Whoo hoo! It's a good thing I'm writing this blog right now cause it means 1)I am on the internet! and 2)I can have at least one post for the month of October. How sad is it that I only got to blog ONE time this WHOLE month?!? Very. I know this.
Right now, I am in Semerang. This is in Central Java, and I am here because I am on my Ramadan holiday away from school and my good friend, Hannah Pritchett, also an ETA, lives here. She works at a Christian school and doesn't have this week off for Ramadan holiday. Lucky me, unlucky her :( (Unless she's lucky 'cause I get to visit!)
Let me recap the month. After I returned from my Lombok trip, I spent two and a half weeks just in school. I had classes M-Th for two weeks, and spent one weekend at home and one weekend in Padang. The half week I was unfortunately sick and spent three days in bed. But lucky me cause I got well enough just in time to fly to Jakarta.
I stayed with my family there for a little over a week, studying, sleeping, and putting weight back on (I've lost more than 15 pounds since I moved to Bukittinggi). Then, Sunday evening I stayed the night in this really fancy-shmancy posh hotel so that I would be able to get to the testing center on time and not have any stress before my exam on Monday morning. The cool thing about computerized exams is that they can tell you your score as soon as you're done! I got a comprehensive 1210, 610 on verbal, 600 on quantitative. I was satisfied with this score: I scored in the 66% in quantitative(not good) and in the 92% in verbal(much better). I have to wait for my analytical writing scores to be sent to Houston. American University's average GRE score for admitted students is 1250; 610 verbal (go me!) and 640 quantitative (yikes). Georgetown doesn't give averages per section, their average is 1240. I feel like I at least have a shot at admittance to one of these schools.
After the GRE, I bought a plane ticket to Semerang to come see my friend Hannah. I have only been here since about 1pm, and I also got to see Christine (another ETA), so I am really happy! It is such a difference to have friends and be able to speak English. We also went to a really nice mall (wow! malls!) and had dinner and a really long chat about our living situations, our schools, teaching, the fact that in Indonesia you can marry some of your cousins... Yeah. I know.
Tomorrow Hannah doesn't have to teach, so I am glad! We can go somewhere and I can see Semerang. I don't have to travel alone! Yay! This is really cool, too, because we are hoping on/planning on traveling through parts of South East Asia when our grants expire in May. Current countries on our list include: Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and India (where her family lives). I can't wait!
Well. I hope I get to write more than once in the next month. Don't have any traveling planned (although that certainly doesn't mean I won't travel!), so hopefully that means I'll have more time to make it to an internet cafe. Jedi, sampai jumpa! (So, until we meet again!)
Right now, I am in Semerang. This is in Central Java, and I am here because I am on my Ramadan holiday away from school and my good friend, Hannah Pritchett, also an ETA, lives here. She works at a Christian school and doesn't have this week off for Ramadan holiday. Lucky me, unlucky her :( (Unless she's lucky 'cause I get to visit!)
Let me recap the month. After I returned from my Lombok trip, I spent two and a half weeks just in school. I had classes M-Th for two weeks, and spent one weekend at home and one weekend in Padang. The half week I was unfortunately sick and spent three days in bed. But lucky me cause I got well enough just in time to fly to Jakarta.
I stayed with my family there for a little over a week, studying, sleeping, and putting weight back on (I've lost more than 15 pounds since I moved to Bukittinggi). Then, Sunday evening I stayed the night in this really fancy-shmancy posh hotel so that I would be able to get to the testing center on time and not have any stress before my exam on Monday morning. The cool thing about computerized exams is that they can tell you your score as soon as you're done! I got a comprehensive 1210, 610 on verbal, 600 on quantitative. I was satisfied with this score: I scored in the 66% in quantitative(not good) and in the 92% in verbal(much better). I have to wait for my analytical writing scores to be sent to Houston. American University's average GRE score for admitted students is 1250; 610 verbal (go me!) and 640 quantitative (yikes). Georgetown doesn't give averages per section, their average is 1240. I feel like I at least have a shot at admittance to one of these schools.
After the GRE, I bought a plane ticket to Semerang to come see my friend Hannah. I have only been here since about 1pm, and I also got to see Christine (another ETA), so I am really happy! It is such a difference to have friends and be able to speak English. We also went to a really nice mall (wow! malls!) and had dinner and a really long chat about our living situations, our schools, teaching, the fact that in Indonesia you can marry some of your cousins... Yeah. I know.
Tomorrow Hannah doesn't have to teach, so I am glad! We can go somewhere and I can see Semerang. I don't have to travel alone! Yay! This is really cool, too, because we are hoping on/planning on traveling through parts of South East Asia when our grants expire in May. Current countries on our list include: Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and India (where her family lives). I can't wait!
Well. I hope I get to write more than once in the next month. Don't have any traveling planned (although that certainly doesn't mean I won't travel!), so hopefully that means I'll have more time to make it to an internet cafe. Jedi, sampai jumpa! (So, until we meet again!)
posted by Amelia at 7:42 AM
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