i got up at 5 this morning to hike mount andong. it's not a big mountain. but the trail we took up was fairly steep in parts. it was drizzly, so the trail was wet. and it was windy, which never helps. mary estimated that by the time we got to the top, the wind was gusting at about 40 mph. i don't think she was too far off. it took about an hour and a half to get to the summit, which was more of a ridge. about halfway up, we had entered cloud cover, and so at the top, we were all wet from condensation sticking to us. with the wind as strong as it was and there being no view whatsoever, we didn't stick around too long. sid and i went over to another peak along the ridge to check out a grave he knew was up there. it was inside a little shack/cabin type thing beside some trees. as we walked into the building, i could feel a kind of darkness present there. i wouldn't even go in all the way. sid explained to me that people from the villages come up and spend a few days and nights sleeping in the shack beside the grave to get spirits. i think i spent a total of about 15 seconds under that roof. just long enough to take a picture. we don't know who is buried there, but it is most likely some sort of spiritual leader or someone of high status who lived nearby. after hiking that trail, i can't imagine doing it with a dead body in tow, for sure.
sid said the way down was the hardest part. i have to disagree. yeah, by the time we were halfway down, all the muscles from my hips to my toes were quivering uncontrollably, but at least i wasn't having to hoist my body step after step up the clifflike side of a slippery, wet mountain trail. (note of interest - the dirt here is kind of claylike. and it is slippery. when it is dry. and flat. add a little moisture and an incline, and you've got a broken neck waiting to happen. it is literally like trying to walk on ice.) (another note of interest - i made it ALL THE WAY to the bottom before i wiped out and landed on my butt in the mud. i was walking on FLAT GROUND! i just sat there moaning about my sorry luck while sid laughed at me.)
i'm glad i did it once. i probably won't be doing it again anytime soon.
so now i'm sitting in my classroom trying to ignore my throbbing body while thinking over plans for next year. students here plan ahead. so far, i've been asked to do a career mentorship program with 2 students, possibly 4, i am already the teacher sponsor of next year's hip hop worship dance team, i have a team for the fall 3-on-3 basketball tournament, it looks like i'll be teaching an AP course (calculus), and i have students asking if they can be my TA. i'm usually pretty good at saying no when i'm in danger of overextending myself.... but here, i really don't like to. i feel like since i'm only going to be here 3 years, i need to do EVERYTHING. yeah, that means traveling around and going on painful hikes and learning new languages and eating strange foods. but even more importantly, it means being willing to help out and serve in any way i can. but i'm starting to think that as much as i hate to, i might need to say "no" a little more often.
09 May 2009
oh, yeah....
so i have this high school indonesian friend named aya. she smsed me this week and asked me to help her out with her english homework, so we met at the coffeeshop this afternoon. she gave me a written conversation and asked me to proofread it. i'm still unclear as to whether or not she and a partner actually have to perform the conversation or if she just had to write it, but at any rate, i checked it for her and made a few corrections here and there. for this project, she had to research about borobudur, a famous ancient buddhist temple about an hour from here. in the conversation, one person was asking questions about the temple and the other person was explaining it in great detail. the conversation included the word "circumambulating". i thought that was great.
but the best was yet to come.... toward the end of the conversation, one of the people was explaining something about the temple. the other person asked a clarifying question, the reply to which was "smack that."
WHAT?! smack that??! in the middle of a conversation about the panels of reliefs in a sacred temple? no WAY! i was trying my hardest not to burst out laughing, but i'm sure that watching my performance was comparable to watching an old sitcom being aired live. i kept having to turn around a pretend to cough or put my head down on the table between us for a few seconds. i finally managed to ask aya, "so, um, what does 'smack that' mean, exactly?" she looked at me completely seriously and said, "it means like 'yes'". hmmmm..... no, no, not quite.
she asked what it really meant, and then i was in big trouble. how do you politely explain to an indonesian girl who barely speaks english what a vulgar american slang expression actually means? luckily, one of my students was there who speaks fluent indonesian. and she explained it as delicately as she could. in indonesian. so at least i was off the hook. and aya immediately crossed it out of her conversation, thankfully.
but that is now my new favorite phrase. so if you ever come to indonesia and wonder why all the teenagers are saying "smack that" when you ask them a question..... well, you can thank me later.
07 May 2009
ya
"kamu sibuk, ya?"
even the school cleaning lady - who i see a total of 15 minutes a day - has noticed how crazy busy i am.
aish.
even the school cleaning lady - who i see a total of 15 minutes a day - has noticed how crazy busy i am.
aish.
05 May 2009
dukun, dukun, on the wall...
i've been wanting to talk to my friend, marie, for a few days now about the demons in my house. she's married to an indonesian, so she understands a lot of the culture behind what happens, and i know that she's also had to rid her house of the powers of darkness before. i finally got a chance to talk to her last night.
while i was over there, a couple of their javanese neighbors happened to be there, and marie asked them if there's a dukun (witch doctor) locally who hates orang orang asing (foreigners), since so many of us whiteys have had this problem in our homes. they said that this kampung (part of town) doesn't have a dukun.
BUT, from the parts of the conversation i understood, i caught this.... there is a river that runs during rainy season down in a gorge just down the hill behind my house. before the school was here, a man killed himself down there, and his spirit is still there. this fits with stories i've heard before. often at night, our guards say they see ghosts and spirits on campus
before i go any further into this, i need to stop right now and say that yes, i realize that this sounds unbelievable. in the western world, we are taught that there is no such thing as ghosts. places can't be haunted. things don't make noise or move around on their own. there are no monsters under our beds. and i am here to tell you that all the things we like to believe to make us feel safe at night are a load of crap. i just got an email from my friend, em, and i like the way her dad puts it - in america, satan wears a three piece suit, but in the rest of the world, he shows his face. satan knows us. and i would wager that he knows us intimately.
when demons enter a house, in every case i've heard of, they were called there by someone or something. in some cases, someone goes and pays the dukun 50 cents to have him send demons to a certain person's house. in other cases, there is something already in the house that summons them. often, if a new family is having trouble with demons in their house, upon searching their house, they will find black magic things hidden in the corners, in the rafters, etc. and as soon as they are rid of those, the demons are no more.
since there is no dukun, it means that one didn't send the demons to me. since my house is brand new and on campus, there's no chance that someone planted black magic stuff inside it somewhere. so the javanese men last night started questioning me. do i have any tribal art in my house? no. do i have anything from bali in my house? yes, but it's been there for months without incident. do i have any indonesian knives in my house? no. have i bought anything at mirota batik (a hindu store in jogja) lately? yes, i was there 2 weeks ago. what did i buy? incense.
they freaked out. they told me to get rid of it all and never to burn incense in my house again. apparently, burning incense here is strongly linked with satanic practices. and as i thought back over the events of the past couple weeks, i realized - the first two times they were there, i had burnt the incense as i was going to bed.
the first night, when i heard the tapping on my window, it was the window right next to where the incense was burning on my desk. i had a fan on, so most of the smoke was blowing out of that window. the second night, the incense had burned all the way down before i turned the lights out, but when i heard the scratching on the wall, it was coming from behind the shelf that i keep the incense on.
but i'm conflicted now. i haven't had this problem when i've burnt incense from other places, and i do burn incense fairly often. and i see the wisdom in removing all the incense from mirota from my house. i mean, obviously, it is calling demons to my house. but a part of me feels like that is like giving in. like saying, "alright, i'm scared to burn my incense now. you win." and i refuse to give satan the victory of the power of fear over me.
while i was over there, a couple of their javanese neighbors happened to be there, and marie asked them if there's a dukun (witch doctor) locally who hates orang orang asing (foreigners), since so many of us whiteys have had this problem in our homes. they said that this kampung (part of town) doesn't have a dukun.
BUT, from the parts of the conversation i understood, i caught this.... there is a river that runs during rainy season down in a gorge just down the hill behind my house. before the school was here, a man killed himself down there, and his spirit is still there. this fits with stories i've heard before. often at night, our guards say they see ghosts and spirits on campus
before i go any further into this, i need to stop right now and say that yes, i realize that this sounds unbelievable. in the western world, we are taught that there is no such thing as ghosts. places can't be haunted. things don't make noise or move around on their own. there are no monsters under our beds. and i am here to tell you that all the things we like to believe to make us feel safe at night are a load of crap. i just got an email from my friend, em, and i like the way her dad puts it - in america, satan wears a three piece suit, but in the rest of the world, he shows his face. satan knows us. and i would wager that he knows us intimately.
when demons enter a house, in every case i've heard of, they were called there by someone or something. in some cases, someone goes and pays the dukun 50 cents to have him send demons to a certain person's house. in other cases, there is something already in the house that summons them. often, if a new family is having trouble with demons in their house, upon searching their house, they will find black magic things hidden in the corners, in the rafters, etc. and as soon as they are rid of those, the demons are no more.
since there is no dukun, it means that one didn't send the demons to me. since my house is brand new and on campus, there's no chance that someone planted black magic stuff inside it somewhere. so the javanese men last night started questioning me. do i have any tribal art in my house? no. do i have anything from bali in my house? yes, but it's been there for months without incident. do i have any indonesian knives in my house? no. have i bought anything at mirota batik (a hindu store in jogja) lately? yes, i was there 2 weeks ago. what did i buy? incense.
they freaked out. they told me to get rid of it all and never to burn incense in my house again. apparently, burning incense here is strongly linked with satanic practices. and as i thought back over the events of the past couple weeks, i realized - the first two times they were there, i had burnt the incense as i was going to bed.
the first night, when i heard the tapping on my window, it was the window right next to where the incense was burning on my desk. i had a fan on, so most of the smoke was blowing out of that window. the second night, the incense had burned all the way down before i turned the lights out, but when i heard the scratching on the wall, it was coming from behind the shelf that i keep the incense on.
but i'm conflicted now. i haven't had this problem when i've burnt incense from other places, and i do burn incense fairly often. and i see the wisdom in removing all the incense from mirota from my house. i mean, obviously, it is calling demons to my house. but a part of me feels like that is like giving in. like saying, "alright, i'm scared to burn my incense now. you win." and i refuse to give satan the victory of the power of fear over me.
03 May 2009
so, like, whoa...
1. sunrise hikes - i went on a sunrise hike yesterday. it was a pretty short hike. so i did it in flipflops. naturally. we made it to the top before the sunrise. we could see the whole valley and all the surrounding mountains and the lights from all the cities around us and the entire milky way, just about. and then the sun burst forth in all its glory. and i was amazed. then i ate a blueberry muffin and hiked back down. then we drove all around the valley and took pictures of men and water buffaloes plowing the rice paddies. but my computer is broke so i can't upload pictures. later i will. promise. i am pumped.
2. motorcycles - tiffany taught me how to drive an automatic motor yesterday. she is an excellent teacher. i went about 15 meters down the road, decided this was easy enough, turned around, and came back. but she had more to teach me. she jumped on the back and said, "go". whoa. so different with an extra 120 pounds on the back. and i never practiced turning while moving by myself, much less with a passenger. and i didn't really foresee how difficult that was. actually, it was very near impossible. at first T intersection we came to, i definitely drove off the road on the opposite side. luckily, there was no cross traffic and i managed to stop the bike before we both died. and i had my helmet on. we're gonna go to a soccer field and practice turning later. then i'll be an old pro.
3. demons - i have demons in my house i think. they wake me up at night. it is rough. they've been there for about the last week. at first, i thought i was just being paranoid because of all the stories i've heard of demons in people's houses. but now i think it's real. this is what happens.
a. the first night, i woke up to something tapping on my bedroom window. it sounded like there was a person out there or a tree branch. but all that is behind my house is a cement wall. so i just held real still until i fell back asleep, like when i was a kid and a tree tapped my window and i got scared that someone out there was looking for me to kidnap me and if i didn't move an inch they would think that i was not there and they would go away unless they had infrared goggles too in which case i was screwed. but it happened about 5 or 6 times. everytime i just held real still until it finally stopped.
b. two nights later, something was in my room making loud scratching and scraping noises against the wall across from my bed. i wrote that one off as a rat or something in my room and decided that cat would sleep with me from now on.
c. two nights after that, i woke up to the sound of something dropping on my bed right by my head. at first, in my barely awake state, i somehow managed to convince myself it was just cat. but the third or fourth time it happened, it finally whooshed and thumped loud enough to wake me completely up, and i realized that nothing was there, and cat was asleep by my feet. i got really scared and i prayed about it, and it didn't happen again.
d. last night i prayed over my room before i went to bed and nothing happened.
2. motorcycles - tiffany taught me how to drive an automatic motor yesterday. she is an excellent teacher. i went about 15 meters down the road, decided this was easy enough, turned around, and came back. but she had more to teach me. she jumped on the back and said, "go". whoa. so different with an extra 120 pounds on the back. and i never practiced turning while moving by myself, much less with a passenger. and i didn't really foresee how difficult that was. actually, it was very near impossible. at first T intersection we came to, i definitely drove off the road on the opposite side. luckily, there was no cross traffic and i managed to stop the bike before we both died. and i had my helmet on. we're gonna go to a soccer field and practice turning later. then i'll be an old pro.
3. demons - i have demons in my house i think. they wake me up at night. it is rough. they've been there for about the last week. at first, i thought i was just being paranoid because of all the stories i've heard of demons in people's houses. but now i think it's real. this is what happens.
a. the first night, i woke up to something tapping on my bedroom window. it sounded like there was a person out there or a tree branch. but all that is behind my house is a cement wall. so i just held real still until i fell back asleep, like when i was a kid and a tree tapped my window and i got scared that someone out there was looking for me to kidnap me and if i didn't move an inch they would think that i was not there and they would go away unless they had infrared goggles too in which case i was screwed. but it happened about 5 or 6 times. everytime i just held real still until it finally stopped.
b. two nights later, something was in my room making loud scratching and scraping noises against the wall across from my bed. i wrote that one off as a rat or something in my room and decided that cat would sleep with me from now on.
c. two nights after that, i woke up to the sound of something dropping on my bed right by my head. at first, in my barely awake state, i somehow managed to convince myself it was just cat. but the third or fourth time it happened, it finally whooshed and thumped loud enough to wake me completely up, and i realized that nothing was there, and cat was asleep by my feet. i got really scared and i prayed about it, and it didn't happen again.
d. last night i prayed over my room before i went to bed and nothing happened.
02 May 2009
pigs
what a great place to live during the swine flu... uh... situation.
in a country where 99% of the population doesn't eat pork.
in a country where 99% of the population doesn't eat pork.
30 April 2009
dingin sekali
last night, we had solafide, which is an english language fellowship right near the christian college in town. i was helping lead worship, so i had to be there early to run through some of the songs. i got a ride with one of the other guitarists, melissa... it was pretty cloudy when we left, and her neighbor warned us that it might "hujan" (rain). we decided to try to beat it. she grabbed her rain poncho just in case. sure enough, soon after we left, it started sprinkling, and it steadily got faster and harder. we came to the first stoplight (about halfway there), and melissa threw on her poncho. i, unfortunately was on the back of her bike trying to hold two guitars - which were catching wind terribly - while attempting to stay balanced and actually on the bike. the light turned green, and the rain, which had obviously been watching the light too, let loose.
so now we were on one of the main roads in salatiga in pouring rain with buses and trucks flying by. i was soaked clear through everything in less than 10 seconds. we made it safely to sf.... but as i walked in, i felt like a little kid who jumped out of a swimming pool and ran into the house without bothering to dry off first. everywhere i went, a puddle was forming beneath me. the only dry part of me was my head, thanks to my clearly multitalented helmet. hoho got a towel for us, but our first concern was getting the guitars dry. melissa had gotten somewhat wet, but thanks to her poncho, she was nowhere near as wet as i. i went outside to wring my shirt out and tried to swick some of the water out of my jeans. it didn't do much.
so we had solafide. we led worship, and i forgot i was wet for most of that time. but when the speaker began to share with us and i set my guitar down and was no longer moving, but sitting still right inside the open door in the night air, i began to shiver uncontrollably. like that shivering that starts in your abs and makes your whole body shake. i don't think anybody noticed, especially since our australian friend who was sharing was 100% engaging and hilarious.
afterward, i was still pretty soaked, but my hunger overrided my uncomfortable-ness, and a bunch of us went out to eat. we had to ride through more rain to get there. and it was still raining when we finished. and believe it or not, when it rains at night here, it gets quite chilly. and plus, i'm acclimatized (aka: i'm a wimp when it dips below 75).
so pretty much as soon as we finished eating, rather than sticking around to hang out, melissa and i decided to head home to hot showers and warm beds. we didn't really take into account how miserable the ride home would be. we were both in wet t-shirts with no jackets riding in the open air. by the time we got home, i had been shivering so badly that the back of my neck was all knotted up and my abs were sore. i peeled off my wet clothes and sat in the shower for about 30 minutes. thank God for little things like hot water.
i laid out my things to dry, but when i woke up this morning, my jeans and my guitar case were still quite wet.
i never thought i'd be that cold in indonesia.
