Did you like Malaysia or Thailand better?

Malaysia so far...

So after some more time on koh phangnan while Kristen and Paul were recovering from their horrific motorcycle accident and after a fantastic trip to sail rock diving we did a pass on the full moon party and headed south once more to Krabi.

Krabi was a beautiful town, Well not Krabi exactly but the area around it. There are lots of cliffs and big pieces of rock sticking up everywhere. (I would put some pictures up but Cameron is currently being a camera hog). We went to the beach and a beach a little bit away and that was nice. Did some exploring of the area. Nothing amazing to report. Had some really yummy Museli, that was a highlight. Then it was finally time to leave Thailand.

Thailand didn't thrill me. On a scale of desert warzone experiencing drought and famine (1) to a tropical paradise where a genie is present to grant all of your wishes (10) its a 5 maybe. I just felt overcrowded a lot of the time (it is high season) and like we could never escape from people trying to rip you off or sell you something or the stupid taxi rackets/unions. It was ridiculous at times and I was just not looking forward to that. Don't get me wrong, its very beautiful and the fact that so many people go there makes it a sinch to travel in, but it got to me.

There are essentially two main types of people who travel in Thailand.
1--> Wealthy older people who are there for a week or two staying at a resort or two and going on a tour or two. These people are fine. They are nice and they mostly keep to themselves and their private beaches and are nice enough if they ever happen to slum it for a bit and hit up the backpacker areas. This group also includes families who are in resorts or on tours

2--> The traveling youth of Australia, UK and etc. that are in Thailand for "the buckets of alcohol, to sleep with Scandinavian women (or men) and who get a bamboo tattoo when they are drunk" (quote by Simon our last dive guide). I don't mind these people either except once got jealous when I saw a guy from Australia's facebook messages with his mom.... she was funding his trip and he was "never coming home, lol", because he was "having to much fun sleeping on the beach all day and partying all night" on his parents dime.

So maybe this is the reason I didn't really like Thailand. These types of travelers created a sort of vibe.... the wealthy people pay the first price and so prices are high and the Thai people see white skin and assume money and the young drunkers are a mess all the time and probably just p.o. the thai people because they tend to disrespect the land and the area, using the country as a giant playground/toilet bowl. I don't know if how I travel is any less offensive to other people or Thai people (even though I have had only 2 drinks the entire trip I am sure I get lumped in group 2 by the locals), but yeah, just didn't like it all that much and found the people to be unfriendly.

FACT: 12 million people travel to Thailand every year.

Alls I am saying is that I wouldn't do a backpacking holiday in Thailand south again. I would go to a resort and chill for a week though.

Anyways, had a good time though and made some great memories.....

We are in Malaysia now. Our first stop was Georgetown/Pedang. A very cool little area. It had an Arab quarter there and it was awesome to eat something besides Asian food! We had samosas and naan and tandoori chicken. excellent. We also went to Fort Cornwallis.

Then we went to the Perhentians. They are what I was hoping Thailand would be more like. More chill. less development, although they are headed the Thailand way. The people there were really nice and friendly and although Island living is a bit more pricey, I didn't feel like I was being ripped off or taken advantage of. Maybe they are just better at hiding their resentment. Also we saw loads of awesome animals there when we did a snorkel trip and diving. Things as a child I stared at my library books never dreaming I would one day see. It was great. I love swimming with sharks.

Now we are in the Cameron Highlands. Its a cool 20'C. I am cold. I am wearing pants and a jacket. hahaha, I have no idea how I am going to cope when I get home. I am very much looking forward to being in Canada and starting my program in thee Fall.... just a lot to do between now and then... oh well. C'est la vie when you take off for 5 moths!

Looking forward to seeing you all, but am still enjoying traveling and experiencing this part of the world. :)

Why haven't you posted lately?

Everytime I get to the internet I have a billion emails from UBC that I have to deal with. So I haven't had a lot of time for blogging. If you want to get up to speed with our trip head over to Cameron's blog at : http://whereintheworldiscameron.blogspot.com/

Terima Kasih!

What lives in Shark Bay?

SHARKS!

The first week here in Thailand has been pretty great on a vacational level as well as a personal level.

1. It was great to see Cameron after not seeing him for 4.5 months.

2. It was great to see Kristen after not seeing her for 4.5 months.

3. Even though the last couple of weeks at Maple Leaf were anything but stressful its nice to be on vacation where you get to sleep in when you want and swim in 36'C oceans chasing sharks around the bay.

4. I got into Physio School!

It has been an eventful week and a bit. My flight from Surabaya was fine and the night in Kuala Lampur Airport was even manageable and arriving in Phuket was a trip. The flight in was amazing actually. It was beaches and granite cliffs and blue water for miles and miles, all with the sun just coming up, probably one of the prettiest flights that I have ever been on. And the taxi in was okay too, not as stressful as I thought that it would be.

Phuket was pretty nice. We stayed at a great little boutique resort at Patong beach. It was actually like a 20 minute walk to the beach through dog infested side streets, but other than that and the 30'C plus heat it was fine. It was funny, my traveling companions were not used to the heat but I was pretty much acclimatized. We spent our time there eating the ridiculuously delicious breakfast, lounging by the pool, and spending some time at the beach. As well as enjoying our first delicious tastes of Thai cuisine. But before we knew it, it was time to make our was to Ko Tao for our diving extravaganzaa.

