This unit's title is Where We Are in Place and Time. We're focusing on how family ancestry and origin affect present and future generations. Through this unit, students explore the changes between generations that have led to where they are today, their responsibility for continuing or starting traditions, and recognizing how they can learn about their past and heritage. It's been such a fun project!
I've gotten really into it! I called up my mom and she had my family, all along the eastern half of the US searching through their records finding information on my family history. I learned that my middle name goes back 6 (or maybe more) generations, that I had a great-great-grandfather that came through Ellis Island from Wales, and that much of the rest of my family is German... hence the nasty sauerkraut every new years. I was able to share my stories with my kids and get them fired up about searching for their own histories.
Yesterday, we had parents come in and present about some of the cultures from which they come. We had Java (the island that Jakarta is on), Sumatra (the large Island that is just north of Java), and Chinese (since many of our students are Chinese-Indonesian). It was awesome to see all the kids dressed up in their culture's traditional clothes, eat traditional food, and hear the moms talk about where they're from.
A group of girls started out the morning with a traditional dance from Java.
One of the big things all over Indonesia is batik. One of the moms is in the fashion business and was able to show us how to make batik. Ibu Ida and Ibu Hastin (two of the Indonesian teachers in grade three) are from a city on Java called Yogyakarta, which is famous for it's cultural traditions. Yogyakarta is still run with a royal family, and royal families each have their own type of batik. No one is able to wear that batik pattern to the palace except if you are part of the family. Fun fact of the day.
This mom also talked about the kebaya, which is traditional Indonesian dress. Since we all dressed up in our cultural-wear, Ibu Hastin wore the kebaya that she wore in her wedding! She said it's probably her second time wearing it... The kebaya isn't the whole outfit. It's just the long, lacy, jeweled shirt. The women wear a long skirt (wrapped like a sarong) and a tank under the kebaya. Though, I learned from the moms that originally, the kebaya was only an extra jacket. The sarong was wrapped around the chest and the kebaya was just put on over top of that. Today, it's worn like this. The nice ones are usually just on special occasions, like weddings, graduations, or traditional dances, though I see simple versions around on a regular basis.
Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world. Consequently, the culture varies greatly from island to island. Sumatran culture and art is very different from Javanese. Even the Sumatran culture we learned about here, Batak, from the northern part of Sumatra, is very different from other areas of Sumatra.
While Javanese batik is quite colorful, old traditional Sumatran art and fabric is made only of red, black, and white, though other colors have been added through the years.
Indonesians must declare a religion on their government identification card. For most Indonesians, this is Islam, since Indonesia is the largest Muslim country outside of the Middle East. But apparently eighty-percent of Sumatrans claim Christianity as their religion. The mom here explained that it's because of German missionaries that came and spread the Gospel. She showed us her Bible, written in a Batak language, and this guy was the lucky one to read John 3:16 for us.
The Chinese have along and interesting history in Indonesia. First, the Indonesians had the power... then the Chinese did and retaliated against the Indonesians, and then it flipped back again. Many Chinese families have changed their family names to Indonesian names to avoid the stigmatism that comes with being Chinese. But the Chinese culture has made it's way into a number of Indonesian traditions.
Recently, we celebrated Chinese New Year. I went to Bali for that weekend (which don't really celebrate it at all), but there were lots of fireworks and parties back in Jakarta. Possibly some Dragon Dances as well!
A couple Chinese New Year traditions: 1. moon cakes--I think they're so nasty. I've only had them a few times, and each time, I can barely eat my small piece that I'm given. 2. Ang Pao--money given by anyone married to everyone who comes to visit them that is not married. Unfortunately, since I wasn't invited to a Chinese New Year party, I received no ang pao. But some of my kids really made bank! 3. Calligraphy-- originally, Chinese writing was comprised of pictures, similar to what you think of in hieroglyphics. Over time, the pictures were simplified to create characters that slightly resemble the shape of the original drawing. Then, those characters were simplified even more to allow for greater ease of learning and writing.
The kids here are pressing this paint stick around in a circle, creating the liquid paint. When calligraphy was the normal means of writing, rich men would hire boys to stand and make the paint all day, so that there was always an ample supply.
And lastly, a few other pictures from the day. First, a group of Korean students. I was pretty sad that their parents didn't have a station... I was hoping for some good Korean food. But aren't they adorable in their outfits! I love how puffy the dresses are!
Kimberly's girls. I think this might be all of them... she started the year with 16 kids total, and had 4 move away... so now she has 12 kids. I'm glad I still have my 17!
I debated what to wear for my culture. Since I am from America, I could pull out my OSU hoodie or just rock the jeans and a t-shirt. But I decided to pull out my favorite buy from Sri Lanka! And Kimberly needed something as well, so I pulled out my Thai outfit for her to wear!
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