so now we were on one of the main roads in salatiga in pouring rain with buses and trucks flying by. i was soaked clear through everything in less than 10 seconds. we made it safely to sf.... but as i walked in, i felt like a little kid who jumped out of a swimming pool and ran into the house without bothering to dry off first. everywhere i went, a puddle was forming beneath me. the only dry part of me was my head, thanks to my clearly multitalented helmet. hoho got a towel for us, but our first concern was getting the guitars dry. melissa had gotten somewhat wet, but thanks to her poncho, she was nowhere near as wet as i. i went outside to wring my shirt out and tried to swick some of the water out of my jeans. it didn't do much.
so we had solafide. we led worship, and i forgot i was wet for most of that time. but when the speaker began to share with us and i set my guitar down and was no longer moving, but sitting still right inside the open door in the night air, i began to shiver uncontrollably. like that shivering that starts in your abs and makes your whole body shake. i don't think anybody noticed, especially since our australian friend who was sharing was 100% engaging and hilarious.
afterward, i was still pretty soaked, but my hunger overrided my uncomfortable-ness, and a bunch of us went out to eat. we had to ride through more rain to get there. and it was still raining when we finished. and believe it or not, when it rains at night here, it gets quite chilly. and plus, i'm acclimatized (aka: i'm a wimp when it dips below 75).
so pretty much as soon as we finished eating, rather than sticking around to hang out, melissa and i decided to head home to hot showers and warm beds. we didn't really take into account how miserable the ride home would be. we were both in wet t-shirts with no jackets riding in the open air. by the time we got home, i had been shivering so badly that the back of my neck was all knotted up and my abs were sore. i peeled off my wet clothes and sat in the shower for about 30 minutes. thank God for little things like hot water.
i laid out my things to dry, but when i woke up this morning, my jeans and my guitar case were still quite wet.
i never thought i'd be that cold in indonesia.
you know what they say....
so i've been having this weird.... condition, i guess you could call it.
on my legs below my knees. unfortunate.
it happened once before, but yohanes suggested some good antiseptic, which i used, and it cleared right up.
then it happened again.
it starts out as a bite of some kind.
it's about the size of a quarter, and it swells up and feels tender for a few days.
then the swelling goes down some and it just itches like the blazes.
then it reaches my favorite stage in which it starts pusing.
the pus is accompanied by a bruising of the area around the bite mark.
then it starts to dry up and scab over.
the whole process takes about 2 weeks, more for the scabs to heal completely.
the bites have been occuring in groups of 4 - 6.
i had my friend, mbak pita, take a look at it to see what she thought.
she said that it looks like bedbugs.
then she started to laugh and told me that only the really village (country) girls get bedbugs.
it brought to mind an old saying. in more ways than one.
"you can take a girl out of the country......"
on my legs below my knees. unfortunate.
it happened once before, but yohanes suggested some good antiseptic, which i used, and it cleared right up.
then it happened again.
it starts out as a bite of some kind.
it's about the size of a quarter, and it swells up and feels tender for a few days.
then the swelling goes down some and it just itches like the blazes.
then it reaches my favorite stage in which it starts pusing.
the pus is accompanied by a bruising of the area around the bite mark.
then it starts to dry up and scab over.
the whole process takes about 2 weeks, more for the scabs to heal completely.
the bites have been occuring in groups of 4 - 6.
i had my friend, mbak pita, take a look at it to see what she thought.
she said that it looks like bedbugs.
then she started to laugh and told me that only the really village (country) girls get bedbugs.
it brought to mind an old saying. in more ways than one.
"you can take a girl out of the country......"
29 April 2009
white supremacy
isaac: so number 23 would be a sine curve, right?
me: what do you think, isaac?
isaac: it's a sine curve, right?........ no, it's cosine. definitely cosine. right?
me: isaac. stop. think.
isaac: it starts in the middle. it's a sine curve. yeah, a sine curve. am i right?
me: i'm not telling. you decide.
isaac: what?! tell me!
me: nope. you're smart. figure it out.
isaac: sun joon. is 23 a sine curve? let me see your paper. *grabs sun joon's paper*
me: isaac! think for yourself!
isaac: i can't! I'M BLACK!!
me: what do you think, isaac?
isaac: it's a sine curve, right?........ no, it's cosine. definitely cosine. right?
me: isaac. stop. think.
isaac: it starts in the middle. it's a sine curve. yeah, a sine curve. am i right?
me: i'm not telling. you decide.
isaac: what?! tell me!
me: nope. you're smart. figure it out.
isaac: sun joon. is 23 a sine curve? let me see your paper. *grabs sun joon's paper*
me: isaac! think for yourself!
isaac: i can't! I'M BLACK!!
you have turned...
so i have this friend who has an undisclosed name.
he is a new Christian.
he is learning.
he is growing.
he is discovering God.
today i was talking to him online.
when it was all over, i was once again amazed at God.
and how He takes the bad.
and uses it for good.
our conversation:
23:34 B: Hey kid.
23:34 Me: hihihi
23:35 B: How are you doing?!
23:35 Me: just found a kid cheating on a test.
he knows i know. waiting for him to do the right thing.
23:35 B: Discipline?
23:35 Me: i will break his legs.
23:35 B: Appropriate.
23:36 Me: i thought so. he knows better.
23:36 B: Win some, lose most, I guess.
23:37 Me: maybe. how's life?
23:37 B: I'm alright. How is yours?
23:38 Me: better than most, it's fair to say.
23:38 B: I guess you could say that.
23:41 B: I need to learn about forgiveness.
Really the forgiving myself part of it.
I am going through that lately.
Just need to work on it.
23:44 Me: how do you work on something like that?
23:45 B: I don't know.
I was going to talk to other Christians about it.
A better answer to your question of how I am doing - I am working on that.
With great struggle. I have no idea how to forgive myself. I am pretty hard on myself.
23:46 Me: what do you need to forgive yourself for?
23:47 B: Something gross.
Disgusting.
Sick.
Rough.
Nasty.
Filthy.
23:48 Me: are you ok? that sounds real bad.
23:48 B: Dirty.
I have no idea.
23:49 Me: well. is this something that is entirely in the past?
23:49 B: Yeah.
23:49 Me: have you told anyone about it before? like with specifics?
23:50 B: Yeah.
23:50 Me: and did they forgive you?
23:50 B: I don't think they were in any position to?
23:51 Me: well, then maybe you need to find someone in your life who this DOES effect. talk to them. and let them forgive you. maybe you need to be shown forgiveness before you can really forgive yourself?
23:51 B: You are entirely right.
23:52 Me: i think that sometimes people just need to know that the things they've done are forgiveable.
i bet that's one of the top 10 reasons people avoid God... they think that He can't forgive them for what they've done.
23:53 B: Ah.
That is probably true.
23:53 Me: anyways, sorry if i'm preaching. you didn't ask for my opinion.
23:53 B: I think we both know I was looking for it.
23:54 Me: well, I know that i can tend to give my opinion where it is not always wanted.
23:54 B: I wanted your insight.
23:54 Me: i don't really have any.
23:55 B: You had more than I did.
23:55 Me: has God forgiven you?
23:57 B: I have no idea what that is even like.
Other than that He has for everything before it even happens.
23:57 Me: i don't think that's true.
23:57 B: Which part?
23:57 Me: that He forgives you before it even happens.
23:58 B: Oh, I don't know where I heard that.
23:58 Me: well, i'm not a theologian. but i think you have to ask for it first.
23:58 B: Sounds right to me.
23:58 Me: and not in a "i know what i did is wrong, and i'll probably do it again tomorrow, but you have to forgive me now anyways because you're God" kind of way.
00:00 Me: but more in a truly broken way, knowing that you are coming to the Man who created you out of a piece of dirt with His bare hands.... and you are telling Him your deepest, darkest, dirtiest, filthiest secrets and asking Him to forgive your wrongs and forget your sins. and then knowing that because He is God and He is Good, He WILL.
maybe it's like this kid i caught cheating. i have a good relationship with him. i love him. he's mostly a good kid. i already know he cheated. and he knows that i know.
now i'm just waiting for him to tell me. to come and make it right. if he doesn't, this is going to be hanging over our relationship. i'll still love him. but it won't be the same. there will be this thing in between us. this distrust. this half-secret.
but if he comes to talk to me... and tells me what he did and that he knows it was wrong... how much better would that make the situation? of course i'll forgive him. i WANT to forgive him. i'm ready to right now. but i feel like i can't until the wrong has been made right.
00:05 B: That is a wonderful way of putting it, I think.
00:05 Me: i think i'm suddenly glad that he cheated.
00:05 B: I know I am.
That kid dealt me a solid.
00:06 Me: yeah, well, when i break his legs, i'll be sure to tell him.
00:06 B: Thank you very much for talking.
00:06 Me: anytime.
thank you for sharing struggles with me.
i will pray for you.
promise.
00:06 B: Thank you very very much.
00:06 Me: be good, yeah?
00:07 B: Yes, ma'am.
Thank you so much.
I am thankful for you.
Thanks for talking.
Have a lovely day.
*note of clarification*
with this student who cheated....
i gave him today to come talk to me about what happened.
but he chose not to.
and so that means that tomorrow i have to confront him on it.
and it's gonna be hard.
because i'm emotionally involved.
i'm disappointed that he did it.
and i'm just as disappointed that he didn't come to me about it.
especially since he knows that i know.
it makes the situation different.
it makes me see him differently.
i would appreciate prayers.
yeah.
he is a new Christian.
he is learning.
he is growing.
he is discovering God.
today i was talking to him online.
when it was all over, i was once again amazed at God.
and how He takes the bad.
and uses it for good.
our conversation:
23:34 B: Hey kid.
23:34 Me: hihihi
23:35 B: How are you doing?!
23:35 Me: just found a kid cheating on a test.
he knows i know. waiting for him to do the right thing.
23:35 B: Discipline?
23:35 Me: i will break his legs.
23:35 B: Appropriate.
23:36 Me: i thought so. he knows better.
23:36 B: Win some, lose most, I guess.
23:37 Me: maybe. how's life?
23:37 B: I'm alright. How is yours?
23:38 Me: better than most, it's fair to say.
23:38 B: I guess you could say that.
23:41 B: I need to learn about forgiveness.
Really the forgiving myself part of it.
I am going through that lately.
Just need to work on it.
23:44 Me: how do you work on something like that?
23:45 B: I don't know.
I was going to talk to other Christians about it.
A better answer to your question of how I am doing - I am working on that.
With great struggle. I have no idea how to forgive myself. I am pretty hard on myself.
23:46 Me: what do you need to forgive yourself for?
23:47 B: Something gross.
Disgusting.
Sick.
Rough.
Nasty.
Filthy.
23:48 Me: are you ok? that sounds real bad.
23:48 B: Dirty.
I have no idea.
23:49 Me: well. is this something that is entirely in the past?
23:49 B: Yeah.
23:49 Me: have you told anyone about it before? like with specifics?
23:50 B: Yeah.
23:50 Me: and did they forgive you?
23:50 B: I don't think they were in any position to?
23:51 Me: well, then maybe you need to find someone in your life who this DOES effect. talk to them. and let them forgive you. maybe you need to be shown forgiveness before you can really forgive yourself?
23:51 B: You are entirely right.
23:52 Me: i think that sometimes people just need to know that the things they've done are forgiveable.
i bet that's one of the top 10 reasons people avoid God... they think that He can't forgive them for what they've done.
23:53 B: Ah.
That is probably true.
23:53 Me: anyways, sorry if i'm preaching. you didn't ask for my opinion.
23:53 B: I think we both know I was looking for it.
23:54 Me: well, I know that i can tend to give my opinion where it is not always wanted.
23:54 B: I wanted your insight.
23:54 Me: i don't really have any.
23:55 B: You had more than I did.
23:55 Me: has God forgiven you?
23:57 B: I have no idea what that is even like.
Other than that He has for everything before it even happens.
23:57 Me: i don't think that's true.
23:57 B: Which part?
23:57 Me: that He forgives you before it even happens.
23:58 B: Oh, I don't know where I heard that.
23:58 Me: well, i'm not a theologian. but i think you have to ask for it first.
23:58 B: Sounds right to me.
23:58 Me: and not in a "i know what i did is wrong, and i'll probably do it again tomorrow, but you have to forgive me now anyways because you're God" kind of way.
00:00 Me: but more in a truly broken way, knowing that you are coming to the Man who created you out of a piece of dirt with His bare hands.... and you are telling Him your deepest, darkest, dirtiest, filthiest secrets and asking Him to forgive your wrongs and forget your sins. and then knowing that because He is God and He is Good, He WILL.
maybe it's like this kid i caught cheating. i have a good relationship with him. i love him. he's mostly a good kid. i already know he cheated. and he knows that i know.
now i'm just waiting for him to tell me. to come and make it right. if he doesn't, this is going to be hanging over our relationship. i'll still love him. but it won't be the same. there will be this thing in between us. this distrust. this half-secret.
but if he comes to talk to me... and tells me what he did and that he knows it was wrong... how much better would that make the situation? of course i'll forgive him. i WANT to forgive him. i'm ready to right now. but i feel like i can't until the wrong has been made right.
00:05 B: That is a wonderful way of putting it, I think.
00:05 Me: i think i'm suddenly glad that he cheated.
00:05 B: I know I am.
That kid dealt me a solid.
00:06 Me: yeah, well, when i break his legs, i'll be sure to tell him.
00:06 B: Thank you very much for talking.
00:06 Me: anytime.
thank you for sharing struggles with me.
i will pray for you.
promise.
00:06 B: Thank you very very much.
00:06 Me: be good, yeah?
00:07 B: Yes, ma'am.
Thank you so much.
I am thankful for you.
Thanks for talking.
Have a lovely day.
*note of clarification*
with this student who cheated....
i gave him today to come talk to me about what happened.
but he chose not to.
and so that means that tomorrow i have to confront him on it.
and it's gonna be hard.
because i'm emotionally involved.
i'm disappointed that he did it.
and i'm just as disappointed that he didn't come to me about it.
especially since he knows that i know.
it makes the situation different.
it makes me see him differently.
i would appreciate prayers.
yeah.
24 April 2009
nasi makes the world go round
so last night, over nasi goreng, pita suddenly asked me, "do you want to trade phones for a week?" naturally, i immediately responded with, "yes." so we speedy quick swapped phones and switched out sim cards.
so this should be interesting. i now have a bar phone with soft buttons and no t9 and no graphics. as opposed to my camera t9 trilingual flip phone with sweet user friendly buttons.
i kind of like it though. it reminds me of the phone i had in africa. i just can't text worth a darn now.
ope. thunder. heading home now. selamat akhir pekan! happy weekend!
so this should be interesting. i now have a bar phone with soft buttons and no t9 and no graphics. as opposed to my camera t9 trilingual flip phone with sweet user friendly buttons.
i kind of like it though. it reminds me of the phone i had in africa. i just can't text worth a darn now.
ope. thunder. heading home now. selamat akhir pekan! happy weekend!
23 April 2009
kneecaps
so today my knee is barely even bruised.
that is so disappointing.
and speaking of disappointment, sorry mom, but i think i'm gonna make it.
so you don't get all my stuff after all.
in other news, one of the other teachers took a close range line drive directly to the thigh yesterday.
her entire thigh is swollen and black and purple.
that is so not fair.
that is so disappointing.
and speaking of disappointment, sorry mom, but i think i'm gonna make it.
so you don't get all my stuff after all.
in other news, one of the other teachers took a close range line drive directly to the thigh yesterday.
her entire thigh is swollen and black and purple.
that is so not fair.
22 April 2009
knee update
it's been an hour now since my tragic knee incident.
after the initial pain wore off and tears stopped coming to my eyes, i was limping for about 5 minutes.
then my knee area went numb.
given the magnitude of the wound, i assumed that being numb was infinitely better than being able to feel it.
until i tried to go up a step and my leg didn't lift high enough and i almost died in front of the whole school.
now, an hour later, feeling is slowly returning.
when i sit, i feel like i have a pinched nerve in my knee.
when i walk, i feel like someone is kicking my kneecap every time i take a step.
i leave all my possessions to my mom.
except my laptop.
zach can have that for college.
and give my clothes to the bawen orphanage.
just in case.
after the initial pain wore off and tears stopped coming to my eyes, i was limping for about 5 minutes.
then my knee area went numb.
given the magnitude of the wound, i assumed that being numb was infinitely better than being able to feel it.
until i tried to go up a step and my leg didn't lift high enough and i almost died in front of the whole school.
now, an hour later, feeling is slowly returning.
when i sit, i feel like i have a pinched nerve in my knee.
when i walk, i feel like someone is kicking my kneecap every time i take a step.
i leave all my possessions to my mom.
except my laptop.
zach can have that for college.
and give my clothes to the bawen orphanage.
just in case.
21 April 2009
ular
when i left my house this morning, instead of heading across the soccer field and up to school, something told me to walk around the back of my house. there's nothing back there but an alley type thing that my pembantu hangs my laundry in to dry. but curious about why i should walk that way, i did. i found out why at the corner. there was a snake laying dead not a foot from the wall of my house. health and safety, kids... health and safety.
