A bit more

I have a little time this morning and thought I'd write another short piece.

When I first arrived in Medan I had been on a plane or in an airport for something around 35 hours. We were picked up in the world's smallest airport at a baggage claim that was hot and dirty. I slept the last hour from Jakarta to Medan but that was about the only sleep I'd had in nearly two days. We were then driven to Sun Plaza where we were bought cell phones (called hand phones here) and a few groceries. I was so exhausted that I could barely lift my head. We were driven around Medan which at night is often pitch dark once one is out of the commercial areas. In the commercial areas there are lights strewn about which seems a little funny considering the frequency of power outages. My first impression was that there are no traffic laws. There are, but how they enforced remains a mystery. In fact, there is even a law against not wearing a seatbelt if you are in the front seat. In practice the traffic is simply hyper aggressive but the drivers never seem angry. They use the horn as if it were another pedal and its utility is that it alerts others that you are driving down the road and that you're going to change lanes (whether they like it or not) and so on. Trying to cross a busy street on foot would be nearly impossible if one were to try use the techniques used in America. The only way is to simply begin crossing-like the video game 'frogger'. I suggested to a friend that we should get our own horns.

I was trying to think just now about how long I have been here and it's over three weeks. It feels much longer, but that will change. I am sort of used to the place, but I still know very little other than my neighborhood, the Sun Plaza mall, and the school. Other places I've been could well be in any of those areas but I wouldn't know it. It's important to know your address and how to get home because the taxi driver probably won't. They can take you to landmark buildings and to the general are of your house but then it's up to you. For that reason I've learned to say, "Turus"--straight (probably spelled wrong, pronounced too-ruse), "Kirih"--left (kee-ree), and Kanong--right (the 'g' is silent). I can also say "Saya mau pergi--I want to go (insert place) and count to 100, after that I have to think about it.

Email at sekulah

As of yesterday, I can now check my emails at school. Why I was unable to do this before, I don't actually know--they were blocked for whatever reason.

The basketball schedule is like this: Primary 3 and 4 on Monday, Primary 5 and 6 on Wednesday, and Secondary 1-3 on Friday. There are between 24 and 28 kids at each session. I am now going to have a second assistant which should help. The practice begins at precisely the moment when traffic gets heavy. On the street behind the basket, vendors are set up and their carts play what I would call carnival music--the same strange tune over and over. On the other streets cars and becaks and motorbikes race around, and, of course, all around us are other kids running around being loud. In this environment it is nearly impossible to be heard, so the extra help is needed even if just to act as messengers. The new guy is an English teacher either from Singapore or the Phillipines, I haven't asked.

At the meeting last friday the principal directed the Filipino and Chinese teachers to converse with the native English speakers in order to improve execution of the language. I don't have any problem understanding them but the British fellow here from Birmingham is another matter. At lunch a few of the Filipino teachers asked to sit by me. I told them that are just as fluent as I am. The Chinese teachers are another matter altogether.

The Bahasa word for teacher is guru. Saya guru means that I am a teacher. In the West, of course, we make rather grand associations with that word. I am going to continue to do so. I might insist upon being upgraded to Maharajah.

More later

I just have a moment, so this will be brief. The weekend was interesting but a little exhausting. Sunday's are spent preparing for the upcoming week. I spent much of saturday with a friend going from place to place for a cup of coffee, then tea, then dinner, then a glass of wine, then shopping, then home. We took both taxi and becak.

The Indonesian restaurant at which we ate offers no menu but instead brings everything they serve to your table and then charges you for whatever you wind up eating. There was beef, lamb, chicken, fish, squid, some other things, and rice, of course. They make juice out of everything and I've never had so much juice in all my life. I made the mistake of eating a chili pepper and for a moment felt a little odd, had I eaten two, all bets would have been off.

Next weekend I plan on going to Lake Toba. Everyone speaks highly of this mountainous lake and I look forward to cool tempertures. Must go, I'll write this afternoon if the moment presents itself.

Oh, as for sounding more pretentious in my blog than I do in person, it's no accident but rather the result of years of diligent effort. My finely honed technique for executing this is thus: I think, how would Jamison express himself, and then do the opposite.

Sentosa

This is a beach on the man-made Singaporean island of Sentosa, home to many fancy resorts, golf courses and such. There were signs along the road warning tourist of aggessive peacocks although the Singaporean teacher who led us around assured me that no such peacocks were to be found.

