The End of TK...

Good Morning!

It is with a bit of a heavy heart (and a tear or two glistening on my cheek) that I announce that the primary component of my official assignment here in Indonesia has reached its end. Yesterday, I said good-bye to 61 of the most respectful, patient, and unconditionally loving little people I've ever met. We celebrated the end of the year with a Kung Fu Panda 2 and banana pancake party that was truly cross-cultural, as we used a Western pancake recipe, and topped the pancakes off with Gula Jawa sauce, a Javanese sugar sauce. It felt a bit surreal to say good-bye to my kiddies, and I can't really wrap my mind around the fact that I will likely never again see those kids, who were my greatest source of joy this year, and who provided me with so many smiles, laughs, and opportunities for learning and growing. My kiddies taught me more than I could have ever hoped to teach them, particularly about being patient (they have way more patience than I do), about being content (they're way more content than I am), and about just seeing the joy in the little things (like a sticker). I'm thankful beyond thankful that those kids were put into my life here, and they will be missed above all else when I am home and reflecting upon my life here.

Banana pancakes with my TK kiddies. These kids made my year!

 The last two weeks have been a bit nuts, as we were preparing for the TK-B Graduation ceremony last Saturday, and then for the TK end-of-the-year party, which happened yesterday. Kenang-kenangan (keepsakes/souvenirs/momentos) are a big part of the Indonesian tradition, and I have already been given so much from so many people; the generosity has really been overwhelming. On the flip side, there is not only a hope for, but an expectation, for me to provide the same for people here. That has been equally overwhelming, though for different reason, and the preparation for that consumed almost every free minute of my days for the last little while (and severely cut into my sleep, which has made these last few weeks quite exhausting). What could I possibly have been doing to consume so much time, you ask? Well, I wanted to do something unique and memorable for my kiddies, something that represented this year in a special way. It also had to be something affordable, since anything I did for 1 person had to replicated 60 more times. Finally an idea came to me- flag cookies! I decided I would bake sugar cookies for all of the kids, cut them into rectangles, and ice them to look like the Indonesian flag and the Canadian flag (two cookies for every kid). I thought it would kind of be a cool cultural thing, it would be unique, and it would reflect the immense amount of love that I feel for those kiddies.As it turns out, more love (and a drop or two of stress) went into those cookies than I ever thought possible. About 5 days of love, to be exact. I learned that sugar cookie dough melts at an alarmingly rapid speed here in this climate, so I could only rip off small bits at a time, keeping the rest in the freezer, and then quickly roll and cut before the dough melted into a gooey mess. I also went through a shocking quantity of flour, trying to un-stick the dough every time I rolled it. Then we'd carve the maple leaf into them prior to baking (all credit for that goes to my friends Debora, Anna, and Laura), and then pop 'em in the oven, 8 or 9 at a time. And then there was the icing process! I wanted to make hard icing, so that I could put the cookies into baggies, and package them all pretty (complete with homemade name tags, a hand-written note, and a picture of me on the back). Corn syrup was nowhere to be found, however, so we (Laura and I) decided to make our own. In the process, we created a lovely thick caramel candy- so hard, in fact, that we couldn't even bite it, let alone mix it into the icing like corn syrup. We fixed that little blunder, and then soldiered forth with icing 122 cookies (which was also no easy task). Anyways, so the cookie baking/icing/bagging expedition was a drawn out one, and I questioned whether it was even going to be worth it in the end. I got my answer this morning, when one of the parents came in (a parent of one of my favourite kiddies in the TK). She said that her son (Yusuf is his name) woke up this morning, and suddenly remembered that I am leaving. She said he started crying, and was looking around for the picture of me that I had stuck to the back of the cookie bags. She said he held it close to his heart after that. That alone was worth all the stress and tension of the cookie-making ordeal. Another student came up to me and asked when I'd be able to make those again for her. She really liked them! So in the end, it was all worth it, and I'm glad I did it.

The end result of my cookie baking endeavour! (With many MANY thanks to those who helped me get these done!)