The trip to Ko Tao from Phuket was fine, at least it was fine for me. My traveling companions would disagree as they both were car sick and a bit sea sick. We took an afternoon bus than an overnight ferry boat. And by the time we arrived in Ko Tao they were both done. We took a taxi to Sairee beach and after having breakfast because it was too early to get into a hotel we found a place with a couple of beds where the invalids flopped down and didn't stir for several hours. In the afternoon though Kristen was feeling better so we went snorkeling off the beach and then ate fruit and drank fruit juice listening to classic rock as the sun went down.... ahhhhh.... Thailand :)

Our dive course started the next day back by the pier and we managed to check into our bungalows and get set up there just fine. We met our super awesome guide "Sergi" from Barcelona and spent the next three days learning to become SCUBA divers because "SCUBA divers have more fun" according to our PADI text books. Its true. Besides the book learning and the mountain of homework we got the first night we had a blast. It is such a neat feeling to breath underwater. We did spend a lot of time doing skills like taking off our equipment under water, taking off our masks, floating and buddy breathing etc. But we also had time to cruise around and look at a bunch of interesting stuff. I can't believe that as somebody who studied marine biology a lot in University that I never did PADI before. but now I did and my "life has been changed forever" (according to the PADI book again).

After our PADI course we went to shark bay for a day where we snorkeled and I saw my favorite: the black tipped reef shark. They are so neat. It was probably only 4 feet long and didn't like hanging around me too much but it was awesome. I haven't seen a shark for 2 years since the galapagos, so it was great to see one again. We dived again the day after that and snorkeled off the dive boat in a cool area seeing lots of Ko Tao's fishes and even a lobster and sea slugs which are very beautiful. Then it was time to leave for Ko Phangan. We were all tired after our busy day diving and all passed out on the boat.

We got to our bungalows alright and Paul arrived within an hour of us getting to the bungalows. SO we got to have dinner with him. We also had our first experience with Thai wiskey in the form of "bukets" which is literally a sand castle bucket filled with wiskey, coca cola and redbull.... and mountains of thai food that paul had been craving.

today its off to the beach for some snorkeling fun and some sun! Even though I haven't been suntanning once yet I am brown. Sunscreen everyday!

T-T-T-T-To Thailand I go....

Hi Friends and Family.
I am leaving for Thailand today and will be getting there sometime tomorrow morning. Should be an interesting 12 hours...
Anways, not sure if I am going to keep posting here or on Cameron's blog. Or if we will do a joint blog.... details to Follow!
later :)

Are there any Animals in the city?

Why yes. Indeed there are.

There are nice fat rats that make a good living on the garbage that people put outside their houses in heaps for the trash collector to come and get. And if they didn't look so big and mean and diseased with bubonic plague they might actually be cute.

There are the bats that fly around at night. There are birds. Mostly just city birds though, like the invasive house sparrow. These birds are originally from Europe but have managed to hitchhike with humans or escape captivity and have taken over the entire world.... except for Antarctica... they left that one alone. Who wants to live there anyways.? No offense Pengu.

Then there are the feral cats. A lot of cities around the world have a problem with dogs. Feral dogs becoming wild and forming packs and then turning into a pretty big problem for the locals. Thankfully people here love their dogs (my grade 4 class voted it their favorite type of pet!) and are wealthy enough to afford caring for dogs so there isn't a stray dog problem here. But feral cats is a different story all together.

I noticed the cats right away, during my first few days in my neighbourhood. Most people don't pay any attention to them and for the most part they try and avoid contact with people. I think to catch one with your bare hands would be a pretty mean feat. Overtime I have come to recognize the cats that consider my street their territory. The old orange and white tabby male is my favorite, he is dirty and limps and has one eye. So badass. But yeah, none of the cats here would be of a particular breed and none of the cats would win a prize at the Eastern Minnesota cat show.

Figure 1. A typical cat Felis catus from Surabaya (right lateral view).

This "typical cat" is white and orange. The grey-brown areas are to represent dirt. The cats here are nothing if not real dirty. I am sure that they do groom themselves, but its got to be tough sledding for them considering how dusty the streets are and that they basically live in garbage all the time.

All of their tails are shortened and crooked in some way. I am not sure if that is because the breed of cat that was introduced here from the Dutchmen's ships had a shorter tail or what, but they all have short tails and in most cases they are crooked, like they have been broken by one thing or another.

A lot of them have other scars like a missing eye or a chewed up ear. I am guessing that this is from a vicious cat fight over females, food or territory, or possible a tangle with one of those fat rats.

The cats here are also really skinny. Their ribs show and they are much smaller than the typical North American house cat. Probably this is due to their life style, who would grow really big on a diet of garbage? or really fat when your supplementing your diet with contaminated water?

They are also pretty skiddish and are on alert 24/7. Only once have I seen a cat splayed out in the sun on my driveway and as soon as he saw me coming he bolted. As such they have these really watchful eyes and some of them look really mean.

Can I get some feedback?

So the Maple Leaf International School website has minimal info for the interns. So I thought that I would put together a FAQ sheet for them, I hope they use it. If there is anything that you think I should add or change PLMK!

Frequently Asked Questions:

What should I bring to wear while teaching?

