Palmer Trinity School

I was incredibly fortunate to travel to Indonesia on behalf of Palmer Trinity last June. As a founding member of the Global Education Benchmark Group (GEBG), Palmer Trinity is dedicated to training faculty and staff to lead our students in both domestic and international travel. This training was run through Where There Be Dragons, an organization that is considered a pioneer in the field of cross-cultural experiential education, intercultural communication and team-building, and the development of global studies curriculum. While in Indonesia, my cohort and I embarked on travel-leader training rooted in experiential learning and cultural immersion. The shift in perspective allowed us to step into the shoes of students who travel and experience a new culture, language, and country. During our stay, we participated in workshops and sustained daily conversations focused on generating best practices in cross- cultural experiential education. This professional development opportunity further prepared us to work with students in cross- cultural environments, to run safer, more educational, and personally meaningful experiences for students. Indonesia is home to over 240 million people and is the world's 4th most populous country. Essentially, one in every thirty of the people on this planet can be found there. Indonesia is an archipelago of 17,508 islands and is often referred to as the Ring of Fire, as it has approximately 130 active volcanoes. Located at the equator, Indonesia spans the distance from London to Tehran, or from Anchorage in Alaska to Washington, D.C. In addition to being densely populated, Indonesia is without a doubt one of the most diverse countries on the globe. Indonesian culture is difficult to pinpoint; it is comprised of virtually thousands of ethnicities, though most are closely related to the Malays and other people from the larger Polynesian group. While Bahasa Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia, there are dozens of other languages spoken regionally among the islands. Indonesia is also religiously diverse; Catholics, Christians, Buddhists and Muslims all call Indonesia home. In fact, Indonesia is the largest Muslim-majority country in the world. When I first landed in Jakarta, the country's capital, I was amazed at the cultural diversity I witnessed. This was the first time that I traveled to a non-western country where I had absolutely zero knowledge of the language or customs. It was a shock to the senses, but absolutely exhilarating. Much like our students when they travel, I knew I was out of my comfort zone. I will credit the sincere and compassionate people of Indonesia with my ability to quickly acclimate to my surroundings. Through homestays and purposeful cultural immersion and seminars on Indonesian history, culture and language, I fell in love with my new home and surrogate families. Traveling from the Island of Java to Sulawesi and then finally Bali, I was reminded of Cultural Immersion in Indonesia By Ashley Armato, Senior Associate Director of College Counseling and Diversity Coordinator Above – Yogyakarta cultural celebration on the island of Java. palmertrinity.org 20 PERSPECTIVES

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