A Good Year

Well this may well be a little premature - but given that I will probably not have time next week when I am in Bali/Gili's to be writing on my blog- I have decided to publish my reflections on the year in advance of Xmas and going away.

Shit, its been a good year. One with ups and downs yes, but overall I feel like I have taken some big steps forward and its cool to think that I have done some of the stuff that I have done.

For a start, living in Indonesia was amazing. To have become at least reasonably proficient in another language is something that I have been wanting to do for a long time, and this year I managed it. And re-testing my skills next week is going to be fun!

The test of living in a country with a completely different culture taught me a lot about myself. And waking up after three hours sleep to a magnitude 6.4 earthquake definitely gave me a lot to think about, and I must say, it was an absolute privilege to work with my peers in that disaster zone. It is honestly true that extreme situations bring out the best and the worst of people, and I saw both.

Travelling around Indonesia was magnificent. Making Indonesian friends who were generous with their time and their friendship was also magnificent. Unexpectedly, I also made some great friends from around the world - I am thinking of Kenta from Japan, Kara from Turkey, Cal from Ireland and Sofie from Germany. They are people who I think I will maintain friendships with for a long time.

The wonderful family that I lived with in Yogya and their generosity with and tolerance of the mad Australian woman who sang at the top of her voice and came home at 5am.

Climbing mountains, visiting the biggest Buddhist monument in the world, singing in a band at a bar in Yogya, cheerleading at an inter-law firm soccer tournament in Jakarta, drift snorkelling in Gili Trawangan - all amazing experiences. I have to say that the time I spend at Borobudur on the day of the Waisak festival was remarkably spiritual, and beautiful. Possibly the most outstanding highlight of that 6 month period.

There has then of course been, the coming home. After freaking out about being unemployed, and what it would be like, and whether I would settle, I have to say Adelaide has pleasantly surprised me. I have once more fallen in love with Adelaide. It is going to be hard to leave next time, knowing that it may be a while before I live here again.

Rediscovering the single life (that I never really had before anyway) has been interesting. Starting my working life in a Minister's office has also been interesting. I am very lucky that I love my job, but perhaps it is easier to feel that way about work when you know you are leaving...... Nonetheless, I have tried to make the most of the opportunity I have been given there, and I hope to continue to enjoy work until such time as I move to the UK.

That was another epiphany this year - working in that law firm in Jakarta really taught me that I would not be suited to that kind of work, and gave me a nudge in the direction of further study. While my plans this year were foiled after my ill-fated tilt at a Fulbright, I still am very keen to do a Masters in International Affairs and continue to pursue my passion for international politics. How that will happen is something that I can hopefully reflect on this time next year.

But back to Adelaide. Discoveries and re-discoveries of the year have included Rocket Bar, Augie March, The Pre-Sets, Murakami Books, Morning Jogs, I-Pod (best purchase of 06 without question!!), The Monthly Magazine, Ann Mitchell, Ash Blonde, Special Patrol, Monday Night Drinks, Jill Scott, Ky Chow, Erina(!), Continental Toast, Double Macchiato's, Cinema Nova, online news and Itunes, MySpace.

My gorgeous group of friends have of course made the year tops- Alana (in Indo), Claudia, Kate and Becky, my brothers Sandy and Jonathon, and of course the baby of the family Gabs. And who could forget the weekend in Sydney with that mad woman Peta? I haven't seen much of her because of random circumstances (mainly - that we have both been variously overseas) but Shani has been a great support and I am glad to see her loving life. And who could forget Uncle Brad? He is outrageous & preposterous but with him life is never dull......

Habits I wished i could have broken - nail-biting, second guess SMS, never being able to stop at one chocolate, lack of discipline with money, day-dreaming, saying "dude", snapping at people, being slave to my hormones.

And with that I bid you adieu. Assuming that is in fact how that word is spelled.

To friends overseas Merry Xmas and Happy New Year - to friends in Australia the same. I hope that 2007 is as good to you as 2006 was to me. I'm not any richer, or any thinner, but I am happy, and a bit fitter, and my direction is a little more set.

And people, please forgive my self-indulgence - I am actually just putting my thanks out there into the Universe - because 2006 could have gone two ways for me.

And fortunately it was indeed, a good year.

My iPod Top 25

I thought some of you might be interested in this...........

1) I Go Hard, I Go Home The Presets
2) Landed Ben Folds
3) If You Stay Special Patrol
4)Greatest Hit Annie
5) One Crowded Hour Augie March
6) You Never Give Me Your Money The Beatles
7)Andy Said Special Patrol
8)Humble Man Special Patrol
9) Paint Your Name Special Patrol
10) Golden Slumbers The Beatles
11) Funky For You Common
12) Just Mark Ronson feat. Alex Greenwald
13) Are You The One The Presets
14)My Sweet Jewel Special Patrol
15) She Came In Through The Bathroom Window The Beatles
16)Carry That Weight The Beatles
17)Eleanor Rigby/Julia The Beatles
18)Drive My Car/The Word/What You're Doing The Beatles
19)Jazzalude II - Defining Purpose Guru
20) In Your Head Special Patrol
21) Victoria's Secrets Augie March
22) Thin Captain Crackers Augie March
23) Peach, Plum, Pear Joanna Newsom
24) Down, Down, Down The Presets
25) My Friend Gorgeous George Special Patrol


Wow, there is a lot of Special Patrol in there.