Ulang Tahun
So last Thursday was my birthday. In typical me fashion, I didn't make a big deal out of it at all. The only person who I even told ahead of time was Peco because I knew he wouldn't make a big deal out of it either. Well, much to my surprise, it seems that everyone already knew. A list in chronological order of birthday surprises last Thursday.
1. A birthday card and 2 Toblerones from Yohanes and Peco.
2. Singing outside my classroom window from Pita and Mega.
3. Cupcakes with candles and a birthday song from my Spanish class.
4. Birthday song from the seventh graders.
5. Birthday SMSes from mom and dad.
6. A happy birthday sign on my mailbox.
7. The whole student body sang to me at lunch.
8. Birthday packages from my family.
9. Glory let me beat him at sudoku.
10. I got sang to and a card at Solafide (Bible study-ish)
11. A card and gift from Pita.
12. A styrofoam plate with a birthday message from Hoho.
13. SMSes from my family and from friends in South Africa.
14. Dinner out with Peco and Yo.
15. Email from my sister.
The days surrounding my birthday were full of surprises too. Including, but not limited to: A gift card from the school principal, a package from Katy, Jake, and Brian, various emails and messages, Bath and Body works from Sharon, and gifts from Ashley, Andre, Mega, and Tiffany. It's like my birthday won't end. That's OK. : )
I made Peco promise awhile ago that he wouldn't leave on my birthday. So he didn't. He left yesterday instead. It was a rough weekend, knowing that it was our last weekend with him for a long, long time. In celebration of that (and Tiffany's birthday), we went to Jogja for the day on Sunday. We left at 11:30 AM and got back at 2 AM. I'm STILL tired. We did everything though - from eating at Wendy's to ice skating (I have now gone ice skating more OUTSIDE America than I ever did while I actually lived there) to shopping to karaoke. And there was an awesome dinner in there too. Google "The Sawah Yogyakarta". That's where we ate. Pretty much amazing. Fun people. Fun stories. Fun... food? Yes. Pasti. Definitely.
One of our school's Bible classes invited a Muslim school to come visit one day last week. They informed the school ahead of time that they wanted to discuss religion, and they asked them to come prepared with questions. And boy, did they... I got a copy of the questions from one of the students. Some really made me think. Some really made me laugh. Some made me raise my eyebrows in amazement at how the rest of the world sees Christians. The questions are as follows, in their original glory.
1. What is your opinion about islam?
2. Do you feel strage, when you know that as moslem boy may not shake hands with girl?
3. We as moslem we belive that the god is only one and how about your religion? [Muslims believe that Christians worship 3 gods because we have the Trinity]
4. In islamic religion we as a atherent of islamic religion believe about tortures of the grave and how about you?
5. In Islam, reading the holy Qur'an is religius duties which bring merit , how about reading the bible?
6. A lot of moslem learn arabic language as the original language of Qur'an for the understanding the holy Qur'an well. How about you as the Christian?
7. What the difference between moslem in your country and moslem in indonesia?
8. Most of moslem in Indonesia was wear tight of clothes and vail wheares, it's forbidden in Islam because it is same with free genitals so,,,what do you think about it?
9. What is the obstacle of moslem in foreign countries?
10. What is your opinion about the terorism?
11. What do you think about moslem?
12. Is there some difference between moslem of Indonesia and foreign moslem in their life to do their duty as a moslem?
13. Are you surprised when seeing us wearing veil first time in Indonesia?
14. How Christian concider all prophets?
15. What is the difference between Indonesia and your country?
16. What is your opinion about the Islamic life?
17. What do you think about time in your life?
18. What do you think when the moslem is praying?
19. Can you tell me about the difference between mosque and church?
20. [This one is my favorite. It taught me a lot about my religion.] In your religion between couple dont changes!but in your religion between them can change couple "your wife is my wife, my wife is your wife". What your opinion about that?
21. In our religion between man and women forbide it to shake hand if they aren't a muhrim what your opinion about it, from your religion and please explain to us why?
22. Homo sex is forbidden in our religion, what your opinion about it?
23. How do you like indonesia?
24. What's yoru opinion about Salatiga city?
25. Do you agree if drugs is forbidden?
26. Do you agree about the opinion that Islam is terorism, why?
27. Do you feel that your God still love with you? And what the evidence of it?
28. Do you interest in Islam? And give me the reason!
29. What do you think about Islam culture?
30. What is your opinion about Islam and moslem after the incident of GAZZA?
31. What your opinion about zionist and jews? Do you agree with thier invansion to Palestine?
32. Do you think that being a good believer will effect someone life?
33. In any media, lots of information telling world that Islam is just about killing innocent people and self bombing, do you really believe it?
34. Is there something interesting taken from the islam culture ?
35. What is your opinion about the divorce in Christianity?
36. Are you happy to be a Christian?
37. If in the doctrine of Islam ther is concept about life after die. And we will get reward or punochment in accordance with something which we have done. Will go to heaven or go to hell. And in the doctrine of Christian, is there any concept about that?
38. could you tolerate to someone who comes late? As we know that be panctual is something important in life?
39. What is your favorite food in Indonesia?
40. in your country, is there Halal foundation that it delivers the certificate of Halal label in any product, especially for food and beverages?
41.
Yes. There is actually no number 41. So. Some food for thought. Number 36 really struck me. Think about it.
1. A birthday card and 2 Toblerones from Yohanes and Peco.
2. Singing outside my classroom window from Pita and Mega.
3. Cupcakes with candles and a birthday song from my Spanish class.
4. Birthday song from the seventh graders.
5. Birthday SMSes from mom and dad.
6. A happy birthday sign on my mailbox.
7. The whole student body sang to me at lunch.
8. Birthday packages from my family.
9. Glory let me beat him at sudoku.
10. I got sang to and a card at Solafide (Bible study-ish)
11. A card and gift from Pita.
12. A styrofoam plate with a birthday message from Hoho.
13. SMSes from my family and from friends in South Africa.
14. Dinner out with Peco and Yo.
15. Email from my sister.
The days surrounding my birthday were full of surprises too. Including, but not limited to: A gift card from the school principal, a package from Katy, Jake, and Brian, various emails and messages, Bath and Body works from Sharon, and gifts from Ashley, Andre, Mega, and Tiffany. It's like my birthday won't end. That's OK. : )
I made Peco promise awhile ago that he wouldn't leave on my birthday. So he didn't. He left yesterday instead. It was a rough weekend, knowing that it was our last weekend with him for a long, long time. In celebration of that (and Tiffany's birthday), we went to Jogja for the day on Sunday. We left at 11:30 AM and got back at 2 AM. I'm STILL tired. We did everything though - from eating at Wendy's to ice skating (I have now gone ice skating more OUTSIDE America than I ever did while I actually lived there) to shopping to karaoke. And there was an awesome dinner in there too. Google "The Sawah Yogyakarta". That's where we ate. Pretty much amazing. Fun people. Fun stories. Fun... food? Yes. Pasti. Definitely.
One of our school's Bible classes invited a Muslim school to come visit one day last week. They informed the school ahead of time that they wanted to discuss religion, and they asked them to come prepared with questions. And boy, did they... I got a copy of the questions from one of the students. Some really made me think. Some really made me laugh. Some made me raise my eyebrows in amazement at how the rest of the world sees Christians. The questions are as follows, in their original glory.
1. What is your opinion about islam?
2. Do you feel strage, when you know that as moslem boy may not shake hands with girl?
3. We as moslem we belive that the god is only one and how about your religion? [Muslims believe that Christians worship 3 gods because we have the Trinity]
4. In islamic religion we as a atherent of islamic religion believe about tortures of the grave and how about you?
5. In Islam, reading the holy Qur'an is religius duties which bring merit , how about reading the bible?
6. A lot of moslem learn arabic language as the original language of Qur'an for the understanding the holy Qur'an well. How about you as the Christian?
7. What the difference between moslem in your country and moslem in indonesia?
8. Most of moslem in Indonesia was wear tight of clothes and vail wheares, it's forbidden in Islam because it is same with free genitals so,,,what do you think about it?
9. What is the obstacle of moslem in foreign countries?
10. What is your opinion about the terorism?
11. What do you think about moslem?
12. Is there some difference between moslem of Indonesia and foreign moslem in their life to do their duty as a moslem?
13. Are you surprised when seeing us wearing veil first time in Indonesia?
14. How Christian concider all prophets?
15. What is the difference between Indonesia and your country?
16. What is your opinion about the Islamic life?
17. What do you think about time in your life?
18. What do you think when the moslem is praying?
19. Can you tell me about the difference between mosque and church?
20. [This one is my favorite. It taught me a lot about my religion.] In your religion between couple dont changes!but in your religion between them can change couple "your wife is my wife, my wife is your wife". What your opinion about that?
21. In our religion between man and women forbide it to shake hand if they aren't a muhrim what your opinion about it, from your religion and please explain to us why?
22. Homo sex is forbidden in our religion, what your opinion about it?
23. How do you like indonesia?
24. What's yoru opinion about Salatiga city?
25. Do you agree if drugs is forbidden?
26. Do you agree about the opinion that Islam is terorism, why?
27. Do you feel that your God still love with you? And what the evidence of it?
28. Do you interest in Islam? And give me the reason!
29. What do you think about Islam culture?
30. What is your opinion about Islam and moslem after the incident of GAZZA?
31. What your opinion about zionist and jews? Do you agree with thier invansion to Palestine?
32. Do you think that being a good believer will effect someone life?
33. In any media, lots of information telling world that Islam is just about killing innocent people and self bombing, do you really believe it?
34. Is there something interesting taken from the islam culture ?
35. What is your opinion about the divorce in Christianity?
36. Are you happy to be a Christian?
37. If in the doctrine of Islam ther is concept about life after die. And we will get reward or punochment in accordance with something which we have done. Will go to heaven or go to hell. And in the doctrine of Christian, is there any concept about that?
38. could you tolerate to someone who comes late? As we know that be panctual is something important in life?
39. What is your favorite food in Indonesia?
40. in your country, is there Halal foundation that it delivers the certificate of Halal label in any product, especially for food and beverages?
41.
Yes. There is actually no number 41. So. Some food for thought. Number 36 really struck me. Think about it.
14 April 2009
things that make me smile
9th grade algebra II class.
jimin: aunt lisa (the high school principal) isn't good at math.
kang: what? how do you know??
jimin: i just know.
kang: but she's just a vegetarian.
after school in my classroom.
yohanes: dinner tonight, 6:30, platos.
me: uggggghhhhhh.
yohanes: i know, but it's the last dinner for monsieur hicks.
me: oh mannnnn. peco is leaving. he's actually coming to dinner tonight?
yohanes: yes. i made sure. i called him and i put him in the chair.
me: you did what now?
yohanes: i made sure he would be at dinner. i put his butt there.
me: i don't think that saying makes very much sense.
yohanes: i chained his butt.
me: yeah, that doesn't work either. gross.
again, after school in my classroom. immediately after the previous conversation.
yohanes: i need coffee.
me: you seem to have had a lot already.
yohanes: i know it. isn'titgreat?iwokeuplikethisandalldayi'vejustbeenlikeBANGBANGBANG(hand motions)witheverything!eversinceiwokeuplikePSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!!
me: like what now?
yohanes: like PSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH!
me: i see.
yohanes: iknowandwheniwokeupIDIDN'TEVENBRUSHMYTEETH!
me: WHOA! you are CRAZY, man!
yohanes: IKNOW!
me: sit down before you have a heart attack.
yohanes: ok. *sits down*
jimin: aunt lisa (the high school principal) isn't good at math.
kang: what? how do you know??
jimin: i just know.
kang: but she's just a vegetarian.
after school in my classroom.
yohanes: dinner tonight, 6:30, platos.
me: uggggghhhhhh.
yohanes: i know, but it's the last dinner for monsieur hicks.
me: oh mannnnn. peco is leaving. he's actually coming to dinner tonight?
yohanes: yes. i made sure. i called him and i put him in the chair.
me: you did what now?
yohanes: i made sure he would be at dinner. i put his butt there.
me: i don't think that saying makes very much sense.
yohanes: i chained his butt.
me: yeah, that doesn't work either. gross.
again, after school in my classroom. immediately after the previous conversation.
yohanes: i need coffee.
me: you seem to have had a lot already.
yohanes: i know it. isn'titgreat?iwokeuplikethisandalldayi'vejustbeenlikeBANGBANGBANG(hand motions)witheverything!eversinceiwokeuplikePSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!!
me: like what now?
yohanes: like PSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH!
me: i see.
yohanes: iknowandwheniwokeupIDIDN'TEVENBRUSHMYTEETH!
me: WHOA! you are CRAZY, man!
yohanes: IKNOW!
me: sit down before you have a heart attack.
yohanes: ok. *sits down*
13 April 2009
tikus besar
i went to solo last night for dinner with some friends.
pizza, donuts, and cheese. mmmmmmmmm......
all the luxuries of the big city.
we rode motorbikes there and back.
it was my first time traveling to another city by bike.
and it was excellent.
on the way home, i rode with peco.
we were singing at the top of our lungs for a good part of the ride back.
jason mraz and big n rich and shania twain and anything else good to scream sing.
yohanes and tiffany were riding in front of us.
and even with all the trucks and other traffic, they said they could hear us.
it was great fun.
until we inhaled too much exhaust and other fumes.
(note, i had to wash my face 3 times to get all the black off when we got home)
that guy is leaving in 6 days.
i'm gonna miss him.
a lot.
when we got home, cat had some surprises for me.
first of all, she was standing by the guard shack at the back gate when i got in.
that was the first time i have ever seen her leave the sidewalk in front of my house.
a few minutes after i came inside, i heard her outside the screen door.
i went to say hi to her, and she was sitting there happily displaying a very large, very dead rat.
after i congratulated her, she promptly managed to eat the entire thing in under 10 minutes.
i swiped the tail from her when that was all that was left.
i grabbed my ruler.... 18 centimeters!
once again, cat has redeemed herself, not only by killing a rat possibly bigger than herself, but by eating the entire thing in one sitting.
you can't help but respect that.
pizza, donuts, and cheese. mmmmmmmmm......
all the luxuries of the big city.
we rode motorbikes there and back.
it was my first time traveling to another city by bike.
and it was excellent.
on the way home, i rode with peco.
we were singing at the top of our lungs for a good part of the ride back.
jason mraz and big n rich and shania twain and anything else good to scream sing.
yohanes and tiffany were riding in front of us.
and even with all the trucks and other traffic, they said they could hear us.
it was great fun.
until we inhaled too much exhaust and other fumes.
(note, i had to wash my face 3 times to get all the black off when we got home)
that guy is leaving in 6 days.
i'm gonna miss him.
a lot.
when we got home, cat had some surprises for me.
first of all, she was standing by the guard shack at the back gate when i got in.
that was the first time i have ever seen her leave the sidewalk in front of my house.
a few minutes after i came inside, i heard her outside the screen door.
i went to say hi to her, and she was sitting there happily displaying a very large, very dead rat.
after i congratulated her, she promptly managed to eat the entire thing in under 10 minutes.
i swiped the tail from her when that was all that was left.
i grabbed my ruler.... 18 centimeters!
once again, cat has redeemed herself, not only by killing a rat possibly bigger than herself, but by eating the entire thing in one sitting.
you can't help but respect that.
12 April 2009
eashter
yesterday was easter. it was nothing too special here. i went to church. (NOT for sunrise service, which comes at 4:30). i hung out at the coffee shop. i tried to watch a movie that didn't work. i took a nap for 3 hours. i started spring cleaning my house. my bathroom is spotless now. some friends got home from weekend travels, so we had a movie night.
the highlight of the day was easily calls home. in the morning, i left for church about 45 minutes early, and wandered the streets while talking to my bestest friend in the whole wide world, katy. that alone would have made my day.
later in the day, i called my extended family at easter lunch and got to talk to parents, sister, gramma, aunts, and anyone in the background who yelled a "hello" to me.
but in between those two great calls....... i thought of sending an sms to my dad while he was at church to tell everyone happy easter from me, but then i realized that pretty much everyone would be there mingling together between sunrise service and regular service, so i decided: why not call?! i think i talked to just about everyone in the building in a matter of about 30 minutes - from the "older" folks who have watched me grow up to the younger kids who are too little to remember me. everyone kept telling me that me calling was the best easter gift and such a great surprise. that was such a blessing to me... i do miss home, and it's good to know that i am missed in return. so thanks to everyone who took time out of their easter morning to chat with me, even if just for a couple of minutes. i love you guys very, very much.
the highlight of the day was easily calls home. in the morning, i left for church about 45 minutes early, and wandered the streets while talking to my bestest friend in the whole wide world, katy. that alone would have made my day.
later in the day, i called my extended family at easter lunch and got to talk to parents, sister, gramma, aunts, and anyone in the background who yelled a "hello" to me.
but in between those two great calls....... i thought of sending an sms to my dad while he was at church to tell everyone happy easter from me, but then i realized that pretty much everyone would be there mingling together between sunrise service and regular service, so i decided: why not call?! i think i talked to just about everyone in the building in a matter of about 30 minutes - from the "older" folks who have watched me grow up to the younger kids who are too little to remember me. everyone kept telling me that me calling was the best easter gift and such a great surprise. that was such a blessing to me... i do miss home, and it's good to know that i am missed in return. so thanks to everyone who took time out of their easter morning to chat with me, even if just for a couple of minutes. i love you guys very, very much.
