Wonder : Don't Judge A Boy by His Face

One of the book that i read this holiday is "Wonder", written by R. J. Palacio in 2012. 

In Indonesia, this book is published by Atria Publisher. 

http://floriayasmin.blogspot.com/2013/01/wonder.html

Before i tell you about this book, i want you to search "Mandibulofacial Dysostosis" on google. Try to look at the pictures of people who have this abnormality. Yes, this book is about one of them, a child named August Pullman who has "Mandibulofacial Disostosis" and his life. 

He knows he's different. He knows that his face is so ugly so everyone will stare at him twice when they meet him for the first time. He knows that everyone see him and feels sorry to him, or, even worse, mock him. But, he's just keep quiet, pretend that he doesn't hear that, pretend that nothing is different. Only in his house he feels secure. He really loves halloween, because, in halloween, he can just go everywhere without being stared by people. 

But, now, after he feels secure with his house, his family, and his homeschooling, he must face the real world, public school, on grade 5. He must deal with all entire school stare at him everyday, pretend that he can bring disease if somebody touch his body, and being mocked & ignored by his friends. 

This book tells us about his struggle with his new school life by his point of view, how he face the real world. Before he go to public school, his family and friends (which you can count with your fingers) always treat him special, tell him that he is special and love him. But, he must face the real world, the society that still think he's  ugly, he's different, and can't accept him easily. 

But, not only that, in this book, we can also know the caregivers' point of view, his sister and his bestfriends, and even, the caregivers' significant others (his sister's boyfriend, his sister's friend) which i think is the plus point of this book. We can know that August's life also affect their life, especially their social life. 

From this book, i learn aboout their struggle (August and another kids who have this disease) to face the society. They can't do it alone, there must be supports for them, from family, friends, school teacher, and others. They know that society won't accept them easily. Some of them just give up with their life, don't want to face the society. Some of their caregivers just don't want them to be hurt by the society, keep them in the safe place, and make them rely on their caregivers for the rest of their life. But, the best thing to do is, let them know the society when they ready, so they know that,  "..many bad people out there, but the good people are more. (August's mother, 2012)." 

R. J. Palacio wrote this book for the children, as cited from his website, 

" I hope that kids will come away with the idea that they are noticed: their actions are noted. Maybe not immediately or directly or even in a way that seems obvious, but if they’re mean, someone suffers. If they’re kind, someone benefits. And the choice is theirs: whether to be noticed for being kind or for being mean. They get to choose who they want to be in this world.  And it’s not their friends and not their parents who make those choices: it’s them."

Just a little talk about your friend behind his/her back can bring your friend to become your enemy

Just a little smile and hello to make a lonely person feels accepted

Just a little stare at someone to make him down

Just a little kindness in every act to make the world a better place

Last, this is one of August's quotes which i love the most:

Everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their life because we all overcometh the world. - Auggie” (Palacio, 2012)

You can visit her website : rjpalacio.com for the story behind the book, other faqs, and guide for teachers :)

So Hard and So Easy Becoming Private Teacher -part 2-

Nah, di part 1 kan udah cerita tentang murid pertama, sekarang murid keduaa. jeng jeng jeng

Murid kedua gue anak ekspatriat, mamanya Filipina, papanya New Zealand. Sebut aja nama anaknya Skye, tp biar gampang S aja ya. Umurnya 6 tahun dan mau masuk kelas 2, perempuan. S ini asalnya dari Auckland (kyaaa pengen bgt kesanaa!) tapi mamanya lagi ada kerjaan di Indonesia jadi mereka nyewa apartemen di Jakarta gitu.

Anaknya baiiik banget, cukup cerewet, dan cukup susah diatur juga. Tapi lucunya, kl lagi bercanda2 sampai ketawa ngakak, dia tiba2 suka peluk gue terus bilang "I love you". Lucu bangeeet!

Nah gue ngajar reading, writing, sama math gitu buat dia. Agak heran sih, soalnya kalau di Indonesia biasanya udah bisa baca tulis dari umur 5 gitu kan. Nah S ini, bahkan huruf b sama d masih suka kebalik. Hitung2an tambah sama kurang juga masih belum lancar. Dan, seperti kebanyakan anak-anak lainnya, S susah konsentrasi. Jadi akhirnya aku biasanya ngasih reward setiap dia bisa ngerjain tugas yang aku kasih, atau kasih tugas yang bikin dia banyak gerak. Contohnya, pas writing, aku minta dia bolak balik ke kamar mandi untuk liat benda apa yang bisa dia tulis di kertasnya. Terus, pas dia bisa nulis dengan rapi, aku minta dia tempelin stiker di kertasnya dan kasih liat mamanya. Jadi dia seneng gitu dipuji mamanya :D

Pernah ada kejadian, waktu itu pas gue ngajar tiba2 ada nenek2 di apartemen itu. Gue pikir itu mungkin grandma nya Skye. Terus gue nanya ke Skye
Gue : Skye, the woman there, is she your grandma?
Skye : No, she is my nana.
Gue : What is nana?
Skye : Nana is tita.
Gue: ??? What is Tita?
Skye: (ketawa) Tita is Nana
Gue : (nyerah) (diketawain)

dan sampai sekarang misteri Nana-Tita tersebut belum terpecahkan.

