Chicago to Istanbul to Jakarta to Yogyakarta…..

And they’re here!

As the Indonesia 2024 SST leaders, my partner Ben & I have been in Indonesia for the past month, meeting with host families, language teachers, lecturers, and other partners.  We have enjoyed settling into our house in a kampung (village) within the city limits of Yogyakarta, and have tried out a few possible field trips.  We have eagerly awaited the arrival of 11 intrepid adventurers, those willing to leave the snow and cold of Goshen Indiana for the warmth and sun of Indonesia (we know, it’s a sad trade-off, but there you have it).

Yesterday, 33+ hours of travel brought our students from Chicago to Jakarta.  And yet they still greeted us with (tired) smiles!  After 8 hours overnight in a Jakarta hotel, we embarked Friday morning– Thursday night, Goshen time– for a 7 hour train ride direct to Tugu Station, in the heart of Yogyakarta.  The train ride took us through the countryside, complete with rice fields and views of mountains.

Yogyakarta has a number of nicknames, including the city of cultural heritage and the city of students & universities.  It is the only Indonesian regency that is still ruled by a monarchy (Sultan Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwana X; Ben tells me that his name carries the meaning of “the caretaker of the world”).  It is a beautiful, sultry, diverse, fascinating city.  We are all fortunate to be here.

Following the train ride into Tugu Station, we organized a brigade of 4 cars to a hotel about a block from “Rumah Goshen”– the Goshen House, where Ben & I and our daughter Avi make our home.  Students rested up a bit, then gathered at our place where we started off with considering our framework for SST (courageous, creative, and compassionate leadership, with a nod to the Goshen College Mission Statement), enjoyed a home-cooked supper of Gule soup with rice, and transferred money to students’ gopay cell phone accounts so that they can pay for bus fares on their own.  Students tried a unique Indonesian fruit (salak, or “snakeskin fruit”) and some games were played.

Tomorrow we will visit a host family home, and walk to the university where language classes will take place.  We plan to ride the bus to practice paying with the gopay app and eat noodles at the small restaurant down the street.  We’ll hear from some guests about Indonesian culture, and talk about culture shock in general, and end with an evening meal.  Our students will meet their host families on Sunday, with a special “serah-terima” brief ceremony where we formally recognize the host family relationship.  It’s a full weekend, but one that we hope will help student feel that they have the tools that they need to transition to these first few weeks in Indonesia.

I am ending the first full day with this SST group with gratitude to everything that comes together to make a SST happen.  None of this would be possible without the graciousness of our host countries.  Ben and I have been blessed again and again with the kindness of so many people here.  From lecturers to landlords, language teachers to host families, international offices to pesantrens, and many more, we have been met with people willing to partner with us.  I am so grateful for the students who made this trek to embark on this journey and for each of their families that (I imagine) took deep breaths and hugged & kissed them farewell.  We will do our best to make good use of our time, immersed in this new culture and open to growth that we can only imagine!