Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Visa Trip to Singapore

My New Visa in my Passport

Well it is official - I have my one-year KITAS visa to study Bahasa Indonesia! I have just about wrapped up my time in Singapore and will head back to Indonesia tomorrow and dive right into the next unit of language school.

Though Indonesia and Singapore are only about two hours apart by plane they are two very different worlds. I woke in one world with a vinegar bug in my shower, water that wasn't safe to drink, and the sound of the morning call to prayer from the mosque in the background. Travel in Indonesia is full of the sound of car and motorbike horns and airports are full of people pushing and showing to get to the front of the line. It doesn't matter what "boarding group" you are in, everyone wants to get on the plane right away. No personal space at all! My first stop in the Singapore airport was the women's bathroom where all the women were lined up and patiently waiting. Two women tried to cut in and edge to the front of the line and the whole line of women reminded them rather firmly to queue and they were ushered to the back of the line. There isn't a lot of personal space here either but everyone is so polite about it. Here everything is organized from the taxi line, to a lovely room with AC and safe drinking water. And the metro system here is amazing. I take a taxi to and from the airport and that is about it because the subway and bus system can get me just about everywhere else. (technically I could take the subway to the airport too but it is a bit tricky with all the escalators and my bags.) Anyway it is quite the adjustment and I am headed back through it again tomorrow.

The View out my Hostel Room
Traveling by myself and doing these things by myself is never my favorite idea but the Lord has provided as He always does. I have a great place to stay - the YMCA Hostel, which close to some great shopping and three different MRT (subway) lines. I was also incredibly blessed to have someone process the visa for me, which saved me a lot of time and frustration. I dropped my passport off at his office in the morning (just three subway stops and one transfer away!) and picked it up again that evening. Back doors take one day and front doors take at least a couple of days and lot more stress, especially when you are trying to do it by yourself :) The malls near my hostel have lots of stores with familiar brands and favorite foods. My list of things to take back to friends in Indonesia keeps growing -- good thing I brought a big enough suitcase :) Thanks for all your prayers for the visa and a safe trip!

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Ramadan

Here in Indonesia, the most-populated Muslim country according to many sources, we are wrapping up a special month in the Islamic calendar called Ramadan. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims must refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, or marital relations during the daylight hours (about 5 am - 6 pm). In addition, those fasting are supposed to refrain from bad habits - lying, getting angry, using bad language as well as to be more diligent in prayer and give to charities. Participating in Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Reasons they participate include:  
  • To develop compassion for the poor and needy who feel hungry every day.
  • As a spiritually and physically cleansing experience. Just like many other faith traditions, fasting is seen as an opportunity to separate yourself from the things of this world and to concentrate on your relationship with God.
  • To become closer to God by contemplating his will in your life.
  • To build self-discipline and to become a better person. 
So what does this look like living here in Salatiga, Indonesia. Our mornings start early between 2-3 am with a wake-up call provided by band of drummers walking through our neighborhood. Their job is to wake everyone up, so they can eat a meal before the sun comes up. You can listen to it below: 



Then shortly after that the local mosques call out bangun, bangun, bangun (wake up) and a short prayer. Then about an hour and half later the first of five official calls to prayer comes. The call to prayer sounds something like this:




The pace slows down during the month as there is no eating or even drinking of water during the day. Many take naps during the day and are awake at night. Around 6 pm (sun goes down at around 5:30 pm) the fast is opened (buka puasa). Family, friends, and neighbors eat together in a very celebratory fashion. There is an added extra hour of prayer in the evening after the fast has been opened for those that want to attend. Evenings and nights tend to be nosier as more people are awake and there are lots of (big!) fireworks etc going off. I will admit it has taken some time to get use to the noise but it has been interesting to observe. 

This week Ramadan comes to a close, with two days of celebrating and feasting called Idul Fitri. All offices are closed, people have received a bonus and they head home to their villages. This creates a mass exodus from big cities like Jakarta, creating huge traffic jams. Shopping places and markets are packed and prices are high as people buy food for the feasting and new clothes. Typically, people go to visit their extended family members, neighbors and others to pay their respects. It is typical to say when you greet people during these days, mohon maaf lahir dan batin, which is basically an apology for anything you might have done in the past year to cause offense or to shame them. 