Children are hovering around me at the moment. One can get wireless access in certain areas of the school only and one of them is a corridor. I made the poor choice of trying to post in this hallway during recess and so every primary student who passes stops to look at my MacBook which is very impressive to most although one student said to me only moments ago that, "I have one just like this at home, only my screen is much bigger." The students' parents don't want for money and so what he says is very likely true--also, a Mac here would be several times the price of a Mac in America. Many of the Chinese homes warrant the adjective "palatial" and look something like European hotels. I'll get a picture of that out soon. I live in a neighborhood with many such homes. They line garbage strewn streets and the size of the rats impresses everyone.

I was of the opinion that such creepy things were overhyped although one woman told me that last year a baby cobra had managed to slither under her door. It was only a few inches long, but where there's a baby there is also a mother, right? Anyway this woman, who stands no more than 5 feet tall herself and speaks in a barely audible soft spoken voice was still frightened and threw a towell over the serpeant, then beat it with a broom. I said, "you mean to tell me that such things are anomolies, right? I don't have to worry about that happening to me." She's quite quick and responded, "I mean to tell you always carry a broom."

The temperture in Medan

I have no idea what the temperture is in Medan, it feels pretty much the same everyday. The temperture is also measured in Celsius and so the conversion to farenheit would be an approximation and probably not accurate. I know that it was 111 degees in Kansas not long ago and someone here said that that would be about 41 degrees Celsius, someone else said even higher than that. My guess is that it is nearly always 85-90 degrees Farenheit with a very high humidity. The town moves at a slow pace and it is a wonder why the school days go so long with no equivilent of a Siesta.

I will make an effort this weekend to get to an internet cafe so that I can communicate with a few people but things are very busy. I am able to post at school because I am here from 7 to 6 nearly every day and have some down time.

I thought that I had posted a photo yesterday but apparently it didn't take. Internet is slow here and it must never have finished before I shut down. Must go. If Jamison is out there, I will try to call Sunday or possibly tonight. My only set plans are for Saturday night.

Just getting rid of Singapore photos

I had promised to post retrospectively my musings in Singapore. This photo is also of downtown Singapore where there are many, many tall modern buildings. I have so many photos from Singapore and it seems like so long ago that I don't even really want to bother with the retroactive posts and photos any longer. From here on out, I will be posting photos that have some relation to what I'm doing and where I'm at at the moment.

Every day of the week I spend one half hour in one or more Primary level classes (elementary school to Americans). I teach Social Studies. This area of scholarship whether in Primary or Secondary school is of very little importance to my school which, incidentally, operates using a Singapore curriculum. Math, Science and English are the focus or, Maths, as they say here and throughout the UK.

So, I was in a class full of Primary 4ers and was attempting via Socratic Method to lead them toward identifying the varying elements of Social Studies. I was attempting to get them to come up with the word Government by asking "who makes the decisions in a country about how things are run?" When that failed to elicit a response I tried this, "For instance, who decides to start a war?" Half the class answered, "The United States" while the other half said, 'Japan.'

Golden Thai

I went to dinner last night with a new friend at a very nice Thai restaurant--the cab drives you up to door, doormen open your doors (in this case with umbrellas), and the whole affair is first rate, yet the prices are, of course, absurdly inexpensive. My companion, a bit of a connoisseur, ordered several dishes for me to sample and without fail they were all amazing. The pineapple rice comes served in a hollowed out half pineapple, the mussels surpassed all previous mussel experience and I love mussels. There were so many other plates I could not begin to remember them all but suffice it to say that when people go out to eat here, they don't hold back.

I do have email, but I cannot access it either from school or home. I have to go to an internet cafe and that is not always so convenient. I'm sorry that it has been difficult for me to get there but we work long days and depend on drivers to take us home. By the time we get to leave we are usually starving. Once home, it is difficult to find the motivation to get a cab and go out again--particularly when one has to be up at 5:30 the next morning. I will make a point to get there this week, very likely on the weekend.

In Singapore I'd met this Nepalese fellow who I could barely understand but who was so kind I gave him my email address. Last I'd checked he'd sent me 5 emails in very broken english. His were a total of 5 of the 70 that were in my inbox and so, email is just a poor way to get a hold of me right now. This problem will soon be taken care of but by that I mean the Indonesian "soon" and not the American. The Indonesian "soon" is equivalent to the American "someday."