Recent developments - I didn't get the Fulbright Scholarship after making it to the last stage. Kind of annoying. But I have decided instead that I will be moving to London in August next year. It is not yet a steadfast plan, but, one that has grown legs faster than I imagined. The 2 "Signs from London" were helpful in helping me to make the decision not to apply for Uni in the States at all. One was a call from Frilly, the other was a nice London lad I met on the weekend. A somewhat intoxicated member of the Barmy Army.

The 2 week date challenge continues. Can't believe I am even mentioning it on here. But it makes life interesting!

The Golden Mile?

It is nothing short of remarkable to me that in two days time I will have been home from Indonesia for 4 months. That time has flown.

Just like the bird from the Beatles song.

Has anyone been listening to the remastered Beatles album by the way? "Love". I think it's great, but I do feel a little cheated that George and Giles didn't take the concept a little bit further..... so much good material to pump into the mix. Ah well.

Last night was a pretty run-o-th-mill-but nonetheless a good one- however, the meal we consumed prior to dancing was delicious. Taj Tandoor on Rundle Street. Definitely some of the best Indian food I have had in Adelaide. Or anywhere probably. Except for in Manchester perhaps - what is the name of that street again??? The Golden Mile or something??? Hmmm I can't remember. In fact I can barely remember eating there at all - I do believe it was about 2 in the morning that I sat down to a full meal there. Somewhat bizarre.

Senile, senile.

Nothing is really annoying me this week as much as it was last week. So I can't really stoke up the irritated-o-meter. I was slightly irritated tonight that I didn't get to watch a full episode of Project Runway tonight which is my fave tv show of the moment (possibly with the exception of Sex & The City Re-Runs) but that isn't quite on the same level as concern over natural justice and fair trials etc etc.

Bon Voyage brother of mine - whatever you do get your bum over to Europe or risk being beaten up by me when you get home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow is my first overnight work trip. I have to drive myself in a borrowed car to the final destination which is a little daunting. I'm not exactly a veteran of country driving....... shall try to remember to take photo's.

Okies.

Well cuz oh wondrous possessor of knowledge about HTML....!- if you could tell me how to line everything up so neatly as you do on your blog, that would be lurvely.

And that concludes another uninspired post from me.

A Lesson in Unfocusedness

I have been attempting to come up with a theme for this post for several days, and haven’t been able to really come up with anything groundbreaking.

I was going to give you a list of all the things I have procrastinated from doing this week (college of law assignment, writing my admission essays for Uni in the USA, sweeping dust from the corners of my room ……)

I was going to give you a list of all the random cool things that I happened to do during the week (afternoon tea with Liberian Women’s Association, seeing a play at State Theatre, attending an Architecture exhibition on a whim and dancing with architects until the wee hours)

I was going to tell you all the things that annoyed me (the number of phone-calls it takes to connect a woman in crisis with the appropriate services, come here/go away boys with girlfriends, misogynist tour guides)

I was going to list some of the music that I love right now (The Presets, Special Patrol, the Mark Ronson cover of the Radiohead song “Just”)

But it’s all a little bit contrived!

One thing that is really annoying me at the moment is the thing going on with that sacked Minister in NSW. Regardless of what that guy is alleged to have done, everyone is entitled to be innocent until proven guilty, and to be afforded natural justice. And if you don’t agree, put yourself in that guys shoes and pretend you’re innocent, and then think about how much s*** you would now have to push uphill to demonstrate that fact. (And if anyone sees this as a tacit endorsement of sexual crimes, just try – that’s clearly not what I am saying).

It doesn’t matter what the crime is, or who the alleged criminal is, David Hicks, Milton Orkopolous, democratic societies were based on the right to a fair trial, and anyone who believes in those principles should be alarmed by the level of pre-judgement going on in this instance. People that have no idea what I am talking about should look here.

Rant rant rant.

I bought another Murakami book during the week (Hard-Boiled Wonderland….) it is yet to engross me, but I am definitely interested.

I am planning on going to see Ben Watt (one half of Everything But The Girl) in a couple of weeks, but he is on a couple of nights after Talvin Singh who I also want to see, and it might come down to a coin-toss.

Monday night drinks tomorrow. Another week of Parliament. Another weekend of dancing til my feet are covered in blisters. 5 weeks till Bali. College of Law assignments. Parliamentary Briefs. Community Cabinet. Wondering what my friends O/S are doing. 5 weeks till Bali again. 7 weeks till College of Law exams.

I really should stop writing in lists – it makes me sound sarcastic and bored, when right now I couldn’t be less so.

I have been tinkering with the blog format and will continue to do so until it is a little more spruced up. I am frustratingly limited by a lack of knowledge about HTML. Advice/mentoring welcomed…….and

Until a more coherent theme comes along.

Sampe nanti.

(Eeek - I almost forgot to say a big hello to my Granny - who debuted in the comments on the "habit" post - well done Gran!!!! and you were right! xxx)

We Weren't Just Bleeding Hearts.....

Exactly!
Originally uploaded by adelvice.

....we were right!

is my blog still looking weird?

apparently there have been gremlins eating my 1's and 0's and making my blog look weird - i am trying to resolve them.

The Frightening Force of Habit

I freaked out a bit yesterday afternoon. I am going to try and explain why but you might not get it. I will try anyway.

I was dropping my sister off at a sleepover yesterday afternoon, and as I was turning out onto the mainroad (a road I have driven on a thousand times) I almost turned the wrong way as though I was going to drive back to my old house.

