Senin @ UKSW - Teaching 5 Okt

After the Kebaktian Senin, I met with Pur, whose 2 classes I was going to be taking. However, due to other commitments, she was going to cancel Literary Appreciation and Women and Literature, rescheduling for next week. If a class is cancelled, it must be held at another time, even on a Saturday if need be.

In the afternoon, I was involved in Petru's Cross-Cultural Understanding class. We discussed issues related to cultural differences and values. Four students did a presentation, highlighting differences between orang Batak (Batakese) and orang Jawa (Javanese). Then Petrus went through some slides that focused on individualism and collectivism. I was called on to discuss where Australia fitted; I suggested that while we are in individualistic culture, we're nothing like the US or UK and that collectivism, particularly unionism, has played a strong part in our history and in the development of our community values.

Then we read a short article on how the Japanese view garbage and recycling, which lead into a discussion as to how Indonesia, Japan and Australia deal with garbage. This discussion solved a mystery for me. Each afternoon, as I've headed home around 4-5pm, I've smelt smoke everywhere. I had no idea where it was coming from. That is the time, I was informed by the class, that Indonesians burn all the rubbish that has accumulated during the day. In Australia, we sort the rubbish into two groups: waste and recyclables. In Jepang, they have a two-page handout for foreigners that explains the intricacies of recycling and waste disposal. In Indonesia, waste is burnt. No sorting, no recycling. Though on the streets there are bins that are for different types of waste. Whether they are used, I don't know.