Dress Code/Attire

Surabaya is known as one of the hottest cities in Indonesia. There are air conditioners at the school but the temperature in many of the classrooms never goes below 25’C and there are times when you will be away from the cool classroom. As such, most interns are most comfortable in lighter fabrics such as cotton and linen. Flip flops are not allowed to be worn at the school by teachers or students, but sandals with straps that secure the heel are permitted.

Ladies:

Summer-weight dress pants, jeans, knee-length skirts, capris, Bermuda shorts are acceptable. Modest dresses area also acceptable. Polo shirts, blouses and tee-shirts that are in good shape and are not see-through are also acceptable. Remember that Indonesia is a relatively modest country and when teaching you should dress modestly this includes minimal décolletage and no mini-skirts or booty shorts.

Gentlemen:

Summer weight dress pants, jeans or long shorts are a good option. Polo shirts, dress shirts (long or short sleeve) and tee-shirts that are in good shape and are not see-through are also acceptable. Most of the male teachers do not wear a tie except for special occasions.

Where will I be living?

Housing

Housing is provided by the school. The house is about a 10 minute walk from school and most interns walk to and from school. The house is in a safe and relatively quiet neighbourhood located in west Surabya. It is essentially a gated community and there are security guards who are stationed around the clock who patrol the neighbourhood.

There is a maid that works at the school and lives at the house and takes care of the sweeping, mopping and general cleanliness of the house. There is a washing machine available at the house for your use. There is no dryer and most clothes are hung to dry.

There are 4 bedrooms in the 2 floor house. Each room has a bed, a desk, a chair, a wardrobe (some hangers are provided) and an air conditioner. Sheets, pillows and blankets are provided, but you should bring your own bath towel or you can buy one when you arrive. The bathroom is shared with the other interns and has a western toilet and an Indonesian style mandi shower.

A fridge is available for you to store food. The kitchen has several pots, pans, plates, glasses, forks and spoons, a toaster and a blender for your use. There is a two-burner gas stove that some interns use to cook their meals. Other interns prefer to buy their meals from the street vendors or restaurants. There is no oven.

There is no internet modem at the house, although the school does have internet which you are welcome to use. Internet credit and a USB modem can be purchased at stores like “WELLCOMM” in SuperMal and give you internet access from home if you so desire.

What will I be eating?

Food

There is a grocery store called “Giant” about a 10 minute walk from the provided intern housing. It supplies items such as vegetables, fruit, milk, bread, eggs, meat, tofu, cereal, peanut butter, coffee, tea, juice, water, snacks, toilet paper and toiletries among other things. There are other grocery stores in the area including “Meat Shop” and “Papaya” that may supply more specialty and luxury items. There is also an “Alfamart” convenience store about a 5 minute walk from the house.

Most interns take advantage of the abundance of inexpensive Indonesian food and order delivery from a local café or restaurant for their lunch time meals with the help of the receptionist. There is also a catering service that delivers Indonesian meals daily at lunch time that many of the teachers take use.

Surrounding the neighbourhood of the school and the intern house there are several restaurants ranging from simple Indonesian food stalls to comfortable air conditioned restaurants serving Indonesian and Western food.

What can I do during my free time?

Surabaya and the Surrounding Area

Surabaya is mainly a business town with malls being the main focus of the social activity. Malls in Surabaya have several restaurants including Indonesian and Western food (KFC, Pizza Hut, A&W, and McDonalds). They also have movie theatres, salons, shoe stores, clothing stores, DVD shops and electronic stores. You can find most anything in the nearby SuperMal that you would find in malls at home in Canada.

There is a gym nearby at Graha Residen. It has treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, free weights, weight machines, a dance studio, table tennis, squash courts, showers and a large outdoor pool. If you have your student card and are 23 and under you can get a 1 month membership for 200,000 Rupiah ($22 CAD).

Several of the interns use the weekends and periodic long weekends to their advantage by taking trips. Many have taken a plane to Bali or Lombok for a few days. Others prefer to explore Java and have headed to Jogakarta (Brobodur), Jakarta , Bromo, Pacitan and other areas.

What is the weather like?

Weather

The rainy season in Surabaya is from November/December until April/May. During the rainy season, it rains regularly, about once a day for a few hours but the temperatures are still in the upper 20’s. The rest of the year is the dry season. The hottest month is October. Each classroom at the Maple Leaf Centre is provided with air conditioners or fans, however, it is still warmer than most classrooms in Canada!

What to Bring

· Toiletries (Shampoo, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, your preferred feminine hygiene products, facewash, or vitamins etc. You can buy all of these things here if you need to replace or forget something.

· Any Medications you are taking

· Towel

· Teaching clothing & Casual clothing

· Laptop – there are several DVDs at the house and many stores in the mall sell them for cheap. You can also use your laptop at school for lesson planning and other things.

What is an Indonesian Amusment Park Like?

Like Seaside at the Jersey Shore minus the Guidos, and with a lot less skin showing.

People riding the water bike

On Sunday morning we all met at McD's.
We = Ms. Katherine, Ms. Miming, Ms. Dewi, Ms. Windy, Mr. David Canada and me.
A driver also met us there with his car and he drove us the 2 ish hours to the place. WTL or something like that. I have a real issue remembering Indonesian words. To me they just seem like jibberish. Its not like I am usually bad at languages. I did alright in French and I can pick up new Spanish words fairly easily, but Bahasa Indonesian is hard for me. I just have the survival stuff like: left, right, yes, no, I want, thank you, maybe, and several items of food. But back to the real story at hand.