By old house, I mean the one that my family moved out of while I was in Indonesia, and, the house that I haven't been able to bring myself to drive past since I have been back in Adelaide. In that split second where I was about to make the wrong turn, I had a rapid series of thoughts which basically was along the lines of "imagine if I drove past there and parked in the driveway" how easy it would be to slip back into the routine of that old house. To go back to the different way my life was when I lived there.

That series of thoughts brought on a realisation that for some reason made me feel sick - like, human beings are so inclined to just slip back into any old habit, revert back to any old way things used to be, because it is easy to do.

My memories of that house are so vivid, like, which windows and doors the drafts blow through, which door handles are dodgy, where the light switches are for particular rooms, strategic positions for ignoring my parents etc etc.

And then moving to a new house you have to find everything out again. And it seems really annoying to have to do that, when the house before it seemed pretty much fine, and you have to focus on the reasons that you moved, as opposed to the things u liked about the house at the time.

What a random rant. Moral of the story being, I almost turned into my old street to see the house I haven't been able to look at since I got back. And the fact that I knew it would be so easy to do totally freaked me out.

If you don't get it, I understand. The force of habit has just been on my mind so much that I had to write about it, even if this doesn't make sense.

End of Ramadan

minal aidzin wal faidzin

forgiving is the synonym of loving

that was a message i got from a friend in jakarta last night - i am pretty sure it is the salutation people use at the end of Ramadan. i am not sure that "synonym" is the best translation but i think the meaning is clear.

it is a nice sentiment.

does anyone have a better translation? i am speaking obviously to my ACICIS brethen and Indonesian and Muslim friends.....

btw - i am on my lunch break right now - hence why i am blogging in office hours.

Sparkling Vino

Keith - purely for you -

last night was a Black Chook Sparkling Shiraz

it was good

packed punch - i got a bit of plum and vanilla - if i knew anything i would say american oak. great colour.

and for the rest of you -

i have been writing on this thing for a year now. and for those of you in adelaide there will be an unofficial get together in commemoration of my unmemorable rants. twas decided last night.

i am procrastinating, should be studying.

naughty i am.

and to those of you who just finished the fast - selamat idul fitri.

Silly Faces Party Dresses

silly faces party dresses
Originally uploaded by adelvice.

This was after the party ended - downstairs at Cruze bar. And that is NOT my half sipped Vancouver Island cocktail there. Ooooohhh nooo.

All Good Children Go To Heaven

Well it has taken me ages to write about the Sydney reunion. I had a good time, but the weekend was marred by some bitter tastes, and I didn't want to focus on them so I have waited.

It was wonderful to catch up with my 2005 Mitsui friends - Peta and I shared a room in the second night and she enjoyed laughing at my neuroticism in getting ready for the function! I had a good catch up with nearly everyone, a couple of people brought partners which was cool, and I think we all found it a little poignant in a way because it means that almost a year has passed since we took the fateful trip around Japan.

On the first night I shared a room with Danielle who went on the trip the year before me, and we had a good day on the Friday. A spot of shopping, a surf beach and a harbour beach, and some noodles in Hyde Park for Good Food Month all washed down with some lovely white wine at Martin Place Bar (not the classiest establishment of all time might I add, but the best we could do in the absence of a Sydney native to guide us).

On Friday we went to Darling Harbour and checked out the Japanese Matsuri that was on down there - see my photo stream for some cool pics, and Vimeo for a cute video of Japanese dancing girls. (Sorry I don't know the technical term). We had some lunch in the Queen Victoria Bulding and I picked up a nice pair of shoes! ;-) Then we returned to the hotel to prepare for the rather early-starting reunion.

Being an idiot, I didn't pack a hairdryer and having just had my hair lightened about 20 shades (!) was rather frustrated by the fluff effect that the pathetic hotel dryer had on my hair. Thank god for Peta who tamed the mane, crafting it into something moderately acceptable for a cocktail function. Skin moisturised, eyes lined, dresses puffed and lips coloured we cabbed it down to Circular Quay to the Green Room at the Overseas Passenger Terminal.

It was interesting to see the variety of people that Mitsui has afforded the MEF privilege to over the years. I didn't actually talk to anyone pre-2000 unfortunately -but there seemed to be an interesting mix of lawyers, diplomats, business people and academics there. The presentations from the past 4 decades were especially cool.

One guy who went on the tour in the 90's basically told the story of how Mitsui changed his life - he was processing refugees (read "illegal immigrants") on Christmas Island, strangely (or possibly not) decided that he wasn't exactly living a fulfilling existence and decided to quit and pursue his artistic dream. He is now an artist who paints stunning paintings of Geisha and other Japanese icons.

Kinda cool.

Anyway, long story short - Geoff Gallop was there - former Premier of WA and now Head of the School of Government at Sydney Uni - and I happened to mention to him that I used to know his son. He gave me the home number in Perth and told me to call him! Still undecided upon whether that is utterly weird.

After the function something very strange happened. Yogya friends may remember Robert, the bullshit artist masqerading as saviour of the universe with a heart broken by a Finnish girl but never fear he is going to solve homelessness and poverty in Indonesia and has an IT business that has made him very rich, but would never ever buy you a drink. Turns out that pathological liar is a cab driver who happened to pass my group on Macquarie Place with a vacant cab, but baulked when he saw me, saw his fictional universe crash down and made some excuse about having to go to Manly.