This is the "MerLion" a creature half fish half lion which is supposed to symbollize Singapore whose name means City of the Lion, or something rather close to that. Prior to the British East India Company's establishment of trading post there in the early 19th century Singapore was home to tigers and pirates. Now it a global financial power, but as I learned last night, not even all Singaporeans go to school.

One is allowed to climb up to the mouth of this thing and look out over the city. The previous photograph was shot from that venue.

Singapore

The world's largest, and certainly cleanest port. I now have wireless at work.

Slow news day

I've gotten quite used to a total absence of tv. We have a television but the shows are all in Bahasa Indonesia. It is possible to get satelite or cable but I don't have the energy to inquire about it at this point and little faith that any inquiry would lead to any results in the near future. I'm not sure how much I'd actually watch anyway and would settle for home internet service. Another teacher here who speaks the language fluently has been accepting home internet service on a "trial" basis meaning that she will not sign up with anyone until she believes their service is reliable and not soul crushingly slow. She's agreed to help me do the same. We'll see.

If all else fails I will simply spend more time in the internet cafe that is not too far from my house, but too far to walk. In US dollars it's a 3dollar cab ride. In Minneapolis many cabs start their meters higher than that.

Back to food, chocolate is available, but if you like extremely sweet candy like jelly beans, or gummy bears or licorice, forget it. Last night there was a gecko in the jelly beans I'd left out. Geckos are good and welcome in the house. They're tiny and supposedly eat mosquitos but ours seem to be underperforming in that regard.
I have considered getting a pet iguana to help them out but am not sure if geckos and iguana live in harmony. I'll ask around.

Tonight we start basketball. My assistant has been sent to work out the Visa situation in Pinang, Malaysia so it will only be me. So many students signed up for basketball that we had to add an extra day and many of the students are disappointed to learn that I cannot dunk. "But you're so tall" they protest. Alas, I am also old and white.

Cuisine in Indonesia and Indonesian cuisine

Indonesian food is usually rice or noodles with prawns, fish and chicken. There are of course other items like calamari but pretty much everything that contains meat comes with chicken and prawns and fish. Of course, I've been here only a couple of weeks and have not tried everything. Dishes, like the aforementioned, generally also include green onions and several types of herbs. Chili sauce is a condiment and comes in packets with even Pizza. On Saturday two teachers and I took the Austrailian teacher's kids to Pizza hut. They wanted the "Meat Lover's" pizza which here means a whole lot of chopped up beef hot dogs--pretty gross. Pepporini would have been much preferable and it was on the menu. I noticed also that they served a stuff crust pizza that is stuffed with beef sausage--of course pork is not available. The cheese is generally considered terrible by all Westerners who love cheese--on the pizza it tastes like any other. Another pizza offering was "beeforn" which, if you can believe it, is beef sausage and corn. In Singapore I noticed (and I can't recall if I already posted this anecdote) that SE Asians have a rather humorous misunderstanding of what Americans eat. We were in a food court which housed a variety of restaurants including Thai, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and "Western." The Western restaurant advertised its notion of the "Classic American Breakfast"--scrambled eggs, pancakes, and fried chicken. Fried chicken is abundant in Medan and it is usually called "Kentucky Fried Chicken" even when it does not come from KFC. McDonald's and Starbuck's have a presence here, along with KFC and A&W and even Dunkin' Donuts. Other shops, presumably locally run, trying to compete with these, include Texas Fried Chicken, and, comically, California Fried Chicken. There is also a Papa Ron's. Most expats in search of steak or burritos go to a place called The Traders which unlike every other place in town, is relatively expensive. Generally one can eat out for under 2 dollars US, at Tradder's most things run to 3 or 4 dollars and some items are as high as 30.

It is quite easy to find very good Chinese food, Sushi, and Thai and I believe that I will be dining at "the best Thai restaurant in Medan" tomorrow night. This is the recommendation of a Singaporean teacher who seems to knows the city, and food, quite well. She is also the one who saved me from feeling obligated to eat bean pudding, so I trust her.

Generally, the food is good but I have had cravings for items that are not available or available but of a very poor quality. My roommate and I have been the recipients of many pastries, bread, and recently a very nice, and exquisitely decorated chocolate mint cake. The refrigerator is rather small and so there is almost no room for anything else and much of it will have to go to waste.

