The Star in Your Eyes-Meeting Indonesia

When the huge roar of the plane rang in my ear, I finally realized that this was the end of the six-week Sunshine 7 project.

I'm leaving after all.

This country has given me too many surprises and accidents, and it has also given me too much warmth and touch.

People often say that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Then I think your eyes should be the sea of stars.

There are two main teaching places in the project: primary schools and NGO orphanages. Remember the first time I took a class in an NGO. Without the projector, more than 40 slides prepared are completely useless. After working hard in front of the blackboard for 10 minutes, I couldn't hold on any longer, and finally I had to end up embarrassed.

A similar situation has been encountered in primary schools. No projector. A whiteboard pen and a whiteboard can hold a class for an hour. Similarly, after the first blunt class, my Turkish sister Aysegul, who was in the same group as me, felt as much pressure.

Children's classes are not as simple as we thought. They are not only curious about you, shy about strangers, but also restless at this age. They also have difficulty in concentrating, are not interested in teaching content and love games.

I often feel stressed and uneasy before class. I often sit in the coffee shop with my buddy Devi for two or three hours to discuss what to teach tomorrow. There is no WIFI at home, so use a little mobile phone traffic to brush some interesting English teaching topics. Since there is no PPT, I will design a blackboard book, print out the content and send it to each student. Since children like games, let them learn while playing.

I really appreciate the tolerance and understanding of my children. Forgive my anxiety and embarrassment and understand my inexperience and immaturity. But unfortunately, the moment I realize that I have grown up, it also means that I am not far away.

What impressed me was an NGO boy. In fact, he was not very interested in my class at first, and even sat alone at the end of each class.

But to my surprise, he will raise his hand slowly when I ask questions, answer my questions loudly, wave to me from afar when I come, give me all kinds of fruit snacks, make faces when I am happy, make me laugh, say goodbye to me seriously after class every day, and secretly praise every photo on ins.

In the last class of NGOs, my partner Tofi (from Vietnam) and I are not going to have classes every day. Tophy brought a guitar, and we sat in the yard behind the classroom, gathered all the children together and held a simple farewell party.

Perhaps it was that sunny afternoon, when Tophy played the guitar and I hummed, and the children's smiles were filled with a warm sunset. But I took a casual look and saw the little boy secretly crying with his back to everyone.

I walked over and hugged him, but my tears couldn't stop.

I remember every warm smile, every time you shouted at me, every time you shook hands after class, your birthday gifts and blessings, every time you hugged tightly, the endless photos you took when you left, the words "Don't forget me" written on the note, the tears you secretly wiped away, and the fact that you held my hand and told me not to go.

How could I forget? How could I forget?

Honey, I remember. I remember everything.

Actually, in my project, due to the shortage of resources, not everyone can pair up with a local buddy.

But fortunately, I have my Devi.

Actually, Devi can't accompany me except for the final exam in the first week. Every day for more than 40 days in Indonesia, I was either with Devi or on my way to see Devi.

Devi is a Muslim girl with a sweet smile. Ever since she knew that she was one year older than me, she taught me to call her Mbak (Indonesian sister). So because of this name, she seems to have really become a conscientious sister, taking care of my daily life, work and entertainment.

Everyday is riding Devi's motorcycle to primary school in the early morning. Find a coffee shop at noon, sit for two or three hours to eat and prepare lessons, and leave for NGO at three in the afternoon. After a day of class, either take me home or go surfing together.

Come to think of it, most of my memories in Semarang seem to be related to her. In order to prepare a birthday surprise for me, I always laughed and starred in a "big play"; Worry about the content of the class together; Deal with Xiong Haizi together and laugh in the corner; Cooking together in her bedroom; Posing wildly together in a jewelry store and then being driven away by the clerk; Try lipstick together for two hours in the mall; Go to Yogyakarta together; Roll the road hand in hand; Discuss the boys around you together and laugh on the motorcycle because of your poisonous tongue ...

This girl is really kind. She will not accompany me to school because of a bad cold and apologize to me three or four times a day. She will patiently translate any questions my children ask me. She goes out of her way to help me translate the dishes on the restaurant menu every day. She will help me pick out the peppers in the dish bit by bit, because I can't eat spicy food. She never worries about where I will stay alone, and always says "I will accept you" to me seriously. She will call me every five minutes because she is worried that I will fall asleep on the motorcycle because I am too tired. She will introduce all her good friends to me, and then secretly joke with me that "you can only recognize me as Mbak". She would talk to me about her boyfriend in the army and complain about the lack of meeting time, but she would giggle and say "I love him very much" with bright eyes. A week before she left, she began to feel sad every day. Worried that I couldn't use Line when I returned to China, I quickly downloaded WeChat and pestered me to send her a message.

She said it was too difficult to leave, and she was afraid that she wouldn't let me go then, but she finally came to the airport to see me off. Give me a magic box and let me open it when I return home. Your eyes are red, but you still have to smile and say goodbye to me.