When we got there the parking lot was a sea of tourist buses. Most schools here are on holiday now and it was a Sunday so the place was busy. We paid 70,000 Rp ($8 CAD) to enter the park. This included most rides, entrance to the zoo and the caves.

First up we went into a haunted Pirate attraction. It was actually kind of hilarious and scary at the same time. I kept thinking that there was going to be a real person at some point jumping out at us. But no. It was just these mechanical people pirates going back and forth on their rails. It was dark, so that was the scary part for me.

There was also a Texas part of the place that was playing legit American country and western music. Not sure what totem poles have to do with Texas Native Americans, but yeah....

After the pirates we went on a ride that span around and around and would periodically bounce you up and down. The seats were really hard and you weren't strapped in so it was more uncomfortable than anything and Ms. Dewi banged her head and has some bruises today because she slipped off once.

Then there was the exact replica of the crazy mouse ride or whatever its called that they have at Playland. I have never ridden the one at Playland because the line is always like 1 hr wait. But I rode it at WLC. Scariest. Ride. Of. My. Life. I am not even joking. I was actaully legitimately scared. At every sharp hairpin corner I thought the car was going to careen off the edge and take Ms. Windy and I to our deaths. I screamed at every loop and turn and dip. It was really fun though, I felt like I was 12 again... I guess that is the point of amusement parks though, right?

Me at the sea-wall part of the amusement park

One thing that was missing from the Indonesian amusement park was "The Big Bag of Little Doughnuts" and other North American carnival food like hot dogs and fries. I was actually surprised by this because the Indonesians are all over American food usually, even if they do put their own twist on it. (ie. putting an egg on a hamburger for example). Anyways, there was good food though, like coconu water straight from the coconut, cheap Indonesian food and all sorts of Indonesian snacks and of course Ice Cream.

So as a few of our group went for a "flying fish" and "banana boat" ride Dewi and I stayed behind and sipped from a coconut while swinging on a "porch" style swing on the shores of an artificial beach (the ocean was real, but I suspect the sand was hauled in from elsewhere). I was in the shade and I was sweating just sitting there, it was a hot day. I didn't get burned though as the Indonesians are obsessed with not being darkened by the sun so there is shade everywhere AND I applied sunscreen. I wastched this video http://youtu.be/_4jgUcxMezM and it really made me think about my self skin care. My goal is to wear sunscreen everyday while I am outside, wear my UV shirt when I am in the water for a long time and not get burned once on my travels... stay posted...

After lunch and an attack by a feral cat on Ms. Miming (the cat just wanted some food but she was freaking out so it looked like she was being attacked), we walked to the zoo which was across the street.

Is that a tiger?

At the zoo there was a hippo, camels, primates (orangutan, spider monkey, baboon, howler monkey), cougar, tigers, lions, bears, birds, wildebeast, oryx, deer spp., prairie dogs and much much more. Can I just say something. I guess I can because it is my blog. I think zoos are awesome because you can see things really close that otherwise you might never get to see in the wild especially if you don't live in the Congo, but I haven't been to a zoo with mammals in many moons and I found it sad especially after doing an animal behaviour course last fall. Having primates in captivity should be made illegal in my opinion. There was one little fellow who was all alone in his cage and he reached through the bars just for a handshake from a human. That is how much he just wanted to be touched. Also there was one in a cage (alone again) swinging back and forth, going ape. I would go crazy too if that was me. And the big cats, also not cool to keep in Captivity....

I got what I deserved... the bird pecked the camera seconds after this photo was taken.
Monkey just wants some love... or food.

The caves were neat. I think they were natural, but all sorts of stalactites and stalagmites. Very very very humid though. My bubble gum went all soft.

The Caves... (Goa)

After the caves Ms. Windy and I went into a big cage, like the ones they had at Merazonia, an aviary if you will and we got to feed birds from our hands which was really fun. Reminded me of the wisky jacks in Strathcona Provincial Park....

Ms. Windy and the birds eating out of her hand.

I gots one too.

After the zoo we went home. But not before Ms. Miming fell in a puddle of puke. Ah yes, nothing completes a day at the amusement park like a vomit incident. There were bricks and someone had vomited on them. There was a slope and flip flops involved. Anyways, she didn't have a chance, slipping in the vomit and landing on her but. Gross. But the perfect end to a perfect day? I felt bad because I had successfully navigated the pile of puke, but also glas because it wasn't me with an unidentified persons puke on me...

What Did You Do During Your Last Week of School?

This week was eclectic.

It was the last week of school for regular school classes. Next week summer school begins, but that is a different story.