On the van ride to school this morning I noticed a couple of children who, unlike the others we passed, were not clad in a school uniform but rather, very dirty and ill-fitting clothes--one t-shirt featured the face of Charles Barkley when he was with the Phoenix Suns, that was roughly 12 years ago. As circumstance would have it they were knelt at the mouth of a squalid alleyway bordered on both sides by rundown buildings. Not every child in Medan goes to school.

The Chinese expats, and those Indonesians of Chinese descent, will often say when recommending a restaurant or shopping area that it's "safe." Originally, I thought that this meant that they were worried about my safety as an American abroad, but Medan is not Aceh, nor even Jakarta--it's large Chinese population seems to be apolitical, and the Indonesians here rally far less often that do in other cities. When I have talked to local Indonesians who are not Chinese, they are friendly and while we cannot really communicate, they don't seem to have any anti-american bias which is to say that they can distinguish between policy and people. The word for "I'm sorry" in Indonesian is "Maaf" (pronounced 'Ma off'). One gentlemen responded when I told him I was American by saying "Amereeka, BOOSH. BOOSH NO!" I said "Bush, Maaf" and he erupted in laughter. What the Chinese mean when they say that a place is safe is that it is safe for them. The Chinese were given preferential treatment by the Dutch during colonial times and used their status to attain great wealth. The disparity between them and the average Indonesian is vast and when there is political upheaval, it is the Chinese who are targeted, not Westerners of whom there are so few that little resentment seems to exist, again this Medan, not Aceh.

Crazy morning

Nothing can be taken for granted in Indonesia. The school sends a driver to take the teachers to work every morning. Today we had the "new guy." He spoke not a word of English and did not know how to get from our neighborhood to the school. We were successful in guiding him but once we were within a mile from the school he realized, or seemed to remember that there were more teachers that he was supposed to pick up. Thus, he turned the van around and returned to the neighborhood. He showed me a slip of paper with some names and numbers on it but none of us were totally certain where the house was. We found it, but by that time the teachers had left. Whether they had tired of working and hired a taxi, I'm still not sure. We arrived at the exact time we were supposed to begin homeroom (called Mentor period here).

The price of basketballs is not cheap, roughly 10 US dollars per ball. Imported items like that are not necessarily cheap here, but still cheaper than in the States.

I've met several more expats, mostly Brits with gregarious and extroverted personalities. One who ends every sentence with the word "yeah?" As in, "So we we're all in the pub, yeah? Two blokes, ugliest men I'd ever seen, yeah? These two guys wearing shirts as filthy as the bottom of me shoes, yeah? Sit right down next to me and start giving me the eye. So I says to them, I says. 'Ello fellas, should I get the next round?"

We were taken out for milkshakes the other day. I milk shake here is chocolate, cream, and ice, not ice cream, milk and chocolate. I mentioned this oddity to my British friend and he told me that the Indonesian way of making a shake is also the British way. Comparitively speaking, we have it all over these people in terms of dessert. I bought some jelly beans that taste like suntan lotion. I can't imagine how anyone could know that and put them in one's mouth. I went out for a lovely Indonesian dinner with some friends and it was fantastic, but dessert came and it was these teddy bear shaped brown jelly looking things. I asked this Singaporean woman what these things were and she answered, "That's bean pudding. You don't have to eat it, it's terrible." I took her word.

Bahasa Indonesia

I took my first lesson in Bahasa Indonesia (also called 'Indonesian'). My tutor, the school's Bahasa teacher, was very proud of me and kept saying that I was a very good student. Of course, now I can't remember a thing, but I have it in my note book. It is very logical and since there is only the present tense, it is easier than learning most languages. The people here, not surprisingly, love it when you can say anything to them in Indonesian. I am impatient with myself on this account, but there's so much to do and plan for that one cannot get everything done as quickly as one would like. One expat told me that 100 words would be sufficient to get around town, order food, get help, etc. I think 1000 word is not out of the question. "This" and "that" can suffice when you forget what something is called but I keep thinking about Wittgenstein who said, essentially, that one's world is only as large as one's vocabulary, so why choose to live in a world that is smaller than it needs to be?

