Bali, Indonesia: Teaching in Ubud

To me Bali is more than just a place; it is a feeling. I felt its tug on me last year when we came for the first time. Though it was too short of a trip, Bali immediately brought me in and engulfed me in its natural beauty. Its vibrant green rice terraces flooded my spirit with peacefulness. The rich volcanic, mountainous soil challenged my physical being, yet left me calm; the lapping of the ocean waves on its endless shoreline lulled me into a constant thought provoking state of reflection. It took my breath away, yet allowed me to regain my serenity. Bali had an effect on me unlike any other place I can remember. It felt magical. I knew I would be back.

This was also where Josh and I first began contemplating our Round the World trip. The idea was planted in Bali as a little seed, and when we went home it grew into something much bigger, until we ended up making it a reality less than a year later. Of course we knew we would come back to Bali. But this time we would spend more time in this amazing place, and dive into the culture headfirst.

Rather than being tourists, we wanted to get involved in Bali. We looked at several different opportunities, but ended up finding a great volunteering program (VP Programs Bali) where we could teach English to local children in a small village near Ubud. We felt it was the perfect fit for us, and decided to teach for the month of January, then travel through more of Indonesia after we finished teaching.

As our plane touched down, I was giddy with excitement. We were both incredibly pumped to start the new program and to meet everyone! Since we had taught English in Cambodia for the month of December, we felt more confident in our abilities as teachers and figured we could tackle whatever came our way.

Like usual though, it was a little bit of an adjustment. We were back to having responsibilities, and planning lessons. Our quick Vietnam trip with Carla and Brian was a nice break in between the teaching.

With Novia at her son’s 3 Month Ceremony

We arrived and were dropped off at our homestay where we’d be living for the month, by a man named Wayan. We learned that Wayan was the head of the household at our homestay, and he helped us with virtually everything we needed while we were there. It was raining, but incredibly warm and humid outside nonetheless. We quickly found our room and ran inside, and then got more of the lay of the land. We learned that all the volunteers who would be working at our school all stayed in this same homestay, some with roommates. Josh and I had a room to ourselves, and were so exhausted from a long day of travel that we immediately passed out. The next morning we were woken up around 6am, to several roosters crowing, a baby crying, and some volunteers next door who were learning each other’s life stories. We quickly learned that the walls here were very thin, and that our earplugs would be a must if we wanted to get any sleep at all.

We had our orientation on our first day in Ubud, which was really helpful so we could learn more about what we’d be doing. We got to meet all the new volunteers for our program, and two other programs that VP Bali also runs, in different locations. Because we were starting at the New Year, there was a large influx of new volunteers, so we all spent time getting to know each other. Everyone working with the group was awesome! Funny enough for Josh, he was one of only two guys in the program. It is definitely noticeable to us how many more girls sign up for volunteering than guys! It was like this in Cambodia too….Josh was one of four guys there, out of about fifty volunteers. Single guys take note, start volunteering!

The orientation ended around lunchtime, then we explored around town the rest of the day, and started to read about our three new classes we’d be teaching, starting the next day. There was a binder for each of our classes that had all the old lesson plans from the last couple months, and information about each of the kids. This was really helpful for us and was a lot more than we had received in Cambodia, so we felt like we went into our first day knowing a little bit.

Josh with the younger class

Each class has two teachers, both of which are volunteers from all over the world. Having the two teachers helps with the transition of people coming and going, but since there was a break and only two veteran teachers there, Josh and I were co-teachers together and started the new year with our classes!

We felt like our first day teaching went really well! It was strange teaching with another person, (especially having that person be your significant other) but we clicked really well in the classroom together! In Cambodia we both taught our own classes and got used to leading everything ourselves, but we spent a lot of time outside the classes planning lessons and discussing what worked and didn’t work with each other, so teaching classes together was pretty seamless. We learned that we both have certain strengths that played better with different aged groups and different lessons, so as time went on we learned how to use those in the class.

Our school had three classrooms in total, each room having two teachers, and then two blocks of class each day. Some of the classes came every day, and some only came Mon/Wed or Tues/Thus.