11 April 2009
barista days
what an interesting turn of events.
charles and marie randomly decided on thursday evening to drive to bandung (about 9 hours away) for vacation friday morning, leaving the coffee shop in the capable hands of yohanes. sadly, yohanes has only actually worked in the coffee shop for 6 days and just learned to make some of the drinks about 2 days ago.
so marie asked me if i'd be willing to go down friday afternoon and help out for however long i was able. i was more than happy to. all the dorm students and many of the teachers are out of town for the long holiday weekend, and besides church, i have absolutely zero plans for the weekend. i was glad for something to do, and especially glad for something useful to do. the fact that it was with yohanes, one of my more favorite people, also didn't hurt.
i just didn't want him to feel as if i was stepping on his toes in any way or that i'd been sent to "check up" on him. so we talked about it, and it was all good. he handled things spectacularly, and there was only one drink that he didn't know how to make - the sunrise smoothie.
when we were cleaning up at the end of the day, i looked at him and said, "you know that i know that you could totally do this by yourself and you don't need me here, right?" and he looked right back at me and said, "are you kidding? i need you here! can you come back tomorrow?" naturally, i said yes.
so i came this morning. since it's a holiday weekend, i expected it to be quiet here. i brought my laptop along for entertainment, and it proved helpful. only a few customers trickled in and out. yo made drinks, i handed him things, took money, made change, delivered drinks, and did dishes as often as he'd let me. mostly i just got, "mbak. sit down. that's MY job." and i also drank the drink leftovers (sometimes you accidentally mix just a little too much for the size of the glass), the best part of the job!
about an hour and a half ago, all the power went off. so that was nice. we opened the doors and let a breeze go through. shortly after that, yo got an sms from his sister, saying that his grandfather was not doing well and he needed to come home. so promising to be back shortly, he took off. about 15 minutes later the power came back on and yohanes returned saying he needed to go to the hospital with his family. his grampa's body is swollen, and they are not sure if he will live through the night.
he asked me to be in charge and gave me a 5 minute tutorial, which included how to drive charles' motorbike, as it has to be moved into the coffeeshop at nighttime so that nobody steals it out of the driveway. so here i am.
naturally, the first customer ordered a sunrise smoothie. after asking if they had ever ordered that drink before and finding out that they hadn't, i made it. mostly i just threw some fruit and yogurt and milk and ice into the blender and prayed that it would taste alright. but if it didn't, well... they had never had it before so they would never know, right? i've made three more drinks and two cinammon rolls since then, and no complaints so far.
i'm praying the korean moms don't come in, as they often do on saturday afternoons. i only know 2 korean words, and "hello" and "duck" won't get me very far. they know some indonesian, but i'm not too sure how much our indonesian overlaps. i'm pretty sure i can't say, "i'm sorry, i don't know how to make a raspberry truffle iced mocha", in indonesian though.
the highlight of the day was when yo and i were goofing off on wikipedia this morning. yo always jokes about how "village" he is (kind of the american equivalent of redneck/backwoods) because he is from one of the smaller kampungs (neighborhoods) in town and because of how super dark he is (the lighter you are, the classier you are). i did a wikipedia search for my hometown, and sure enough, i got a hit. yohanes read the whole entry, as i was explaining to him what the town has and what it is like. he just started laughing hysterically, and eventually managed to get out, "...... you are more village than i am!!" he was pretty amused, and i couldn't help but join in. apparently, my hometown is more backwoods than indonesia. well, at least we win at something.
charles and marie randomly decided on thursday evening to drive to bandung (about 9 hours away) for vacation friday morning, leaving the coffee shop in the capable hands of yohanes. sadly, yohanes has only actually worked in the coffee shop for 6 days and just learned to make some of the drinks about 2 days ago.
so marie asked me if i'd be willing to go down friday afternoon and help out for however long i was able. i was more than happy to. all the dorm students and many of the teachers are out of town for the long holiday weekend, and besides church, i have absolutely zero plans for the weekend. i was glad for something to do, and especially glad for something useful to do. the fact that it was with yohanes, one of my more favorite people, also didn't hurt.
i just didn't want him to feel as if i was stepping on his toes in any way or that i'd been sent to "check up" on him. so we talked about it, and it was all good. he handled things spectacularly, and there was only one drink that he didn't know how to make - the sunrise smoothie.
when we were cleaning up at the end of the day, i looked at him and said, "you know that i know that you could totally do this by yourself and you don't need me here, right?" and he looked right back at me and said, "are you kidding? i need you here! can you come back tomorrow?" naturally, i said yes.
so i came this morning. since it's a holiday weekend, i expected it to be quiet here. i brought my laptop along for entertainment, and it proved helpful. only a few customers trickled in and out. yo made drinks, i handed him things, took money, made change, delivered drinks, and did dishes as often as he'd let me. mostly i just got, "mbak. sit down. that's MY job." and i also drank the drink leftovers (sometimes you accidentally mix just a little too much for the size of the glass), the best part of the job!
about an hour and a half ago, all the power went off. so that was nice. we opened the doors and let a breeze go through. shortly after that, yo got an sms from his sister, saying that his grandfather was not doing well and he needed to come home. so promising to be back shortly, he took off. about 15 minutes later the power came back on and yohanes returned saying he needed to go to the hospital with his family. his grampa's body is swollen, and they are not sure if he will live through the night.
he asked me to be in charge and gave me a 5 minute tutorial, which included how to drive charles' motorbike, as it has to be moved into the coffeeshop at nighttime so that nobody steals it out of the driveway. so here i am.
naturally, the first customer ordered a sunrise smoothie. after asking if they had ever ordered that drink before and finding out that they hadn't, i made it. mostly i just threw some fruit and yogurt and milk and ice into the blender and prayed that it would taste alright. but if it didn't, well... they had never had it before so they would never know, right? i've made three more drinks and two cinammon rolls since then, and no complaints so far.
i'm praying the korean moms don't come in, as they often do on saturday afternoons. i only know 2 korean words, and "hello" and "duck" won't get me very far. they know some indonesian, but i'm not too sure how much our indonesian overlaps. i'm pretty sure i can't say, "i'm sorry, i don't know how to make a raspberry truffle iced mocha", in indonesian though.
the highlight of the day was when yo and i were goofing off on wikipedia this morning. yo always jokes about how "village" he is (kind of the american equivalent of redneck/backwoods) because he is from one of the smaller kampungs (neighborhoods) in town and because of how super dark he is (the lighter you are, the classier you are). i did a wikipedia search for my hometown, and sure enough, i got a hit. yohanes read the whole entry, as i was explaining to him what the town has and what it is like. he just started laughing hysterically, and eventually managed to get out, "...... you are more village than i am!!" he was pretty amused, and i couldn't help but join in. apparently, my hometown is more backwoods than indonesia. well, at least we win at something.
08 April 2009
a bit of a tight spot
so i found myself in a bit of an interesting situation this week.
a situation that i was none too fond of.
the men of our school (teachers, parents, students, and guards alike) were playing a soccer game tuesday evening, as they do every tuesday evening, against an indonesian team. i, having nothing else to do with my evening and being a soccer fan, decided to sit out and watch them. some indonesians were there watching the game, but i didn't see anyone from our school out there, so i just sat down in the grass at one end of the field to watch. all was going well, and we even scored a goal. then two young looking indonesian guys walked by me and were making cat calls and trying to ask me questions as they passed. this is normal. all the time. i ignored them. which is the necessary response.
they sat down a few meters away from me, and they alternated between watching the game, chatting together, and hollering things at me. i continued to ignore them and pretended to be far more engrossed in the soccer game than i actually was. they apparently took that as an invitation to come sit with me. and not even beside me. but directly in front of me and in my face.
so sigh. i was hoping for a quiet evening of enjoying soccer. but, trying to be somewhat optimistic about my current situation, i decided that at least i could practice some indonesian with them. they spoke no english besides "yes" and "no".
admittedly, the indonesian practice was good. they taught me some new words. i got to practice what i know. i asked them some questions. whenever they asked me a question i didn't want to answer, i just pretended i didn't understand. "do you have a boyfriend?" "what is your cell phone number?" "what is your last name?" "where do you live?" "do you live alone?" "do you like javanese men?" wow. so we kind of just sat there by the soccer field chatting and half watching the game still.
one of the guys seemed quite decent and sat a few feet to my right. he was very polite and respectful of me. the other guy, not so much. he sat as close to me as he could without actually touching me, and kept finding reasons to put his hand on my leg or my arm or to try to hold my hand - behavior that would be uncomfortable and unwanted between strangers in america, and behavior that is outright indecent and unacceptable here. he was also telling me that i am beautiful and he loves me. i kept telling him he didn't and stop touching me.
by this point, i was pretty uncomfortable, but i was faced with a problem. i couldn't go home. my house was immediately behind me, in eyeshot of where we were sitting. and i did NOT want this guy knowing where i live. i didn't have my keys on me, so i couldn't get in anywhere at school. there were also no other whiteys in sight. so as i was formulating my escape plan, a third guy came.
this guy won the prize for most redneck indonesian i have met. he was wearing torn up jeans and a supremely faded black v-neck t-shirt, which was obviously being used to conceal something. he was shorter than me, had a mullet, a pot belly, some seriously screwed up teeth, and a moustache badly in need of trimming.
the other 2 guys introduced us and we shook hands, as is custom. he plopped down with us and the guys began asking me if i like to smoke and drink. i just kept saying no over and over and over in response to all their questions. old guy pulled out a pack of cigarettes and asked if he could smoke here. i told him it wasn't allowed, since we were on the school campus. so he pulled a bottle of nasty wine out of his pants and asked if he could drink. i again told him it wasn't allowed. so he popped the lid off and they passed the bottle around. they tried to convince me it was nonalcoholic. but i could read the label. and i could smell their breath. i may have been homeschooled, but i'm not THAT naive.
less than 2 minutes after the lid came off the bottle, an on duty guard came over on some completely unrelated business. polite guy shoved the bottle of wine down the collar of his shirt. but apparently his one swig had gotten to him, because he left the neck of the bottle completely sticking out of his collar beside his head. these guys could have been on an episode of cops. the guard immediately saw it, asked what it was, and then asked them to leave. as they were getting up, i declared very loudly, "saya bilang tidak boleh!" (i said you weren't allowed!) oh, if looks could kill....
as they left with their... umm.... beverage.... i was silently thanking God and mr jaga for saving my evening. naturally, as my luck would have it, they came back about 3 minutes later, apologizing for having to leave me alone earlier. thanks, guys. what gentlemen.
pretty much as soon as they sat down, i realized that i could no longer sit there. i had to get away. so i excused myself, claiming that there were lots of mosquitoes, and i had to go home. and i just started walking. i walked to the back gate. i walked out the back gate. i walked down the street. i walked to the coffeeshop. by the time i got there, i was pretty worked up. to the point that i was shaking all over.
because really. the way they were behaving around me and treating me..... that was NOT ok. it was not decent. it was not culturally appropriate. and there was nothing i could do about it but walk away. and plus, i began to be afraid that the jaga might have thought they were my friends and/or that i was drinking with them, since we were all sitting there together. i told charles and marie (my friends who own the coffeeshop) what happened, and they were pretty mad about it too, but they had to leave. so charles made me go sit in the coffeeshop with their new employee (and my good friend), yohanes kecil, and tell him the story over again.
so i did. and he got angry too and apologized about a million times. i was pretty sick of talking/thinking/being worked up about it, so we started talking about music (his favorite subject) while he cleaned and closed up. then he declared that he was taking me home and making sure those men were not still there.
so we jumped on the vespa and drove home. my knight in shining armor.
i went and found the jaga the next day and after apologizing for my not-good-indonesian, i explained to him that i wanted him to know that those men were not my friends, i did not know them, and i was not drinking with them. he kind of just laughed the whole thing off dismissively, so i'm not sure how my explanation went over. but really? defending my honor in a language i barely speak... HARD!
i'm still pretty burnt up about the whole thing. and i almost vowed never to so much as look at an indonesian man again. but that's a little ridiculous. maybe just not at sporting events. and definitely not ones with bulges under their shirts.
other highlights of that day: sharon had a baby boy! hurrah for chase michael!
also, i made my first GOOD batch of rice. it wasn't damp or sticky or soggy! it only took 9 months.... but i think i know the trick now.
in other news, today is election day (primaries). the presidential election will be on july 9. indonesia has 38 political parties, so whoa. earlier this week they decided to declare today a holiday, so things are pretty much shut down, minus all the people rushing around to their hometown to vote before the polls close at noon. sheesh.
a situation that i was none too fond of.
the men of our school (teachers, parents, students, and guards alike) were playing a soccer game tuesday evening, as they do every tuesday evening, against an indonesian team. i, having nothing else to do with my evening and being a soccer fan, decided to sit out and watch them. some indonesians were there watching the game, but i didn't see anyone from our school out there, so i just sat down in the grass at one end of the field to watch. all was going well, and we even scored a goal. then two young looking indonesian guys walked by me and were making cat calls and trying to ask me questions as they passed. this is normal. all the time. i ignored them. which is the necessary response.
they sat down a few meters away from me, and they alternated between watching the game, chatting together, and hollering things at me. i continued to ignore them and pretended to be far more engrossed in the soccer game than i actually was. they apparently took that as an invitation to come sit with me. and not even beside me. but directly in front of me and in my face.
so sigh. i was hoping for a quiet evening of enjoying soccer. but, trying to be somewhat optimistic about my current situation, i decided that at least i could practice some indonesian with them. they spoke no english besides "yes" and "no".
admittedly, the indonesian practice was good. they taught me some new words. i got to practice what i know. i asked them some questions. whenever they asked me a question i didn't want to answer, i just pretended i didn't understand. "do you have a boyfriend?" "what is your cell phone number?" "what is your last name?" "where do you live?" "do you live alone?" "do you like javanese men?" wow. so we kind of just sat there by the soccer field chatting and half watching the game still.
one of the guys seemed quite decent and sat a few feet to my right. he was very polite and respectful of me. the other guy, not so much. he sat as close to me as he could without actually touching me, and kept finding reasons to put his hand on my leg or my arm or to try to hold my hand - behavior that would be uncomfortable and unwanted between strangers in america, and behavior that is outright indecent and unacceptable here. he was also telling me that i am beautiful and he loves me. i kept telling him he didn't and stop touching me.
by this point, i was pretty uncomfortable, but i was faced with a problem. i couldn't go home. my house was immediately behind me, in eyeshot of where we were sitting. and i did NOT want this guy knowing where i live. i didn't have my keys on me, so i couldn't get in anywhere at school. there were also no other whiteys in sight. so as i was formulating my escape plan, a third guy came.
this guy won the prize for most redneck indonesian i have met. he was wearing torn up jeans and a supremely faded black v-neck t-shirt, which was obviously being used to conceal something. he was shorter than me, had a mullet, a pot belly, some seriously screwed up teeth, and a moustache badly in need of trimming.
the other 2 guys introduced us and we shook hands, as is custom. he plopped down with us and the guys began asking me if i like to smoke and drink. i just kept saying no over and over and over in response to all their questions. old guy pulled out a pack of cigarettes and asked if he could smoke here. i told him it wasn't allowed, since we were on the school campus. so he pulled a bottle of nasty wine out of his pants and asked if he could drink. i again told him it wasn't allowed. so he popped the lid off and they passed the bottle around. they tried to convince me it was nonalcoholic. but i could read the label. and i could smell their breath. i may have been homeschooled, but i'm not THAT naive.
less than 2 minutes after the lid came off the bottle, an on duty guard came over on some completely unrelated business. polite guy shoved the bottle of wine down the collar of his shirt. but apparently his one swig had gotten to him, because he left the neck of the bottle completely sticking out of his collar beside his head. these guys could have been on an episode of cops. the guard immediately saw it, asked what it was, and then asked them to leave. as they were getting up, i declared very loudly, "saya bilang tidak boleh!" (i said you weren't allowed!) oh, if looks could kill....
as they left with their... umm.... beverage.... i was silently thanking God and mr jaga for saving my evening. naturally, as my luck would have it, they came back about 3 minutes later, apologizing for having to leave me alone earlier. thanks, guys. what gentlemen.
pretty much as soon as they sat down, i realized that i could no longer sit there. i had to get away. so i excused myself, claiming that there were lots of mosquitoes, and i had to go home. and i just started walking. i walked to the back gate. i walked out the back gate. i walked down the street. i walked to the coffeeshop. by the time i got there, i was pretty worked up. to the point that i was shaking all over.
because really. the way they were behaving around me and treating me..... that was NOT ok. it was not decent. it was not culturally appropriate. and there was nothing i could do about it but walk away. and plus, i began to be afraid that the jaga might have thought they were my friends and/or that i was drinking with them, since we were all sitting there together. i told charles and marie (my friends who own the coffeeshop) what happened, and they were pretty mad about it too, but they had to leave. so charles made me go sit in the coffeeshop with their new employee (and my good friend), yohanes kecil, and tell him the story over again.
so i did. and he got angry too and apologized about a million times. i was pretty sick of talking/thinking/being worked up about it, so we started talking about music (his favorite subject) while he cleaned and closed up. then he declared that he was taking me home and making sure those men were not still there.
so we jumped on the vespa and drove home. my knight in shining armor.
i went and found the jaga the next day and after apologizing for my not-good-indonesian, i explained to him that i wanted him to know that those men were not my friends, i did not know them, and i was not drinking with them. he kind of just laughed the whole thing off dismissively, so i'm not sure how my explanation went over. but really? defending my honor in a language i barely speak... HARD!
i'm still pretty burnt up about the whole thing. and i almost vowed never to so much as look at an indonesian man again. but that's a little ridiculous. maybe just not at sporting events. and definitely not ones with bulges under their shirts.
other highlights of that day: sharon had a baby boy! hurrah for chase michael!
also, i made my first GOOD batch of rice. it wasn't damp or sticky or soggy! it only took 9 months.... but i think i know the trick now.
in other news, today is election day (primaries). the presidential election will be on july 9. indonesia has 38 political parties, so whoa. earlier this week they decided to declare today a holiday, so things are pretty much shut down, minus all the people rushing around to their hometown to vote before the polls close at noon. sheesh.
