January comprised of a Temanggung Madrasah 5K, a trip with the hilarious Pak Husni to Jakarta for the AMINEF Mid-Year Conference, and lessons about climate change, MLK Day, and a recount text about a bule eating durian for ETA Lucy Faust.

The highlight, for ETA Lucy Faust, her counterpart Bu Atik, and 86 students, was receiving pen pal letters from a Californian 9th-grade World Cultures class. The Californian class focuses on Islam but had not focused on Indonesia yet and was excited to learn more. The topic of the letters this month were “Introductions and Daily Life” and students talked about their daily activities and their favorite hobbies. For the next four more months, letters will discuss topics like, “Assumptions about America/Indonesia,” “Current Events,” “Islam in Indonesia,” and “Future Plans.”

This personalized cultural exchange has been a dream for Bu Atik and ETA Lucy is so happy it is becoming a reality. ETA Lucy is learning about her students, her students are learning about American students, and American students are learning about Indonesia and new pen pal friends!

Lucy Faust is currently teaching at MAN Temanggung, Central Java.