an entry somewhere else

Both the Chinese and Islamic new years went off without a hitch. Two days off for most of the country. I spent a couple days getting some rest and took a short ride south along the coast. Friday was a short day as many of the students did not come for the speaking assessment. Would you come back for a five minute speaking assessment or continue on into the five day weekend? I don’t blame them a bit.

Earlier last week I weaseled my way into a final get together for the class that I just finished teaching. They agreed to let me go to lunch with them. We took a drive up to Lake Tondano for lunch. Fish from the lake, rice, and spinach. A simple but tasty meal. The clouds were quite thick so much of the scenery was obscured. I snapped a few photos of my dining companions.

After lunch, we drove a little bit and visited a Buddhist temple. It was a little different than the ones I’ve seen so much of already in that it is of the Chinese Buddhist persuasion and not coming directly from Tibet. The colors were much more vivid and some of the fixtures were bright and crazy. I took a few photos of the place and would like to take another look someday as the main pagoda is several stories high and, when the weather is good, I bet the vista is splendid. More photos of the structures on the grounds.

While I was having a field trip, the gym where I usually go was having its own fun, Kontes manusia (contest human). I’m a little sorry I missed out on it. The brackets were still up for all the events: bench press (repetitions per minute and maximum), squat, push ups, sit ups. I was there the morning before and saw that the only part of the contest that included women was the sit up contest. I questioned the trainer why there wasn’t a chart for women to bench press and squat. He just laughed. When I returned on Monday, the sit up chart had only one female contestant. There are quite a few women who do go to the aerobics classes but only a few brave the heat of the weight room.

It is Valentine’s Day today. There were handshakes all around. I was asked if Americans observed Valentine’s Day. I laughed and assured them we did. The Jakarta Post had a front page article on the troubles of inter-cultural marriages. Specifically, the legal trouble that results from archaic laws left over from the days of Dutch rule. Citizens are classified into one of three categories: European, Chinese, and native. Consequently, a European who married an Indonesian in Canada and returned to register in Indonesia was classified as Chinese! Not to mention that to legally marry in Indonesia both parties must be of the same faith or get married under the auspices of one of the five recognized faiths in Indonesia. Of the five, Judaism is not one.

My first Applied Linguistics class starts tomorrow. There is no coursepack or book for the first class as we have no idea how many students are enrolled and how many I will scare off by talking in English the entire time. It will be a learning experience for both myself and the students this time around. Cheers!