05 April 2009
get down tonight
can i just say....
our junior boys are excellent dancers.
and they took turns teaching me to waltz on saturday.
i'm white.
and i can dance.
our junior boys are excellent dancers.
and they took turns teaching me to waltz on saturday.
i'm white.
and i can dance.
03 April 2009
cheapercheaper
last night i went to a nice-ish sit down restaurant, funfun, with some friends.
i ordered the teriyaki chicken plate with rice. (because no meal is complete without rice!)
to drink, i had my favorite, an ice cold glass of es jeruk. (it's like thick orange juice mixed with water, sugar, and ice cubes. it's citrusy and sweet and icey all at once! yum!)
when i went to pay my bill, i was like "man... rp 10,000? down the drain." (btw, i really hate spending money.)
and then i stopped and thought. at the current exchange rate, i just ate a whole dinner for 86.06 cents.
but still. that's like twice what i normally pay when i just go to a street vendor and buy a ton of nasi goreng (fried rice) wrapped up in brown paper.
what a great country.
i ordered the teriyaki chicken plate with rice. (because no meal is complete without rice!)
to drink, i had my favorite, an ice cold glass of es jeruk. (it's like thick orange juice mixed with water, sugar, and ice cubes. it's citrusy and sweet and icey all at once! yum!)
when i went to pay my bill, i was like "man... rp 10,000? down the drain." (btw, i really hate spending money.)
and then i stopped and thought. at the current exchange rate, i just ate a whole dinner for 86.06 cents.
but still. that's like twice what i normally pay when i just go to a street vendor and buy a ton of nasi goreng (fried rice) wrapped up in brown paper.
what a great country.
01 April 2009
a good man
so jr-sr banquet is this weekend. it's about the biggest deal of the year it seems. the juniors plan/host it for the seniors, and 10th graders are allowed to come because they will be the ones to plan it the next year. everyone dresses up. there is basically no dress code. and they even get to dance! (dancing must be a structured event lasting no longer than roughly an hour and students must change partners every 5 minutes. oh, and dances must be "traditional".)
the juniors and seniors have been asking me for the past couple weeks if i'm going. my typical answer has been, "nah... i don't want to pay for it, and i don't really have anything to wear anyways." this has always been met with much complaining and moaning. "but miss, it's not THAT expensive" (fifteen dollars!), "but miss, you can borrow a dress from me" (you're a size 0. not a chance.), "but miss, if you don't come, WE'RE missing out!" (ok, that one was sweet), "but miss, it's my senior year. you HAVE to come!" (yes, but you're the only senior i'm even remotely close to), "but miss, you don't even have to come completely dressed!" (wow, they relax the dress code that much?)
ok. what the last kid meant to say was that you don't have to come completely dressed UP. you can be semi-formal. he got really embarrassed and it was great.
so yesterday, one of the junior boys shows up in my class after school, walks right up to me, and says, "miss, will you be my date to banquet?" i was in shock. i didn't know what to say. so i started with, "isn't that like against some rule or something?" he shrugged. and then i remembered, "what about your... umm... GIRLFRIEND?!" he replied, "oh, it was her idea." his girlfriend is the one senior girl that i teach, and apparently, she wanted me to come so badly, that she got her boyfriend to ask me and pay for my ticket. (he didn't have to pay for hers - seniors go free. it's their banquet, after all.) so i asked him to come again in 15 minutes.
he did. with a ticket already purchased. i am going to banquet. with a junior. who already has a girlfriend.
(note - i am not actually going WITH said student. he just happened to pay for my ticket.)
we have great students here. i am blessed.
the juniors and seniors have been asking me for the past couple weeks if i'm going. my typical answer has been, "nah... i don't want to pay for it, and i don't really have anything to wear anyways." this has always been met with much complaining and moaning. "but miss, it's not THAT expensive" (fifteen dollars!), "but miss, you can borrow a dress from me" (you're a size 0. not a chance.), "but miss, if you don't come, WE'RE missing out!" (ok, that one was sweet), "but miss, it's my senior year. you HAVE to come!" (yes, but you're the only senior i'm even remotely close to), "but miss, you don't even have to come completely dressed!" (wow, they relax the dress code that much?)
ok. what the last kid meant to say was that you don't have to come completely dressed UP. you can be semi-formal. he got really embarrassed and it was great.
so yesterday, one of the junior boys shows up in my class after school, walks right up to me, and says, "miss, will you be my date to banquet?" i was in shock. i didn't know what to say. so i started with, "isn't that like against some rule or something?" he shrugged. and then i remembered, "what about your... umm... GIRLFRIEND?!" he replied, "oh, it was her idea." his girlfriend is the one senior girl that i teach, and apparently, she wanted me to come so badly, that she got her boyfriend to ask me and pay for my ticket. (he didn't have to pay for hers - seniors go free. it's their banquet, after all.) so i asked him to come again in 15 minutes.
he did. with a ticket already purchased. i am going to banquet. with a junior. who already has a girlfriend.
(note - i am not actually going WITH said student. he just happened to pay for my ticket.)
we have great students here. i am blessed.
31 March 2009
an accident waiting to happen
*i cannot, in good conscience, recommend that mom and dad read this one*
so now that i (finally) have a motorcycle helmet, i'm pretty much invincible.
also, i am becoming a master motorcycle rider.
the following 3 events made me really, really happy.
1. sunday, i had lunch with a friend, and afterwards, we decided to ride up the mountain to a village and then back down the mountain into town. i always love riding a bike, but that particular day, i was wearing a skirt, so i made the 45 minute jaunt sidesaddle - not my favorite pose. i think i finally mastered it though, or at least i figured out how to sit in such a way that my legs didn't fall asleep and my shoes didn't fall off. always good news. so on the way up the mountain, it got a little boring. so my friend, the driver, decided it would be fun to ride the straight stretches with no hands. it's pretty much just like riding a bike with no hands. as long as you're balanced, you just coast, no problem. when you're riding side, however, balance is a bit of a concern. but on all the parts with no hands, the bike continued on straight and sure. my friend's comment? "wow, you really figured out how to center back there!" my reply? "i have a helmet! i can do anything!"
2. i was at a dinner the other night with a missionary lady i know, and we both had to head to the same place afterwards, so i asked if i could just catch a ride with her. she appeared hesitant... she's not yet a particularly confident driver, and having a passenger can wreak havoc on your balance/steering. and plus, i'm bigger than her. i assured her that if she was uncomfortable with it, i already knew i could get a ride from someone else, but that i also had just purchased a helmet, so even if we crashed, it would be fine. she agreed. halfway to our destination, she yelled back over her shoulder, "i can't even tell you're on the bike with me! you're so well balanced!" that made me really happy. i don't even quite know why. i think just feeling like i did a good job at something so random was nice. and also, knowing that i wasn't making her miserable. we did make it safely.
3. on the way home from said destination, i caught a ride with another friend who drives a vespa, circa the civil war. it's an awesome piece of machinery, mostly because it never runs quite right, and therefore reminds me of my beloved truck. anyways, i think we got a little bored too, because on the way home we decided to trade views, meaning that he was looking backwards over my shoulder, and i was looking forwards over his shoulder and telling him which way to turn. in indonesian. it was great fun until we came across a family walking in the road and i got scared that we would accidentally run over a small child. so i made him turn back around. game over.
i'ma try and get my license soon.
and then maybe a motorcycle by fall time.
but don't worry, cause i have a helmet.
so now that i (finally) have a motorcycle helmet, i'm pretty much invincible.
also, i am becoming a master motorcycle rider.
the following 3 events made me really, really happy.
1. sunday, i had lunch with a friend, and afterwards, we decided to ride up the mountain to a village and then back down the mountain into town. i always love riding a bike, but that particular day, i was wearing a skirt, so i made the 45 minute jaunt sidesaddle - not my favorite pose. i think i finally mastered it though, or at least i figured out how to sit in such a way that my legs didn't fall asleep and my shoes didn't fall off. always good news. so on the way up the mountain, it got a little boring. so my friend, the driver, decided it would be fun to ride the straight stretches with no hands. it's pretty much just like riding a bike with no hands. as long as you're balanced, you just coast, no problem. when you're riding side, however, balance is a bit of a concern. but on all the parts with no hands, the bike continued on straight and sure. my friend's comment? "wow, you really figured out how to center back there!" my reply? "i have a helmet! i can do anything!"
2. i was at a dinner the other night with a missionary lady i know, and we both had to head to the same place afterwards, so i asked if i could just catch a ride with her. she appeared hesitant... she's not yet a particularly confident driver, and having a passenger can wreak havoc on your balance/steering. and plus, i'm bigger than her. i assured her that if she was uncomfortable with it, i already knew i could get a ride from someone else, but that i also had just purchased a helmet, so even if we crashed, it would be fine. she agreed. halfway to our destination, she yelled back over her shoulder, "i can't even tell you're on the bike with me! you're so well balanced!" that made me really happy. i don't even quite know why. i think just feeling like i did a good job at something so random was nice. and also, knowing that i wasn't making her miserable. we did make it safely.
3. on the way home from said destination, i caught a ride with another friend who drives a vespa, circa the civil war. it's an awesome piece of machinery, mostly because it never runs quite right, and therefore reminds me of my beloved truck. anyways, i think we got a little bored too, because on the way home we decided to trade views, meaning that he was looking backwards over my shoulder, and i was looking forwards over his shoulder and telling him which way to turn. in indonesian. it was great fun until we came across a family walking in the road and i got scared that we would accidentally run over a small child. so i made him turn back around. game over.
i'ma try and get my license soon.
and then maybe a motorcycle by fall time.
but don't worry, cause i have a helmet.
30 March 2009
ballroom blitz
so i already thought that the end of the (school) year was getting to be super busy...
that has been compounded in the past few days.
please feel free to peruse my weekly schedule.
(but only if you say schedule like mary poppins would)
MONDAY
6:30 - 7:30 ~ Do SAT II Math prep with Glory.
7:40 - 15:00 ~ School
15:00 - 15:30 ~ Tutor Whitney
Evening-ish ~ Trade English for Indonesian lessons with Mas Andre.
TUESDAY
7:40 - 15:00 ~ School
15:15 - Done ~ Teacher meetings
18:00 - 21/22 ~ Dinner club
WEDNESDAY
7:40 - 15:00 ~ School
15:00 - 15:30 ~ Tutor Whitney
15:30 - 16:30 ~ SAT stuff with Glory
19:00 - 21:00 ~ American Idol with the Java Dorm
THURSDAY
6:30 - 7:30 ~ SAT with Glory
7:40 - 15:00 ~ School
18:00 - 20:00 ~ Solafide (English fellowship/Bible study)
20:00 - 22:00 ~ Dinner
FRIDAY
7:40 - 15:00 ~ School
Evening-ish ~ Usually dinner/karaoke/coffeeshop
SATURDAY
17:30 - 20:00 ~ House church
Afterwards ~ Hang out with friends
SUNDAY
10:00 - 12:00 ~ Church
12:00 - 14:00 ~ Lunch
OK... Also cram in there 1-2 other times to meet with Andre to trade language lessons (by the way, this guy is an Indonesian teacher by trade, and he's teaching me for free. All I have to do is help him with his conversational English - talk to him.)
And Pita wants to meet 1-2 times a week to trade Indonesian for Spanish.
Some of my really good friends run a coffeeshop and their one reliable worker quit suddenly, so I've volunteered to help out there as much as I can. I can't mix drinks, but I'm already a pro at taking orders, delivering drinks, cleaning tables, washing dishes, heating up cinnamon rolls, etc...
And I'm pretty much always in the middle of watching some TV series or doing a movie night with Peco and Yohanes.
Oh, and on the weeks when I play guitar for Solafide, we meet to practice on one or two evenings.
And I'm usually out of town at least one day out of every weekend, if not all weekend.
Plus, I'm trying to spend time with people who are leaving before/at the end of the year.
But am I complaining?
No. Not at all.
I like being busy.
I just hope I get enough sleep so I can be a pleasant person.
I apologize in advance if I'm not.
Eight more weeks!
that has been compounded in the past few days.
please feel free to peruse my weekly schedule.
(but only if you say schedule like mary poppins would)
MONDAY
6:30 - 7:30 ~ Do SAT II Math prep with Glory.
7:40 - 15:00 ~ School
15:00 - 15:30 ~ Tutor Whitney
Evening-ish ~ Trade English for Indonesian lessons with Mas Andre.
TUESDAY
7:40 - 15:00 ~ School
15:15 - Done ~ Teacher meetings
18:00 - 21/22 ~ Dinner club
WEDNESDAY
7:40 - 15:00 ~ School
15:00 - 15:30 ~ Tutor Whitney
15:30 - 16:30 ~ SAT stuff with Glory
19:00 - 21:00 ~ American Idol with the Java Dorm
THURSDAY
6:30 - 7:30 ~ SAT with Glory
7:40 - 15:00 ~ School
18:00 - 20:00 ~ Solafide (English fellowship/Bible study)
20:00 - 22:00 ~ Dinner
FRIDAY
7:40 - 15:00 ~ School
Evening-ish ~ Usually dinner/karaoke/coffeeshop
SATURDAY
17:30 - 20:00 ~ House church
Afterwards ~ Hang out with friends
SUNDAY
10:00 - 12:00 ~ Church
12:00 - 14:00 ~ Lunch
OK... Also cram in there 1-2 other times to meet with Andre to trade language lessons (by the way, this guy is an Indonesian teacher by trade, and he's teaching me for free. All I have to do is help him with his conversational English - talk to him.)
And Pita wants to meet 1-2 times a week to trade Indonesian for Spanish.
Some of my really good friends run a coffeeshop and their one reliable worker quit suddenly, so I've volunteered to help out there as much as I can. I can't mix drinks, but I'm already a pro at taking orders, delivering drinks, cleaning tables, washing dishes, heating up cinnamon rolls, etc...
And I'm pretty much always in the middle of watching some TV series or doing a movie night with Peco and Yohanes.
Oh, and on the weeks when I play guitar for Solafide, we meet to practice on one or two evenings.
And I'm usually out of town at least one day out of every weekend, if not all weekend.
Plus, I'm trying to spend time with people who are leaving before/at the end of the year.
But am I complaining?
No. Not at all.
I like being busy.
I just hope I get enough sleep so I can be a pleasant person.
I apologize in advance if I'm not.
Eight more weeks!
29 March 2009
baby names
so dad has assigned me the task of naming our new calf.
from 12000 miles away.
i was bad at names when i actually lived there.
it's even harder from here.
(i'm happy he asked me though)
so i enlisted the help of my students.
one of them, in what was possibly a misguided attempt to be helpful, logged onto babynames.com.
i was astounded.
keep in mind that it's a website for HUMAN baby names.
some names that caught my eye (and not in a good way):
cactus
padgett
zajac
pakuna
cache
tagdh
yaotl
edgardo
jagannath
kaipo
yardley
..... need i go on?
seriously?
from 12000 miles away.
i was bad at names when i actually lived there.
it's even harder from here.
(i'm happy he asked me though)
so i enlisted the help of my students.
one of them, in what was possibly a misguided attempt to be helpful, logged onto babynames.com.
i was astounded.
keep in mind that it's a website for HUMAN baby names.
some names that caught my eye (and not in a good way):
cactus
padgett
zajac
pakuna
cache
tagdh
yaotl
edgardo
jagannath
kaipo
yardley
..... need i go on?
seriously?
