Security photos

Just a few pics of the security outside of the campus. They are allowing us in and not creating any sorts of problems.

Just a few more photos

Just some photos

Cute and sad

Well, we have been removed from the school as per my last post. Apparently, when you don't pay the 11 cents rent people get pissed. We were told to leave by 5:00 pm. The nannies (Fifi and Lasmi) did an amazing job packing up the clothes. We didn't take everything, but it is all packed up in case we are able to get back and grab stuff. So much for the plants.

What is kind of refreshing is that one of the teachers, Ruth, was teaching on that tall ship from Nova Scotia that sank off the coast of Brazil, last year. She keeps many things in perspective when situations arise. Because she was sitting in a life raft for many hours bailing away, she keeps you grounded about what you need to take with you. All of her stuff is at the bottom of the Atlantic. I guess you learn what is important- lesson 1: don't keep cash in a sock drawer.

What is cute is that we brought the nannies with us. They have never stayed in a hotel before. They were scared and excited about the day. I think they are worried about their jobs- so they should, they are nervous for the children- good, but they get to watch TV- hurray.

I will be interested to their sleeping arrangements. They already tried to have me remove the mattresses so they could sleep on the "mattress under the bed". They were going to sleep on the box spring and give the kids the mattresses. HELL NO - if anyone is getting treated like second class citizens it will be our own children. I am not paying my children anything. It stands to reason to keep the hired help happy. And, they are. They went out hanging in the mall- they are 19 years old, they should experience that.

I am sure that when we get up in the morning that Fifi and Lasmi are sleeping on the floor and the kids will be in these nice, cushy beds. Talk about roles. Zoe and Caden are the bosses.

A new controversy

So.....the newest news on campus is that yesterday, in a dengue fever invoked haze, I was made aware that someone was passing out pamphlets to the students' drivers about the school land deal not going through. Of course, parents should pull their kids out of NJIS and not support the school because it was closing.

To tell you the background of the story:

Last year, around this time, the 20 year lease of the school was up for renewal. The school ownership (based in Shanghai) inquired about purchasing the land. There was, of course, debate over things like zoning, purchase price, etc. (kind of like St. Albert...rich bastards). The school was in threat of the land deal not getting finalized and all of the teachers were granted permission to leave and fine new contracts. The land deal, apparently, went through in February and March but all of the staff had signed off on new schools. Hence, the whole staff this year is brand new.

Then, yesterday, a land developer called Summarecon put up a sign out front of the school claiming that the land deal was not finished, blah, blah, blah. They even hired security to guard the signs. We can't take them down, but they cannot approach cars.

I guess both sides' lawyers got into a room to hash out details and in standard Indonesian tradition they joke, laugh, insult each other, talk business for two minutes, glare menacingly, joke some more, repeat. It takes then two hours to discuss 30 minutes of business. Lawyers, can't trust 'em anywhere (and don't point fingers, he's a Judge, now).

Anyway, we are assured nothing will happen. Although, we are often assured our photocopiers will work and that doesn't happen. Apparently, tactics such as these are commonly used here to speed up payments, increase legal fees, etc. The realtors stand to lose about $4 million each so I doubt they will let that happen. Plus, the schools original owner is married to a billionaire coal tycoon from China and I doubt he will let her pet project go (by the way, you should check out the half-million dollar ring on her finger). So, we will play it by ear. I am sure this is making National headlines in Canada and you are all sitting with baited breath waiting to hear the outcome.

At any rate, Marni, the kids and little Shamus the Leprechaun (calling him otherwise is a misgnomer) are doing fine.

Golfing

The actual title of this blog should be "Men are pigs", however, we already know that. But, women get to be pigs on the golf course, too.

I found a group of people in Jakarta who call themselves "TeeSet". Each weekend for the last 27 years they pick a local course and about 15-20 of them go golfing. They seem like a good group of guys (and ladies). There are some from Cape Breton, Vancouver and everywhere else.

