It turns out you have to become a teacher in a strange country to start love studying. These days I spend every free moment to read about pedagogy, English grammar, Indonesian culture and history, sailing, ecology, learn Indonesian and cram in bits of my usual psychology studies. I don’t think I have ever spent this much time studying.
(The perks of being a teacher also include students cooking local dishes. Today I get to enjoy pergedel – a traditional Saribudolok dish, made from potatoes.)
(The spelling error- not mine and corrected seconds after the picture was made.)
I just held a long, complicated conversation about Russian politics, European culture, my family, volunteering and my experiences in Indonesia, all while speaking Indonesian. And I honestly feel that saying that I know 300 words in Indonesian would be an exaggeration. It was amazing and fun and hilarious and exhilarating and made my determination to learn Indonesian so much stronger.
A complete language breakdown is when you can figure out the word you are trying to say in 5 languages you don’t speak, but can’t remember it in the 3 languages you technically do speak. Bonus points if you try to write a Facebook post about it and have to weed out words from every language you have ever heard. I actually needed French – English dictionary to complete this post in Facebook, and I swear to god, I know 10 words in French even in my best days.
Una bija spēcīga studente. Ofelija arī ar raksturu!