Basketball Indonesian Style

The first basketball games of the season at Mountainview are in the books.  The varsity teams, both boys and girls, won their first games.  Dana and I are coaching the girls' varsity team so we were pleased to start the season on a positive note.
We began the season with some question marks.  Last year we graduated seven seniors from the team, including the starting five.  Even the girls, themselves, this year didn't seem confident that they could compete with other teams.  The good news is that they can.
Thursday evening we had our second game.  We were supposed to play a high school team but they cancelled a day before the game.  Instead we played a club team made up of high school and college players.  We lost.  It was close, but in the end, more experienced team won.  What prompts this blog is not the fact that we started the basketball season 1-1.  I write so that you may understand some of the differences between Indonesia and the U.S.
For example, on Thursday the girls' game was supposed to be first followed by the boys' game.  We usually start around 4 PM.  4 PM came and went and still no girls' team for our team to play.  The coach, who was there, kept telling me that his team would arrive in 10 minutes.  If you were new to Indonesia, you might think that the coach meant that the team would actually arrive within the next 10 minutes.  Despite the words that the coach was using he meant that his team was late.  In truth, he hoped that they would arrive in 10 minutes but he had no idea.  So, after waiting 20 minutes, we decided to let the boys' play first.  The boys' team was already there.
I was pleased when some athletic looking Indonesian girls started showing up during the boys' game.  Good I thought, at least we'll get to play.  Now, I've been here long enough to know that things aren't quite what they seem.  Toward the end of the boys' game, two members of the Indonesian girls' team got up and left.  The coach explained to me that they were in high school students and had to be home by 6 PM.  Fortunately, the team still had five players present.
By game time, the Indonesian club team had rounded up one more player to make six.  We gave them jerseys to wear so their tops matched and got under way.  Just before half-time three other Indonesian girls joined the team.  I was glad they could make it.  It made for a better ball game.
In Indonesia, you never know exactly what to expect, except that it will surprise you.  Blessings, Jeff