During her students’ week of midterm exams, ETA Nitika Johri had the week off of school. Her family came to visit the island of Bali.

Nitika met her family in Bali on the day before Nyepi, a Balinese Hindu day of silence to celebrate the Saka New Year. On their first day, they watched the Ogoh-Ogoh festival, in which spiritual pollutants from human activities are purified in the streets. On their second day, they spent the entire day inside their hotel celebrating Nyepi, where no one is allowed outside or on the street, and should spend their day meditating.

After celebrating Nyepi, they enjoyed a week of learning about Balinese Hinduism and enjoying the stunning beauty of the Balinese coastline. Her parents had previously visited Hindu temple ruins in Central Java and Yogyakarta, so they found it fascinating to compare the variations in the Hinduism they grew up with in India, the Hindu architecture that remains in parts of Central Java, and the interpretations of architecture and theory on Bali.

While Nitika found Bali to be extremely different from any other part of Java she has experienced, she found her seven and a half months of exposure to Javanese and Indonesian culture helpful. She was able to communicate in Indonesian to befriend guides, and she talked to many former English students about how their language skills have given them opportunities in tourism and abroad.

Nitika Johri is currently teaching at SMAN 1 Salatiga, Central Java