28 March 2009
let dreams be dreams
last night was a night full of strange dreams.
i only vividly remember two of them.
in the first, i have no idea what was happening...
all i remember is that the entire dream was in indonesian.
i dreamed in indonesian!
i remember waking up in the dark, and being so happy about that.
since my indonesian is still extremely broken, everyone in the dream talked very slowly.
about the speed at which *I* speak indonesian.
i thought that was funny.
in the second, i was cleaning up after the jakarta tsunami.
i don't know if you heard the news in america or not...
but an earthen dam in jakarta broke this week and basically washed away a part of town.
the last reliable source i heard said that 58 were confirmed dead.
in my dream, there were bulldozers just shoveling all the debris into warehouses.
i was a worker in a warehouse, and our job was to sort everything into 3 piles.
one pile was for mud and manure.
one pile was for clothes and usable household items.
one pile was for bodies and body parts.
i had to put 4 babies into the last pile.
i wish my dreams could have gone in the opposite order.
i might have woken up in a better mood.
i only vividly remember two of them.
in the first, i have no idea what was happening...
all i remember is that the entire dream was in indonesian.
i dreamed in indonesian!
i remember waking up in the dark, and being so happy about that.
since my indonesian is still extremely broken, everyone in the dream talked very slowly.
about the speed at which *I* speak indonesian.
i thought that was funny.
in the second, i was cleaning up after the jakarta tsunami.
i don't know if you heard the news in america or not...
but an earthen dam in jakarta broke this week and basically washed away a part of town.
the last reliable source i heard said that 58 were confirmed dead.
in my dream, there were bulldozers just shoveling all the debris into warehouses.
i was a worker in a warehouse, and our job was to sort everything into 3 piles.
one pile was for mud and manure.
one pile was for clothes and usable household items.
one pile was for bodies and body parts.
i had to put 4 babies into the last pile.
i wish my dreams could have gone in the opposite order.
i might have woken up in a better mood.
19 March 2009
aku cinta kepadamu!
yesteday in seventh grade math class.....
seth broke out into some kind of seizure dance and whitney called him weird.
seth responded passionately.
seth broke out into some kind of seizure dance and whitney called him weird.
seth responded passionately.
"oh YEAH?! well, that's just FINE with me! i don't even WANT to be normal! normal is stupid! you know what normal is?? being normal is going to a stupid office all day and filling out stupid papers, then going home to bratty kids. SERIOUSLY, that's normal life in america these days."
and then he proceeded to burst forth into song.
"white and nerdy" by weird al.
"white and nerdy" by weird al.
no chance for normal there.
to review for the next day's test, i had the seventh graders write their own test.
i collected and redistributed the tests, which they then had to do during class for practice.
i wrote a list of relevant topics from the chapter on the board and told them to make sure they covered them all sufficiently on their practice tests.
most kids had about 20 - 25 questions on their test.
a fair length.
soon hyung, however, wrote a 5 page 72 question study manual.
poor whitney got stuck with his test in the redistribution.
she refused to take it. but i convinced her to at least try.
poor girl only made it halfway through the first page.
bethanie, my 4 year old friend, drew me some princesses.i think they should be characters in whatever tim burton's next film is.
but for now, they're chillin on my fridge.
and i laugh hysterically every time i eat.
ashley bought me some hoop earrings!
i got so excited.
i also got my pupils and irises removed.
just kidding.
i threw cat out of my bed 51 times last night.
i kept waking up to her chewing my facial parts.
lips, nose, eyelashes.
she also kept crawling under my blankets.
and then up my shorts.
you try waking up in the middle of the night with something alive in your shorts.
rough times.
too bad my bedroom door doesn't close.
i should put in a work order for that.
i think she needs people closeness though.
i considered throwing her out of the house altogether.
but she surprised me by only making messes in the litter box.
and she is quite clean.
good manners for a street cat.
so maybe she can still stay after all.
18 March 2009
i've been adopted
the past 12 hours have given me lots of reasons to smile.
for one, last night, i got to hang out with several good friends at the coffee shop.
i got a free dinner (tuna noodles!)
for one, last night, i got to hang out with several good friends at the coffee shop.
i got a free dinner (tuna noodles!)
i watched american idol with one-and-a-half americans.
i had an indonesian conversation with the jaga when i asked him about the very large dead snake laying by the back gate. (it was a viper and he killed it near my house. awesome. i have good jagas.)
when i got home, i found a box of lemon heads sitting on my table!
peco had been working at my house while i was gone and left them there for me (see below).
peco and yo came over at 8 to bake chocolate cookies!
we were sitting on the couch playing guitar and singing, when i heard a kitten.
there was a kitten at my door!
so i let it in. and it has adopted us.
i made a litter box for it, just in case.
and peco made a little house for it, which he put right beside my bed.
cat slept quietly on my couch all night long and tried to chew my toenails while i got ready for work this morning.
so maybe she can stay.
maybe.
17 March 2009
many dreams have been laid at your doorstep...
today i was told that i look like the mona lisa.
and all i can think is, "man. all whiteys really must look the same to asians."
and all i can think is, "man. all whiteys really must look the same to asians."
16 March 2009
pi(e) day
you ALL should already be aware that last saturday was (drumroll please) pi day!
i would hope that at this point in our relationship you might have even celebrated it with me a time or two. if not, well, i'm sorry. there's always next year.
anyways, this year was my first year to celebrate it as a teacher.
there were pies. apple pies and chocolate cream pies.
and there were games. memorizing pi. designing a logo for pi. and writing a poem about pi.
the student who won the memorizing contest correctly recited pi to 150 decimal places.
impressed!
the seventh graders were the only ones who wrote poems about pi.
the entries go as follows:
"Pie is red.
Pie is blue.
It smells
And so do you."
- Zach
"I love pie, it's so fly.
I do pie, but sometimes it takes time.
Pie can be hard, pie can be easy.
Sometimes I think pie is cheesy."
- Isaiah
"I love pi
I see pi
On a pi day
And a pi smiles at me
O, your beautiful smile
Let your name be blessed."
- Soon Hyung
"The infinite number of pi
Takes time and love to memorize
If you care and if you try
You can truly analyze.
The first number is an executed eight
The decimal is the drop of blood
that represents its fate
On and on the numbers will flow
Until they reach their dying date
On that date the world will end
And pi will be no more
But don't cry yet, there's more 'round the bend
A heavenly pi - like never before.
If you wore the Greek letter pi on your head
You wouldn't make the ladies keen
And it wouldn't do to drop down dead
On pi day - March fourteen."
- Mary
(BTW, Soon won marginally by class vote. But I would have voted for Mary.)
i would hope that at this point in our relationship you might have even celebrated it with me a time or two. if not, well, i'm sorry. there's always next year.
anyways, this year was my first year to celebrate it as a teacher.
there were pies. apple pies and chocolate cream pies.
and there were games. memorizing pi. designing a logo for pi. and writing a poem about pi.
the student who won the memorizing contest correctly recited pi to 150 decimal places.
impressed!
the seventh graders were the only ones who wrote poems about pi.
the entries go as follows:
"Pie is red.
Pie is blue.
It smells
And so do you."
- Zach
"I love pie, it's so fly.
I do pie, but sometimes it takes time.
Pie can be hard, pie can be easy.
Sometimes I think pie is cheesy."
- Isaiah
"I love pi
I see pi
On a pi day
And a pi smiles at me
O, your beautiful smile
Let your name be blessed."
- Soon Hyung
"The infinite number of pi
Takes time and love to memorize
If you care and if you try
You can truly analyze.
The first number is an executed eight
The decimal is the drop of blood
that represents its fate
On and on the numbers will flow
Until they reach their dying date
On that date the world will end
And pi will be no more
But don't cry yet, there's more 'round the bend
A heavenly pi - like never before.
If you wore the Greek letter pi on your head
You wouldn't make the ladies keen
And it wouldn't do to drop down dead
On pi day - March fourteen."
- Mary
(BTW, Soon won marginally by class vote. But I would have voted for Mary.)
10 March 2009
home home on the range
home safe!
coming home is always good.
mango juice is always good.
work is not always good.
but it mostly is.
pi day is on saturday!
i hope you're ready.
coming home is always good.
mango juice is always good.
work is not always good.
but it mostly is.
pi day is on saturday!
i hope you're ready.
06 March 2009
a helping hand
so ashley and i have made it safely to bali.
incredibly enough, it was cheaper (by about half as much) to [1. walk a kilometer to the harbor 2. jump on a fishing boat to lombok 3. haul ourselves (with luggage) another half a km 4. wait 2.5 hours for a car and driver while chatting with the locals (until they all left for prayer) 5. take said car an hour south to mataram 6. jump on an airplane to bali 7. get a taxi to drive us 20 minutes to our hotel] than it was to just take a boat straight to bali. wow.
we had a little "incident" in the airport. we got there 1 hour before our flight and went to check in... we're pretty used to the process here in indonesia, and we never have any problems. this was not the case yesterday as we tried to secure our boarding passes. we had purchased our tickets through a travel agency on lombok, and they had given us the e-ticket thingys. ashley and i had identical paperwork, minus the fact that mine had my name and ashley's had hers. naturally. ashley went to check in first, and they promptly proceeded to tell her to leave her bags and follow them. slightly concerned for my friend's well being and expecting the same fate myself, i stepped up to the counter and presented the lady with my papers. i received my boarding pass nearly immediately. so i waited for ashley. 10 minutes went by. 20 minutes went by. at this point i was nearly envisioning her locked in an interrogation room somewhere having bamboo shoots shoved under her fingernails as airport officials tried to extort money out of her. (ok, so indonesia is corrupt, but probably not quite THAT corrupt.) so i sms-ed her. she told me she was just outside, so i grabbed her luggage and went to find her. apparently, the travel agent did something wrong and her ticket was void. some poor guy who spoke hardly any english was trying his best to sort it out. our plane was leaving in 30 minutes. now, i have seen God's hand at work in our trip thus far, working tiny miracles to keep everything going smoothly in a country where smooth is a foreign concept. as the man picked up a telephone to make a call, right there in the airport, i bowed my head and i prayed, "God, i don't know who this man is calling or if they can help, but i know that YOU can. You've worked so many miracles on our trip so far, and i pray that You would do one more. i ask that this one phone call would clear everything up, that ashley and i would be together on our plane to bali in 30 minutes. and thanks." i opened my eyes. he hung up the phone. he handwrote ashley a new ticket, and we got on our plane. (btw, the 30 minutes left us with plenty of time to find our gate - the airport only has 2. TWO!)
last night ashley and i went out for indian food (salatiga desperately needs an indian restaurant. or maybe i just desperately need salatiga to have an indian restaurant....) and on our jaunt back to our hotel, we were doing some shopping - window and otherwise. ashley was having a rough go of it, knocking clothes off racks, dropping things on the floor, etc. very not normal ashley. i, of course, was having a good time teasing her about it and pretending to be embarrassed to be seen with such a klutz. but the best was yet to come..... we were in a very trendy/pricey clothes store. ashley decided that she liked the tube dress on the mannequin in the window, so she leaned over to check the price tag. as she did, though, she managed to halfway disrobe the poor mannequin, as the dress slid down to her waist. i hightailed it out of there, and ashley followed suit. as soon as we hit the sidewalk, we burst into uncontrollable laughter. i, naturally, took a picture of the scandalous mannequin. ironically (or maybe horrifically) enough, it is an indonesian holiday this weekend, and so there are TONS of muslim people here from java on vacation. ashley's justification for leaving the mannequin half-naked in the storefront window of the second busiest street in bali? - "but i was only trying to help the muslims have a better holiday!"
i am still laughing.
home tomorrow!
incredibly enough, it was cheaper (by about half as much) to [1. walk a kilometer to the harbor 2. jump on a fishing boat to lombok 3. haul ourselves (with luggage) another half a km 4. wait 2.5 hours for a car and driver while chatting with the locals (until they all left for prayer) 5. take said car an hour south to mataram 6. jump on an airplane to bali 7. get a taxi to drive us 20 minutes to our hotel] than it was to just take a boat straight to bali. wow.
we had a little "incident" in the airport. we got there 1 hour before our flight and went to check in... we're pretty used to the process here in indonesia, and we never have any problems. this was not the case yesterday as we tried to secure our boarding passes. we had purchased our tickets through a travel agency on lombok, and they had given us the e-ticket thingys. ashley and i had identical paperwork, minus the fact that mine had my name and ashley's had hers. naturally. ashley went to check in first, and they promptly proceeded to tell her to leave her bags and follow them. slightly concerned for my friend's well being and expecting the same fate myself, i stepped up to the counter and presented the lady with my papers. i received my boarding pass nearly immediately. so i waited for ashley. 10 minutes went by. 20 minutes went by. at this point i was nearly envisioning her locked in an interrogation room somewhere having bamboo shoots shoved under her fingernails as airport officials tried to extort money out of her. (ok, so indonesia is corrupt, but probably not quite THAT corrupt.) so i sms-ed her. she told me she was just outside, so i grabbed her luggage and went to find her. apparently, the travel agent did something wrong and her ticket was void. some poor guy who spoke hardly any english was trying his best to sort it out. our plane was leaving in 30 minutes. now, i have seen God's hand at work in our trip thus far, working tiny miracles to keep everything going smoothly in a country where smooth is a foreign concept. as the man picked up a telephone to make a call, right there in the airport, i bowed my head and i prayed, "God, i don't know who this man is calling or if they can help, but i know that YOU can. You've worked so many miracles on our trip so far, and i pray that You would do one more. i ask that this one phone call would clear everything up, that ashley and i would be together on our plane to bali in 30 minutes. and thanks." i opened my eyes. he hung up the phone. he handwrote ashley a new ticket, and we got on our plane. (btw, the 30 minutes left us with plenty of time to find our gate - the airport only has 2. TWO!)
last night ashley and i went out for indian food (salatiga desperately needs an indian restaurant. or maybe i just desperately need salatiga to have an indian restaurant....) and on our jaunt back to our hotel, we were doing some shopping - window and otherwise. ashley was having a rough go of it, knocking clothes off racks, dropping things on the floor, etc. very not normal ashley. i, of course, was having a good time teasing her about it and pretending to be embarrassed to be seen with such a klutz. but the best was yet to come..... we were in a very trendy/pricey clothes store. ashley decided that she liked the tube dress on the mannequin in the window, so she leaned over to check the price tag. as she did, though, she managed to halfway disrobe the poor mannequin, as the dress slid down to her waist. i hightailed it out of there, and ashley followed suit. as soon as we hit the sidewalk, we burst into uncontrollable laughter. i, naturally, took a picture of the scandalous mannequin. ironically (or maybe horrifically) enough, it is an indonesian holiday this weekend, and so there are TONS of muslim people here from java on vacation. ashley's justification for leaving the mannequin half-naked in the storefront window of the second busiest street in bali? - "but i was only trying to help the muslims have a better holiday!"
i am still laughing.
home tomorrow!
04 March 2009
wheels on the bus
so ashley and i have made it safely to the gilis.
we flew. we drove. we jumped a ferry. and now we're here.
finally.
it's pretty much great.
we rented bikes this morning and rode around the whole island.
beautiful.
our hotel is pretty sweet too.
we're paying rp. 85000 per night (about $7).
and we get a free breakfast and a bathroom with a shower.
but no sheets/covers on our beds.
awesome.
there's some awesome restaurants here.
last night, we ate indian.
tonight we ate at a russian restaurant.
figures.
tomorrow we're going snorkeling.
with sea turtles.
and giant clams.
in a glass bottomed boat.
pumped.
i have my own nickname on the island.
noodle head.
"i want to eat your hair!"
please.
friday we head to bali.
we can see it from here.
but to get there, we ride a boat, catch a taxi, get on a plane.
lame.
happy birthday, dad!
love.
we flew. we drove. we jumped a ferry. and now we're here.
finally.
it's pretty much great.
we rented bikes this morning and rode around the whole island.
beautiful.
our hotel is pretty sweet too.
we're paying rp. 85000 per night (about $7).
and we get a free breakfast and a bathroom with a shower.
but no sheets/covers on our beds.
awesome.
there's some awesome restaurants here.
last night, we ate indian.
tonight we ate at a russian restaurant.
figures.
tomorrow we're going snorkeling.
with sea turtles.
and giant clams.
in a glass bottomed boat.
pumped.
i have my own nickname on the island.
noodle head.
"i want to eat your hair!"
please.
friday we head to bali.
we can see it from here.
but to get there, we ride a boat, catch a taxi, get on a plane.
lame.
happy birthday, dad!
love.
