Unsung Heroes

My students and I were still talking about ‘unsung heroes’ – one topic provided in High Intermediate 1 class when out of the blue the light went out. Although there was an emergency lamp, the light was not enough to brighten the whole room well. It was not enough either to read the books without hurting our eyesight. Therefore then I switched the material from reading to speaking-listening.

A student suggested that we sit on the floor in a circle with the emergency lamp put very near to us.  There were six students altogether so we would not make a big circle anyway. I asked the students to talk about someone very important in their lives that they consider as ‘unsung heroes’. (Unsung heroes = people who have done something valuable in our lives that for other people not really outstanding.)

Intentionally I didn’t let the students talk about their parents. Most people must agree that parents are heroes for their children so I imagine it wouldn’t be exciting if everybody then talked about their parents. :)

One female student – Nanda – volunteered herself as the first narrator. She told us about one schoolmate that was always willing to lend her ears whenever Nanda needed someone to listen to her. You know, at times, people just need someone to listen to them and not necessarily give any suggestion or solution that sometimes is even not appropriate for us. Just listen. Enough.

Nanda chose another female student to tell her hero – Mieke. Mieke chose a teacher when she was in grade 5 of primary school. At that time she was chosen by the school to represent the school as one most outstanding student. That particular teacher was patiently helping her to prepare anything she needed. Even, when one time it was raining very heavily and it was flooded in some areas in Semarang, the teacher still willingly came to Mieke’s house to teach her; and he was just riding his old motorcycle!

Mieke chose Desta to continue the chain. Desta talked about her two best friends who were always there for her whenever Desta needed someone to cheer her up.

Desta asked Ghea to talk as the following narrator. Ghea talked about one good friend who seemed to live not far from her house because she said when she had a problem with her parents, she would directly run to that good friend’s house to confide in. :) And she was always ready to give Ghea solution to her problems; be it problem with parents, boyfriend, or schoolmates.

Not quite much different from Ghea and Desta, the following student, Audrey, also chose one good friend that had been close to her since they were in junior high school. Although now they don’t go to the same school anymore, they are often still in touch.

The last student – the only boy in the class who seemed to already enjoy his stay in that class among the talkative girls – talked about one male good friend of his; with the same reason: he was always there when Fauzi needed him.

Meanwhile, I was thinking who I would talk about when my students ‘shot’ me to talk about a hero in my life. :) and, yup! Since after Fauzi finished talking about his friend, we still had 5 minutes left, Nanda got me to talk about someone in particular. :)

Guess who??? :)

He is my biking mate! YAY! :) among my b2w Semarang friends, I labeled him as a savior. It all dates back from my first experience to have touring out of town – to Kedungjati railway station, around 40 kms away from RL; one bike store that has a very close relationship with b2w Indonesia. I underestimated the journey since I didn’t bring much water – just one bottle of mineral water 600 ml. I didn’t bring any muches either. It was some time in November 2008.

The track itself was in fact mostly ‘flat’, there were only 4 hilly roads that were not very high. But for me, it was enough to make me almost faint. :) moreover my old bike’s gear was broken so whether the track was ‘flat’, ‘up hill’ or ‘down hill’, I would still use the same gear. :-P When I no longer had water – didn’t think that water and snack would be very much helpful in that condition – and we had to go up one hilly road, I almost gave up. I chose to push the bike – TTB we call it; one joke among us b2w Semarang members. TTB, a ‘spoof’ of MTB (mountain bike), stands for TunTun Bike. LOL. My savior came to me and helped me. He let me walk and he pushed two bikes: mine and his.  

The journey on that day became double since when we arrived at Kedungjati station, the train going to Semarang already left. So? All of us had to ride our bike back to Semarang. :) a very unforgettable experience!

After that ‘touring’, I joined some other biking events – XC to Banyumeneng twice, biking to Banyumanik and one time biking to the toll road – my savior who lives in the western part of Semarang always accompanied me until I arrived in Pusponjolo – the neighborhood where my house is located. He wanted to make sure that I arrived home safe and sound.

“He is a gentleman, right Miss?” a student asked me.

“He sure is! But not only to me. He is always helpful like that, especially to newbies.”

After I finished talking about my savior, the bell rang. :)

Here is the picture of my savior! :)

FBBU 20.40 090511

when we were walking together on the 'touring' to Kedungjati