One of the things I try to do every morning is read an online version of the Jakarta Post, which is an English language newspaper from Indonesia. I figure it is a good way to learn more about this place I am living. Here are a few recent articles from the Jakarta Post about things happening during Ramadan and Idul Fitri...


  • This article talks about the many different sects of Islam in Indonesia and how they determine when Ramadan starts. Let's just say they don't all agree. 
  • During Ramadan, many restaurants are closed during the day and stay open late at night. As you can imagine, it is considered rude to eat in front of those fasting during Ramadan, even if you are not fasting. In some places there are raids on local eateries, if they are not following the rule. This article has a picture taken of a couple during one of those raids and lists as some of the different regulations being enforced in different areas of Indonesia. 
  • To prepare for Idul Fitri, this article had several suggestions of things to do. 
  • The huge increase in traffic though does lead to lots of problems, including severe injuries and deaths. Last year 908 people died in traffic accidents during Idul Fitri. As of this article today, the number of deaths for this year was 178 and climbing but still significantly less than last year.
Last night Idul Fitri started and this was part of the parade that went in front of our house. It was quite long and loud but fun to see! 

Sorry the quality isn't better, but it was dark out and there are not a lot of streetlights around. 

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Happy Birthday!


For a couple of years now, I have been dreaming that next year I would be celebrating my birthday next year in Indonesia. This year that dream came true. It was a bit bittersweet though because I would have loved to be celebrating with my family and friends in the US. My sister, Kristin, reminded me that instead of cake on my birthday, we would frequently celebrate with a layered ice cream treat that my mom made. This year though I started some new traditions or at least borrowed a few traditions from Indonesian culture. Here is how the day went, with a few pictures...

I woke up to find these beautiful flowers and a card from the friends and teammates I am living with right now on the table along with a breakfast of coffee cake and eggs. 
Then after an hour or so of homework I headed off to language school for my grammar class. For lunch we had a traditional Indonesian celebration meal that includes yellow rice (rice that has been soaked and cooked in coconut milk and spices). Yum! 


Then it was back to language school for class. Mondays are chapel days, where word had gotten out it was my birthday. So as a language learning exercise they sang me the an Indonesian birthday song, which goes on for many many verses :) 

Unfortunately, by that time my stomach was bothering me, so the afternoon was a bit rough but I was determined to go out and enjoy a birthday dinner with my friends and housemates. We went to a local restaurant that serves several different types of cuisine and I enjoyed a hamburger and fries. My mouth thought it was delicious and so it didn't matter too much that my stomach didn't like it as much :) 

I was so blessed through the day by Skype conversations with friends, texts from family, cards from friends, birthday greetings via Facebook, gifts from teammates, and a phone conversation with my Grandparents! I was loved by family and friends around the world and over many, many hours thanks to the time difference!  
A gift from my friends/teammates/housemates

A birthday card from my church in the US that actually arrived on my birthday (well ok so it was technically still my birthday in the US). 





Thursday, July 25, 2013

Life Amidst the Flood of Language Learning


This is what life feels like right now! For those that haven't done this process of moving to a new country and learning a new language, it is an interesting but exhausting experience. The new information just keeps coming at you despite the fact that you already feel overwhelmed and want to scream at it to stop. Thankfully, I already feel like I have learned a lot but I know there is still so much to learn!

I am currently studying Indonesian or Bahasa Indonesia, as it is called here. I am studying at the Indonesian Language Center for Cross-Cultural Communication (IMLAC). There are two campuses of IMLAC, one in the city of Bandung in West Java, Indonesia and one in the town of Salatiga in Central Java, Indonesia. I am studying at the school in Salatiga. 

View of the school from the road

Yep I get to climb those steps twice a day every day, but at least it is beautiful































To give you a little glimpse into life here, this is what a typical day of language learning looks like for me... I get up in the morning and do a couple of hours of studying and homework. I walk to school just before 11 am for a Unit 2 grammar class that lasts an hour. In this class, we focus on all the different ways you can conjugate root words (kata dasar) to make verbs (kata kerja) by adding different prefixes and suffixes. I am with two others students in this class, they are a married couple from South Korea. 