We have extracurricular acitivities twice a week. I had planned a film course, which I will try to do next term but opted instead to teach basketball. I'm not qualified to do that in the States but here I'm an expert. My assistant and I went to the mall yesterday to buy basketballs--we bought ten. They're outdoor balls and we will be playing outdoors, but they're not of a particularly high quality, not terrible, but not top of the line. We carried them out of the mall in three bags and we were, apparently, quite sight to see--two white guys walking around with sacks full of basketballs, it was difficult to explain. There is the bit in the film Hudsucker Proxy where the Tim Robbins character (the fictional inventor of the Hula Hoop) carries around his design with him before he's had a chance to produce a single hoop. When asked about his life prospects he invariably would pull out the design, which was nothing more than a slip of paper with a circle drawn on it, and say "don't worry about me, I've been sitting on this little beauty." Those he spoke to would look at him curiously and he'd try to reassure them saying, "you know? For kids." That was us yesterday.

Indonesia was instructed by the world community after the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004 (not the Christmans Tsunami of noteriety) to procure 22 warning buoys. They were able to get 12 and most of them broke immediately. No one was warned about the oncoming wave. Apparently, as soon as news of an earthquake gets out, most people just flee to the highland, there's no telling them that no tsunami is coming. They've been burnt before.

Thanks for the comments

I have received loads of nice comments from anonymous sources. My tendency is to believe they come from persons familiar to me who are too shy to leave their names, but perhaps a readership is growing. At any rate the comments are encouraging.

Indonesia has now surpassed Vietnam as the world's leader in known cases of avian flu. No one here seems too concerned, including expats. I rode with another teacher in a Becak earlier today. The sidecar could not hold the two of us side by side so he rode on the front end of the car facing me but with his back to the oncoming traffic. I thought that a fitting metaphor for life in Indonesia. Your back's faced away from the oncoming traffic and you travel on anyway.

There just isn't enough money here to build a proper infrastructure and one has to bear in mind that as chaotic as our school can be, it is still far better than much of this nation can offer. Nevertheless, life here is not unpleasant. What one loses in amenities one gains back (at least partially) from the generosity, humor and just general pleasantness of the general population.

The students are of mixed abilities, from very high to quite low--the latter simply have less experience speaking english. Everyone, from janitor to security guard, teaching assistant to principal, driver to the smallest student greets me with a smile and "Hello, sir." When I enter a class the students rise as if I were a judge and greet me in unison. For the first two days I kept forgetting to give them permission to sit down again. Frankly, I'm not so comfortable with that part, but they've been told to do it and I'm not about to untrain them, not yet.

I'm too tired to proofread this, not that I ever do so thoroughly.

Again, thanks for sending comments to my email, very nice to know that someone is reading.

Quotidien

This only my third day of teaching (ever) and while things seem to going well in the classroom, administratively things are chaotic. One simply has to accept that information given will be, at times, half right, and that amending said information may take a while. For example, my teacher schedule said nothing of a Secondary 2 (7th grade) geography class at 12:45, yet students were waiting for me. I had to walk in and completely make everything up on the spot. This consisted of me assigning each of my five, already established groups, one of the providentially provided five divisions of the chapter for the day. In essence I did nothing, but I was not in any shape to lecture as I had done no preparation whatsoever.

Next week the days get longer in that we are responsible for leading a club. I had prepared for a film club and might do that next term but since a basketball club already exists, and since it would take no time to prepare for, and since I am already overwhelmed by the amount of work I am expected to do, well, I think I'll lead the basketball club.

You're not going to believe this but there is apparently a skating rink in Medan and there are kids in my Secondary 3 Geography class who love to play hockey. I kept saying "really?!!" Thus, my friend Nat's suggestion to me that I build Indonesia into an Olympic quality hockey team (which would certainly result a family themed Disney film about the topic) is slightly less far fetched than either of us had imagined.

Nothing else to report.

Tsunami

Unitl reading my sister's comment, I had not heard about the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. It will be difficult to follow the news until I can get internet at home, and cable television (which carries English speaking news). Power outages are a daily occurence in Medan, they usually last about an hour. So, no, I didn't feel anything from the quake, although I expect that at some point I will. People say they happen quite frequently.

I met the Bahasa Indonesia teacher today. I have been doing my best to learn some of the language, but it will take some time. The landguage is a derivation of Malay and was chosen as the National language simply because it was the simplest language for non-speakers to learn. There is only one tense and changes in tense are indicated by context. She has offered to teach me, and like most Indonesians I've met, invited me to her place for dinner, and to her mother's where there is a large garden and many fruits, including oranges.