People are disappointing. Bitter tastes. I was pretty cut that two (I thought) close friends from Yogya who both live in Sydney didn't make the effort to catch up while I was there. One didn't even return calls or SMSs at all. That's nice.

I think I just expect too much from people.... like reciprocation of friendship. I must be crazy.

Aaarrgh that was the bitter note I promised myself I wouldn't end on.

In other news, I am working over the weekend because of bloody Budget Estimates, I have my exam next Saturday and I have to do well cos I am down to the last cut for one of my scholarships. So thats a happy ending for this post right there.

Monday Night Drinks

All ye complainants about my dearth of artistic output on this thing, well, I should punch you all in the mouths for not commenting and thus not helping to propagate the cycle of positive feedback that keeps me motivated to produce.

Nonetheless.

It has been suggested to me by a pal that you might be interested in what has become a somewhat regular occurence in my life. In fact, to be precise, it has occurred every week since I started working, barring the public holiday.

Monday night drinks.

With fellow travellers Miss Maude and Uncle Brad, we stake out our little spot at a watering hole quite close to our respective places of work and engage in a few hours of errr, watering. In fact Miss Maude and I had tactily and over a period of weeks begun to work our way through the white wine menu (Tim Adams Pinot Gris mmmmmm - eyes glaze over) but Uncle Brad says no, we must drink Shiraz. This often results in tense words, gulped down with a tasty mouthful of tapas. Compromises often include Shiraz Viognier blends and Pinot Noir's. Don't get me wrong, I love a red, but I like to feel that my fellow drinkers are at ease.

I sound like a total prat talking about wine like this. But having lived 6 months in Indonesia without it, you can just indulge me awhile.

A special feature of Monday night drinks is "special guests". As the consistent attendees, Claudia and I have seen an interesting range of friends attend on at least 3 occasions now. Officer Cox, Mr P, Masters and the evergreen Philbo.

Last weeks special guest was Philbo - who was just home after four months at Summer Camp in the States. She had many a travel tale to tell, and clearly was rejuvenated and vibrant after delighting in the pleasures of "handles" of vodka. 1.5 litres in one o those thing if u don't mind!

Politics is a frequent feature of Monday Night Drinks discussion. Uncle Brad scoffed at me this week for declaring that Climate Change is an issue that could with the election for the ALP. But I told him to mark my words, he said he would write them down on a serviette. Let's just watch that one eh?

So I expect you will all be lining up for a guernsey to MND's now won't you. Yeah uhuh.

In other news, I have a sparklingnewcrown on my tooth. A little bigger and buckier than I had hoped, but at least it isn't grey.

And on that note, time to give my haemoglobin a kick with some red meat for dinner. Going to Sydders on the weekend for a totally radical weekend on the ermm wheatgrass so need to rejuvenate my cells before I go!!!!

Pirates and Wenches

Pirates and Wenches
Originally uploaded by adelvice.

Maybe if I put more photos like this on my blog u will all comment.

Whats new?

Went to a party with the above theme on Saturday. Made the horrifyingly poor choice of drinking red vodka cruisers and paid dearly yesterday morning - sugar overload. Eurgh.

Last week bankrupted myself by buying a new laptop and Ipod on the same day. But I am so technologied up right now it ain't funny.

I currently have a false front tooth- preparations for replacement of "greytooth" commenced on Friday. So have a dodgy, wonky, badly colour matched front tooth. It is really attractive. No really, it is.

I have an interview on Friday for a scholarship and am learning in the other spare 5 minutes i have every day for my exam. Don't really have any peculiar vocab to share with you. It numbs ur brain after a while.

Life keeps chugging along. Going to Sydney for the Mitsui reunion in a couple of weeks, and I really cannot wait for that. It will be so cool to catch up with all my fellow travellers! Yay.

Might upload some more photo's in a minute from my birthday - but none of them are even remotely as interesting as Becky, Myself and Kate dressed as pirates and wenches. He he he.

I'm Old

Well it was my birthday yesterday. Am thoroughly unimpressed to have shifted demographic into the mid-twenties range. Eurgh.

Yesterday was actually a pretty interesting day. My boss was hosting a National meeting of her fellow Ministers and there were some international guests from the Pacific invited.

I was entrusted with the responsibilty of collecting the Tongan Attorney General and her aide from the airport. Because of crappy planning by the Federal Government, I had to do som fast-talking and fast-rearranging to accomodate the poor visitors who unbeknownst to them were supposed to be joining a formal dinner after around 12 hours on aeroplanes.

Anyways, long story short, this woman is the first woman to be appointed to the Tongan Cabinet, and I told her how I was a (pretend) lawyer, and she said to me "We need young women like you in Tonga. You should come and work for me if you get the chance". I was like, "Yes Minister! Very well Minister, whatever you say Minister."

That is not one word of a lie - I have a job waiting in Tonga, should I lose interest in the current one! Hilarious! I told the Chief of Staff and the boss that they have to be nice to me all the time now, otherwise I might pack up and hit the Pacific.

Meanwhile, I sat at the same lunch table as the guest from the Solomon Islands. There are no women in the SI Parliament, but she is the highest polling woman ever in their most recent elections. She was really interesting to talk to. I have to pinch myself sometimes and be thankful that at least I am able to pursue the opportunities available to me, cos in places like SI and Tonga, they are stuck back where Western women were 70 years ago.

