We Need You, Teacher

Kira-kira dua minggu lalu saya mengambil cuti.

I took a leave about two weeks ago.

Pengennya sih buat istirahat karena sehari sebelumnya saya baru pulang dari Jakarta setelah menginap selama tiga hari dan dua malam di rumah sahabat saya (ceritanya ada dipostingan saya berjudul 25 Years of Friendship-Day One, Day Two, Day Three)

I wanted to take a rest because a day before that I returned from Jakarta after spent three days and two nights at my bestfriend’s place (I wrote about it in my posts 25 Years of Friendship-Day One, Day Two, Day Three).

Tapi kenyataannya saya tidak bisa istirahat. Soalnya jadwal nyuci saya hari Selasa terpaksa harus digeser ke hari cuti ini karena hari Selasa kan baru sore saya sampai di Bogor. Begitu mendarat di rumah, saya cuma sempat mandi dan makan terburu-buru. Jam 5 sore anak-anak itu sudah datang buat les bahasa Inggris di rumah saya. Kelar les, saya babak belur kecapean, mana kuat buat nyuci..

In reality I couldn’t take a rest. It’s because my Tuesday laundry washing schedule had to be moved to this leave day because I arrived in Bogor in the afternoon on Tuesday. Once I got home I could only took a bath dan had early dinner in a rush. The kids came at 5 pm to have their English tutoring in my house, had no energy left to wash the laundry.

Selain itu saya ingat ransel saya restletingnya macet dan karena akhir bulan ini saya akan pergi lagi, mumpung lagi libur mendingan saya bawa itu ransel ke tempat servis ransel dekat rumah saya.

Besides, I also remembered my backpack’s zipper was stuck and since I am going on a trip at the end of this month, I’d better take it to backpack service near my house.

Trus kepikiran juga; kenapa tidak sekalian bayar tagihan listrik, air dan telpon? Biasanya ini tugas bokap tapi sebulan terakhir ini tekanan darahnya tidak stabil hingga dia belum bisa kemana-mana.

And then it just crossed my mind; I could also use it to pay power, water and phone bills. This usually done by my dad but he has been having unstable blood pressure that makes him unable to leave the house.

Jadi hari Rabu itu saya berangkat pagi-pagi buat bayar tagihan-tagihan dulu dan pulangnya ke tempat servis ransel.

paying water bill

the place to pay phone & power bills

So I left early in the morning to pay the bills and on the way home stopped by at the backpack service place.

“Selesainya nanti siang” kata si bapak pemilik tempat itu yang merangkap tukang servisnya.

“It will be done in the afternoon” said the guy who owns the place who does all the service work by himself.

Nanggung amat ya kalau pulang. Mending saya nongkrong dimana dulu dari pada saya harus pulang trus siangnya balik lagi. Kan buang uang buat ongkos transport.

It would take just few hours. I’d better go somewhere rather than going home and returned a few hours later. It would waste money for the transportation.

Ah, mending saya mampir deh ke sekolah taman kanak-kanak tempat saya dulu mengajar. Hitung-hitung reuni sama rekan-rekan guru di sana. Terakhir kali saya mampir kan itu bulan Oktober tahun lalu. Kangen juga sama mereka.

Oct 2015

Well, I’d better go to the kindergarten where I used to teach. It would be nice to have a reunion with my former fellow teacher there. The last time I saw them was in October, almost a year ago.

Jadi saya naik becak dan sepanjang jalan saya bernostalgia. Lima tahun lalu saya berjalan kaki pulang pergi melewati jalan ini karena ketika itu naik becak merupakan kemewahan untuk saya.

So I took a pedicab and I had this nostalgia on the way there. Five years ago I walked to and from that kindergarten because at that time commuting by pedicab was a luxury for me.

Manis getirnya pengalaman saya mengajar di taman kanak-kanak itu bisa dibaca dalam postingan-postingan saya tahun 2010-2011.

The bitter sweet experience teaching in that kindergarten can be read in my 2010-2011 posts.

Setelah berhenti dari sana bisa dihitung dengan jari berapa kali saya kembali. Tempatnya dekat tapi saya malas ke sana.

After I resigned from my teaching post I rarely went there. The place is not too far from my house but I just didn’t feel like visiting it.