Everywhere there are Becak (probably misspelled, but pronounced Bay-cha) which are small motorbikes with a side carriage. They are the cheapest mode of transportation around Medan.

There is an Austrailian teacher named Anne who came here with her two children, her son is in one of my Geography classes. She's an experienced teacher and very helpful. On a side note, there is really no universal system of spelling in Indonesia. Sumatra can be spelled Sumatera and sometimes, Sumadera--all are pronounced the same. No more time for now. Regards.

first day of school

I returned from Singapore on Saturday morning. Saturday evening I went to a local place with my Brit friend. The Brit is a bit more adventurous than most and had no qualms about walking around Medan without knowing where he was going. By doing this, however, he had discovered the local expat hangout. Most of these were English, but some Austrailians and one Scot. I told them about that I'd been in Singapore for nearly 4 days to get my visa straightened out and one of them said that 4 days was not too bad for Indonesia. I countered saying that the process had been begun in mid-may, to which he said, "this year?" These men are all either jounalists or working in some capacity for one NGO or another. In short, they're idealists but some have been in Indonesia for over 15 years. They're also quite sardonic and carry about an expression that says "I've seen it all."

Classes have begun today and everything is going very smoothly. The kids are funny and well behaved and curious about me and why I am here. I am not teaching high school, I am teaching middle school. When they told me that I would be teaching secondary 1,2, and 3 I did not understand the structure of the school. Kids have Primary 1-6, and then they begin Secondary. In fact, SPA only teaches Primary 1-6 and Secondary 1-3. I don't know if other schools then go to secondary 4-6 or tertiary 1-3 or what.

Yesterday, I went to this local swimming pool. It cost 15,000 rupiah to get in which is roughly $1.50 (US). This place also has a driving range and tennis courts and it may be that I will have to pick up these habits if I want to get much exercise. I'm told that there is a health club that I could join but like everything else here, it will take some time before I can get into it. Internet is a more pressing concern. Today I am using the school's service and another teachder's password. I have not been given one of my own and everyone is so busy that I feel it would be unwise to go and ask for one. I'm also told that I can use my Mac here, but again, I need the password--the teacher whose password I'm using just typed it in, I don't actually know what it is.

Saturday evening I think I saw a monkey, but it was dark and it ran up the tree so quickly that I can't be sure it wasn't merely a very athletic cat. There are many animals in Indonesia that one doesn't want to see and so far I've been fortunate enough not to see them with the exception of a couple of very large cockroaches, but bugspray seems to take care of that problem.

Generally speaking, things are quite good and I am pleased with the arrangements. As a small point of interest, the school, for whatever reason, blocks access to email. Thus, I cannot check my email untill I have home internet service. I have asked about it a couple of times and have been assured that I will get it, but I don't know when. Spending so much time in Singapore didn't help matters. Again, I know I keep saying this, but I am going to hold off on posting photos until I can access the internet with the Mac.

The Weather

Before I describe the weather, I would like to say a few things about communication. Our Singaporean colleague made a phone call Wednesday night and told us that we would fly out on Friday evening. He was wrong. We fly out to Medan tomorrow morning. Had we not noticed that the date on the ticket was the 15th of July we would not have a hotel and be spending some tense and confused hours later in the airport. It's a spectacular airport, but I don't want to spend the night there. One good tip is to make every phone call yourself if possible. Another is to have people with strong accents write out information that is important. For example, our hotel's address is 428 Changi Road, which when spoken by some locals sounds a lot like 48 Changi Road. Our cabbie last night was very confused until we discovered our mistake by stopping at another hotel in the same chain to ask for directions. This can easily be solved by asking for the business card of every hotel in which one stays--my strategy from now on. Fortunately, the driver refused to charge us the meter price.

The weather is humid but in the low to mid 80s and not nearly as oppressive as it may be later in the year or as it can be in Minnesota for stretches in the summer. It's not so uncomfortale as I would have imagined, and locals seem to complain about the weather more than is merited. Perhaps I just prepared myself for the worst. Locals are also surprised to hear that Minneapolis can be hotter and as, if not more, humid.