Handclaps with the younger group

The kids were pure joy! Our first class came everyday and they were the younger kids, 8-11 years old. They had extremely wide range of English abilities, but overall I would consider them pretty basic. They could speak enough that we could talk with them, but not enough to write full sentences or anything. We had two local teacher aids who worked with us in the three classrooms to help translate things where needed, which was a great resource in the beginning. Our other two classes came Mon/Wed or Tues/Thus and were a bit older, ranging from 13-17 years old. They seemed to have an even more basic understanding of English, but since they’re older you can’t play the basic kids games with them, so it took us longer to get in a rhythm and figure out how to break through to them.

We decided to focus our time with all three classes teaching them about nouns. With the younger group we played a lot of interactive learning games like Bingo, Pictionary, and team games on the board. We also taught them some fun songs and dances like the chicken dance and hokey pokey. With our older kids we did some comprehensive reading exercises, and played a lot of team games where they had to write words on the board, Pictionary, etc. Our classes were so much fun, and they kept us moving and active each day! The kids were so happy and full of life, and really caught on quickly to things. It always amazes me how fast children can pick things up.

Selfie with VP Programs Ubud Teachers!

Our other teacher volunteers we worked with were awesome! The people you meet while volunteering are so incredibly interesting, and it’s definitely part of the fun of the experience! You can learn so much about the world by volunteering, in large part because of the people you cross paths with. Everyone has something you can learn from. We taught with Niels, a German guy who lived in Holland the last few years but now lives in Bali and is working remotely a digital nomad, speaking four fluent languages. Lila was from Finland, and has traveled to Africa, Asia and all over the world, and was an au pair in two different countries. Elisa is Italian who speaks fluent English and German, and worked as a journalist for the UN. Tima is from Tunisia but lives in Qatar, and speaks French, Arabic, Japanese and English fluently… the list goes on and on. Speaking English brings people together from everywhere. It’s mind blowing to me that it is not most of their first languages, yet they are out of their comfort zone and teaching it to the young kids in Bali. It definitely inspired me, and motivated me to want to become fluent in other languages too (I am going to try to re-learn Spanish in South America!).

The teachers in the village during an important ceremony

Teaching is definitely out of my comfort zone, compared to my normal career working in digital marketing. But it’s good to be out of your comfort zone and to experience different challenges. Working with the kids has taught me a lot about myself. It’s taught me about having patience, and how valuable it can be to just be a consistent and solid role model in young people’s lives. It was tough leaving after only one month. It went by way too quickly!

We definitely enjoyed having a home base for the month, and Ubud was the perfect place. We were able to join a gym, go to some amazing yoga classes, and experience the beauty that central Bali has to offer. This is definitely one of my favorite cities in the world. It can be thought of as chaotic (especially compared to what it used to be like a few years back), but for us it has enough bustle of a little city, with many quick escapes into calmer, quieter areas. In five minutes you can be off the hot, busy street (which doesn’t have enough sidewalk to safely walk on) and into the quiet farm rice terraces, where all you can hear is the water flowing near your feet and the cicadas chirping. You can get lost, and just wander.

Our village during ceremony

Campuhan Ridge walk

Ubud is a pretty compact little town, filled with charm, and many great little places to dine, hang out, and relax. We got an amazing massage every week (for $6- a total steal!) at the place next door to our homestay. There were amazing dining options, and there is so much to see and do (if you want to), or it’s a great place to just wander. I adore Ubud, and we couldn’t have chosen another place to spend a month on this trip. We were able to catch up on life a bit and plan the next legs of our journey, as well as enjoy the amazing vibe of the town, and hang out with our new friends.

Kecak Fire and Trance Dance, Ubud

Soto Ayam

Rice, Rice Baby

Thumbs Up with our Older Kiddos

I can’t possibly describe the impact this experience and place has had on me. It’s so hard to capture the essence of Ubud, our homestay, our school and the beautiful people we’ve met over the last month. But I will tell you that I feel different, and renewed. I’ve learned so much about life that you can’t find from following routine and passing each day the same. I feel blessed I was given the opportunity to pass my knowledge down to some of the kids, even if it may have been as basic as my native language. I won’t ever know the impact I’ve had on each of them, but I know the impact they’ve had upon me. I pray for more moments like these along the next chapter of our journey, and can’t wait to see what the future holds.