So, the golf. We played a course called Sentul Highland which is built in the hills South of Jakarta. There is a volcano as a backdrop and rice paddies scattered around and within the course. What did I learn? Well, they measure in metres and not yards. You can't take a divot because the ground is too soft from all the rain. The locals sit along the sides of the fairways to spot you balls, if you shank a ball in the bush some kid brings it out to you. You tip him about 20 cents and all is good. But, the caddies tell you where aim your putt instead of where it will break to. I kept telling my Caddy (Lina #5) "kanaan" for right, she kept saying "No, Boss, kiri". We were saying the same thing, just in a different order.

That brings me to the caddies. Basically, when you arrive at the course you are assigned a caddy. They bring you clubs to the driving range, put them on the cart and as the game goes on, they figure out how far you can hit with each club. However, I was giving up a stroke a whole because Lina was bringing out the wrong club and I didn't have the heart to send her back to the cart. They carry little bags filled with grass seed and pick up your divots for you.

Their job is also to make you feel like Tiger Woods. "Oh meester, you so strong. You hit that ball so faa." " Oh, Boss, you break tee, you so musclely."

But, after the game, they have shower facilities for you. And you can get a full body massage- with "servicing" for around $20. I am not sure about the total cost of the 'servicing' as I didn't inquire. Plus, I don't think the caddy is in charge of that.

All of this for the same price as Sandpiper in St. Albert. Oh, and the ladies get male caddies that do the same. I am unsure what the 'service' is though. Oh, and the girl with me in the picture kept looking at me and rubbing the side of her face. No, it isn't an Indonesian mating ritual, they don't get laugh lines around their eyes and she was commenting on mine. Apparently, they are fascinating.

Funny stuff we get to see.

Now that walking around here is getting to feel normal we are starting to notice a lot if interesting little tidbits. I will start carrying a camera everywhere because some of this stuff is just too funny to describe accurately.

Ecstasy fish balls- Walking through the Wal-Mart equivalent called the CarreFour I noticed little 'candies'. They were white with little faces on them. There were others shapes like stars, moons and various types of balls. I then noticed that they were made of fish. Truthfully, you don't want to know the parts of the fish. I will make sure I get some and tell you what they are like. No Xmas turkey- might as well have Xmas fish balls.

Looking for a little something for Caden to play with there was a great 'literal' translation for a child's toy. In bold letters, this toy announced that it provided "Infinite Pleasure!!". I looked around to see if I was in the right store. Marni assured me it was false advertising.

I apologize to any Muslims that may be reading this but your bathroom rituals are entirely too complex. I wont go into details but you might as well crap with a fire hose beside you. But, now I have seen it all. In a mall bathroom, beside the urinals there were hand sanitizers. Not too odd, except that the 'lotion' was not intended for your hands. Really, how dirty does it get down there? ......but, when in Rome......

Aunt Rhoda's Gnome

My mom has this little gnome that belonged to Aunt Rhoda from Winnipeg. Rhoda used to say that it moved around the house. She would put it somewhere, then later, it was in a different play in the cupboard or shelf.

Mom doesn't know this, yet- but before I left I stole her little Irish friend. I figured if the little guy did actually move around the house the least I could do is show him around here, a bit.


Here he is on the first leg of his journey in Hong Kong's airport.

Here, nestled in the bosom of some traditional dancers. Trust me, though- they were not THAT traditional. I don't think they normally dance with a ghetto blaster.


This is the little guy enjoying his time on the beach of Palau Putri. He was a little skiddish of the live, wild Komodos lurking around the island. No lie, they were everywhere.

Old town

Here are a bunch of pictures from the 'Old Town'. I tried to take a bunch of pictures of the people and surroundings. I won't add any captions but you can get the idea.

The house across the street.

Ihave written many times about how they build stuff around here. I have also mentioned about how someone is getting a house built across from us. I figured I would post a few pictures of the work that has been done. Nothing has been happening, lately. We think it is because of the holiday.
They were placed in out of order and I am not going to straighten them out. So I will just give you the order.