WEDNESDAY - MASSAGE DAY
Ms. Kay invited me to accompany her and Miming for a massage at a new place in Super-Mall. So after work on Wednesday I met them at SuperMall and after I got a delicious green tea frap from Starbucks :) headed to a little place in the Mall.
It was the size of a small boutique store, set up sort of like a small area in a hospital. It resembled stretchers with hospital curtains around them... Should I have been concerned at that point.... maybe, was I? Naaw. I just decided to go with it. So I got to pick out my preferred scent of massage oil, thank goodness. It was helpful having my Indonesian teacher friends there translating.
I was given a strange looking strapless Mu-mu and some of those little paper undies things. Again, I just went with it. So after I suited up the masseuse came in. She started with the legs and it was all going normal until after she did the initial massaging she started smacking my leg! I was just trying to keep it together and not laugh and just kept repeating my new mantra "just go with it". This lady was strong though, she not only pressed hard when going with the grain of the muscle, but she did a number on my calcaneal tendon (the one in your calf muscle) by pressing hard and going left and right and back and forth on it. Ouch.
Then after the legs were done she moved up to my lower back. Or so I thought. After a little bit of lower back massaging, then she pulled my paper panties down and went to work on my butt. Maybe it would be normal in Canada for this kind of massaging to happen. I have had a full body massage before, but not the but part, not like this anyways, but perhaps the most weird part is that I couldn't understand what she was saying to me so I had no warning....
The rest of the massage was good. The only other weird part was when she massaged my stomach. Its kind of weird getting an abdominal massage as there are no bones there to push back like there are in the other parts of your body....
Anyways, all in all for an hour massage for about 8$ CAD is nothing to complain about especially if you come out feeling much relaxed after.


THURSDAY - CANUCKS & SAGES INSTITUTE
Got up early and went to school to watch the Canuck's game... but we all know how that ended. We have ASN (All Sports Network) at school which was showing the Stanley Cup Playoffs to Asia. Unfortunately we had the American hockey loving international TSN feed. I miss Sports Net Pacific... Anyways, the lesson plan for that morning was Canadian culture.... e-hem, meaning that instead of Writing class we watched the hockey game. The kids were pretty into it and were upset that the Canucks were lost. Maybe not as upset as the players though...
After the game we went on our field trip to the Sages Culinary Institute. It was great. The master chef there taught them via demo how to make Spagetti Carbonera and Mac & Cheese. The kids were loving it and they did a really great job. Sadly I didn't get to cook. I spent my time helping the kitchen-challenged kids. Seriously, what grade 7 doesn't know how to wield a knife? But hopefully they do now... Thankfully there was extra and some of the kids gave me the extra Mac & Cheese, so I didn't go hungry.




FRIDAY - FAREWELL PARTY & KARAOKE
Last Friday was the last day of school. "School's out, Scream and SHOUT!"
Each grade gave some sort of musical performance. Awards were handed out for the top students. The parents brought food and we had refreshments afterward. All in all a good day. Also got some really nice teacher gifts from my students. And also got some hugs! I am going to miss my grade 6 class.
After we hung around doing nothing until 4pm (the kids were gone by noon, but the principal who is currently out of town left word that we had to stay until 4pm, the end of our regular school day...) we went to Karaoke. This was my first real Karaoke experience. And it was awesome. Now, not to slight my mother, but I inherited her vocal talent. That is to say, I mostly use my talents to sing in the shower and around Campfires. But I killed it in Karaoke. Among others I sang Celine Dion's "Power of Love". It was a real show stopper and I think it loosened everyone up, because after that nobody was shy to sing!

¿Eres una Profesora?

It's the last week of regular classes at school so I thought it was time to ask and answer the questions I know has been at the top of everyone's "Things to ask Chelsea When She Comes Back From Indonesia" list, right under "How was your trip?" Lucky for you I am giving you a little pre-answer to hold you over until August ;)

Q: ¿Eres una Profesora?

R: No, yo no soy una profesora.
Estoy una Profesora.

Borrowing from Spanish here. The question of the blog is essentially asking: "Are you a teacher" and I am answering No, I am not a teacher. I am a teacher.

Now, a lot is lost in translation here. The Spanish language has 2 forms of the verb "to be": 'Ser' and 'Estar'. 'Ser' is for essential qualities such as physical characteristics, nationality, personality and I think occupation. While 'Estar' is more for transient conditions such as mood, location etc. So essentially I am saying I am not a teacher, as in this is not my profession. But for this short period of time I was given a chance to be a teacher, as a transient condition.

That is not to say that I am not a "teacher". I will always be a "teacher". I like "teaching" skills and helping others achieve something. There are aspects of teaching in many jobs. I just don't know if it will be in the classical style of the class room grade school teacher.


Here is why:

Things I love about teaching:

1-Summers off
Being that this is the first thing I think of when it comes to teaching, probably means that I would be a teacher for the wrong reasons. Regardless, having summers, Christmas break and all other holidays off is a definite bonus of this job :)

2-Working Indoors 8-4
Again, the second thing I think of is another selfish reason. Its nice to have a job inside that you don't have to get up too early for or have to battle the elements in. I am thinking of those memorable times as a mosquito surveyor and camp leader.

3- Kids
The students can be challenging at times, but for the most part they are pretty good. My most rewarding class so far has been the grade 4's. They were rowdy and unruly when I first came and their assignments were terrible. But when they got a stable homeroom teacher and I cracked the whip on them they straightened up and produced much better work and their behaviour improved.
4-Learning is Awesome
I don't really care for Language Arts and Writing (although the novel studies are interesting) but I love teaching Science and even Social Studies has grown on me. I don't know though at what point the material would start becoming old. There is also something rewarding about planning a really cool lesson that your students respond to!