Padahal saya selalu punya tempat di hati mantan rekan-rekan saya dan juga di hati para orang tua murid serta anak-anak mereka.

Well, I have always had a place in my former fellow colleagues and also in the parents’s hearts along with their children.

Buktinya sampai di sana, di antara sekian banyak muka orang tua murid yang tidak lagi saya kenali karena anak-anak mereka bersekolah di sana setelah saya berhenti dari sekolah itu, terselip beberapa orang lama yang langsung menghampiri dan menyalami saya dengan muka berseri-seri.

Once I got there, among the parents faces which I no longer recognize because they enroll their kids there after I resigned from that school, there were faces that I knew and they came to me and greeted me, looking so happy to see me.

“Bu Keke tumben kemari”

“Miss Keke, what brings you here today?”

“Bu Keke mau ngajar lagi di sini?”

“Miss Keke, are you going to teach again?”

Pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang sama setiap kali mereka melihat atau mendengar saya muncul di sekolah ini.

Same questions asked to me whenever they saw or heard me came here.

Banyak yang masih mengharapkan saya kembali mengajar di sini.

Many still keep the hope that I will teach again in this school.

Saya tertawa saja mendengar pertanyaan-pertanyaan itu.

I just laughed when I heard those questions.

“Hari ini saya cuti, ibu-ibu” jawab saya “Saya iseng pengen main ah ke sini”

“It’s my leave day today, ladies” I answered them “I just wanted to stop by here”

“Ngajar lagilah di sini, bu” kata seorang dari mereka.

“Why don’t you teach again here?” asked one of them.

Saya tersenyum “Saya kerja fulltime di kantor. Saya tidak mungkin mengajar lagi di sini”

I smiled “I work fulltime in the office. I can’t go back here as a teacher”

*  *  *  *  *

Lepas dari ibu-ibu itu..

After I excused myself from those ladies..

Pelan-pelan saya berjalan ke ruang kantor sekolah yang secuil itu.

Quietly I went to the tiny school office.

Mantan sesama rekan guru kebetulan keluar dari ruang kantor itu. Dia langsung melihat saya dan memekik gembira.

My former fellow teacher happened to walk out of that office. She saw me and squeeled happily.

Dia lari menghampiri saya dan langsung memeluk serta mencium kedua pipi saya.

She ran toward me and hugged me and kissed both of my cheeks.

“Ada apa, bu?” tanya seseorang dari dalam kantor yang mendengar kehebohannya.

“What is it?” asked somebody from the office upon hearing the noises.

Dia juga langsung memekik kaget dan gembira ketika melihat saya muncul di dalam kantor.

She too squeal in her surpriseness and happiness when I entered the office.

Buset, pikir saya antara senang, terharu dan juga malu. Gue nongol langsung pada heboh.. serasa artis.

Man, I thought happily, touched and also embarrassed. I just showed up and look at the chaos I created.. as if I were a celebrity.

“Ke, ngajar lagi lu di sini” kata mantan rekan guru saya “Kita lagi nyari guru bahasa Inggris”

“Keke, why don’t you teach again here?” asked my former fellow teacher “We are looking for an English teacher”

“Ga bisa, Yo” jawab saya “Kan gue kerja fulltime”

“I can’t, Yo” I answered her “I have a fulltime job”

Lagian, pikir saya, seberapa susahnya sih mengajar bahasa Inggris di taman kanak-kanak? Masa wali kelas masing-masing tidak bisa mengajarkannya?

Beside, I thought, how hard would it be to teach English in kindergarten? Can’t each teacher do that?

*  *  *  *  *

“Ke, kamu bisa ngajar bahasa Inggris ga di sini?” jam istirahat kepsek masuk ke kantor dan gembira serta kaget melihat saya ada di situ. Seperti sudah menjadi gayanya, dia langsung mengajukan pertanyaan itu.

“Keke, could you teach English here?” it was recess time and the headmaster got into the office, happy and surprised to find me there. As it’s already her style, she shot that question.

“Ga bisa, bu” jawab saya “Kan saya kerja fulltime”

“I can’t, ma’am” I answered her “I have a fulltime job”

“Kamu libur kapan?” tanyanya.

