Experience: Sander Spaan, Pandang, Indonesia

The Beginning Per the day of today it has been exactly one month since my return from my Aiesec experience in Indonesia. In short Aiesec is the organization that facilitates the possibility for students to go abroad and take part in the local cultures and organization.

It all starts when it became clear for me that there was going to be a fourth year of IBA coming and the first trimester would be entirely empty. I wanted something new, something I could look back on for the rest of my life and say it was a life-changing experience, which is exactly the thing most people would tell you NOT to expect just to make sure you are not disappointed.

On the beginning I was a bit picky, since there Is this massive Hype about Tanzania, must say I also started searching a bit late and there weren’t that much TN’s in the database yet for September. All of a sudden I decided that I wanted to go away so bad that I decided to apply for anything that sounded suitable, Indonesia, Tanzania, Mauritius etc. In the end however I was accepted for all of them. I still don’t really know why I chose Padang, Indonesia, maybe it was my best friend (Putri, who is Indonesian) or just pure intuition, anyway I am glad I did.

The main Issue with Indonesia is that getting a Visa might get you in some trouble, so if you want to know how to contact me! I by now know every single little sheet they might want to have from you!

The Arrival

After a 22 hour flight I walked into a living room full of family that had never seen someone as blond as me making me feel almost famous. Because I didn’t know what to expect it shocked me that there was a gun lying on the table (which later didn’t turn out to be real) when it comes down to the facts Padang appears to be very safe, at least for man that are taller than all the rest of the population.

My main contact in my temporary host family was Jimmy, a very friendly guy that had been in Aiesec for years as an active member who spoke English very well, by now he is really like a brother to me. Anyway it all comes down to this, I could not imagine to find a family in the area that was more friendly and better looking than they were, not to mention actually had normal toilets. So after I was invited after a couple of days to stay I decided that I wouldn’t move to my intended host family.

Since my internship wouldn’t start until Wednesday the first things we did was cruising around beaches visiting stores and getting in touch with the Aiesec people. It is unimaginable how friendly the people in Padang are they are willing to do anything for you, they are also extremely happy. Anyway the Aiesec people and the people on the street will treat you like a celebrity which crazy enough will make you realize that being famous probably sucks.

The Cultural Experiences

Another important aspect of Padang it the food, I think I am not wrong when I say that the Padang food is the main inspiration for most of the food that we classify as Indonesian. First of all the food is delicious second of all its spicy as hell. So let me give you some advice DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES EAT GREEN CHILI’S, even if you think you can, you can’t some of the trainees before me actually had to go to the hospital because of the damage that was done.

Even though people, technology etc. is world wide in most cases you will make some shocking discoveries in Indonesia when it comes to the needs of the people. First of all the Indonesians in Padang drive around in a transport system known as the angkot; also known as some super over tuned mini-van.

These little vans mainly consists of some couches and a massive 2000 watt stereo system blasting Justin Bieber in your ears. After one day in Padang, if you didn’t already, you will wish he was never born, anyways you can imagine that 16 people in such a van plus Justin Bieber doesn’t make your day but you’ll get used to it. Then there is also another fact that might shock you, once you walk in to the toilet and see that it is in fact nothing more than a hole in the ground you will also come to the horrific conclusion that Muslim people do not use toilet paper. Aah you will hear yourself say, that’s why they get hepatitis A and the left hand thing and indeed, you are right once again.

The Internship

So now back to my actual experience over there, at this point I finally start working in the school since I haven’t spoken of it before, I was an English teacher in a Senior High school in Padang. I must say I super Enjoyed teaching the kids English since they are so disciplined and interested in what you have to say. One thing you will notice however is that the teachers in Indonesia have a drastically low English level leading into a massive communication failure on day to day bases. A major mistake they make is pretending they understand you, so when they ask you for a distance and you say;”where too” they will pretend they understand you and assume that where too is a measure of distance, this is just an example. Also they are not really all that serious about… being serious so if you don’t show up for a day or 3 they will simply not even ask you where you were. So when it actually comes down to the internship I must say that I would have hoped I could do more, for the rest I really enjoyed it.

The Travels

So for the rest I have been visiting offshore Islands like Sikuai, which is probably one of the most beautiful places on the planet. In this case I went here with my Girlfriend, Amalia, who is also Jimmy’s cousin. I probably spend most of my time with her and she is without a doubt one of the major reasons that will make this experience for what it is and will also be my reason to return to Padang someday. I won’t go in to much detail but it comes down to we fell in love immediately, had the most wonderful two months of our lives, are unfortunately apart by now because Indonesia doesn’t happen to be around the corner, nevertheless hope to see each other in the future again because she is without a doubt the most special girl I have ever met.

As probably anyone that goes to the other side of the world for the first time in their life you will want to travel around a bit, as mentioned before I went to an Island, tons of beaches, I also visited some cities in the neighborhood, the Maningjou lake, Kuala Lumpur and Bali every single one unforgettable. I ended my trip with Bali in my case which was probably the best decision, Bali is Hindoe this case and more open to the west. So it kind of offered me the possibility to go back in stages, to have our culture again but still the nice weather.