Preparing for Semester 2

I stopped writing posts for awhile, mostly for two reasons. First of all, I got ridiculously busy. I could hardly remember the days when I had to make up things for myself to do to keep busy. I was writing final exams, calculating grades, giving private lessons, helping with extracurricular activities, etc. Second, I got a little bit frustrated, mostly with myself and the situation. I just got to a point where I felt like I wasn't being an effective teacher, partly because of personal failure, and partly because a lack of training/materials/guidance. Now that I have had a vacation, I have a much better outlook and hope to start the new semester with a better attitude, and the knowledge that this is a learning experience for both me and my students.

I've had a month and a half off to regroup and travel around, so here's what I've been up to:

I went to Bali! The Volunteers in Asia Indonesia conference was there this year, so I just went early and met up with my old host family. They're the best.

I went to Kuta, Lombok for 4-ish days to relax on the beach. I stayed in a bamboo bungalow for $8 a night and rode the owner's bicycle for free. It was a great relaxation opportunity, especially the beaches. The only downside was the long boat ride from Bali. There was a man from Lombok sitting next to me who kept commenting that he had never seen the waves so big...(comforting). And on the way back, I started feeling seasick, and the chain smoker behind me wasn't helping matters either. But I loved it there, and I am ready to go back!

The VIA conference (in Bali) was a great chance to reconnect with the other volunteers, learn about what they are doing, and evaluate my challenges and how to deal with them.

As a group, we visited the village (Bedulu) where I went to school for my study abroad program and went to Goa Gajah, or the Elephant Cave

A view of the sawah, or rice fields, from our homestay/hotel balcony in Ubud: Then, I went back home to the good ol' US of A.

Of course, it was the coldest time of year there, as you can see:

Being home was great- the best thing I could have asked for. Here are some highlights:

-Seeing a lot of friends and family, especially babies (I met Willow for the first time!)

-Making cookies with Carrie to take to Grandma

-Being snowed in with good food and company
-Celebrating Yulie's birthday

-Sledding!!

-Game Night with old friends

-Helping Tanner practice for the spelling bee

-Eating great food and drinking real coffee

There were so many great moments while I was there--so if I didn't mention you, I definitely meant to!

Me (still getting over jet lag) with Mom:

As if I weren't lucky enough to get to go home, I was also able to travel to Singapore and return to Indonesia with Mallory! I can't believe she used 8 of her 10 vacation days to come see me-- I feel loved!

Trying not to fall asleep at the Botanical Gardens:
Wow I look like I'm from the 80s here (or at least that's what Mallory said...)

My favorite thing that we did in Singapore, hands down, was the Zoo and Night Safari. They try to use enclosures and moats as much as possible to minimize the amount of cages they have. This means that you often get an up-close and personal experience with the animals. I didn't get any good pictures of the orangutans, but they are all climbing on trees above your head...(I also didn't get a picture of the one that nearly peed on Mallory haha)

Here's a sloth bear:

Lemurs!

Zebras:


I didn't get any good pictures of the night safari, but it features noctural animals, and has a lot of walking trails that allow you to go around and check out the animals. Some of the highlights: hyenas, leopards, civets, and tapirs.

I don't have any pictures of our excurisons in Indonesia, but the best thing that we did was a Javanese village tour by bicycle. We rode bicycles outside the city of Yogya with a tour guide and went to a nearby village. We visited some locals there who were harvesting rice, making tempe, producing krupuk (fried crackers), making and firing bricks, and tending to livestock. On top of that, the views of the rice fields were great there, and we bought some traditional snacks to enjoy there. Everyone in the village was so welcoming-- it was a great way for me to come back to Indonesia!

Well, now I'm back in Solo trying to figure out what's going on this semester. It starts on Monday, and I haven't been given a schedule yet despite my frantic texts and emails to various other lecturers, including the head of the department. To make things a bit more crazy, my teahing partner for this semester won't be back in Solo for about 2 more weeks. What am I supposed to do?? I have no idea...I went to the campus today to talk to the other lecturers, but they were all on a departmental out-of-town excursion...yes, they forgot to tell me about it. Despite these early setbacks, I'm going to do the best with what I have and go for it.

I'm currently reading: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen