Catch Up

Dah lama aku gak update blog ni. Maaf bgt ya...

Ini barusan sampai di rumah di Adelaide. Gak terasa, deh, udah tinggal dan kuliah di Jogja selama enam bulan! :( Kemaren aku naik pesawat dari Jogja ke Bali pagi2, trus nunggu 10 jam in Bandara... Arie jemputku dsitu biar bisa jalan2 sebelum ku berangkat... HP ku dicopet :( Penerbangan ku ke Sydney ditunda, jd aku tertinggal pesawatnya di Sydney yg bertujuan Adelaide... Untung aku pakai QANTAS, jd aku dikasih tiket bwt penerbangan berikutnya. :) Tp aku masih lumayan BeTe karena harus nunggu 6 jam di bandara Sydney. Jadinya 36 jam di jalan. Padahal Indonesia dan Australia tuh kan dekat?! GIMANA SIHHH???

Hr minggu lalu pesta perpisahan ku diadain di Dependopo, homestaynya Mbak Ira (pengurus program ILTI)... Ada banyak teman kampus/kuliah/kos yg jd datang.. Duh aku dah kangen deh!

It was really hard to leave Indonesia. I dont really know if it is real yet. I am happy to be home but sad to be away from Indonesia. Kok Indonesia + Australia gak bisa dijadiin satu sih?!

Ok lanjut...

Bulan December kemaren aku pulkam bwt natalan sama keluarga ku... Seru bgt tuh, aku sempat ketemu & jalan2 sama teman & keluarga ku yg dah lama gak kutemui.. :) Trus aku balik ke Indo tgl 3, lalu bapakku nyusul tgl 4.. Kami ketemu di Bali, habisin bbrp hr dsitu, trus ke Flores sama Isabel (teman sekos ku). Kami mulai perjalananx di Labuan Bajo, kemudian menuju Maumere lewat Bajawa, Ruteng, Moni dan Ende. Kami ketemu sama Michelle (teman seprogram ku) dan adik2nya di Moni.. Kami liat2 proses bikin arak, semacam palm wine; kunjungi rumah adat di Ende, nyaksiin keindahannya danau2 kelimutu. Flores tuh indah bgt, tp naik mobil dsitu seram bgt deh... Kita harus pakai jeep dsitu, tp jalannya sempit banget, cuman cukup bwt satu jeep doang... Padahal jalannya dua arah!!! Ohya lagian tikungannya tagam banget, bikin aku mual..

Dari Flores, kami ke Lombok lewat Bali... tiketnya murah bgt, cuman 185 ribu rupiah... Bapakku senang bgt dsitu. Kami habisin satu hari jalan2 ke Lombok Utara bwt kunjungi air terjun dan monkey forest.. Bapakku lumayan takut pd monyetnya hihih tp akhirnya dia memberanikan diri agar bs ngasih kacang ke monyet2 yg di pinggir jalan. Lalu hari berikutnya kami ke Lombok selatan bwt kunjungi rumah adat dan proses tenunan... Seru bgt. Lalu, kami santai di pinggir pantai selama 2 hr... Malas bgt kan hihi

Dari Lombok kami ke Jogja lewat Bali bwt kunjungi Borobodur, Prambanan dan Malioboro... Karena KTM ku dah gak laku lg, maka aku terpaksa bayar HARGA MASUK TURIS!!! Duhhhh mahal amat tuh.. $15 US... Aku jd pelit tinggal di Indonesia ya...

Pas Bapakku pulang, aku ambil kesempatan bwt jalan2 lg... Jd ke Malang sama si Isabel bwt ketemu sama Mas Andi (pacarnya temannya Bon :p).. Di Malang pasar burung, pasar minggu, pulau sempu dan Jawa Timur Park 2 kukunjungi.. Malang tuh bersih dan dingin sekali hihi.. Aku beruntung karena salah satu temannya mas andi biarin aku numpang di kosnya. I made so many new friends in Malang: Elki, Ashley, Andi, Reza and Dede... Gak mungkin aku bakal lupain mereka!!

OHYA sebelum aku lupa... i had my first motorbike accident pas dibonceng menuju tempat ngajar temanku, ada cowok ddpn kami yg mau belok.. dia gak kasih jalan/pindah posisinya/nyalain lampu.. dia tiba2 berhenti dan kami gak bs hindarinya.. Jd tertabrak.. Kaki ku kena asphalt.. Jadi lecet2 dan berdarah.

Aduh aku baru aja jd betah bgt di Indonesia... trus harus pulang!!! :(

ok I am soooo tired. I plan to write more tomorrow, about leaving Indonesia as well as:

- my favorite things about Indonesia
- 10 tanda kita kelamaan di Indonesia
- kisah2 lelaki hihi (nah tuh yg kalian nungguin kan???)

Met malam!
Stay

Nearly there!!

So, only one more class and four exams to go and I am free to travel!! I can't believe that it is nearly over. I am so proud of myself for sticking it out. Christina left on the 5th December and I miss her like all hell. But I am trying to see this as a push to go and interact more with Indonesian people. :-) After all, I still have lots more to learn!!! My goal has not been achieved yet.

Earlier, I did something I was really proud of. I gave a 10 minute presentation on my own in Indonesian. I was really nervous beforehand, but I did it!!! I never thought I would capable of doing something like that. I feel really accomplished.

Missing everyone like hell, but somehow strangely adapted to this whole thing. Life here just feels.. normal. Can't wait to do some more travel.