Things I don't like about teaching:

1-The job follows you home (Planning and Marking)
This is one of the things I most dislike about any job. When you have to bring it home. I am new school. I think that work should stay at work and not be a part of your home life, especially if you are staying late. Since I have no family or friends or extra-curriculars here it was easy (outside of report card time) just to stay a bit later and finish things up at work. But I could imagine with a family this wouldn't always be so easy with your spouse and children relying on you, not always so easy to stay till 5 if you need to. I just hate having to bring things home to do and dislike the feeling of work taking over my family and friends time and my personal time.

2-The cess-pool of Germs.
I have been in a school environment all my life and have many jobs working with kids. I guess it just comes with the territory. It would be nice to not be constantly exposed to germs, but really I don't ever see myself working in isolation so I don't think this will ever be off my cons list of any job I have.

3-My Voice/Sanity.
Two important things. I have lost my voice a few times this term, not from yelling, but from talking, talking, talking, explaining, talking, yelling and talking some more. Teachers have to talk a lot. Talking, not my favorite. Also the kids can be a bit nuts and aggravating at times. It makes me feel like the bad guy a lot of the time when I have to be strict. Also sometimes you have to really put your foot down or they will walk all over you, and this can take a lot out of a person, more so than other jobs where you don't have to act the part of the babysitter. I guess high school might be less babysitting...


4-Job Competition
This is not something I have experienced myself, but just the thought of it makes me not want to be a teacher. There are a lot of good teachers out of work right now. And the thought of spending a year and a half in school for a higher level of expertise without a good chance of getting a job somewhere I like in BC makes me not want to pursue this career.

Then there is the "Je ne sais quoi?"
I have had other jobs where I was absolutely stoked to get up in the morning. Maybe stoked is a bit strong, but I was excited about the job. Maybe I am being unrealistic here since it was a summer camp job. But why can't I strive to have a job that I want to go to? I have also had jobs where I dreaded Monday mornings and my boss made me cry. My boss here is much kinder than the bitch in the basement, but still not as exciting as working for the summer camp. And maybe its just being in Indonesia and feeling a bit lonely that is overriding my feelings of excitement and joy, I can't say forsure. I don't expect it to be rainbows and soft fluffy kittens everyday, but I don't know at this point if its my dream job either. Maybe if I was at home and feeling less lonely, maybe if I had more training as an educator and was more comfortable in the job, Maybe...


¿Tu Quieres Ser Una Profesora?
(You want to be a teacher?)

I am going to say that I probably could be a teacher. But I think I would probably just be an average teacher at least I feel very average now. Although I think I would have the potential to be a great teacher in a field I was passionate about, like Bio or how to cook Kraft Mac and Cheese for 12 in 1 pot on a camp stove....

So maybe one day.

What would you rate Bali out of 10?

***Warning: This blog may contain material offensive to some readers. I would give it a PG rating for inappropriate micturation. Grandparents who think their grandkids are swell, you have been warned...***

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"10 being if you could really do space travel and 1 being thrown in jail during a hurricane" ~Dale Rieu

Upon further reflection of this quote, I would have to say that my weekend in Bali was at some points a 2 but at most points around an 8.

We took a mini-bus (11 people) from out school in Surabaya across East Java across a ferry to West Bali, drove across west Bali and ended our Journey in Kuta. It was a 16 hour trip, overnight thankfully. It took especially long since we had to buzz around Surabaya picking up people in apparently no logical order. And then there was the traffic jam by the mud-flow area. Oh well, better than paying for the pricey long weekend-priced airline tickets. A 150$ round trip by plane was converted into a 40$ round trip which included door to door service, a meal each way and no pesky airport departure fees.

Anyways we got into Kuta around 10 am local time I think. Kuta is absolutely nuts. I was in culture schock. I was staring. It has been 2 months or more since I have seen that many white people. OMG. I had not realized it, but I was totally getting used to being the only white person or one of the only white people around. (case in point --> I went to the grocery store this morning and one of the employees took a picture of me and him on his camera phone) Anyways, there is so much crap in Kuta. People selling all sorts of stuff from watches to shoes to clothes etc etc. There is a never ending supply of merchandise to buy. We thought we would head out to Ulu Watu/Dreamland area on some intel that it was chill and relaxing and there were some cheap places to stay. After a motorcycle taxi ride out there we were dissapointed. Dreamland had been taken over by a huge resort. We went on to Ulu Watu, but the waves there were massive and over a reef and the break was crowded. So after a Fanta we decided to head back to Kuta to stay the night and go from there.

Kuta beach at sunset. This is from the internet, but the day I was there looked just the same.

We surfed at Kuta beach that afternoon. It was nice to be out in the water again. And the sunset was unbelievable.

That night David was eager to head out on the town wanting to "get wasted". I should have spotted the trouble right there, but honestly I thought he wasn't serious. Boy, was I wrong. So we went for a yummy dinner at a little spot. Then the interesting bit really began. We went to this place where there was "All-You-Can-Drink" Heineken for 2 hours for 50,000 Rupiah. I now know why this is illegal in Canada. Anyways from 8pm-10pm we had all you can drink Heineken, met 3 Toronto boys, 2 Swedish guys, and a German guy. Who had a pack of cards and suggested playing drinking games. After that we went "upstairs" for the free flow hour. Where drinks were free for an hour. Seriously. Another bad idea. After that we went next door for their free Margaritas. I had stopped after the Heineken and a free-flow drink, but unfortunately David kept going. Sadly I didn't know the way back to our place. And when I finally dragged David out of the bar and as he was zig-zagging all over the sidewalk it was clear that this was not a good situation. Anyways, after wandering the safe streets of Kuta I finally caved into the offers of "Trasport! Transport!" from the locals. A couple of motorbikes took us back to the hotel not before David almost fell off of his. Classy. I think he paid his guy 50,000 Rupiah, while my guy took 15,000. I thought I had overpaid, but thought it was worth it to get home in one piece.