Well that's that then. Am busy learning vocab vocab vocab for the GRE that I have to take in around a month. It's the exam you have to take to get into grad school in America. I also have to revise all the irritating maths stuff that fell out of my head years ago....

Vocab examples:

Apocryphal - of dubious authenticity, fictitious

Germane - applicable, pertinent, relevant

Stentorian - extremely loud and powerful

Jejune - vapid, uninteresting, childish, immature



Welcome to my hell. :)

Obsessions

I am obsessed with The Shins. Where have they been my whole life?!

Bol-bol-bollywood

Well, am finished work for the day - but not for the week, because tomorrow the Bollywood film that is in production in Adelaide right now, needs to use my office balcony for camera work!!! So we need to do shifts "minding the office" and I am on the 10.30 to 1.30 shift. If it wasn't for a Bollywood film I would have been totally annoyed about working on the weekend, but it is so i'm not. And since it will likely overlap with the footy, I will be watching that here too, cos I ain't missin a minute! ;-)

More tomorrow - including pictures hopefully!

Hear hear

John Howard is not known for his open-armed approach to "foreigners" (unless they have the initials GWB!), but today's comments about Muslims in Australia "needing to learn the language, and treat women as equals" are about the most unstrategic I can remember in recent times. Talk about dropping a bomb.

I think this article from Crikey sums it up very well.

4. Muslims aren't the only migrants in Australia who resist integration
Former Federal Liberal candidate Irfan Yusuf writes:

There's a tiny minority of migrants resisting integration. They don't accept Australian values, don't treat women as equals and won't learn English.

I know elderly Indian Sikhs who've lived here for decades but can't speak English. I know Lebanese Catholics who'd disown their daughters for marrying outside their ancestral village. They're a tiny minority. But they do exist.

So why does Mr Howard only mention that segment of this multi-faith church? Why focus on such people from the Islamic population? Let's apply his tests of integration.

This weekend, Muslim women from across Australia gather in Canberra for a Federally-funded national women's conference launched by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward.

Goward should brief Howard on how oppressed delegates are forced to work in demeaning fields like academia, legal practice, primary and secondary education, journalism, publishing, social work, film production and police.

Delegates will discuss unAustralian topics like film production, law enforcement, publishing and women in business. Conference proceedings will be in that foreign language called English.

Such women are the rule, not the exception, in Muslim communities across the Western world. Muslims in North America have just elected an all-American woman to lead their peak body.

Howard's term "Islamic community" is as meaningless as speaking about a "Christian community". What kind of Christians? Christadelphians? Low-church Anglicans? Roman Catholics?

Migrants have many layers of identity. Religion is only one of them. Usually the most important identity layer is the one where they feel most vulnerable. My parents arrived in Canberra in 1965. My mum's first friend here was a Hindi-speaking Jewish woman. Language was the primary source of my mother's identity. It was also the area where she felt most vulnerable.

What possible gains in national security or integration are achieved by singling out one group from the multi-faith broad church of insufficiently integrated Australians? Why identify this group according to one aspect of their identity? And why make ethno-religious heritage a vulnerable point?

Millions of our tax dollars are spent on national security. John Howard frequently says that Islamist terrorists fight us because of our way of life. But when he singles out Muslims for adverse comment, he's manufacturing a larger pool of marginalised Muslims. This only benefits extremists in the long run.

Daffodil

Daffodil
Originally uploaded by adelvice.

Well the weather is indeed warming up (although some days it still does NOT feel like it!). We even have real daffodils coming out of the ground.

My job is cool. I have been doing a lot of going out to "engagements" with my boss - where it is nice to see the interection between the stuff from the office and it's impact on various groups in the community. I have to work pretty long hours (though not as long as in the firm in JKT) but I don't mind.

The other exciting thing is that I get paid next week. Paid, real money! Weeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

This week I spent every night finishing my scholarship applications (and they have to be done today). But on Thursday night I got to go and see Gomez play at the Governor Hindmarsh.

I must admit that I had big expectations, having watched Gomez play about 5 years ago, and remembering the gig as my favourite of all-time. They didn't disappoint. Apparently they had spent a long time travelling to get here the day before they played in Adelaide, and one guy was sick, so they were a bit grumpy. But they pumped up a bit when they saw how keen the crowd was. :-) I did realise at the show though, that I have missed about two quite recent albums (as well as the one's I knew I didn't have) cos a load of the songs were unfamiliar. I went and bought 2 from the back catalogue the next day, but still have a couple to go...... Anyway, conclusion - they were amazing, and the Gov was even a pretty good venue.

Oh and the Vasko Era were the support, and I have never seen a band be so cruel to their instruments on stage ever. Ha! But they were pretty cool, if a somewhat odd choice for a Gomez support slot.

Hmmmm. Anyways, happy birthday to Lauren. I sent her an SMS calling her old, but the flaw in my logic is that I too will be 24 in about three weeks time, so of course she had the perfect comeback.

And as for my "reading my way through missed classics" - I have a Jane Austen book waiting to read, as well as two Thomas Hardy books that Dad pulled out of a box, from his old days at Manchester Uni. But I haven't had time to start them yet. Will do will do.

Scout's Music Revue

I start my job tomorrow, Ministerial Liaison for something-something, writing speeches something-something, blah-blah. Can't wait for some income dum-dum.

And continuing in my "reading books I shoulda read ages ago" phase - I am reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Perhaps this might explain why ah cayan't stop tawkin lahk ah gowt a suthun acceyant.

