On Friday, September 29, ETA Avery Erickson hosted her first English club meeting with students across different vocational programs at her school. Wanting to facilitate new bonds between students while introducing the diversity of American culture, Avery created an “American Regions Personality Quiz” for each student to complete. The questions ranged from preferences of food (“Would you rather eat tacos from California, a Philly cheese steak, or Soul Food?”), to preferences of national parks, animals, cities, and music. Each answer corresponded to a general American region (A corresponded with the West, B’s with the Northeast, C’s with the South).

At the end of the activity, students were divided into their preferred regions and were asked to discuss their responses. The activity was originally designed to project a PowerPoint presentation on the wall so students could see each question and its corresponding images, but the lights and electricity shut off minutes after the club began. The ETA improvised by walking around the room, with only her iPhone flashlight to illuminate her path, to show each student the PowerPoint questions and images from her laptop. This created a personable and rather spooky atmosphere that the students found hilarious. Everyone spoke only in whispers. By the end of the session, everyone felt giddy with excitement for the next English Club.

Avery Erickson is currently teaching at SMKN 4 Surakarta, Central Java.