Florian in Indonesia

Participant

Florian

Programme

Internship

Country

🇮🇩 Indonesia

Duration

20 weeks

Short bio

Hi, I’m Florian and I’m a fourth-year PE teacher training student. For my minor I chose to go to Indonesia for a whole semester. I live, do my internship and play sport in the city of Semarang, on the island of Java, with the organisation The Power of Sports.

How satisfied were you with the support from Holland?

I’m very happy with Ruben. As mentioned before, he’s very flexible, thinks in terms of solutions and is always easy to reach. He’s also open to feedback and new ideas, and his enthusiasm is really infectious.

My story

“This experience has helped me grow enormously, both as a teacher and as a person. Living, working and playing sport in a completely different culture, building something from the ground up and the energy of the children make this a unique and unforgettable experience.”

Florian · internship in Indonesia

Choosing Indonesia was actually a quick decision. My cousin lives in Singapore and this was the perfect chance for me to finally visit her. Indonesia also appealed to me because of its historical ties with the Netherlands. What made it extra interesting is that the organisation had only just started. That gave me the chance to really build something and make my own contribution.

In Indonesia, lessons are given in the mornings at nursery, primary and secondary schools. In the afternoons there’s sometimes an extra lesson at school, or training sessions are run at football club Dayakrida FC (do take a look on Instagram: dayakrida.fc 😉). Recently a boxing session has been added too, set up by a volunteer.

I mainly focused on developing the football club further. When I arrived only a selection day had taken place, so there was still lots of room to grow. Since then regular training sessions have been added, including goalkeeper training, matches are being played and sponsored kit has been arranged. I also helped set up lesson curricula, make lesson cards and come up with different ways of teaching.

Most of the children barely speak English, which sometimes makes it challenging, but also fun and educational. You naturally dive into the Indonesian language, and you get language lessons for it here too. The culture is completely different from Holland, actually the exact opposite, but thanks to the open and friendly staff I soon felt at home.

Alongside teaching, Java has so much to offer in terms of nature and culture. There’s plenty of time to get out and discover beautiful places. In between, for example, I went to Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka, and explored a large part of the island.

This experience has helped me grow enormously, both as a teacher and as a person. Living, working and playing sport in a completely different culture, building something from the ground up and the energy of the children make this a unique and unforgettable experience.