25 February 2009
holidayholidayholidayholiday!
so today is the last day of school before (dun dun dun.....) SPRING BREAK!
i'll be traveling 8 hours tomorrow to the big city of surabaya on the eastern side of java for the international school basketball tournament. that lasts until sunday.
from there, ashley and i will be going to lombok, an island off the east-ish coast of java. it's nice-ish, but way less civilized/westernized/touristy-ized than bali. we might go out on the gili islands for a few days as well. so uncivilized - not even fresh water! hurrah! i'm so ready to get away from people, from civilization. but, if we get tired of the lack of people, we might jet (but not literally) to bali for a few days to get our tourist on.
i've convinced ashley, ever the planner, to not plan. so we have plane tickets to lombok. but no hotel reservations. no return tickets. no plans. i love it.
i still don't have a bag to pack in... i should probably look into that.
but then i am going to spend 7 days laying on the beach reading good books and getting some sunshines on my skin and meeting new people and eating good food. i can't WAIT!
i'll be traveling 8 hours tomorrow to the big city of surabaya on the eastern side of java for the international school basketball tournament. that lasts until sunday.
from there, ashley and i will be going to lombok, an island off the east-ish coast of java. it's nice-ish, but way less civilized/westernized/touristy-ized than bali. we might go out on the gili islands for a few days as well. so uncivilized - not even fresh water! hurrah! i'm so ready to get away from people, from civilization. but, if we get tired of the lack of people, we might jet (but not literally) to bali for a few days to get our tourist on.
i've convinced ashley, ever the planner, to not plan. so we have plane tickets to lombok. but no hotel reservations. no return tickets. no plans. i love it.
i still don't have a bag to pack in... i should probably look into that.
but then i am going to spend 7 days laying on the beach reading good books and getting some sunshines on my skin and meeting new people and eating good food. i can't WAIT!
17 February 2009
and the fun just keeps on coming....
today has been a quotable day.
in 11th grade, for some reason, we were talking about dads, and whose dad is best......
nasreen: my dad is better than yours.
philip: no, my dad is better than YOURS.
me: my dad is better than ALL your dads!
philip: my dad is better than all yours (talking to classmates) PLUS yours! (talking to me).
me: no way!
philip: my dad is a vet!
me: my dad could beat your dad at arm wrestling.
josh: (the mexican) so? my dad knows how to swim across rivers, run from police, and jump fences taller than your HOUSE!
aron: (the malaysian) my dad is chinese. he knows how to make money. i win.
nasreen: (the afghani) my dad looks just like osama bin laden. *I* win.
everyone else: fine. you win.
later..... in 9th grade.....
me: so now that we've talked about some biased survey questions, i want everyone to think of one unbiased question....
isaac: i've got one. are you gay?
me: that would be biased. it falls under the "sensitive information" heading. people are not very likely to answer honestly. especially when you ask like that.
isaac: psshhh. why not?
yoon jung: is this one unbiased? - do you prefer to date younger or older girls/boys?
me: yeah, i'd say that one is fairly unbiased.
jihyun: (a boy) boys.
isaac: SEE?! i already have one answer for my gay survey!!! SEE?! i was RIGHT!
sunjoon: ooooooh, jihyun.......
in 11th grade, for some reason, we were talking about dads, and whose dad is best......
nasreen: my dad is better than yours.
philip: no, my dad is better than YOURS.
me: my dad is better than ALL your dads!
philip: my dad is better than all yours (talking to classmates) PLUS yours! (talking to me).
me: no way!
philip: my dad is a vet!
me: my dad could beat your dad at arm wrestling.
josh: (the mexican) so? my dad knows how to swim across rivers, run from police, and jump fences taller than your HOUSE!
aron: (the malaysian) my dad is chinese. he knows how to make money. i win.
nasreen: (the afghani) my dad looks just like osama bin laden. *I* win.
everyone else: fine. you win.
later..... in 9th grade.....
me: so now that we've talked about some biased survey questions, i want everyone to think of one unbiased question....
isaac: i've got one. are you gay?
me: that would be biased. it falls under the "sensitive information" heading. people are not very likely to answer honestly. especially when you ask like that.
isaac: psshhh. why not?
yoon jung: is this one unbiased? - do you prefer to date younger or older girls/boys?
me: yeah, i'd say that one is fairly unbiased.
jihyun: (a boy) boys.
isaac: SEE?! i already have one answer for my gay survey!!! SEE?! i was RIGHT!
sunjoon: ooooooh, jihyun.......
15 February 2009
a beautiful mess
all the good adventures seem to happen on the weekend.
sunday was a mentally challenging day for me. roughly 5 minutes after i woke up, i found yohanes standing at my front door with a proposition. "do you want to go to solo?" those of you who know me or have lived with me know that morning is not my best time of day. i think i just stared at him for a really long time and then finally managed to get out a "right now?" to which he replied, "you don't have to go." but i did want to. so once my brain kicked in, i managed to convince him to wait 5 minutes (which turned into 10) so that i could get dressed and brush my teeth and do things to make myself socially presentable. so we jumped on the bus and headed 1.25 hours south to solo. 2 other friends had left ahead of us, and we were planning to meet them there at a restaurant. i was pretty quiet on the ride, given that, as i mentioned before, it was a mentally challenging day, and i knew it. i mostly just listened to my ipod and watched the scenery go by. my favorite thing to do in the bus. actually, one of my favorite things to do anywhere, anytime. so basically, the only 2 times i did actually converse with yo were a disaster. read on:
*i get an sms, so i dig through my bag and pull my phone out*
me: OH MY GOSH!
yo: what?
me: my phone is BROWN!
yo: uhmmm.... yes. what color did you think it was?
me: BLACK! has it always been brown??
yo: yes.
me: i went SIX MONTHS not knowing what color my phone was?!
yo: i guess you're just an igonorant american.
me: ohhhhhhhhhhh (moaning). don't tell me that. worst insult ever.
yo: you are.
me: WAIT!
yo: what?
me: what color are YOU?! are you brown? or have i been wrong about that for 6 months too??!
yo: *glares*
........ later .........
me: hey, what are those plants over there?
yo: umm... the bush ones?
me: yeah.
yo: cassava.
me: what's that?
yo: remember those chips peco had on monday?
me: yeah, i remember.
yo: yeah, those.
me: wait. do they have another name?
yo: what do you call them?
me: ummm..... sin-something.... sinpong?
yo: oh, yeah. sinkong chips.
me: they're the same thing?
yo: ummm.... yeah?
me: then how are they cassava AND sinkong? i don't get it.
yo: i'm confused.
me: why do they have two names? are they cassava or are they sinkong?
yo: ummm...... cassava is english and sinkong is indonesian.
me: WHAT?!
yo: cassava. english.
me: you're making it up.
yo: you've never heard of cassava?
me: no. and now you're teaching me my own language!?! what IS this??
sunday was a mentally challenging day for me. roughly 5 minutes after i woke up, i found yohanes standing at my front door with a proposition. "do you want to go to solo?" those of you who know me or have lived with me know that morning is not my best time of day. i think i just stared at him for a really long time and then finally managed to get out a "right now?" to which he replied, "you don't have to go." but i did want to. so once my brain kicked in, i managed to convince him to wait 5 minutes (which turned into 10) so that i could get dressed and brush my teeth and do things to make myself socially presentable. so we jumped on the bus and headed 1.25 hours south to solo. 2 other friends had left ahead of us, and we were planning to meet them there at a restaurant. i was pretty quiet on the ride, given that, as i mentioned before, it was a mentally challenging day, and i knew it. i mostly just listened to my ipod and watched the scenery go by. my favorite thing to do in the bus. actually, one of my favorite things to do anywhere, anytime. so basically, the only 2 times i did actually converse with yo were a disaster. read on:
*i get an sms, so i dig through my bag and pull my phone out*
me: OH MY GOSH!
yo: what?
me: my phone is BROWN!
yo: uhmmm.... yes. what color did you think it was?
me: BLACK! has it always been brown??
yo: yes.
me: i went SIX MONTHS not knowing what color my phone was?!
yo: i guess you're just an igonorant american.
me: ohhhhhhhhhhh (moaning). don't tell me that. worst insult ever.
yo: you are.
me: WAIT!
yo: what?
me: what color are YOU?! are you brown? or have i been wrong about that for 6 months too??!
yo: *glares*
........ later .........
me: hey, what are those plants over there?
yo: umm... the bush ones?
me: yeah.
yo: cassava.
me: what's that?
yo: remember those chips peco had on monday?
me: yeah, i remember.
yo: yeah, those.
me: wait. do they have another name?
yo: what do you call them?
me: ummm..... sin-something.... sinpong?
yo: oh, yeah. sinkong chips.
me: they're the same thing?
yo: ummm.... yeah?
me: then how are they cassava AND sinkong? i don't get it.
yo: i'm confused.
me: why do they have two names? are they cassava or are they sinkong?
yo: ummm...... cassava is english and sinkong is indonesian.
me: WHAT?!
yo: cassava. english.
me: you're making it up.
yo: you've never heard of cassava?
me: no. and now you're teaching me my own language!?! what IS this??
10 February 2009
these are a few
my favorite day of the workweek: wednesday
my favorite night of the workweek: tuesday
my favorite thing to drink at home: french grape juice
my favorite pants to wear: the gray ones
my favorite instrument to play here: guitar
my favorite bath towel: the white one. because 4 people share it. and i live alone.
my favorite dvd to watch this year: big bang theory (season 1)
my favorite people to watch it with: yo and peco
my favorite indonesian pickup line: malam nanti, ya?
my favorite dinner: cinnamon roll!
my favorite indonesian barista: andre
my favorite dorm lunch to eat: mexican
my favorite mathematician: leonhard euler
my favorite indonesian baby: samuel hutapea
yes. this has been a good week.
29 January 2009
ministry
So I got randomly volunteered (without my knowing) to lead a ministry trip this weekend. Not that I mind. I was planning on going anyways. Leading it is a bit more intimidating. So here's the rundown. We're leaving today right after school to travel to a town about 4 hours north of us. While we're there, we will be sleeping/eating in a church gracious enough to host us. Between Friday evening and Sunday morning, these things are on our agenda: visit 2 youth groups, visit a Christian school, visit an orphanage, visit widows, beach ministry, Indonesian church. This is the first ministry trip that our school has ever taken to this town, so the hope is that we will build bridges through relationships there for future trips/ministry efforts. At the youth groups and school we'll just be hanging out, talking, sharing testimonies, etc. When we go visit the orphans and widows, we'll be taking clothes and toiletries (soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc.) and just spending time loving. At the beach, we're just planning on hanging out and having good conversations with whoever we can find. And at church, I've been informed that we're expected to get up and sing for them. Perfect.
Anyways, bottom line is: please pray. We will need it. I'll be traveling with a local family of 5, two American short-termers who only arrived in the country on Wednesday, and 6 students (5 of which are boys). The most important things to pray for go as follows:
1. A willingness in all our hearts to be used in any way.
2. Eyes to see the opportunities placed before us.
3. That love will reach the places where language (or lack thereof) cannot.
4. Safety.
Talk to you again next week!
Anyways, bottom line is: please pray. We will need it. I'll be traveling with a local family of 5, two American short-termers who only arrived in the country on Wednesday, and 6 students (5 of which are boys). The most important things to pray for go as follows:
1. A willingness in all our hearts to be used in any way.
2. Eyes to see the opportunities placed before us.
3. That love will reach the places where language (or lack thereof) cannot.
4. Safety.
Talk to you again next week!
27 January 2009
God gave me good friends
So I put in a good 10.5 hours at school yesterday.
Then another hour at a soccer game.
It was craziness.
Kids everywhere.
By the time I got home, I just plain didn't feel good.
It hit me hard. I laid down on the couch for about 15 minutes.
But then it was time to go out for dinner.
A friend came to pick me up and saw the state I was in.
So he decided to make me better.
This involved making me sit down on the couch while he played guitar and sang to me.
It was nice.
This is what happened.
Him: "Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy....."
Me: Awwwwwwwww........
Him: "Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry......"
Me: My dad sings me this song to wake me up in the morning.
Him: Really?
Me: But he mostly says polebarn instead of sunshine.
Him: "Sunshine on the water looks so lovely......"
Me: And then I would punch him in the stomach and tell him to go away.
Him: Are you going to punch me in the stomach?
Me: Noooooooooo.
Him: "Sunshine almost always makes me cry....." Wait. I think it's "high".
Me: Yeah. It would be dumb to rhyme cry and cry. It's high.
Him: "Sunshine almost always makes me high....."
Me: Sounds about right.
Him: "If I had a day that I could give you..... I'd give to you a day just like today......"
Me: But I didn't like today! That's the whole reason you're singing to me right now.
Him: I would give you the hypothetical day in the song, which is a good day.
Me: Then that should be the words.
Him: "If I had a day that I could give you..... It would be the hypothetical day in this song....."
Me: But now the last line won't rhyme!
Him: "If I had a song that I could sing for you..... I'd sing a song that made you happy all along."
Me: Better than was I was thinking of. "I'd sing a song that made you happy on the lawn."
Him: No. I like yours better.
Me: Naaaaaaaaah.
Him: "If I had a tale that I could tell you, Id tell a tale sure to make you smile, If I had a wish that I could wish for you, Id make a wish for sunshine all the while."
We were late for dinner.
But I felt better.
God gave me better friends than I ever expected to have.
Oh, and I miss you dad.
But even if you came here and sang that song to me early in the morning, I would probably still punch you in the stomach and tell you to go away.
Then another hour at a soccer game.
It was craziness.
Kids everywhere.
By the time I got home, I just plain didn't feel good.
It hit me hard. I laid down on the couch for about 15 minutes.
But then it was time to go out for dinner.
A friend came to pick me up and saw the state I was in.
So he decided to make me better.
This involved making me sit down on the couch while he played guitar and sang to me.
It was nice.
This is what happened.
Him: "Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy....."
Me: Awwwwwwwww........
Him: "Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry......"
Me: My dad sings me this song to wake me up in the morning.
Him: Really?
Me: But he mostly says polebarn instead of sunshine.
Him: "Sunshine on the water looks so lovely......"
Me: And then I would punch him in the stomach and tell him to go away.
Him: Are you going to punch me in the stomach?
Me: Noooooooooo.
Him: "Sunshine almost always makes me cry....." Wait. I think it's "high".
Me: Yeah. It would be dumb to rhyme cry and cry. It's high.
Him: "Sunshine almost always makes me high....."
Me: Sounds about right.
Him: "If I had a day that I could give you..... I'd give to you a day just like today......"
Me: But I didn't like today! That's the whole reason you're singing to me right now.
Him: I would give you the hypothetical day in the song, which is a good day.
Me: Then that should be the words.
Him: "If I had a day that I could give you..... It would be the hypothetical day in this song....."
Me: But now the last line won't rhyme!
Him: "If I had a song that I could sing for you..... I'd sing a song that made you happy all along."
Me: Better than was I was thinking of. "I'd sing a song that made you happy on the lawn."
Him: No. I like yours better.
Me: Naaaaaaaaah.
Him: "If I had a tale that I could tell you, Id tell a tale sure to make you smile, If I had a wish that I could wish for you, Id make a wish for sunshine all the while."
We were late for dinner.
But I felt better.
God gave me better friends than I ever expected to have.
Oh, and I miss you dad.
But even if you came here and sang that song to me early in the morning, I would probably still punch you in the stomach and tell you to go away.
23 January 2009
i.... just got a job offer.
teaching pre-calc and prob & stats.
in honduras.
for the school that i was going to go work at originally.
i told them no.
but it's nice to be remembered.
and even nicer to be wanted.
it's thundering out.
we're going to karaoke tonight.
welcome to another wonderful day in indonesia.
teaching pre-calc and prob & stats.
in honduras.
for the school that i was going to go work at originally.
i told them no.
but it's nice to be remembered.
and even nicer to be wanted.
it's thundering out.
we're going to karaoke tonight.
welcome to another wonderful day in indonesia.
22 January 2009
a line by one of the characters in the last lemony snicket book.
it is my new favorite poem....
the night has a thousand eyes
and the day but one
yet the light of the bright world dies
with the dying sun.
the mind has a thousand eyes
and the heart but one
yet the light of a whole life dies
when love is done.
it is my new favorite poem....
the night has a thousand eyes
and the day but one
yet the light of the bright world dies
with the dying sun.
the mind has a thousand eyes
and the heart but one
yet the light of a whole life dies
when love is done.
20 January 2009
barack hussein obama
unfortunately, i did not get to see the inauguration yesterday.
because unfortunately, it was on tv in the middle of the night here.
and unfortunately, i do not own a tv.
fortunately, the history teacher streamed it online and showed it during u.s. history.
unfortunately, we have very slow third world internet.
so unfortunately, we only saw the first 10 minutes of obama's address. (it buffered for 7 hours!)
this was my favorite part.
obama: we remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.
me: uhmmmmm.......
mike: i think that was a little out of context.
me: uhmmmmmm........ yeah?
obama: ....that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness....
me: uhmmmmm......
mike: yeah.
me: does he THINK he's quoting scripture?!
mike: oh yeah, that's in second jefferson, i think.
right.
i took a picture.
for history's sake.
for history's sake.
in history class.
in this picture, there are:
a dutchman
3 koreans
a brit
an afghani
an indonesian
2 americans.
*EDIT*
after writing this, i was talking to an american friend serving in indonesia...
he summed up both of our feelings about the inaugural address spot on.
"reminds me how americans are characterized by pursuing what they think is happiness. and how sacrificing a little of that ideal is never done for the good of america, let alone the rest of the world. all in the name of upholding a 'right' that we inherently possess solely because of our place of birth."
i thought about that for a long time. and all i was eventually able to say back was "amen and amen."
14 January 2009
10 January 2009
but you can't sleep.....
