Being a Muslim in Aceh is VERY Different From America.

Generally, the locals here assume that I am not from America. When they see me, they generally believe that I am from Turkey or rarely, even some Arab state. However, when they learn that I am from America, a flurry of questions follows.

"Where are you from in America?"

"Were you born Muslim?"

"Why didn't you take on a Muslim name?" (Reader note: my name is the name of a Biblical prophet and thus sufficiently Islamic, at least from my point of view.)

All of these are fair questions, and I appreciate the conversation. Something which doesn't often translate as well is the fact that being a Muslim in America is rather difficult. Here's a list of problems we face in America, and reasons why I have come to love living in an Islamic region.

1.) There's a masjid everywhere. In America, it's rather difficult sometimes to find a masjid and there's almost no prayer rooms of any sort anywhere. This means that prayer is usually done at home. I personally like to pray outside, and I do feel that this is important. In the hadith it has related, "When the time for prayer has come upon you, perform the prayer for all of the Earth is a place of worship for you."

Still, praying in public is not always easy as I'll explain later.

2.) Everyday, I hear the azaan. In America, you will never hear the azaan unless you are actually inside a masjid. The difference for me is incredible. There is just this... energy you feel when you hear it outloud each day. It's an affirmation for me, and extremely important.

3.) I don't experience prejudice for being a Muslim. In America, a large number of states have now outlawed the Shari'a. Not that Americans understand that Shari'a is a code of conduct for Muslims, that outlawing it is effectively outlawing Islam...

Then again, there are many Americans who would LOVE to outlaw Islam. Right now, it is a significant talking point in the Republican primaries. A man or woman who could very well be our next president may be actively hostile to Muslims. These are dangerous times for Muslims in America, and I'm not certain I want to raise my family in America.

A Busy Weekend!

This past weekend, I had absolutely no chances to post! With the lengthy power outage on Saturday and a full day of looking for a new motorcycle or motorscooter, I just didn't have the time to post anything. One thing for students of blogging to see here is that it is highly important that you continue to blog to maintain some degree of interest from your readership. Checking on visitors, I probably received no more than 20 visitors all weekend!

Pangsit, My Salvation

One of the difficulties for me as an outsider here in Aceh is finding foods that are not as spicy as the locals generally enjoy. Most meals here are "sangat pedas", very spicy. Back home, I considered myself to be someone who enjoys eating spicy foods. Coming here to Aceh though, I may have to reconsider how I define spicy!

After trying and failing on many occasions to find less spicy varieties of food, my wife got pangsit for me at a local warung. For those reading from outside Indonesia, pangsit is kind of pan fried Chinese style noodle. It is generally rather oily and typically not as spicy as other dishes. Finally having access to something that I can tolerate is helping me to enjoy my time here MUCH more.

For my readers, what are some Acehnese foods I might enjoy that are less spicy? I'm a fairly picky eater, so I'm not generally eager to try new foods. Still, I need to try more foods and I'd like to get a taste for the local foods.

I can't live on Pizza Hut and KFC forever.

Favorite Songs #1

A fun and easy way to acquire further English language skill is listening to American and British music. I hope to share some music that has easy to follow lyrics that is addictive to listen to as well as informative for Indonesian learners. Now, I know most of you are already familiar with Western pop music, so I thought I'd start with an excellent "oldie". This is a soul classic by Sam Cooke called "A Change Gonna Come". It's a protest song, penned during the civil rights era of the United States.

See if you can ascertain the meaning of the song and discuss with others. Did you enjoy the song? What did you enjoy about the message?

First Day of Introduction to IELTS!

While I take pleasure in education in general, I find pedagogy the most rewarding when there is a lot at stake. Today marked the beginning of an IELTS preparation class where I focused on the written portion of the examination. For those unfamiliar with IELTS, it's one of the most commonly applied tests to measure the level of English speaking, writing, listening, and reading held by non-native speakers. This test's results can decide whether a non-native speaker can attend Western universities.

As a result, there is a lot at stake for both my teaching and my students. I am confident in my abilities and in the abilities of my pupils though, so I feel quite strongly that we will see some excellent test results from the current batch of applicants.

Aceh, as a developing region, needs to produce as many strong English language candidates as possible. If I can be an integral part of this development, then I feel as if I can give a great deal back to a community that has welcomed me so warmly. I will never forget the kindness I have experienced from the Acehnese people, and it is my desire to further the educational objectives of my students for years to come.

A Day At Syiah Kuala University (Unsyiah)

Yesterday, my good friend and co-educator Masrizal asked me to conduct a question and answer session for two of his classes at Syiah Kuala University, the oldest and largest university in Banda Aceh. Being that it is part of my goal to spread English to as many students as possible, I felt that this was a great opportunity to discuss English language topics and spread knowledge of this blog. The student body was very welcoming, though a little shy. I am pleased to say, however, that they asked many revelant questions in relation to English language development within Aceh.

It is my hope that some day in the near future I will be asked to return to the university to speak to the student body.

One of the common themes I have noticed among Indonesian students is that very few are engaged in reading for pleasure. Some weeks back, I spoke with another English language educator from the United States who told me that Indonesian students don't read for pleasure as often as they should. Judging from this small sample, almost no one raised their hand when asked if they read for pleasure. For a long term goal, what do some of our readers think would be an excellent way to improve literacy in Indonesia?