Not my picture, but representative of the night.

Anyways, after stumbling David up the stairs (I think he fell a couple of times at least) I got him to bed where he promptly passed out. I thought that would be the end of it. But no, oh no, it wasn't. David totally got up in the middle of the night looking for the bathroom and thought he had found the toilet. Nope. He didn't, turns out it was MY BED!!! It took me a minute to wake up and realize what was going on. By then he was done and had gone back to sleep. FML. Worst night ever? Maybe. Anyways, found a mop and cleaned it up as he couldn't be woken up, and at 2.30am the staff wasn't at the front desk.

I told David (who barely remembers leaving the first place) what had happened and he was pretty embarrassed about the whole thing and agreed with me when I suggested that we should leave Kuta and go somewhere a bit more chill. So off to Pedang Pedang we went.

I think David was still drunk actually, but we managed to find transport to Pedang Pedang beach. And found a cute little home stay there for pretty cheap. Went to the beach that afternoon and David went surfing as I swam, sunbathed in the sun/shade and read my book. Ahhhhh...... now that was BALI! The beach was so beautiful. I managed to get a few pictures of it before my camera crapped out. There were ladies selling things on the beach and I caved for a sarong as I had forgotten mine in Surabaya. I also bought some Fried Rice from a little beach hut and watched the sun go down in the late afternoon. Great afternoon :)

Sunset at Pedang Pedang. This rock was really cool. (internet image)

That night we went to a very chill place. I had a Big Love smoothie (papaya, pineapple and mango) it was so good and QUESADILLAS! Finally! I found some Quesadillas! I have been wanting some for over a month! Best dinner ever. It might not have literally been the best dinner ever. But there is something to be said about eating a meal you have been craving. Just the satisfaction alone is tasty!

View of Pedang Pedang from the road.

The next day we decided we needed to arrange transport home for Sunday (the following day). After a difficult phone call to the Penjor Bus Hotline and some help from the hotel staff we were told Sunday was full, but Saturday (that day) was still open. So we decided to go home the Saturday. We still had most of the day to spend soaking up the sun and surf anyways with the bus not leaving until 5.

Pantai Pedang Pegang. (image from the internet)

More sun, more sand, more beach time. Fantastic. I also bought bracelets from the nice ladies on the beach who are masters of the hard bargain. But I feel bad being a tourist and arguing with the locals over a few dollars, or a few cents. So I totally overpaid. Oh well.

The bus ride home was fine. Nothing eventful. Got home in time to listen to the hockey game. Unfortunately I came down with a high fever Sunday afternoon at home and spent all day in bed, realizing how much nicer it is to have a fever in not a tropical 3rd world country. here is why:
1. In Canada you don't have to worry that your fever might actually be dengue or typhoid.
2. In Canada its usually cooler, you don't have to sweat your fever out in 30'C +humidity. Thank goodness I have air-con.
3. In Canada when you run out of water and are very thirsty and dehydrated you can just drink from the tap, you don't have to put on clothes and walk to the corner store to buy water and gatorade.
4. In Canada there are people to bring me food, a cold compress or the remote!

Don't worry I am managing and my fever has gone down and I feel better, although I called in sick today.

Whats the Hottest Club in Surabaya?

Ice Club.

The Ice Room at Ice Club. Note the Eiffel tower on the back left and I think the leaning tower of Pisa at the right front.

Last Friday some of the teachers from the school took David and I for a night on the town.

The night started out very Indonesian like. With a late pick up time of 2 hours after they initially said that they were going to be there.... I am not complaining, I was enjoying my Bintang on the patio of our place, but just merely pointing out that there is definitely a difference here when it comes to punctuality. I think the best thing to do is just let it slide.

Lenmarc. The mall of emptyness.

Anyways we went to this mall. "Lenmarc". Its supposed to be or WAS supposed to be one of the most luxurious or high end malls in the city. However something happened with the construction and it got delayed so a lot of the stores ended up negating on their contracts I think, from what I have gathered from teachers telling me. Anyways, this has left the mall with a very empty feeling. There are only a few stores in the entire huge mall that are open. Mostly furniture stores and a few random accessory stores. There are restaurants, of course and "Surabaya's hottest place for nightlife", Ice Club.

Why is it called "Ice Club" if it is so hot. Well, its because they have a giant freezer in the back that they have put ice sculptures in. And white couches and chairs. But I mostly think its because of the ice that its called Ice Club.

Customary picture taken by the waiter in Asian countries.

We went out to dinner first at this nifty place where you pre-pay at a central cash and then go around with your little card and order things from the different places. Kind of feels like you are at a fancy food court. I like the card idea thing though. Especially if you want to order from multiple places.