It has been two days since I opened the box. Tired from the journey, I took a shower and began to pack my things. She sent a message asking me if I arrived safely. I remembered this gift after I returned the news.

I really wanted to hug her again at that moment.

Later, I chatted with Devi and said it was for the special person in her life.

I think my girlfriend Devi and I will meet again one day.

During the project, two patentees cooperated with Turkish sister Aysegul in school and with Tophy in non-governmental organizations.

Aysegul vividly explained the meaning of beauty and kindness. The first time I saw her, I felt beautiful, with exquisite and profound facial features, as if I had come out of an oil painting.

Unfortunately, my little sister was not accompanied by a local buddy, so she encountered the situation that there was no interpreter in class and no one took her on a trip. She often complains to me at lunch that today is another tired day of fu * king, but the next day she will greet every child cheerfully, teach the children English patiently little by little, give every child a small gift from Turkey, write lovely comments on every assignment, and carefully post every child's paintings on the wall at the back of the classroom. So at noon, I was so tired that I took a nap on the table in the coffee shop. After the break, I began to prepare for the afternoon class.

I still remember that birthday. I was so excited by the surprise that I accidentally knocked over the birthday cake she prepared for me. Ethel Gul screamed and laughed, but she came over and hugged me to comfort me.

Because she fell in love with Turkey.

Let's talk about Toffee again. Of all the volunteers in this project, he is the oldest. 24-year-old, has been teaching primary school mathematics in Vietnam for two years.

To tell the truth, at first, my anxiety in NGO class came from comparing with him. After all, NGOs are not regular schools, and children are very casual in class. But he can easily mobilize the classroom atmosphere and keep the children disciplined at the same time. On the other hand, for the first time, I can't let go of myself, let alone make the class active.

So at the end of the first class, I was oppressed by endless inferiority and pressure, and I had the idea of "why did he get my partner?"

However, with class after class, I am more and more glad that my partner is Tophy. We often talk a lot in person after class or on Whatsapp. About teaching, about the theme of tomorrow's class, about the course arrangement ... If I have made progress in teaching during my volunteer period, half of it comes from my child, and the other half, I think, comes from him.

I envy and admire his life experience. Although only five years older than me, I have been to many countries and had volunteer experience. You can carry a mountaineering bag and go to the volcano alone. Riding a bike every day can bypass Semarang. There are always countless games and novel ideas. I am a meticulous teacher when I am serious, but I often get along with all the children, just like children.

After the last class, I had a small party with Devi, Topfi and his partners. Sitting in a local restaurant in Indonesia, Tofi picked up his guitar and began to play a gentle Vietnamese folk song before serving.

Overhead is a huge palm tree, and the sunset shines obliquely through the leaves and falls on the guitar, gently intertwined with the sound of plucking.

After singing, he smiled and said like a big boy:

"Maybe it's the last song."

What impressed me most when I first arrived in Indonesia was the local religion. As a typical Muslim country, piety and awe are deeply buried in the blood of every Indonesian. The five worship starts at five o'clock every morning, no matter where you are or what you are doing. In Dagong's place, worship rooms can be seen everywhere: gas stations, restaurants, schools ... before each large-scale event, there is a period of collective prayer and chanting. A carpet, a gown, when you kneel down and put your hands together on your chest, your body and mind are isolated from the world, and all your troubles and mistakes have nowhere to hide. You regret it and give it to Allah.

I often lament the simplicity and kindness of the people in this country, which I think has a lot to do with their religious piety. With awe and restraint in the heart, people's attitude towards the world is different.

I was lucky enough to attend a traditional Muslim wedding in Indonesia. The bride and groom sat at two ends of a long table, and the host gave them an hour-long lesson on religious belief and marital loyalty. Finally, there is a question-and-answer session of 10 minutes. Such a link is nothing more than trying to arouse people's inner good qualities with religion and give the couple the simplest wedding gift.

It's hard to imagine that Didi taxi software will leave such a deep impression on me.

Go-jek is a well-known taxi app in Indonesia. Different from domestic taxi software, Go-jek takes orders mainly from motorcycles.

I think before I came here, I never imagined that one day I would ride a motorcycle at five o'clock in the morning, holding bread and blowing the cool wind in the morning. Motorcycle drivers talked to me about the city in broken English. I shouted at the driver in front through my helmet, although most of them would be blown away by the wind.

I don't think I would have thought that one day in the middle of the night 12, I was taken to the meeting place with my family by the go-jek driver, and my family was delayed, so the driver stopped to chat with me on the bench by the roadside and waited with me until my family appeared half an hour later.

Talking about this with my little sister at home, she proudly said

"Look, this is our Indonesia."

Say goodbye when the project is over? At the party, there is a link in the darkness, where everyone closes their eyes, and the person who has been ordered opens their eyes and gets up to hug the person you admire.

I didn't feel anything at first, but the music started slowly, and there were so many hugs, long or short, hard or soft. Someone is whispering thank you, and someone can't help crying in your ear.

It's good that so many people love you.

The world is so big, fortunately we met.