Catch Up

above: Gili Trawangan

Above: Jogja airport, covered in ash

above: our plane, covered in ash. Flight was cancelled for obvious reasons.

Well today is a really sad day. Ari's dad has passed away. I got a message from him at 2 am this morning. I didnt know how to respond. 8 years of Indonesian language and I hadnt been taught how to comfort someone in the event of death. I guess its not something you think will really come up. And I guess noone wants to talk about it. Which got me onto the topic of death, and Christina and I were discussing it all this afternoon. What an unpleasant topic. Anyway, my love goes out to Ari in his time of grief. Aku turut berduka cita, Mas Ri. xox

In other depressing news, Yogya has been right in the middle of all of the Gunung Merapi / Volcano Merapi disaster. For a while, during the eruptions, there was ash rain. That was pretty scary. Everything was covered in ash, and the air was unbreathable. We all had to wear masks wherever we went. It was really eeery. Then the universities were used as places to put all the refugees, those people that lived within a 20 kilometer radius of merapi were evacuated. There were some people that refused to leave and they were burnt alive in their homes. I saw footage on the news and it took my breath away. It was a horrible time in Jogja. ACICIS ordered us to evacuate and I went to Lombok again with Christina.

Sorry if this post sounds rather negative but it's been a rough few weeks. On the bright side of life, two more weeks of classes left to go only!!! Two exams and three assignments to go and Im a free spirit! Then daddy comes to Indonesia on the 4 January. so lots to look forward to.

On the weekend there was the ACICIS field trip to Imogiri, which is the graveyard of all the Javanese Sultans. I got to wear traditional Javanese dress which was nice! Then we went to a Batik workshop, where I made my own Batik print.

Really miss you all.
xoxo

I'm going to Lombok again!! This time with Christina... we are going to leave next friday and come back on the monday morning after.. Plans are to visit: the monkey forest, waterfalls, Hindu temple and of course the beach.
Finished all of my teaching practical now, I really miss the kids. Just as I started to love being there, I was finished!! the kids all added me on facebook and said that they missed me. how sweet!!! I might voluntarily go back and do some more teaching/helping. I am definately glad that I picked teaching as my profession; it feels right for me.

Earlier I was interviewed for radio... I think it went pretty well, except for the last question. The dj asked us if we had any messages for the people of Jogja after the eruption of Merapi. I understood the question but I had no idea how to answer. I felt so awkard. :-/ Oh well, its over now.

PRAC TEACHING

So, the sign above says: Wear your helmet: Its safe, and you'll look hotter too
The other one: discipline and spirit: the keys to success

So, I did my first lot of actual teaching today. So far, I have only been observing and not doing
any actual teaching. I taught the English class but I had to use Indonesian to explain everything to the students. I feel like I did pretty well. My teachers only advice was that I didn't go for long enough. But that is an organisational issue, not a language issue, so I can take that one in my stride. Tomorrow I do some more teaching, and I am feeling rather confident and competent. Feeling really happy and positive.

Ari is coming over soon and we are going out to look @ electronics, might get some speakers for my ipod finally. Got a fridge and a mini stove so I can cook and avoid getting sick again. Made a new friend, who has invited me to maybe go back to his village in Flores. Things are looking up! Heaps of activities on the weekend: theres gonna be a film festival, Im gonna get interviewed for local radio, and then me, Ari, Nodu and Christina are going to Borobodur temple if all goes to plan.

p.s. if you read my blog, please comment! :-)

RANDOM PICTURES

Cuz I tried to post them before, but it wouldn't let me....

BOGOR

Well, it's been a while since I posted last. I can't lie, I have my up days and my down days. Right now it's been a bit more down than up... I keep getting sick, keep eating the wrong things and end up with some kind of bug. Then I have to miss uni, which adds to my stress because I still have trouble with my language. I think I am keeping up reasonably well, but I don't feel like an academic here. I keep feeling like my Indonesian should be better by now, and I am worried that I am making mistakes that nobody is telling me about. And AKU KANGEN BANGET AMA KELUARGAQ! UDAH 2 BULAN AKU GAK KETEMU AMA MEREKA.The temptation is to just stay in my kos room and not leave. On the bright side of life, I have some amazing friends that have really helped me out.

Makasih banyak kpd Bridge & Rini, Adis Bon, Ari & Christina buat biarin aku curhat :-) aku <3 kalian. Pas aku sedih (lebay!) kalian nenangin aku. :-) Kemaren pas aku mikirin pulang ke Australia, mas Ari yg hiburin aku. Tadi, pas aku nangis, mas Bon yg dengarin cerita ku. Mbak Dis selalu bantuin aku dgn hal2 sehari2. Dan Rini, Bridge & Christina selalu rela temani aku di kos, pas perlu teman ngobrol. Aku benar2 beruntung, bisa dapat teman gitu.



Ya udah... ganti topik aja ya :P

So... last weekend I went to Bogor.. I met up with another one of my penpals there, Yohan. We spent three days jalan2 around Bogor. We went and visited the mountains and then the kebun raya/ botanical gardens of Bogor. The kebun raya was absolutely massive; I don't think it would have been possible to have seen it all in one day. I saw some amazing trees... like a tree in a tree... pohon berada di dalam pohon... :-O

JALAN2 BERIKUTNYA??? MUNGKIN KE JAKARTA... DITUNGGU YA :P