The top right hand pic was taken on August 1, followed by the bottom one on the 18th of Aug. The middle row, right hand was a couple of days before the middle row LH- you can see the walls up in the back. The top LH picture was taken last week. They have beams up and well as places for doors.

They are using tufa (I think). It is very light, can cut with a hand saw, but gets harder when exposed to air. Many of the Chateau in France are made of the same stone.

Happiness and Sadness

Today is the first day of Indul Fitri. It is, basically, Muslim Xmas. So, we get ourselves 5 days off. Yay us! A well needed break after about two weeks of hardcore teaching. Okay, so it hasn't been too bad but the computers were down which caused me some discomfort. It could have been some bad chicken, too.

Marni, the kids, and I are heading to Putri island. It is one of the thousand islands (and home of the salad dressing, too) just north of Java (where we are). Hopefully, Caden can see a shark. The island has glass bottom boats, an aquarium and snorkeling. Unfortunately, we are learning that traveling is not as cheap as we were lead to believe. In fact, nothing is as cheap as we were lead to believe, except food and service type costs (massages, cabs, nannies).

A bus ticket may cost you $15 return from another city, but the buses may not run on any sort of schedule. Plus, the machet (traffic) is so bad it could take you days to get somewhere. Obviously, machet is the root of 'machete' which is what you want to kill everybody with when you are caught in it.

Anyway, we looked into getting a hotel in the city just to get away from the school. However, over the Indul Fitri weekend all the places are packed. But, you would think that they are filled with tourists. Oh, no- they are filled with locals.

During Indul fitri, like Xmas, it is important to go home and celebrate with family. That said, all the nannies, maids, drivers, etc. are gone. So, all the local rich people are moving into the hotels because they truly have no idea how to take care of themselves. They would have no clean clothes, food or people to drive them around. One of my students send his driver to McDonalds because he didn't have any breakfast. The cooks went home and no one made him food. I am sure food exists in his house but nobody has any idea what to do with it. Sadly, a whole new form of helplessness.

My solution would be to hire half Muslims and half Christians. That way, all your bases would be covered.

God and other stuff

We went for a walk on Sunday to see what was in our neighbourhood and we found some very interesting things. Not far from here is a huge Christian church. Marni, being the good Catholic peered inside and came back and mentioned "It is more of a show then church.". After checking out some posters, the minister is your 'Billy Graham' type of guy. There was a lot of whiz-bang and he was building his ministry here in Jakarta. Being in a very Chinese area, there is a lot of them that are flocking to Christianity. With the church came a college, private school and a Cathedral being built an one large complex. Very impressive. But, according to the pictures on the glass, if you don't listen they kill you.

We continued on our walk and found, what seemed to be a public garden. Very beautiful. Tucked in behind the garden was an open air market. Lots of fruits and veggies out for display. They also come with a healthy portion of flies. Being privy to the 'chicken jump' on the farm, nothing surprised or phased me.

Just a couple of funny ideas- here are a few things you can learn in Jakarta.There is always room for Christianity and Media technology.

Another thing; what does this say about the people showing up when it's closed? They didn't know what the sign said when they sat down.....sure.

Used clothes

Marni, the kids and I were walking in an area called the "Old Town" last weekend. It has a bunch of the Dutch colonial buildings and reminds you of a small European town. Kind of interesting. But, even more interesting is that it is close to the wharf and shipyards.

Having never really wondered where things like waterproof bags and tarps come from I was floored to see people-on the street, sewing these huge rolls and lengths of tarps. I guess someone has to do it. There were people sewing what looked to be, sails. There were ropes that were as thick as my legs. It was very interesting.

Even more interesting is that we saw a kid wearing a t-shirt with the Alberta 75 logo. That was the logo that was used when Alberta turned 75.....in 1980. I wondered where this kid would get a 30 year old t-shirt from Alberta. Then it dawned on me, what happens to all those old clothes that we donate to the Salvation army? I am sure that the stuff they don't sell gets donated somewhere else. I guess it has to go somewhere. I am sure there is someone wearing an old Lanny McDonald flames jersey around here, too.