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

Ultah q di Jogja...

Well.. yesterday was my birthday. It started off with me going to the high school where I do my prac teaching.. that was all pretty usual. Didn't really feel like my bday @ all. Although, stroke of midnight adelaide time (9.30pm the day before here) i received a flood of messages. Stroke of midnight here.. i receive random phone calls with people singing happy birthday then hanging up... the messages didnt stop coming til 6 am. *bikin GR* hehehe.

The day got really good when I went to Pondok Cabe and about 20 of my new friends showed up to celebrate my bday. I was really touched. Then we went to moviebox, and ordered OUR OWN PRIVATE CINEMA and watched twilight. man it was awesome. one cultural difference: here, the birthday person shouts everyone else... :P

kepada semua teman2q yg datang ke pesta ultah q kemaren, aku mau ucapkan MAKASIH BANYAK. Aku sangat terharu & seneng semalam. Awalnya aku sangat kangen ama keluarga q, tapi kalian jadi keluarga q kemaren...

Jatim- Mojokerto & Gresik

Im getting slacker and slacker with my blog posts! I think that is a sign that I am adapting to my life here in Indonesia. Heaps has happened! I went to Mojokerto in Jawa Timur (east java) with Sari to meet up with Didin... We went sightseeing and saw the most beautiful waterfall. It was amazing. Gak bisa terlukiskan dengan kata2! We also saw the Majapahit Palace... Sari and Didin loved taking photos all the time... so I was like yang mana yang turis nya? Cuz, even though it's ME that is the tourist, they are the ones always ambil foto2 di mana2! Staying in Mojokerto was amazing. Didin's aunty and uncle took me for a drive around town, walaupun kebanyakan toko2 tutup buat lebaran. *Didin, sampaikan salam buat keluargamu ya?*

Trus, aku ke Gresik. Gresik is kind of close to Surabaya... I mean, you can drive there, but its lumayan jauh. I stayed in Didin's parents house. It was really fun, because Didin's family are very warm dan heboh *menurut Sari, mereka H2- Heboh & Hangat wkwkwkw*I loved Didin's parents, by the end of it her dad was saying "anak saya" about me (he was calling me his child lol). Everyone seemed really friendly and keen to talk to me, which was fun but overwhelming. lol.... Sometimes I could hear people say "mana bule nya?" hahaha. I was dying for some pizza so I took a trip to the shops and bought imported ingredients, and taught Didin and her mum the way to make proper pizza. But apparently it wasnt pedas/ spicey enough! All the people in the kampung came over to try it... trus langsung tambah sambal! Ampunnnnnnnnnnnnnnn! dasar.

Didin's brother took me to the mall in Surabaya.. Aku terpesona, karena malnya besar banget! Ada 5an lantai (there were like about 5 floors). I went shopping and I got a guess bag for like half price, which was the equivalent of Australian $50. YAY!

Hari nih, hari ultah teman terdekat ku di Australia. Jadi kangen nongkrong sama dia. :-( Big birthday shout outs to shez joyce! love you hun.

photos included:

aq sama Didin & ortu nya (me with didin and her parents)
aq di kolam pemandian (me at the bathing pools)

LOMBOK- the most beautiful place ever.

Well kiddos, I just got back from Lombok... Spent four days there. Had the opportunity to meet my penpal... 4 years we've been writing and this week finally had the chance to meet! where do i start? well... we spent the weekend jalan2 ing on his motor bike... we went to see monkeys. i took kacang (nuts) but before i got to open them they were stolen out of my hands by a cheeky monkey and taken into the forest lol. We ate beach side together at little warungs... had iced teas overlooking the beach... Went to the mall in Mataram as well. It was the best fun! Lombok is so beautiful. I cant even describe how much I fell in love with that place. Sigh. The hardest part was getting there! I was sposed to leave at 6 am on Friday and get to Lombok at 11 am... but the plane was delayed by 5 hours in Jogja and 2 hours in Surabaya... so I got there late afternoon on Friday... GRRR what a waste. i really enjoyed lombok, the people are really friendly and it was relaxed... sometimes Jogja feels too crowded and busy for me... I dunno. Felt really nice when I got back and my kos mates were all like Stacey we missssssssed you! How was Lombok? :-)