Also, I'd like to add that buleocracy has had its first visitors from outside of Indonesia! We got two hits from Germany today! This is a strong example for the Indonesian students that a blog is not just about you or your home culture but a vast world of visitors to exchange ideas with.

Some of My Favorite Blogs #1

I follow a lot of blogs. Most of the blogs I follow are very topical, they cover a variety of social issues. Others are for fun though, and one of my favorites is Just Bento. Click the link to enjoy! Just Bento is devoted to teaching people the Japanese art of bento lunches. Bento is essentially a method for making lunch boxed meals appetizing, healthy, and aesthetically pleasing (beautiful).

As you can see, your blog can literally be about any topic you want!

My First Class In Indonesia

Today marked my first day of teaching Indonesian students about English conversation. Most of the time was spent getting to know my students and establishing their skill in the English language. While most of the work was somewhat complicated for my students today, it was a good way to "kill two birds with one stone". As some of my students may now know, killing two birds with one stone is an English idiom that suggests you can handle two tasks at once. Introductions and conversation were intertwined, allowing students to learn about myself and one another while also acquiring some new words and concepts in English.

I find teaching immensely satisfying, and it is my hope that my students feel empowered in my class. What is meant by the term "empowered"? In English, it's often useful to consider the root of a word. Within the word empowered is the word "power". To have power is to have control or authority. I want each of you to feel in control of your English language acquisition and expression. In other words, I want each of you be "empowered" or in control of your education.

English is a living language, something that you "get" through your use of English. Therefore, since I mentioned root words, can you add some root words that are useful for English language education? Here are some examples for you to discuss:

FIRE
FIREMAN
FIRED

FREE
FREEDOM
FREED

BIOLOGY
BIOHAZARD
BIOSPHERE

SOCIAL
SOCIETY
SOCIALIST
SOCIALIZE

POLYMORPH
MESOMORPH
MORPHINE

In these examples, if you can understand the meaning of the shared root, you have some grasp of the other words. So, in effect, mastery of one word can lead to mastery of multiple words. This will increase your vocabulary. Discuss some of the words above. Don't worry if you don't know the words, the important thing is discussing these words to get to the meaning.

So What's a "Buleocracy"?

While searching for a new name for my blog, I wanted something I felt was fairly clever that also expressed English language concepts you may not be familiar with. First, I knew that I wanted to express that I was a foreigner here in Indonesia. Ok, so I chose the word "bule" to express that I was foreign. Next I thought about English language concepts that could be taught through my title. The word "portmanteau" describes two words which have been combined to form a new word with perhaps a shared meaning. A modern form of slang as an example might be "terribad", a combination of the words terrible and bad. So a buleocracy is a combination of the Indonesian word bule with -cracy, usually an ending associated with governmental functions or concepts. For example, the words "democracy" or "bureaucracy" both relate to government. The idea behind this blog's name then is like literally saying "this is organized by a foreigner".

However, the word is also what we call a "pun". A pun is literally a play on words where the word has multiple meanings or a comparable sound. For example, "visualize whirled peas" is a play on the phrase "visualize world peace". The sounds are similar, so it's intended as a joke. For this blog's name, the idea is that the new word of buleocracy sounds a lot like the word bureaucracy. Puns are often considered a source of mild humor in the English language. Generally, we don't actually consider them funny, but they are sometimes expressed in a mocking fashion. The idea is that I want to express that the blog is fun and is meant to be humorous.

So what will some of you name your blogs? Don't feel as if you have to come up with concept like mine to name your blog. It could be named "Daniel's Blog" or "Daniel's Thoughts" or "Daniel's Diary" and still be just as good. Bloggers often choose a unique or eyecatching name to attract new readership. If you want to blog about a specific issue, try to include that in the name of your blog. For example, if you want to blog about surfing, including something about surfing in the title would be recommended.

What you do with your blogs though is totally up to you!

Welcome!

I'd like to welcome my friends and students to the inaugrual post of buleocracy! The purpose of this blog is not just to document my experience as a "bule" (foreigner) here in Indonesia, but to also give practice in English language reading, writing and commentary to my students. Blogging is an excellent way to exchange ideas and express your opinion. Anyone can be a blogger, and it is my hope that each of you will share your own blogs with your friends or to create new blogs of your own in any language you choose!

For the purposes of our class project, our objectives/rules for our blogs will be:

-All blogging will be conducted solely in English. Feel free, naturally, to create companion blogs in Acehnese, Indonesian, Arabic or any language you want.

-You can blog about anything you want to provided the material is not offensive. Generally, blogs are free speech. People often blog about politics, religion, social justice issues etc. For the purposes of our class work, we will stick to posting about anything that is NOT controversial. As above, feel free to create companion blogs to express more controversial sentiments.

-You should post comments on classmates' blogs. Even if it's just a sentence that reads "nice work Daniel!", the more practice you have in expressing English here the more successful the exercise. Even better would be a running discussion with questions for the original poster!

-If you can, post something small every three days. Feel free to post as MUCH as you want. Blogging is often as simple as keeping an online diary. Posting that you had a great day at a coffee shop is all that is needed sometimes. Developing a readership and an interesting blog takes time.

-Provide pictures, if you can.

I look forward to seeing what all of you have to say! We have an idiom in English, "my door is always open", this means that I am always willing to talk to you and help you with your English proficiency. If you don't understand what was expressed, or you want help expressing yourself, please let me know. Don't be afraid to ask questions. You can contact me in private through email at smurgleton@gmail.com if you need to, but questions are best expressed in the comments section of the blog for others to see.