At ice club, the cover is ridiculous and so are the prices. More exspensive than Vicrtoria. 100,000 Rp cover. So thats about 11$ CAD and drink stared around 60,000 Rp for a beer. Nearly 7$ CAD. A bit ridiculous for Indonesia, but you are paying (literally because I am sure it costs a lot to keep that place cool) for the atmosphere. The DJ was sweet though.... kind of. But the cover band was sweeter. They had 3 singers, 1 guitat, 1 bass, 1 key board and 1 drummer. And they did top 40 tunes. I think my favorite might have been the Katie Perry Cover of ET that they did. Or maybe when they did Riannah ft. Eminem "Love the Way You Lie", and there was this Indonesian dude rapping and sounding pretty close to Eminem himself. That was awesome.

Where is Pacitan?

Pronounced "Pacheetan", it' s located in south west East Java.

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Its a really interesting little town, but we didn't stay in the town proper. We stayed on "Teleng Ria" the beach part of the town....

View from where we stayed out to the water at Teleng Ria

The journey -
We (David my roommate/the other intern and I) left promptly at 4pm from school and headed home to gather our things before heading to the bus station (Purabaya). We took a taxi there and arrived in plenty of time to find the bus that would take us directly to Pacitan...
David had got some intel from the internet that the journey would be about 4 hours long. No problem, really at 40,000 Rupiah ($4.50 CAD) that is quiet a deal for an air-conditioned bus. Anyways it actually took us about 6 hours, getting in to the town somewhere just after midnight aboard a bus that was jammed packed with people riding and other people selling things to you and other people playing music. Such is traveling in Indonesia though. We got there in once piece, but I was feeling pretty green around the gills after the last section of road.
At the bus station we were greeted by guys on motor bikes who took us to the hotels. Our first attempt was to Happy Bay Bungalows. Sorry Mom, I did something I thought I would never do.... ride a motor bike (well it was more of a scooter actually) without a helmet. Just goes to show you that even the favorite child can make poor decisions her mother would not approve of when feeling hungry, sleep deprived and car sick. After HHB we went to Harry's surf hostel. It was full, this was really to bad because it looked awesome. Then we ended up at "Grand Pacitan", the more resort-y place in the area. By this time it was around 1am and we decided to share an "economy room" for about 150,000 rupiah (16$) which might be exspensive in Indonesian standards but I really just wanted to sleep.

Day 1 -
Breakfast was delievered to our room at 8:00 am dull. (more like 8.15. I think I had ordered breakfast for 8am the night before, but I am not really sure.) Anyways after that we wandered towards the beach with the broken English/Bahasa directions given to us by the hotel staff. We made it eventually, encountering a young marching band playing in the streets and a midget who was collecting the fees for entry to the beach.

Happy Happy Bungalows Main building.

We found HHB again and found a room with a couple of beds and an actual shower. Bonus when you are planning on being all salty and sandy. Then we went to look for boards from Harry's. Ended up getting some old timers for 30,000 rupiah ($3.30) per day. nice. Take notes Tofino surf shops. And no need for wetsuits here. The water was a balmy 29'C.
After I insisted we have some food (which was darn good) we headed out to the breaks. What a great afternoon. It felt awesome to be in the water and splashing and paddling around and catching the occasional wave. The surf wasn't big but it was good enough for me. Felt really strong in the water (thanks Tony & the p90x gang for that).
We headed down the beach in the afternoon (about 2km) to check out the elusive "corner" waves by the alleged "river". After about 30 minds of waling we found it and I decided to have some beach time to relax while David went out into the water to rub elbows with the locals and try for some sick waves.

Room at HHB

After a while we headed back into "town"/where our bungalow was and had a refreshing shower and I downed a full "air minum besar" (1.5L of water). For dinner we went to this chill place next to our bungalows that had gazebo style tables. They were all like little huts with tables underneath. The sea breeze and 27'C evening made for a great atmosphere. Too bad we were like the only people there in a place that could easily hold at least 50. We had some grilled tuna and rice and veggies and juice. Good night.

Day 2 -
Got up early, had a great HHB breakfast of juice, eggs, toast, banana crepes and headed out to catch some early surf. Another great day in the water :) Caught some really fun waves and felt strong (once again thanks Tony). Also brought the camera out this day to take some photos. And of course had people request to take their photo with us.... Seriously. Do not want to be famous. It would be really annoying having people come up to you and want a picture with you all of the time. But maybe then you would be rich enough to have a private beach or island somewhere with no cameras and eager fans.... I digress.
After a great lunch, a shower and a hurried return of our boards we negotiated a helmeted motorbike ride back to the bus station. There we used the 1,000 rupiah bathroom, grabbed some snacks from the stalls and made our way onto the bus.
This bus was even better. Not. It was a 7 hour epic. At least the first bit with the really windy roads was in daylight so I didn't feel as sick, but maybe not as I got to see the craziness of the roads. We ended up getting home around 9.45 pm.

Got some sun this weekend. And really improved upon my watch tan. Something I have been working on for years. Hopefully bu August I will have perfected it.

Sunburnt and Squinty On the beach in Pacitan, Teleng Ria.

What was your favorite subject in school?

The results are in.... and not surprisingly, Recess and PE won, but by a narrow margin of one vote.

Social Studies	2 (22%)
Language Arts & Writing	1 (11%)
Science	2 (22%)
Math	1 (11%)
P. E. & Recess	3 (33%)

Votes so far: 9
Poll closed