In addition to the TK kids, the list of people who are anticipating at least a little something from me includes the staff at church and at the TK, the staff at PPA, the youth group, and about 150 PPA kids. I head to Salatiga on Monday to continue the cookie baking excitement. ;) While I have been a bit(?) overwhelmed with trying to come up with ideas of how to show my appreciation to such a large number of people (which is a challenge, as it is entirely impossible to repay people here for all of their help and kindness this year), there is an incredible blessing in that. I am realizing just how many people's lives I got to be involved in this year, and how well-received I have been by those people. This year has certainly looked quite different than how I anticipated it to look, and sometimes I feel a deep sense of frustration and disappointment that my wildly idealistic visions for this year weren't met. I've felt like I haven't learned what I was so hoping to learn, and haven't accomplished what I was expecting to accomplish. The tangible reminder in the form of a mega list of all the people I need to thank, shows me that while this year may not have been what I was expecting it to be, it was still undoubtedly a worthwhile year. I learned from all of these people that I interacted with, in ways that were entirely unanticipated. These interactions have provided me with a LOT to think about and consider; my preconceived notions have been shattered, and my views of overseas mission, of service, and of new cultures has been dramatically altered. While these learning experiences have often been confusing, frustrating, and challenging, I think that ultimately I can only respond with gratitude for the opportunity to have had these experiences. When I get back home and have a chance to reflect upon this year, I hope to gain a clearer and clearer vision of how this year shaped me. For now however, I shall continue to bake my cookies by the dozen, and try to maintain as stress-free an attitude as I possibly can!

Between all the baking and gift giving and receiving, a notable event that occurred in the last few weeks was the TK-B Graduation Ceremony! Kindergarten graduations here certainly put our kindergarten graduation ceremonies at home to shame. (Do they even celebrate that accomplishment in Canada?) My kiddies were decked out in robes and graduation hats, and the teachers worked all week to make tubes (is there an official word for that?) for their little graduation certificates. Makeup artists and hairdressers came in early last Saturday morning, and all of the kids (boys included) were made over in preparation for the big event. This was another opportunity for me to experience the differences between what we hold as standards of beauty. I got up early that morning, put on my makeup (which includes powder that makes my skin a little darker), and headed to school. About an hour later, I was being doused in whitening foundation and powder; white skin is as highly regarded as beautiful as tanned skin is in our culture (perhaps even more so here). They also did my hair in an inexplicable hairdo that only pictures can capture. I'll suffice to say that it took over an hour to un-tease it (we were halfway to dreadlocks, she teased the bottom layers so much) and to wash out the half bottle of hairspray used to hold my hair in place. I was also dressed in a kebaya, a traditional Javanese outfit for formal occasions. (Well, half a kebaya, as the skirt part was not intended for my Western figure.)

That hairstyle was a feat of humanity. The shirt I'm wearing is a kebaya, traditional Javanese clothing

The Graduating Class!

 I played the music for the ceremony, and was presented with a beautiful gift (a batik shirt, a batik dress, and a batik bag, along with two batik maps) as a thank-you from the TK. I gave a little thank-you speech as well, and presented them with a small gift too. Afterwards, the kids all changed into costumes and put on a play/dance/musical show of sorts. It was about as high quality as you could expect from 3-5 year olds, but the adorableness of it outweighed the lack of coordination. Overall, it was a really great little production, and I was really glad to be able to be involved in this little memorable moment of these kids' lives.
Other than that, the last days and weeks have held a pre-wedding dinner and the accompanying wedding the next day, some trips to different batik stores to search for some good things to take back with me, and a whoooole bunch of trips to the picture developing store and the baking supply store. It's been busy busy busy, and I'm glad that this weekend is a bit slower. It'll be nice to have a break. This afternoon is just housekeeping, with youth happening tonight. Tomorrow is church and then a free afternoon, and then I head to Salatiga on Monday morning.

My schedule is really filling up for these last few weeks in Semarang, as people are kindly offering to take me out on special little adventures, or inviting me to join in pre-planned outings and events. It's going to be a busy finale to the year!

I hope you're all keeping well. Those of you in the Niagara area who are going to the Strawberry Festival, eat something delicious for me!! ;)

Have a great weekend!
Love,
Ellery