At about 2 AM, I was feeling pretty amazed at how much I accomplished after midnight compared to how much I accomplished all day BEFORE midnight. I am undoubtedly a night person. Too bad I don't often have the luxury of being a night person here. Anyways, I made an impressive list. But then I just kept going and going and going and going. It's 9:30 AM now. I'm still not tired. Here's my lists.
List 1 (Or: Things I did before midnight)
Woke up at 12:36 (Don't judge me. I'm still sick a little. I definitely needed extra sleep.)
Took a shower.
Ate an apple.
Sporadically watched 6 hours of The Office while doing a cross-stitch gramma sent me.
Played guitar.
Ate a tuna sandwich. (First meat since being sick!)
Walked up to school to check my email.
List 2 (Or: When I come alive)
Fixed the decorations in my room.
Hung up my mirror that has been sitting on my desk since I got here. I used tools.
Put all my Yiddish magnets on my refridgerator.
Fixed all my candles that swallowed their own wicks.
Rearranged my lemari (wardrobe/shelving) to open up more room for books/dvds.
Cleaned out the fridge.
Cleaned my house.
Killed a lot of ants.
Swapped out computer batteries in my laptop. Put the old one back in. The charger is bad.
Wrote out three weeks worth of lesson plans.
Did three weeks worth of Math 7 homework. (The power was out and I was working by candlelight at this point)
Called home and located a paper I need, via Kyley. (Thanks)
Ate dinner. (Seaweed and cold rice!)
Read my Indonesian dictionary and learned a few new words.
Took some pictures in the dark.
Wrote a math quiz.
Brainstormed and typed up guidelines for 2 different quarter projects.
Played mahjongg.
Played guitar.
Had a brilliant idea for my class bulletin board.
Changed my handwriting. Again.
Freed up a ton of space on my hard drive.
Got the pick out of the inside of my guitar. Finally.
Made Chai. And drank it. Duh.
Read the first 20 chapters of Around the World in 80 Days.
Did situps.
Got dressed.
Walked to school.
Typed this dumb list.
Church starts in 30 minutes.
List 1 (Or: Things I did before midnight)
Woke up at 12:36 (Don't judge me. I'm still sick a little. I definitely needed extra sleep.)
Took a shower.
Ate an apple.
Sporadically watched 6 hours of The Office while doing a cross-stitch gramma sent me.
Played guitar.
Ate a tuna sandwich. (First meat since being sick!)
Walked up to school to check my email.
List 2 (Or: When I come alive)
Fixed the decorations in my room.
Hung up my mirror that has been sitting on my desk since I got here. I used tools.
Put all my Yiddish magnets on my refridgerator.
Fixed all my candles that swallowed their own wicks.
Rearranged my lemari (wardrobe/shelving) to open up more room for books/dvds.
Cleaned out the fridge.
Cleaned my house.
Killed a lot of ants.
Swapped out computer batteries in my laptop. Put the old one back in. The charger is bad.
Wrote out three weeks worth of lesson plans.
Did three weeks worth of Math 7 homework. (The power was out and I was working by candlelight at this point)
Called home and located a paper I need, via Kyley. (Thanks)
Ate dinner. (Seaweed and cold rice!)
Read my Indonesian dictionary and learned a few new words.
Took some pictures in the dark.
Wrote a math quiz.
Brainstormed and typed up guidelines for 2 different quarter projects.
Played mahjongg.
Played guitar.
Had a brilliant idea for my class bulletin board.
Changed my handwriting. Again.
Freed up a ton of space on my hard drive.
Got the pick out of the inside of my guitar. Finally.
Made Chai. And drank it. Duh.
Read the first 20 chapters of Around the World in 80 Days.
Did situps.
Got dressed.
Walked to school.
Typed this dumb list.
Church starts in 30 minutes.
in all my talk about bali, i totally forgot to mention anything about the flight there. or, more accurately, the flight security in the jogja airport. let me list my favorites.
1. mari had water bottles in her carry-on. and got to keep them.
2. i set off the metal detector, so they pulled me aside to wand me. i set the wand off in the general area of my right pants pocket. they waved me on anyways.
3. when i checked in and went through three security checks, i never once showed a single form of id.
4. i was never asked to remove my shoes.
5. i left the airport and came back in without getting security checked.
i watched the curious something or rather of benjamin button last night. it's a movie. and that's not its actual name. i just can't remember it right now. it was long, but actually a rather good story. i understand it's still in theaters in the states. there were subtitles. in english. done by indonesians. these ones were, however, better than the ones in meet dave (see some other blog i wrote on some other date in recent history). they at least tried to write what they heard. it's understandable. i mean, even native english speakers have trouble sometimes. take the old creedence song, for example, "there's a bad moon on the rise". don't worry dad, i think it says "there's a bathroom on the right" too. some subtitles and (actual lines) from the movie. the only ones i can remember, sorry.
i'm old enough for love things (i'm old enough for a lot of things)
you look fantastic (you're a lucky b*****d)
she had a 2,380 kg baby (she had a 6 lb 4 oz baby)
and that last one is especially funny because here in indonesia, a period is a actually comma. so what it really says (american style) is a 2.38 kilo baby. which is, in fact, 6 pounds 4 ounces. (i checked)
1. mari had water bottles in her carry-on. and got to keep them.
2. i set off the metal detector, so they pulled me aside to wand me. i set the wand off in the general area of my right pants pocket. they waved me on anyways.
3. when i checked in and went through three security checks, i never once showed a single form of id.
4. i was never asked to remove my shoes.
5. i left the airport and came back in without getting security checked.
i watched the curious something or rather of benjamin button last night. it's a movie. and that's not its actual name. i just can't remember it right now. it was long, but actually a rather good story. i understand it's still in theaters in the states. there were subtitles. in english. done by indonesians. these ones were, however, better than the ones in meet dave (see some other blog i wrote on some other date in recent history). they at least tried to write what they heard. it's understandable. i mean, even native english speakers have trouble sometimes. take the old creedence song, for example, "there's a bad moon on the rise". don't worry dad, i think it says "there's a bathroom on the right" too. some subtitles and (actual lines) from the movie. the only ones i can remember, sorry.
i'm old enough for love things (i'm old enough for a lot of things)
you look fantastic (you're a lucky b*****d)
she had a 2,380 kg baby (she had a 6 lb 4 oz baby)
and that last one is especially funny because here in indonesia, a period is a actually comma. so what it really says (american style) is a 2.38 kilo baby. which is, in fact, 6 pounds 4 ounces. (i checked)
08 January 2009
new years eve
New Year's Eve. It deserves its own blog, really. How eventful... First off, all the girls wore dresses, which was fun all by itself. Also, by this point, we had accumulated about 15 friends, so we had quite a crowd going. Also fun. The evening's adventures began with dinner. Indian food. a-MAZ-ing! Yohanes told us that the restaurant was about a 30 minute walk away from our hotel, so we all set out in high hopes, knowing that we were hungry enough to get us there in 20 minutes. An HOUR later, we arrived, sweaty and famished. Between the food and the company, the walk was well worth it! (Cashew curry chicken and garlic naan? Divine!) After eating our fill and spending a bit of time just relaxing and conversing, we decided to change locales. We paid up and left the restaurant, stopping briefly on the way out for Yo to buy some obnoxious noisemakers from someone on the sidewalk. One for everyone! We also took about a hundred pictures to commemorate the blessed event, much to my chagrin.
In high spirits once again, we began the arduous trek back. As we neared the heart of Kuta (the highly tourist-y/resort-y/ritz-y area of Bali where our hotel was located), we encoutered throngs of people heading out to clubs and parties all over town. The place was a mess. So we took the road less traveled - a side street that took us directly to the beach! Without ever really discussing it, we unanimously decided that this was the place to be. I mean, there were fireworks and firedancers. What else could we need? The beach was absolutely packed. I actually never even saw the water, which became a bit of a concern for me as people started shooting off random fireworks from within the crowd. Unlicensed unprofessionals shooting off things that explode just a few meters over my head does not instill a sense of safety in my heart. Or liver. Or any other internal organ. Oh well.
As midnight approached, we realized that every single one of us had a different time on our handphones. Did anyone actually know when the new year would arrive? We made the best of it and counted down the new year at least 4 times, much to the amusement of the Indonesians around us. I took that opportunity to call Katy, my bestest and dearest friend with whom I have spent every New Years since about 1997, give or take. (I heart you.) Unfortunately, by this point, the crowd was so loud that I couldn't hear her, but she could her me wishing her a selamat tahun baru at 1:00 in the afternoon. Time zones are funny things. Shortly after that, a roar of voices came from behind us, which spread like a fire fueled by a powerful accelerant down the waterfront. The new year was finally here. Or at least someone had managed to convince us that it was.
After much general gaiety and thousands more pictures taken on the beach, Peco remembered an earlier desire that I had expressed for ice cream. So we went to McDonalds, conveniently located across the street from the beach, where he kindly bought me an ice cream cone. I have not had soft-serv in 6 months. Oh, man..... Here, we accidentally met up with even MORE friends of ours from Salatiga who were holiday-ing in Bali, and we hung out for a bit, watching the beach crowd disperse. After awhile, we were ready to head back to our hotel, none of us being the party/club type. So we walked to our road, conveniently located right next to McDonalds, conveniently located across the street from the beach.
There were a lot of people on our road. So many, in fact, that they formed an impenetrable wall. The whole road is about 4 meters wide and is walled in on both sides, thereby forming a chute of sorts. A chute that was completely plugged and entirely impassable. Our hotel was about half a kilometer down this road. We decided to see how far we could get, but some important looking guys started yelling at people to turn back and get off this road. So we went back near the McDonalds and pondered our course of action. Shortly, Peco and Yohanes, who we had previously left at the McDonald's, joined us. Quickly assessing the situation, they decided we should try again. So we did. It was a mess. Our group got separated in the crowd, and I found myself at the tail end with Peco and Yo. In about 15 minutes, we made it no more than a meter or two into the human wall, with more and more people coming from behind, pressing us forward, a direction in which we could not go. It was a very hot and claustraphobic experience. The guys took excellent care to protect me. In a crowd that tightly packed, I don't think anyone even brushed against me, so good were they at defending my right to breathe. Faced with the realization of how long it would take us to reach our hotel, we decided once again to turn back.
Finding ourselves again at the waterfront, we decided to walk farther down the main road and take the long way around back to the hotel. But not until Yo took 50 more pictures. It is quite a walk, but we figured it would be much quicker than waiting for the crowd to thin out. And it was. There were still masses of loud and drunk people everywhere, but we made it back to the hotel easily in less than 30 minutes. We were hot, tired, and sweaty. So we all ran to our rooms, threw our suits on, and jumped into the pool! Eventually, other friends started trickling back from their arduous walk, and so enticed were they by the pool, that they all jumped in with their clothes still on! Now, why didn't WE think of that?? We were having such a good time that the hotel guard had to come tell us to be a little quieter. Because who is asleep at 2 AM on New Years Eve in Bali?!
After cooling off and drying off, we all went to the guys' room to hang out on their massive balcony. One by one, people said their goodnights as the hour became too much for their sleepy eyes to bear. By about 3, only Peco, the 2 South Africans, the German, and me remained. By 5:30, when we were all still wide awake, we decided that we should definitely see the first sun rise of the year. But where at? Kuta is on the west side of Bali - not a good place to see the sunrise in all its glory. But wait! - Sanur! It's on the East side of the island! Yup. We definitely woke a taxi driver up at 5:30 AM so he could come pick us up and drive us across the island just in time to see the first amazing sunrise of 2009. Once it was up, we all realized how incredibly tired we were, so we all came home and went to bed. All before anyone in the States had even finished their New Years Eve dinner. And THAT..... was New Years.
In high spirits once again, we began the arduous trek back. As we neared the heart of Kuta (the highly tourist-y/resort-y/ritz-y area of Bali where our hotel was located), we encoutered throngs of people heading out to clubs and parties all over town. The place was a mess. So we took the road less traveled - a side street that took us directly to the beach! Without ever really discussing it, we unanimously decided that this was the place to be. I mean, there were fireworks and firedancers. What else could we need? The beach was absolutely packed. I actually never even saw the water, which became a bit of a concern for me as people started shooting off random fireworks from within the crowd. Unlicensed unprofessionals shooting off things that explode just a few meters over my head does not instill a sense of safety in my heart. Or liver. Or any other internal organ. Oh well.
As midnight approached, we realized that every single one of us had a different time on our handphones. Did anyone actually know when the new year would arrive? We made the best of it and counted down the new year at least 4 times, much to the amusement of the Indonesians around us. I took that opportunity to call Katy, my bestest and dearest friend with whom I have spent every New Years since about 1997, give or take. (I heart you.) Unfortunately, by this point, the crowd was so loud that I couldn't hear her, but she could her me wishing her a selamat tahun baru at 1:00 in the afternoon. Time zones are funny things. Shortly after that, a roar of voices came from behind us, which spread like a fire fueled by a powerful accelerant down the waterfront. The new year was finally here. Or at least someone had managed to convince us that it was.
After much general gaiety and thousands more pictures taken on the beach, Peco remembered an earlier desire that I had expressed for ice cream. So we went to McDonalds, conveniently located across the street from the beach, where he kindly bought me an ice cream cone. I have not had soft-serv in 6 months. Oh, man..... Here, we accidentally met up with even MORE friends of ours from Salatiga who were holiday-ing in Bali, and we hung out for a bit, watching the beach crowd disperse. After awhile, we were ready to head back to our hotel, none of us being the party/club type. So we walked to our road, conveniently located right next to McDonalds, conveniently located across the street from the beach.
There were a lot of people on our road. So many, in fact, that they formed an impenetrable wall. The whole road is about 4 meters wide and is walled in on both sides, thereby forming a chute of sorts. A chute that was completely plugged and entirely impassable. Our hotel was about half a kilometer down this road. We decided to see how far we could get, but some important looking guys started yelling at people to turn back and get off this road. So we went back near the McDonalds and pondered our course of action. Shortly, Peco and Yohanes, who we had previously left at the McDonald's, joined us. Quickly assessing the situation, they decided we should try again. So we did. It was a mess. Our group got separated in the crowd, and I found myself at the tail end with Peco and Yo. In about 15 minutes, we made it no more than a meter or two into the human wall, with more and more people coming from behind, pressing us forward, a direction in which we could not go. It was a very hot and claustraphobic experience. The guys took excellent care to protect me. In a crowd that tightly packed, I don't think anyone even brushed against me, so good were they at defending my right to breathe. Faced with the realization of how long it would take us to reach our hotel, we decided once again to turn back.
Finding ourselves again at the waterfront, we decided to walk farther down the main road and take the long way around back to the hotel. But not until Yo took 50 more pictures. It is quite a walk, but we figured it would be much quicker than waiting for the crowd to thin out. And it was. There were still masses of loud and drunk people everywhere, but we made it back to the hotel easily in less than 30 minutes. We were hot, tired, and sweaty. So we all ran to our rooms, threw our suits on, and jumped into the pool! Eventually, other friends started trickling back from their arduous walk, and so enticed were they by the pool, that they all jumped in with their clothes still on! Now, why didn't WE think of that?? We were having such a good time that the hotel guard had to come tell us to be a little quieter. Because who is asleep at 2 AM on New Years Eve in Bali?!
After cooling off and drying off, we all went to the guys' room to hang out on their massive balcony. One by one, people said their goodnights as the hour became too much for their sleepy eyes to bear. By about 3, only Peco, the 2 South Africans, the German, and me remained. By 5:30, when we were all still wide awake, we decided that we should definitely see the first sun rise of the year. But where at? Kuta is on the west side of Bali - not a good place to see the sunrise in all its glory. But wait! - Sanur! It's on the East side of the island! Yup. We definitely woke a taxi driver up at 5:30 AM so he could come pick us up and drive us across the island just in time to see the first amazing sunrise of 2009. Once it was up, we all realized how incredibly tired we were, so we all came home and went to bed. All before anyone in the States had even finished their New Years Eve dinner. And THAT..... was New Years.
in which i emerge from my cave
so. i got back from bali on saturday morning.
the 18 hour bus ride was actually great.
got to ride a ferry to java at sunset.
i even saw orion! my favorite! he was upside down.
got to hang out with some good friends.
got to see more of indonesia.
got to eat supper at midnight.
got to sleep a lot.
got to almost die like 27 times.
excellent.
chilled sunday.
had movie/pizza night with friends on monday.
barfed my guts up on tuesday.
writhed in pain on my couch on wednesday.
vowed never to eat pizza again on thursday.
i can't wait to see what friday holds in store.
the 18 hour bus ride was actually great.
got to ride a ferry to java at sunset.
i even saw orion! my favorite! he was upside down.
got to hang out with some good friends.
got to see more of indonesia.
got to eat supper at midnight.
got to sleep a lot.
got to almost die like 27 times.
excellent.
chilled sunday.
had movie/pizza night with friends on monday.
barfed my guts up on tuesday.
writhed in pain on my couch on wednesday.
vowed never to eat pizza again on thursday.
i can't wait to see what friday holds in store.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)