“When is your day off?” she asked.

“Selasa”

“Tuesday”

“Kalau gitu hari Selasa” katanya “Cuma dari jam 8.30 sampai jam 11”

“So Tuesday it is” she said “It’s just from 8.30 to 11 am”

*  *  *  *  *

Saya pulang dengan membawa tidak hanya ransel yang sudah selesai diperbaiki dan tagihan-tagihan yang sudah dibayar, tapi juga sejuta rasa..

I went home bringing not just the backpack that has been repaired and bills that already paid but also thousands of feelings..

“Tadi Keke ke sekolahan dan coba tebak, Keke diminta mengajar lagi di sana!”

“I went to the kindergarten and guess what, I was asked to teach again in there”

Orang tua saya kaget mendengarnya. Tapi senang.

My parents was surprised to hear itu. but Both the news made them happy.

“Mengajarnya cuma seminggu sekali” lanjut saya “Mengajar bahasa Inggris”

“It’s just once a week” I went on “I will be teaching English”

*  *  *  *  *

Sorenya saya memberitahu Andre ketika dia menelpon saya.

I told Andre about it when he called me in the afternoon.

Dia amat sangat gembira mendengarnya.

He was so very happy to hear it.

“Kamu tahu ga yang aneh apa?” saya tertawa geli “Saya sudah lama job hunting ke banyak sekolah, sampai ke Jakarta, .. eh, mendaratnya malah di sekolah yang lama”

“Do you know what’s the weirdest thing?” I laughed “I have been job hunting to many schools, up to Jakarta, .. well what do you know, I landed in my former school”

“Tuhan tahu yang terbaik, sayang” Andre ikut tertawa, terdengar lega.

“God knew the best, hun” Andre laughed too, he sounded relieved.

Sama seperti orang tua saya, dia berharap kembalinya saya mengajar di sekolah akan mengembalikan kebahagiaan saya.

Just like my parents, he hopes going back to school as a teacher will bring back my happiness.

Mereka tahu bulan-bulan terakhir ini saya semakin tidak berbahagia di tempat kerja saya. Hati saya sudah lama tidak lagi berada di sana.

They knew in the past few months I have become more unhappy at work. It has been gone for some time that my heart is no longer in there 

Melihat saya tidak bahagia membuat mereka ikut resah apalagi setelah melihat saya tambah kurus karena berat badan saya yang sempat naik setelah saya sembuh sakit dalam sebulan ini turun lagi. Mereka prihatin melihat saya kehilangan selera makan. Mereka takut saya jatuh sakit lagi atau depresi kembali menyerang saya.

Seeing me unhappy has made them feeling restless especially after seeing me got skinnier because I have lost some weight this month, after I recovered from an illness I have gained some weight. This concerned them seeing I lost appetite. They feared I would fall ill again or depression would strike again.

“Kamu selalu kepingin kembali mengajar di sekolah kan” katanya “Nah, Tuhan pun menciptakan suatu kebutuhan di sekolah itu akan seorang guru bahasa Inggris. Itu supaya kamu bisa mengajar lagi di sana”

“You have always wanted to teach in school, right” he said “So God made that school needs an English teacher so bad to make you can teach again there”

“Tuhan tahu bulan-bulan terakhir ini kamu tidak bahagia di kantor dan Tuhan ingin mengembalikan kebahagiaanmu, keceriaanmu, ketentraman hatimu dan Dia tahu kamu mencintai anak-anak kecil dan mengajar adalah hal yang sangat kamu sukai. So, Dia menciptakan kebutuhan sehingga mereka berteriak “Keke! Kami sangat membutuhkan kamu di sini untuk mengajar bahasa Inggris”

“God knew you are unhappy in the office in the past few months and God wanted to bring back your happiness, your joy, your peace of mind and He knew you love children and you enjoy teaching. So, He created this need which made them screamed “Keke! We desperately need you here to teach English”

Ya, dia benar.

Yes, he’s right.

Saya juga sudah memikirkan hal yang sama ketika kepala sekolah berbicara pada saya tadi pagi.

I had the same thought when the headmaster talked to me that morning.

Saya tidak bisa berhenti bersyukur.

I just can’t stop feeling gratefull.