I want to talk about music for a minute. Up until several weeks ago, if people had asked what was my favourite album of the year, I would have answered Madonna-Confessions on a Dancefloor (which I think, ironically, was released last year). Nonetheless, in spite of your audible booing and hissing about that previous statement, I have stumbled upon some great muzaks the past few weeks.

For a start, in Bali I bought a pirate copy of Ben Harper-Both Sides of the Gun after hearing it played in Bintang in Yogya, and my-wordy, that is a toe-tapping revelation of a hoe-down soundtrack. What am I talking about? Hmmm, well anyway, its a good album. Much lighter than other offerings yet still mighty serious. Radicool.

Then the other day, in celebration of the end of my period of unemployment, I bought a couple of CD's, one being Thom Yorke's Eraser and the second being Goldfrapp-Supernature.

Well, on first listen, Eraser was a thoroughly unlistenable hotch-potch of blips and beeps, but having been a long-long-time fan of Radiohead I have listened again, and goddarnit, if there wasn't the odd melody in there that I didn't hear to begin with. Who wudda thunk it? It is growing on me, like some kind of blippy-bleepy disease. :-)

The Goldfrapp CD is also good. "Hell-80's" as kids on tha street mite say. But well worth 8.95 from the JB's bargain bin. Infact, possible even worth 28.95. Aduh.

I had also heard some stuff about the most recent Fiona Apple record, Extradordinary Machine, but they didn't have it in the shop, so I didn't get it. Then happened to mention this sequence of events to my brother when I got home, who said, "I bought that stupid CD months ago. I hate it. You can have it." To which I replied "Are you sure?", and he said something along the lines of "Well put it this way, I can keep it in my CD stand and never listen to it again, or you can have it in your CD stand and possibly turn it into something less than a waste of my money." And, it is pretty cool. Very eccentric, and dare I say, unlike past works, and I am still warming up to it, but after several listens yesterday, I can say, I. like. it.

Ok, prattle prattle. What have been your favourite albums this year?? And what are some other books I can add to my "Books I Shoulda Read Ages Ago" list? I already have Wuthering Heights (thanx to Sam).

Occurrences

Ok, this week I have

a) Finished Great Gatsby (and added it to my all-time favourite books list)

b) Finally watched Garden State (cool movie)

c) Got a job (more on that one later)

d) Conceded that my front tooth is turning a strange colour and that I need to get it fixed (if only I hadn't chipped in that handball game in Year 6....damned gutter)

e) Made an appointment to get my hair done

f) Unpacked another box of stuff

g) Bought new shoes and mascara and various skin products aimed at resolving my war on open pores

h) Went to the movies to watch Beyond The Sea with Kevin Spacey about the life of Bobby Darin (I hadn't heard of him either, it's ok!). Good film, but the little kid was annoying and irrelevant if you ask me.

i) Thought about the Middle East and how depressing that whole situation is (feeling increasingly angry at Israel's behaviour)

j) Watched Indonesian news and seen that there is some kind of natural disaster in Surabaya (what is lumpor panas?)

k) Found 30 CD's in my little sister's cupboard (realised I wasn't losing my mind, and that some of my best CD's were actually missing until I found them again)

l) Found a bunch of my clothes in my little sister's cupboard (see note above)

m) Acclimatised a little bit more.


So life is well and truly back to normal.

Oh and a question- if y'all were gonna learn a new language what would it be?? And why?

Not quite a Gili Islands Picture

My Sibblleings!!!!
Originally uploaded by adelvice.

In response to complaints from some of my siblings that I never posted a pic of them on my blog (which was btw incorrect) and also because my blog looks boring without photo's and also because there is not much interesting stuff at this point in time for me to show you......here is a photo of me and my crazy younger sibbles. Jonathon, Gabrielle and D-andy, oops I mean, Sandy.

Reacclimatisationising

Adelaide is still cold- and no matter how much the people around me try to tell me that 20 degrees celcius is warm, i won't accept it. It is not warm when the mercury spends all day shivering it's way up the stem of the themometer only to reach 20 for a microsecond and turn around again. And all of you people currently living in cooler climes- shut your mouths - let me have my whinge just for a few more days...

No, no, no. My blood is tropicalised. And it ain't detropicalising without a fight.

So the past week I have been sitting at the computer, hittin the keys, typing up cover letters and CV's and sending them off. And now I wait.

And my scholarships are due soon enough, so i shall let u know, kasitahu, about that.

I have seen my adorable little new family members, Anderson and Madison. Both super-cute and cuddly. And though they are both my cousins, I hope they call me Aunty - cos the chances of one of my siblings spawning offspring anytime soon is slim methinks.

I watched one of my Indo VCD's tonight - to check whether i still understand the language after 10 days (I did)- I watched "Janji Joni"- and it is actually a cool little Indo indie flick. I really enjoyed it, and it is pretty funny. Unlike virtually every other Indonesian film I have seen. And, it wasn't sponsored by a tobacco company, so there were no pointed and random shots of someone lighting up a ciggy, totally unrelated to the plot. I also recognised a lot of the Jakarta city scenes they used - at one stage I am pretty sure he drives past Plaza Semanggi - where I would often go when I was pulang kantor - going home from the office!

I didn't quite get the same exhilarating feeling about seeing a mall I recognised, as when they are scaling the walls of the Vatican in MI:3 and I could lean to my neighbour and say "I've been there" but it was still cool to see it.

