When my cousin Phil found out that we were in Bali, he told us via Facebook that we should go visit the Green School Bali. A friend and teacher of Phil’s so Ross is the principal there. For some reason, for days we could not load the school’s website and only learned about what it was through articles on the web and a TED video. Finally, we called the school with our skype phone number and Gigi was able to connect with Andy via email. We signed up for one their regular afternoon scheduled tours on a Friday. Luck would have it, too, that the only day we would be able to visit was their Green Stock Festival Day. The whole afternoon would be music, food and activites with everyone dressing like hippies. Cool!
If we had heard about the Green School Bali six months ago, Jordan and Justin might very well have been attending for the second semester of the school year. Gigi and I may have been attending daily yoga sessions in Ubud while the boys were in class. For sure, the boys would have agreed to attend this school in a hearbeat. You have to check this school’s website out if you are interested in Green curriculum, all bamboo construction, or just something completely out of the ordinary. www.greenschool.org is the web address.
We arrived at the school, and it feels like it is out in the middle of nowhere; actually, it is halfway between Denpassar and Ubud. Our tour leader, Ben, explained that the founders of the school wanted to create a school environment that was not ‘flourescent bulbs inside four walls’ as was the design of all the other private expat schools on Bali. Boy, did they ever break away from that blueprint. The bamboo structures are scattered through a forest, and the school land is bisected by a river. Ben, the tour leader, definitely added to the entertainment of the visit. He has done something like 2000 tours of the school since it opened five years ago. He did not need that cup of coffee he was carrying with him. He was so enthusiastic and at the same time self deprecating.
While Gigi, Regina and I took the tour, the boys were already mixing with the students. Ah, another chance for our boys to peel away from us and play with others their own age! Jordan joined a soccer game on the field and Justin found a group of four boys to hang out with. They knew his name immediately. Many students and their parents got into the groove and were dressed in ’60′s style clothing. There was excellent food served on woven bamboo plates with banana leaf liners. They had a lineup of musicians both young and old playing a steady stream of Beatles, Jimi Hendix, The Doors, and other 60′s bands.
I found Andy, and although he was technically on the clock – this was prime schmooze time with parents for a principal – we had a nice talk about the school and the type of parents it attracts. Really, I could have seen our family joining this community for a school semester. It is amazing that after opening only five years ago, they are already up to 270 students.
We were enjoying ourselves so much, and I mean all of us, that we stayed past dark until it was time for the 2nd Annual Student Cabaret Show. We call them Talent Shows at home. We watched two performances, and since this type of event really is for the kids and the parents, we finally dragged ourselves away from the Green School Bali and went home. We had planned a night in Ubud for dinner and watching a Barung dance at the Ubud Royal Palace, but the Green School’s Green Stock Festival had enthralled us and worn us out. We headed straight home. Thank you Green School!