Welcome to Karawang, capital of Karawang Regency in West Java, Indonesia! This city is quite different from anywhere I've ever lived or visited (the closest being maybe Heredia, Costa Rica - mostly climate-wise). With over 2.2 million people in the regency, Karawang may not be quite what you imagine when someone tells you they're going off to a developing country to teach English. For one, I live in a rapidly developing area in East Karawang that is quite crowded and very near the city center. KFC, Verizon, Honda and even a Holiday Inn overshadow the local marketplaces and many small mom and pop stores selling the same thing right next door to each other. Civilization encroaches on the rice paddies that dominated the area not five years ago. With Jakarta only 32 miles away and jobs available in the blossoming factories, Karawang is growing very rapidly.
As a self-proclaimed Buddhist (even though I am not, many volunteers claim one of Indonesia's six official religions out of respect for national ideology) I have been informed of several Buddhist temples around town and also introduced to Buddhist friends of friends (many of whom have been Chinese-Indonesian). Even though Islam is the majority religion, people just care that you believe in something.
I teach at an Islamic high school, as you will see in my video below, where Islamic studies are included in the curriculum, female students must wear a hijab and male students must wear their nicer clothes for Friday prayer. I live with a large Muslim family (a mom, dad, three biological children - two who don't live at home - and three adopted children and also the uncle), who run an Islamic elementary school next door. My host dad works for the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which, among other religious matters, oversees madrasa schools like the one I work in. Islam on Java incorporates many local cultural traditions, my area having a dominate Sundanese culture. So you will see in weddings, for instance, the food, dress and marriage customs are all a mix of Islamic and Sundanese traditions.
This is what HOME looks like to me these days.
As a self-proclaimed Buddhist (even though I am not, many volunteers claim one of Indonesia's six official religions out of respect for national ideology) I have been informed of several Buddhist temples around town and also introduced to Buddhist friends of friends (many of whom have been Chinese-Indonesian). Even though Islam is the majority religion, people just care that you believe in something.
I teach at an Islamic high school, as you will see in my video below, where Islamic studies are included in the curriculum, female students must wear a hijab and male students must wear their nicer clothes for Friday prayer. I live with a large Muslim family (a mom, dad, three biological children - two who don't live at home - and three adopted children and also the uncle), who run an Islamic elementary school next door. My host dad works for the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which, among other religious matters, oversees madrasa schools like the one I work in. Islam on Java incorporates many local cultural traditions, my area having a dominate Sundanese culture. So you will see in weddings, for instance, the food, dress and marriage customs are all a mix of Islamic and Sundanese traditions.
This is what HOME looks like to me these days.
Or, check out my movie here.
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