And before I go some additions to the Crappy/Good Things About Being Home list:

Happy
1) Seeing my friends - ( & calling them on the phone and not having to worry if my phone credit will run out.)
2) Red Wine
3) My champion Grandparents - who are still super-happy after circling the globe in their mini-world-tour.
4) My Tax Return!!!!! (Woohoo!)
5) Broadband internet

Crappy
1) After not using moisturiser for the entire time in Indo, applying 2-3 times a day to avoid having skin like paper.
2) Losing my hard-earned tan.
3) Not bein able to walk 10m down the road at lunchtime, pay 50c for my lunch, and walk home.
4) Missin my friends in Indo, and the relaxed vibe of Yogya, and of course, Bar Bintang.
5) I do not know how to make Telur Dadar like Ibu Kos, and as for adding jagung - ha- gak mungkin! (If anyone has that recipe - please tell me)

But all in all, being home is better than I expected. And I will be back in Indo many times in the future I suppose.

Oh and my family are the newest in a long line of sambal addicts - i made some on the weekend and my psycho brother is having it on toast. Aduh. Gila banget!

Rite, time to read more of "The Great Gatsby" - I am still trying to work out if I can include it in my favourite books list......

Novelties that Don't Wear Off (and those that do....)

Happy things about being home

1) Seeing my family & friends
2) Seeing my cousin's gorgeous new little baby, and my new cousin!
3) Being able to go the fridge and cut a piece of CHEESE as I wish, and eat it, with my left hand, as I wish!
4) Being able to drive my car
5) Being reunited with my CD's

Crappy things about being home

1) It is bloody freezing
2) Adelaide does not change, at all.
3) I have no money and no job
4) Did I mention it is bloody freezing?
5) Um, the last time I spoke Indonesian was when I stepped on the plane in Bali. Fab.


Anyway's luckily I have managed thus far to avoid the post-travel blues, as I have so many damned things to do, I ain't got no time to feel sorry for myself.

To all my regular commentors, thankyou.

To all my anonymous commentors- if you knew me, you would know how much i want to know who you are :-).

And to all my non-commenting readers, thanks for nuthin punks! Ha ha. Only kidding.
The guardian angel who sits on my shoulder has been telling me all who you are anyway. So don't think I don't know......

No seriously. I derive a lot of pleasure from writing this blog, and sharing all the crazy stuff I do with you, even if my grammar is bad, my expression colloquial, and my point often unclear.

Not sure how prolific I will be in the next few months - perhaps I need to take a show of hands from my O/S readers to see just how interested they are in my hum drum Adelaide life. Sampe nanti.

Sunset thru Trees

Sunset thru Trees
Originally uploaded by adelvice.

gorgeous!!!

Gili Gaga

Life was Tough
Originally uploaded by adelvice.

Well I am home in Adelaide - arrived back to a delightful 9 degrees - hard to believe that 3 days ago I was sitting having this photo taken.

The Gili's were fantastic. Imagine snorkelling 10 metres of a beach and seeing sea turtles, tropical fish of every imaginable colour and drifting one Km on the current as the sea world passes you by. So cool!

Another thing about the Gili's is the hilarious combination of Europeans who stumble their way across Indonesia and find themselves in paradise. I hardly met any Australians there - on the other hand - Swedes, Germans, French, Spaniards, Slovenes, Belgians, Swiss, Irish & British were there in abundance. The vibe is so remarkable relaxed, it is impossible to stress about anything while you are there.

I travelled there with Sam, and Alana joined us a few days later. Accomodation was great value, and so were the drinks. Aduh - just writing this I was wish I was still there. I even managed to get a tan!

So now I am sitting at the computer in my parents new house, wearing 7 layers of clothing and with the central heating cranked up, scouring the net for employment opportunities and contemplating scholarship options for a Masters next year. Talk about jerking me back to reality. :-)

But its all good. Will gradually catch up with my mates this week and sink back into the groove. Plan my next move and freeze in the process.

Sigh, so I bid Indonesian farewell. Had a great 6 months. Met amazing people. Did crazy stuff. Fantastic. Hebat.

Shades of Blue

Shades of Blue
Originally uploaded by adelvice.

Beautiful! I was there 2 days ago!

Bali Dreaming

Well just a short post to say I am in Bali, staying with Alana - and the three of us are having a great time!

In a little while Sam and I are going up on a bike to Ubud to have lunch with Alana and her mum, and then tonight we are going to stay at a beach called of all things Dreamland.

After that I will be off to the Gili's on Monday, and I don't think there is internet there, so you might not hear from me. So if not, I will write again when I get home.

Yay! Sun!

A Shadow In Sosro

A Shadow In Sosro
Originally uploaded by adelvice.

Well, it is my second to last day in Yogyakarta. My Exit Permit will be ready tomorrow, and I am fairly confident I will be jumping on a plane tomorrow afternoon and heading over to Bali.

I am staying in Jalan Sosrowijayan, which is one of the two tourist- areas in Yogya. My losmen is costing about $6 a night and it is really nice. I am so happy I decided to try and see Yogya from a different perspective because I have noticed new things in the last few days, even though I have driven down this street countless times.

Today I am going to go to Kota Gede, the silver city, to try and pick up a nice souvenir. Later I am going to head over to my old kos and get rid of some of my stuff. I have a ridiculous quantity of luggage - all books. And because I was an idiot and flew Qantas, the letter I have from my University asking for leniency RE weight of luggage, doesn't have any effect.