I sat in an outdoor cafe (or luncheon, as they say here) and watched Asia News with a large crowd of Singaprean men. Our hotel is located two doors down from Mosque (Masjid) so Muslims comprised a noteworthy percentage of the population. Asia News is in english and seems to be modeled more on the BBC than CNN, which is to say that the stories feature quality reporting on world events. My waiter was Nepalese and insisited on giving me his phone number saying that when I return, he would like to show me around the city. I am going to return to the luncheon tonight to see if he has email because I think he might be able to show me a bit more than the malls and commercial life of this extremely globalized city. It's an odd place in that there seems to be almost no evidence of a pre Westernized culture. This month Singaporeans are celebrating their 41st year of independence and those who eat at Burger King stand the chance of winning digital cameras, MacBooks, and other electronics.

None of this is to say that this isn't a lovely place to visit, it truly is.

For those of you interested in some excellent non fiction summer reading, I have picked up a very well written book entitled, "A History of Modern Indonesia" by Adrian Vickers (published 2005). To find it, one may have to go to Amazon.com or the public library and have it ordered. The introduction, itself, is illuminating and it can give a very clear take on the past 70-100 years of Indonesian history. Other histories of Indonesia can go back to the 12th century are daunting and difficult reads. This is a better book to give you an idea of where I live.

I'm having a devil of time with the pictures

Ideally I'd be sitting in a cafe with wireless service and the ease of my macbook would be dotting this blog's landscape with excellent pictures. As it is, I'm encountering troubles and not sure how to solve them. The easiest solution would be to get back to Medan and to the school where my MacBook should be able to function with wireless internet service and no hitches. Also, of course, by next Monday at the latest, I will be able to publish the posts I've saved to my word processing program and then you will all be up to date.

To answer a few questions, as near as I can figure, I'm in Singapore to get my visa because that is the nearest Indonesian embassy and because there are people here associated with Singapore Piaget Academy who can help us. Our director is also a restaurant owner and operates a Chinese restaurant here as well as in Medan.

Answer two, children only laughed at me in America because of my very keen sense of humor. Here, they think I'm Superman.

The flight was quite long and difficult and I wouldn't recommend that others ever try unless they can do it in business class or something with some leg room. Another solution would be to break up the flight with a night's stay in a hotel. I was unable to really sleep for any portion of the flight and now I know what jet lag is, although I've recovered by now. There's an Australian man doing business on the phone (here cell phones are called handphones) very loudly and I'd really like him to shut his trap, it's quite difficult to think.

We have nothing to do in Singapore today except to wait until tomorrow afternoon to pick up our visas. We fly back to Medan (about an hour and ten minutes in the air) tomorrow evening. Singapore is actually and hour later than Medan. Medan is exactly 12 hours later than Central time in the States. Thus, it's afternoon here and early morning where all of you our (I'm assuming that I have no SE Asian readers, or any readers for that matter who don't know me personally).

I appreciate the comments and questions, please continue to ask. Again, once I'm set up a bit better, I can begin to answer emails and send emails and this forum can be reserved for general commentary and photos and to give you some idea of the Indonesian experience.

Yesterday we were led about town by Singaporean colleague who I mentioned earlier. We went to see the man made island of Sentosa which houses the gigantic stature of the MerLion (a creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish). Pictures of that, too, will soon be available. From the mouth of the MerLion (Singa means Lion, just look at the seal on a bottle of singa beer), one can see the beautiful skyline and the world's second largest port, both very impressive and I've photographed them as well.

I know that there are more promises of pictures than actual pictures, that will change quite soon, hang in there. Lastly, I am doing well and am looking forward to begining school next week. Regards.

Here we go, sort of

This is a shot taken during our descent into Jakarta. In the distance there are what appear to me to be conical shaped volcanoes. I am currently in a Singaporean internet cafe and am not able to use my MacBook so I've burnt some photos onto a disc. None, however, are of Singapore, those will come later.

The airport in Jakarta was slightly intimidating. The airports of the nation are a significantly less modern than Hong Kong or Singapores which are almost futuristic. In fact, one gets the impression on the street of Singapore that there in a computer generated movie set for a superhero film (so I should feel right at home.) The people who meet just seem to assume that we want to go McDonald's. I don't know if they want to eat there, or just think that this what Americans eat.

Details and regular posts soon, i promise

Today I am in Singapore and there is much to tell but no time to tell it. I am here getting my work visa straightened out. It is now taken care of. A fellow teacher from Singapore has been kind enough to let me use his computer, but I've no time at all to really write anything of substance. I should have home internet very soon. On my word processing program I have been writing posts that I will copy on to the blog as soon as I can. Hence, there will be some retroactive posting.

