Ryan Cipta Julianda is a recipient of the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) Program at Cornell University in 2021.

The article originally appeared in Cornell SEAP Bulletin Fall 2022, page 12.

Having traveled 15,000 kilometers on my first journey outside of Indonesia, I was both excited and anxious when I arrived as a Fulbright scholar at Cornell University. My main objective was to support and reinforce the teaching of Indonesian at Cornell University, with Ibu Jolanda M. Pandin as my supervisor. In Indonesia I had worked as an English teacher for over seven years, but I was quite nervous to teach alongside an accomplished professional like Ibu Jolanda M. Pandin. Her sensible supervision helped bring out the best in me, and soon I was teaching my own class in intermediate Indonesian, with six students ranging from undergraduates to PhD students. Ibu Jolanda’s constant feedback was very helpful, and I felt myself improving as an instructor – and through that process, it became clear to me that teaching my own language is not as easy as I thought it would be!

As I became more comfortable in my new role, I began to engage more with other opportunities on campus. I devised an after-class speaking program for the students, arranging a regular time for students to speak casually with me in Indonesian. The students found it entertaining, and it gave them an opportunity to explore and use Indonesian more naturally. I also experimented with using memes to introduce vocabulary in Indonesian, making lessons a bit more exciting. One of my favorite experiences at Cornell was running a weekly language table, another way for students to practice outside of class. It was open to all, and it gave me the opportunity to bring the culture of my hometown in West Kalimantan to a new group of people.

As a Fulbright scholar, I hoped to serve as an intercultural bridge between Indonesia and the United States – which included sharing my expertise in Pencak Silat, a legendary traditional martial art from Indonesia which has been recognized by UNESCO as an article of Intangible Cultural Heritage. First, I coordinated with the Cornell’s Muslim Chaplaincy and got in touch with Brother Yasin Ahmed, Muslim campus minister. After coordinating with him, the first ever Pencak Silat class at Cornell was born, with over fifteen students attending the first of our weekly meetings. I was honored to share my passion for martial arts and my culture with these Americans and with other international students. Classes included some of the basic movements of Pencak Silat, the philosophy of the movements and fighting stances, fighting move sets, and the “Jurus” or a set of art movements for public demonstrations.

Beyond an immediate Cornell audience, I offered my skills to a broader assortment of students via my outreach work. I volunteered to give a one-day Pencak Silat class to the Indonesian class at Yale University. Working with the Mario Einaudi center for International Studies and with Postsecondary Outreach Coordinator Kathi Colen Peck, we hatched a scheme to introduce Pencak Silat to students at community colleges across New York. I asked my friends from Indonesia (including Rahayu Nurul Reski, who at that time a visiting scholar of Hasanuddin University from South Sulawesi) to tag along; and we taught not only Pencak Silat but also the dance “Paduppa” from South Sulawesi, and also a game from Indonesia called “Tabak.” We brought our program to Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3) and even as far as Rochester’s Monroe Community College (MCC). I had an absolute blast in bringing my culture to these students. I feel that my presence does something for the betterment of the mutual understanding and intercultural experience between Indonesia and the United States.

I am grateful to everyone that I bonded with in Ithaca starting from my landlord, the Larson’s family, my supervisor Ibu Jolanda, my colleagues at the Southeast Asia Program, and finally all my Indonesian friends studying at Cornell. Being an FLTA was an unforgettable experience, a journey for me which will resound throughout my life.