Riff Surjawan, the Migrant!

I am doing a project with my kids about migration in the world. My kids have been assigned the task to interview someone who has migrated and to go and tell their story. I have chosen my friend, Riff, to be an example for what it is that I expect from my students. Here is his story!

                 There are some people in the world who have traveled far and wide, to see what it is that expands over all of the earth. Riff Surjawan is an excellent example of someone who has taken advantage of the opportunity to see the world. He has travelled to three continents, twelve countries and lived in four nations. Riff is originally from Indonesia, where he was born and raised for the first 19 years of his life.  

                As for Riff, he is a bachelor that had a major career change and moved over here to Myanmar in hopes of “turning over a new leaf.” After living in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, for the first half of his life, he migrated to the United States to learn English. There, he went to school to ultimately become an architect and live in Portland, Oregon. During those twenty years, Riff studied Italian, where he learned  the language of love in Sicilla, Italy. Riff moved the urban city of Portland because it was where he was able to find work. When he decided that he no longer wanted to be an architect and try a different career, he went back to school to become a teacher. Riff knew that he was getting restless and applied for jobs overseas. Once Myanmar became an option, he knew that it was where he wanted to go kick off his new career as a teacher.

                Riff moved to Yangon, Myanmar at the end of July this year. It is an urban area, where he voluntarily decided to move here and pursue teaching 7^th grade Math at the International School of Myanmar. After talking to Riff, he talked about how he decided to move to Yangon because it was close to Indonesia, where he would be closer to his family and be able to get in touch with his “Asian roots.” Riff found the move to be easy, where he was able to adjust to the warm climate and kind people of Myanmar in no time at all.

                It has not been as easy as Riff thought as far as communication goes. He has had a tough time adjusting to the lack of internet and wishes that it was not as difficult to get a good internet connection. He had expected Myanmar to be a different pace of life, but still is surprised at how slow the connection to the internet is. If that is the only thing that Riff would like to change though, he clearly is enjoying himself here! In fact, Riff talks about staying here in Yangon longer than he had expected.

                Since Riff only arrived in Myanmar less than six months ago, he has not had the time to go back to the USA to visit. He will be going to Indonesia for the Christmas holiday though and is excited to see his family. While Riff was away in the USA, he has noticed some changes in Indonesia with the government, economy (which is becoming more open), the Chinese are less oppressed and the cities are becoming more developed with people being able to afford houses (residential housing). Because of the changes, the people need stores and supermarkets to provide for of the new communities that are being built. Every time that Riff went back to Indonesia, he grew happier and happier that things were becoming more available for people.         

                There are a few things that Riff misses from the USA: technology, familiarity and his friends. He misses the easiness of the technology, where it is not even a second thought as to where you can access it. The familiarity of where he can go to get Pho (a favorite soup) or perhaps head on down to the local swing dancing club. Above all, Riff misses his friends and the family that he established back in the states. In order to comfort himself when he misses the USA, Riff just flips through his journal, where he has recorded all of the memories that he wants to look back on.

                Riff is happy wherever he is and makes the most of any and everything. Riff looks back at his migrating across the world with a smile on his face, and looks at the future with hopes of exciting and new adventures!