Oh iya, setelah ngajar anak lokal dan ekspatriat, aku ngerasa justru lebih dihargai oleh ekspatriat. Contoh sederhana, waktu ngajar N (anak lokal, SMP), aku duduk di kursi citos sementara dia duduk di sofa plus bantalan kaki (but i'm okay with that, cuma membandingkan kok). Sementara, waktu ngajar Skye (ekspatriat), waktu cuma ada 1 kursi komputer yang super nyaman n bisa diputer2 dan 1 bangku bakso, mamanya nyuruh aku duduk di kursi komputer itu, katanya " You're the teacher and she (Skye) is the student, so you're the one who should sit here." Keliatan banget ngehargain teacher nya.

Terus neneknya juga ngajarin skye buat menghargai aku sbg teacher and should call me Mam because i'm her mother at private class. Terharu deh jadinya :). Mamanya juga kasih makan siang pas harus ngasih extra time buat Skye. Sementara, di rumah N, gue harus nurutin apa yang diminta N, datang disambut dengan kesunyian di rumah, dan yah, justru gue lebih sering ngobrol ke pembantunya daripada ke ortunya ato N nya.

Tapi kedua pengalaman ngajar itu bener2 bikin aku makin kenal anak-anak dan dunia mereka, bikin aku tahu kenapa mereka bisa jadi diri mereka yang sekarang, dan tentu saja, belajar buat lebih bersabar :)

So Hard and So Easy Becoming Private Teacher -part 1-

Liburan semester 5 ini, setelah bersenang2 di Jogja, aku mulai kembali cari uang dengan jadi guru privat. Yeay!
Jujur aja sebenernya gampang banget untuk melamar jadi guru privat, banyak lembaga privat yang daftarnya tinggal pakai SMS atau email. Apalagi udah ada embel2 mahasiswa UI, lebih gampang lagi untuk diterima, bahkan ga jarang malah ditawarin.

Dari sekian banyak lembaga les privat yang aku daftar, ada satu lembaga yang cukup menggiurkan, sebut aja E. Di lembaga ini, guru privatnya dibayar minimal Rp 100.000 per pertemuan (include ongkos). Kalau di lembaga lain, biasanya Rp 80.000 per pertemuan dan udah sama ongkos. Tapi di lembaga yang menggiurkan ini, tutor nya harus ngajar dalam bhs Inggris, karena rata2 muridnya ekspatriat atau orang Indonesia yang sekolahnya di international school.

Nah, di lembaga privat ini, aku dikasih 2 murid untuk liburan kali ini. Murid yang pertama, sebut aja N. Dia kelas 2 SMP di suatu international school di Jakarta. Surprise Surprise, dia orang batak juga ternyata. Awal ketemu sama ortunya, ortunya cerita kalau N lemah banget di matematika. Terus ternyata orangtuanya pengen pengajar dari Matematika. Berikut diaolgnya:

Mamanya N (MN): Kuliah di UI ya? jurusan apa?
Nia (X): Psikologi, Tante.
MN: Oooh psikologi (nada ga enak, lirik gue bawah sampe atas), saya tadinya pikir dari matematika. Padahal kan saya mintanya dari matematika.
Nia (X): Oh gitu ya tante, maaf saya ga dikasih tau harus dari matematika soalnya tante.. (muka polos)

dan sejak saat itu aku mulai agak males ngajar anaknya. Ditambah lagi, pas pertama ngajar, anaknya keliatan ogah2an gitu. Akhirnya sebelum mulai pelajaran, aku tanya dulu ke dia..

Nia: How do you feel?
N: (burst into tears)

Terus dia cerita kalo orangtuanya tuh nganggep dia bodoh banget di mat, padahal nilainya lumayan loh (70 sampe 80 gitu). Dia bilang kalo dia ga mau les, tapi ortunya bilang "We already paid her (gue)". Nah kan mampus gue jadi kambing hitam.

Akhirnya sih tetep les, tapi dari jatah 1,5 jam, biasanya dia les cuma 1 jam dan langsung mengusir gue secara halus. Contohnya, selesei bikin PR, dia bakal bilang
"It's done for today, bye!"
 dan gue hanya bengong, lalu pergi.

Eh tunggu dulu, dia bukan ga suka sama gue, dia ga suka les matematikanya. hehe
Kalo lagi waktu istirahat, dia suka nunjukkin games nintendo nya ke gue dan excited bgt gitu jelasinnya.

Tapi, aku sendiri ngerasa ga sanggup untuk menuhin tuntutan orangtuanya. Orangtuanya minta gue ngajarin 3 materi dalam 1,5 jam (materi sebelumnya, materi yg sekarang dipelajari, materi yg akan datang) plus bantuin ngerjain PR. Agak 'gila' sih menurut gue, ditambah anaknya ga mau les. Terus, orangtuanya minta sekalian ngajarin persiapan tes-sesuatu-untuk-masuk-sekolah-di-Amerika yang membuat gue makin gila hahaha. Akhirnya, gue bilang ke atasan gue kalo aku cuma bisa ngajar sampai minggu ini. Kalo jahat sih, bisa aja gue terusin lesnya, toh untung di gue, dapet duit buat 1,5 jam tapi ngajarnya cuma 1 jam. Tapi yah itu bukan prinsip gue. hehe

Bersambung ke part 2 lalalala..