I walk home again for a quick lunch and head back to the school for Unit 4. For this class period, I am the only student. This class usually lasts two hours. It starts with a prayer in Bahasa Indonesia by me and singing of a couple of songs in Indonesian. Then I stand up to give a presentation, based on questions I had for homework the day before. Then I am asked a series of questions by the teacher regarding that assignment, that I have to answer. After that I get to sit down again and the teacher writes everything that I said wrong or sentences that were not grammatically correct on the white board. We go through them one-by-one, until I understand what I did wrong and the correct way to do it. Then depending on the day we either do a reading assignment or grammar lesson. Most days are reading assignments. First the teacher reads and explains any words or concepts I didn't understand. Then I read it. Finally I have to explain the concepts or main points of the story in my own words (yep still in Bahasa Indonesia). Then once again we go through and correct anything I said incorrectly in that process. Finally we go over the homework assignment. Usually my homework relates in some way to my reading. If there is time left, I get to spend some time talking about or telling a story about me or from my life in Bahasa Indonesia. I am done with official classroom learning around 3 pm.


After a few minutes chatting with other students I start walking home. When I have the energy, I start my homework on the way home. My homework consists of questions to ask my neighbors and people at the little stores near my house. Usually I stop at one of those little stores for a snack or something we need around the house. Slowly but surely as I walk to and from school and stop in these little stores on a regular basis I building up my network of people with whom I can practice my Bahasa Indonesia.


When I get home I tend to hibernate a bit and let my brain relax with something in English :) Then I get to work on the homework for both of my classes, which includes grammar drills, writing several sentences with new words I have learned and preparing my presentation. I have found that doing a few hours of homework in the evening and then a few hours the next morning, seems to work the best.


Here are just a few pictures from the last couple of weeks of language learning... 

A page from my reading assignment last week, with my notes. 
The white board with corrections on it after one of my recent presentations

Sometimes I bring a friend to class :)

Sunday, July 14, 2013

How to Survive Life in Indonesia - Volume 1

Here are just a few things I have learned in my past two weeks here in Indonesia...
  • You can never have enough Tupperware, although it does seem that no matter where you live, you can never find the right lid! Tupperware is good for many things including:
    • Keeping the ants out of your food. 
    • Keeping things like crackers dry and crispy in this high humidity. 
    • Trapping bugs like cockroaches until you figure out how to deal with them. 
Cockroach trapped under tupperware :) 
  • The two women living in the house seem to have a hindu belief system when it comes to respecting the animal kingdom. So far in the past two weeks, two cockroaches, one vinegar bug, and a beautiful moth/butterfly thing have been found in the house. We are very good at catch and release of all animals into the yard. It is important to note though that vinegar bugs kill cockroaches, so ideally they should be allowed to stay in the house, even though they look like scorpions. If one must get rid of them (i.e. they are in the shower and you are worried about stepping on them), you should catch and release them into the same area as the cockroach in hopes that the vinegar bug will find and kill the cockroach! 
  • Even after living here for three years previously, I still have little understanding of the what the horn and blinkers indicate a car or motorcycle is about to do. I must however try to learn it, as I will soon be doing some driving of my own on a moped. 
Our presentation today, on surviving life in Indonesia, was brought to you by Placenta UV - Whitening Lotion. Available at a supermarket in Indonesia near you! 


PS: I suppose I should now go deal with the cockroach that is under the tupperware in my closet instead of waiting for bedtime, when it will surely escape and make it very hard for me to sleep in my bedroom :)
PPS: So I was a good and went and relocated said cockroach outside. Then just now when I went to get ready for bed there was another cockroach and two vinegar bugs hunting him in my bathroom. Cockroach relocated outside. Requested vinegar bugs return to their cracks, so I won't step on them in the middle of the night! 

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Learning Bahasa Indonesia - Week 1

I am just wrapping up my second week living in Indonesia and my first week of language school. As I mentioned in a previous post, after a placement test I was placed in Unit Four. I was concerned about being placed that high, as I knew my grammar was not that good but we have come up with a solution for that (more on that a minute).

