Model United Nations

Lean back and look at the camera

This Thursday- Saturday 6 SPH students and 2 teachers(me included) participated in Model United Nations at Jakarta International School (Tim Stuart's school, for those who know him). Model United Nations (or MUN for short) take place all over the world and offers High School and University students the chance to simulate the diplomacy and problem solving (or lack thereof) that takes place at the real UN. Every school is given a number of countries to represent (Georgia, Jordan, and Thailand for us) and then tries to faithfully model their interests during the event.

SPH student caucusing during a break

The whole event was impressive as schools came from all over Asia (Manilla, Beijing, Bangkok and Hong Kong, for example) and wowed us with their oratorical and debate skills, not to mention their knowledge of history and current events. For first timers, our students did well and were able to present 3 resolutions before committees.

The best part of the whole weekend is all the grading I caught up on as they did their simulation:)

sweeda

Bali Bombers and The Mentang Kid

In stark fashion, two contrasting news stories have dominated the news here the past few weeks…providing interesting and divergent thoughts on pluralism, rule of law and forgiveness:

Last Sunday morning, the Indonesian government executed 3 men for their involvement in the 2002 terrorist Bali nightclub bombing that killed 202 people. The execution led to stepped up security measures following urgings by the prisoners for people to avenge their deaths. Following advice from the U.S. embassy, we “laid low” last weekend to avoid potential mobs of angry people. The mobs seemed to be contained to the bombers home villages.

Less than two weeks ago, the U.S. elected Barack Obama as new President. Policy aside, President elect Obama represents the best of what America stands for to Indonesia: opportunity, achievement, equality, change and diversity. Add to that the fact that he lived in Jakarta for 4 years as a young boy and that his half sister is Indonesian and you have Obamamania. In fact, he is known as the Mentang Kid here (Mentang is the neighborhood he lived in Jakarta).

sweeda

Tris and Kim's Blog

Here is an interesting story from our friends' blog regarding Janet. Warning: if you are squemish about snakes, you may want to skip this!

http://trisandkim.blogspot.com/2008/11/what-day-and-its-only-11-am.html


Go to the November 6 entry.

Bulan Bahasa

Eric and I blending in with the locals

This week SPH celebrated Bulan Bahasa, the equivilent to Heritage week in North America. A chance for everyone to immerse themselves in all things Indonesian: Language, culture, food, music and dress. Some highlights:

• The canteen sold exclusively Indonesian food. My personal favorite for this week was Sate (pronounced sat-ay) which are skewers of grilled chicken with peanut sauce along with rice wrapped in banana leaves. (I'm also a fan of rendang which is curry and chili sauce over rice and beef or chicken). On the weird side, people here love congealed things in their drinks. It's rather disturbing to get a slimy ball of jello in your mouth as you are drinking fruit juice.


• The kids had competitions in Bahasa (language) which included debate, music composition, dance, and monologue. The week concluded with a large assembly showing off all the winners of the competitions.


• Friday was Batik day when students were allowed to wear traditional batik shirts, dresses and skirts. Eric and I joined the fun, as you can see above.

Talk more later,

steve