Different, yet very special!
Dear friends and family,
I had a very different lead-up to Christmas this year, but it was still lovely and brought with it many special moments.
Although there was no baking of biscuits, as there would be in Germany, there was still plenty to do and it was very special. Firstly, of course, the Christmas decorations had to be put up. Here in Indonesia, they are really colourful and eye-catching, and have a special charm of their own. Furthermore, every little house here – at least in the area where I live in Blimbingsari – has its own Christmas tree lit up in all sorts of colours.
It was lovely to see how Christmas can be such a unifying force here in Indonesia, too, and how the children’s eyes lit up as soon as we mentioned it.
Another major part of the run-up to Christmas at the children’s home and school was preparing for the Christmas celebrations. Dances and songs were rehearsed before and after school so that the children could shine at the celebrations and put on a lovely, heartwarming performance for visitors and onlookers. My personal highlight was hearing the song ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’ in Indonesian and being able to sing along.
After the lovely build-up to Christmas, my parents came to visit me, and I used my days off over Christmas and New Year to discover different parts of Indonesia. Far from the hustle and bustle, we watched wild orangutans from our houseboat in the middle of the Kalimantan jungle at sunset and went on a night walk through the jungle.
We then travelled on to Raja Ampat, a stunning region of Indonesia renowned for its fantastic snorkelling and diving spots. Here, we could jump straight into the sea from our ‘beach huts’ and observe an incredible variety of corals and fish. My personal highlights here were definitely the turtles and snorkelling with manta rays, which move through the water in such a serene and majestic manner.
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to experience such a special Christmas season and to have had so many unique and beautiful experiences. I will probably remember these beautiful moments for the rest of my life, and I’m excited to see what else lies ahead for me over the next five months.
This text was automatically translated using an AI-powered translation system.