I am studying at the Indonesian Language Center for Cross-Cultural Communication (IMLAC). Right now class is from 1 pm - 3 pm with about 4-6 hours of homework every evening.  I am actually in a class all by myself, which gives me plenty of time to practice and for correction. It is also exhausting, since the focus is always on me. If there were other students, we would each have to do a presentation every couple of days, instead I have to do one every day and an essay.
Ibu Susanna
Ibu (Mrs) Susanna was my teacher for this first week. It has been so nice to have an encouraging teacher right at first. We have had fun sharing stories and I am pretty sure we have disrupted other classes with the laughter that comes from our room at times. She takes my grammar to task though and probably about 50% of the time I have to redo a sentence because I didn't conjugate my verb correctly, although she said in our end of the week meeting that has decreased to 30%. I will be switching teachers next week and it will be interesting to see how that goes. 

As of Monday, I will also be adding an hour of grammar in the morning. I will be joining a Unit 2 grammar for the rest of the month and then a Unit 3 grammar class in August. Hopefully this will help fill in some of the gaps in my education. Everyone keeps saying I know bahasa sehari-hari (daily language that is not formal) fairly well but it needs to be more formal. I am glad we were able to work something out because I really do want to get this right, especially since soon I will be the one teaching! So now I am in the process of catching up on all the lessons from week one of Unit 2 grammar and my other homework. 

Here are a few pictures from my first week of study... 
Time for PR (homework)! My lesson book is on the left, a notebook in the middle to write the assignment in, and an Indonesian-English dictionary on the right. And when all else fails sometimes Google Translate has come in handy :) 

After I do a presentation, my teacher writes all the things I did wrong (either grammar or pronunciation) on the board and we go through them one by one. I also write them down in my notebook, so I can look them over later. It is already helping! 

My first test! I had to write an essay on greetings in Indonesia, do a grammar exercise and write 10 sentences with words I wanted to learn better.  
Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement via email and facebook! Onward and upward - week #2 here I come!!

Friday, July 5, 2013

First Week in Indonesia

Well it has been almost exactly a week since I stumbled from the plane and into welcoming arms, here in Indonesia. I was hot and sweaty and desperate for a place to lie down :) Since that time I have been busy adjusting to the temperature and humidity of Indonesia (yep still hot and sweaty!). I have been learning my way around, or at least I can get myself to the International School, the Language School, a nearby little store, and a yummy restaurant.

Hopefully my world will continue to get bigger. One of the things on my to do list is to learn to ride a motorbike, so I will have the ability to get around easier. The roads around here are crazy though, so it will take some time to get use to them. Plus they drive on the left hand side of the road!

Yesterday I took my placement test for language school. It was an informal chat with two of the teachers, asking me about my family, my work, and things like introducing myself and it was all in Indonesian. There are definitely some weak spots including my pronunciation and grammer. Overall though they said there were impressed that I had remembered as much as I had, since I left Indonesia over 6 years ago. They also said that my speaking was smooth and not hesitant, like I was constantly searching for the right word. So I will be starting in Unit 4. This seems high to me since there are only 9 units, but I am going to try it and see what happens. I can always hire a tutor to help out too. Language School starts July 8th and I will be attending class in the afternoon. Each unit lasts about a month. I will let you know how it goes :)

So here are a few pictures from this first week...





 I have unpacked and set-up my room in my friend's house. It wouldn't be complete without pictures of family and friends! I am so blessed to have the master bedroom in the home with a comfortable bed and my own bathroom (which actually has hot water most of the time!).













Enjoying some delicious Indonesian food! This main dish is called Soto Ayam. As almost always, meals in Indonesian include rice and the best part is the fresh fruit like, pineapple. 

We had a lot of fun last night celebrating the 4th of July with a group of expats/missionaries at the International School. We had a BBQ and potluck, followed by sparklers for the kids and fireworks. Turns out you can get some pretty amazing (scary!) fireworks in Indonesia at the market :) I put together a video with just few clips of the fireworks and singing. You can click on the link above to watch it. (If you can't see the link above, then you will need to click on the blog title or "read more" to go to the blog, where you will be able to view it)