Democracy. One way of changing our education to be democratic education is by using multicultural education instead of monocultural education. Multicultural education gives more freedom.
Senin, 25 Mei 2009
Selasa, 12 Mei 2009
On going a spiritual tour
Last month, I was asked by one of my friends, an ex-would be catholic priest to accompany him to visit several villages in my regency during the Easter week or the Passion Week. My friend, who finally resigned from the Franciscan order, told me that our tour was somewhat spiritual because he was asked by the local parish father to help the parish as a deacon to lead a “mass” in several villages as scheduled by the parish.
The tour for me was a kind of new experience coz I had never had a chance to visit a village to do so. When we arrived at the first village, people greeted us warmly and told us they were waiting for us but they were not ready yet with the mass. They did not appoint the men for the reading, songs and etc. A friend of mine who knew better about catholic songs coz he was of course a not would be priest. He taught the women and the children to sing some songs and the reading as well.
Coming to the village was a struggle for us since the roads (if it can be called) are broken. If that night rained, we would cry to go home because of the road.
My friend on the previous day had asked me to prepare the topic for his sermon on the mass. He told me to find some inspiration on the theme “resurrection”
I finally found the inspirations on the theme and told my friend that the core message was how to get rid of our bad behaviors. Jesus’ resurrection must give us strength to revive and start improving our life.
In every village we visited, we saw the lack of catholic ministry in remote areas. Most villages don’t often hold Sunday Mass. My friend and I felt pity for such situation.
The tour for me was a kind of new experience coz I had never had a chance to visit a village to do so. When we arrived at the first village, people greeted us warmly and told us they were waiting for us but they were not ready yet with the mass. They did not appoint the men for the reading, songs and etc. A friend of mine who knew better about catholic songs coz he was of course a not would be priest. He taught the women and the children to sing some songs and the reading as well.
Coming to the village was a struggle for us since the roads (if it can be called) are broken. If that night rained, we would cry to go home because of the road.
My friend on the previous day had asked me to prepare the topic for his sermon on the mass. He told me to find some inspiration on the theme “resurrection”
I finally found the inspirations on the theme and told my friend that the core message was how to get rid of our bad behaviors. Jesus’ resurrection must give us strength to revive and start improving our life.
In every village we visited, we saw the lack of catholic ministry in remote areas. Most villages don’t often hold Sunday Mass. My friend and I felt pity for such situation.
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My Lit Sister and My Niece
My Niece and Nephew
Lucu-Lucu dan Ganteng