At the airport in Medan before my flight to Singapore, people were pointing and laughing again, not only children. Turns out, they think I look like "Superman, before" (aka Clark Kent). Please be patient, I have not been able to access my email until just now and the inbox contained 28 emails. As soon as I can, I will reply to all of you. Cari, I need your phone number. Dave, I will call you Saturday morning (your time) if I can, or Sunday morning, (again, your time).

Singapore is hyper-modern, and yes, clean. But it feels like a nice and free place and not nearly so Draconian as advertised. Of course, I didn't litter.

Far too much to tell

I am at the school and it is absolutely beautiful. Everyone associated with it is so kind and nice and I can't possibly put into words the hospitality I've been shown. The school is far nicer, better equipped, and more aesthetically pleasing than ANY I've seen in the states. My early impressions about the demographics of the teacher and student populations were completely off the mark. Except for the amazingly energetic, funny and self-deprecating British principal, I have not seen anyone who looks like me if you know what I mean.

Yesterday, at the HYPERMART (imagine three mega Targets on top of each other), children would stare and point at me, when I smiled at them, they'd break into gales of laughter.

I am posting from the school's computer lab, and think I'd better find my way back--there will be a meeting soon. I have some very nice photos on my Mac but can't post them right now. I should have home internet service quite soon.

Regards.

He's Alive!

posted by guest blogger JamisonK

I just received a message on my voice mail from Mr. Athensinternational himself. He is alive and well. He does not have email/internet yet but hopes to have it soon.

He gave me his username and password so I could post here and let everyone know he is ok. Normally, I would take an opportunity like this to make great mischief, but for now I'm just relieved so I will simply rejoice in the fact that he has not been eaten by Indonesian Crocodiles (yet).

Rejoice people! Everybody put ya hands together now!

-JamisonK

lax

Well there's no wifi service at the Cathay Pacific gate, so I paid five dollars to post. Flying into LA I was reminded of something a history professor of mine once said regarding the influence that distance has on one's aesthetic appreciation. It went something like this: upon approaching a person, place or thing one can find themselves uttering 'My God, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Then once you've gotten close enough to discern the details, you retreat saying, 'Wait, um, no it isn't." At night, illuminated artificially, from high in the sky Los Angelos is breathtaking. Walking outside hfrom the domestic airport to the international airport, it's not so pretty.

I'm running out of time on my five dollar allotment. I feel good. I'll post as soon as I can.

A little colour

Okay, one photo, just to spice things up--for you, the reader, and me, the guy waiting at the airport to get on an airplane and wait to get to another airport to wait for another plane to repeat and repeat the process.

MPLS Airport; CNN is really shameless

Well, I await the first boarding. I'm stuck here with CNN on and their choice of stories all seem to suggest that we should all be afraid, very afraid of bullies, school shootings (not the same story, mind you), and, of course, homegrown terrorists. It's on every tv, and I can't help but wonder if anybody at that network cares about dispensing information at all, and if anybody does, why she doesn't take a job with someone else--I'm talking to you Christine Amanpour.

There's a young woman here who missed her flight to LA and now has to get on stand by for the later flight, my flight. She is very angry and she found an employee who could not be less sympathetic. She's one of those middle aged ladies with an icy expression and a passionless voice like the women who used to work in the office at my high school.

I feel very important typing on my macbook in airport. I'd take a picture of myself so that you could see how important I look except that I am wearing the same shirt that I was wearing in the other posted picture. I don't wan't anyone to think that I have only one shirt.

I will post pictures when there are pictures worth posting. The president and his wife are "sitting down" with Larry King right now. When CNN gets the president, he is interviewed by Larry King. No one is more astute about global politics than Larry King. Does the sarcasm come across?

One day hence

Tomorrow I will get on a flight and begin all of this. There's nothing like leaving the country for two years to really make clear to one how many people one actually has in his life. It is humbling, and moving. I won't be so political as I have been in past blogs for a while. Starting tomorrow, I am a reporter, objective and all that.

For those who may read, comments are appreciated and encouraging. Most people who read this will know me already and I promise to make this as informative and interesting as I can--lots of pictures and, to my nephews and niece, animal pictures will be posted as soon as possible. Ok. Wish me luck