Sending a practice Teacher overseas and teach at a very different environment from where he/she was used to, makes the teacher adopt to be flexible and be ready in his/her chosen profession. In my case, being sent to a different country, with different culture, tradition and language is a big challenge for me as a student teacher. I think one of the main purpose of this practicum is to be able to discover the different strategies in teaching. The difference in curriculum and the way students learn from another country. And also allow the student to go out of his/her comfort zone in the field of teaching. Being able to know and experience first-hand different situations in terms of teaching from another country, will make you strong, resilient and how to be dependent in yourself. This makes us confident in our chosen field of profession.

 

Day 1 – Orientation

January 14, 2019 was the day we all set foot on the receiving university the “Universitas de Mataram” We went through an orientation together with 2 student teacher exchange from Thailand. The Dean of the Education department headed the orientation and officially welcomed at their university. Same day was also the day we met my mentor and Coordinating teacher.

Day 2 – Meet up with the High School Principal

January 15, 2019 I was offcialy given to the principal of the SMA 5 Mataram spearheaded by Drs. Arofiq, MM. , principal of the said school. This was also the same day my schedule was given to me.

Day 3 – Introducing myself

I introduced my self to my new students at the school.

 

From Monday to Saturday I would go to school at 7:30AM and go home by 2:30PM. Classes here ends at 2:30 and I would go home via motorcycle at the Hotel where we sleep. I learned how to manage my time. To know what is my priorities and be vigilant enough of time. This practicum helped improve my attitude towards time management.

 

Being away from your family is hard, though I am already used to not going home because I am renting a flat near our school. Being away a thousand miles away from my family was on a different level. First was the adjustment period, adjusting from our previous lifestyle was easy. But being used to their culture (like the food) was quite hard. Indonesian food was always spicy, spicy flavors was a must for them. Which became hard for us because they always serve us spicy food. Funny thing was, they said that the food was just a little spicy but the fact was, for us? It was waaay way spicy. Second was the language. Not everyone from Indonesia knows how to speak in English, we tried learning basic lines from their language but communication was hard outside of the school.

 

Every time that I think about how far I am from home and how hard teaching from a different country is. The brighter side of things always comes into mind. Behind every challenge that we experienced, there was a beauty in it. Being away from home made me independent. Going into a new country with a different language made me learn new things every day. Going to a completely new place made my meet new faces and see beautiful paradise in this country. And I thank the program for that. The lessons and experiences that I earned for this practicum will always be treasured. Even the hard times and most specially the good times.

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First is to stay at the International airport if the Domestic flight is scheduled the next morning, most domestic airports are closed and opens at 5:30. You would have to wait outside the domestic airport and it’s not safe. If your arrival was 12 midnight you should stay at a safe place where you can sleep while waiting for the next flight. Second is to manage your time between doing your responsibilities as a practice teacher but while you’re doing it learn to enjoy the place, the people and their culture. It’s a rare opportunity, let’s make the best of it. Lastly, the only other improvement that I want to suggest was to enjoy every moment. In every problem that you will face this will have a huge impact that might mold youto be better. Be strong and to always see the brighter side of things.