Anyhoo, thankfully, I was nowhere near the Tsunami/Earthquake that happened the other day. I left Jakarta three hours before the ground shook again. Some of my office friends said they felt the shake on Level 23 of the Jakarta Stock Exchange. I am not sure how well I would have coped had I been there......

Right, time to go and keep pretending to be a tourist!

Last Day (Pretending to Work)

Still Workin
Originally uploaded by adelvice.

I'd like to pretend that I wasn't just posing for this one, but then, that would be lying.

Indian MTV

I just flicked on TV to get my sporadically required fix of Indian MTV, and by some bizarre coincidence (or tasteless joke), or cultural quirk, they are screening India’s best ever “Rail” tracks. Given what happened in Mumbai this week it seems like a strange choice of special feature, but I am not sure whether I am more surprised by the fact that there seems to be a genre of music in India devoted to music about trains. I just watched two film clips- one with a Bollywood star who I see every time I turn on the channel, running along the roof of a train, and another one with some happy looking guy hanging out the side of a train and smiling at all the girls picking tea. Of course, I can’t understand anything that they are singing about, or what the VJ’s are saying, but if anyone can provide an explanation on this apparent love affair Indian MTV has with trains I might be able to go some way toward actually understanding why the hell they would be screening this crazy stuff in the same week that a bunch of trains got blown up. Aku lagi bingung.

Anyway. I had my last day in the firm yesterday, and was kinda sad to finish there. The people have been so absolutely lovely, from the “office boys” to the partners, they were all very welcoming to me, as well as patient and kind. I got some good feedback on my project from my Supervisor – it is going to be made into a guide for the office on Broadcasting in Indonesia, and apparently I even get my name printed in it, which is kinda cool. It is tradition in Indonesia to buy cakes, or noodles or something on a special occasion like birthday, last day or whatever, and I bought some nice sponge cakes from a shop nearby. It was amusing to see some of the lawyers that I had never seen before emerge from their offices to eat it. Hehehe!

I then had dinner with my fellow “magangs”, that is interns, as well as Ryan and Rizky, at my favourite restaurant so far in Jakarta- the Italian restaurant Trattoria at Pondok Indah. It is the closest service I have come to that is reminiscent of Australia, and even better, they give you free appetizers and a chocolate liqueur free for dessert. I had warned them all that the dinner would be “Australian” style, i.e. I would not be paying for their food, because for that kind of function here it would also be usual to pay for your guests. However when the bill arrived and for the 12 of us who ate the bill was like about $120 including wine and beer, I decided to bring out the card and pay for everyone. Being on occasion a bit of a dunderhead, I didn’t realize that they didn’t accept credit, and ended up looking silly because I only had enough cash to cover about a third of the bill.

Luckily, one of the partners had showed up late to eat dinner on his way home (which by the way was also cool because it was just us interns there) and he put in another third of the bill, leaving the rest to be split between the others. In true Indo style, or perhaps true Australian style, the Indonesian’s left leaving myself and Ryan (mate from Yogya who is also here) to sit at the bar and drink a quiet beer. We started talking to the owner of the place and the chef, who from the looks are maybe a tiny bit older than me – and they gave us some more free beer. I highly recommend that place to anyone who comes to Jakarta. Fabulous food.

So we finished the beer and went on to that old favourite bar of mine Second Floor. Ryan and I got another beer, took a seat at some random table and within about 10 minutes were drinking Chivas Regal…..gratis. Rizky showed up a while later and we hung out with his friends, who were also buying us drinks. To cut a long story short, I had a headache this morning which is from a combination of over-consumption and hitting my head on the sink in my bathroom before I went out yesterday because the electricity was dead and I am unco.  I stayed in bed for a long time today feeling sorry for my head and watching the Lost marathon, and now I am about to go out and watch Rizky’s band one last time.

I fly out of here Monday morning (I lost my paper ticket at the office– so I have to practice the dramatic “Oh dear I must have left it at home” thing), after I stop off at the office one more time to say goodbye to the head of the firm, an Aussie, who was in China last week. I will then be arriving in Yogya midday-ish, dropping off my bags at a Losmen (cheap hotel) in the tourist area, and get to Immigration so that I can get my exit permit within the week and head to Bali to join Alana.

It’s all action. I am gonna do Yogyakarta like a (budget) tourist this time. See all the things I missed last time, and see how things are going after the earthquake.

I am not exactly sad to be leaving Jakarta, I think it would be hard not to look forward to less traffic and fresher air. However, I could easily have stayed here longer if the opportunity had arisen. I have really liked my kos, maybe because I haven’t been in it a lot (I still haven’t really met anyone else who lives here, I have come to the conclusion that they are either ghosts or werewolves) but having cable has been fun. I will be very unhappy not to be able to watch Lost, Project Runway, Rockstar Supernova and CSI whenever I feel like it. On the other hand, perhaps I should stop rotting my brain and start reading, or having intelligent conversations, or pondering on life’s mysteries.

Ok, enough, rambling rambling rambling. See some of you soon, and others of you sooner.

Burn Your Rubbish

How is it that I once more sit writing this blog post in my kos, having just eaten pop-mee and watching the Crows play again?? And this afternoon I will once more be going shopping…. Weird.

Anyways, am about to enter my final week of my time in Jakarta. I gotta heap of work to finish before I finish my internship, which I have a feeling is going to entail several later than usual finishes. But the good news is, there is a silver lining on the horizon – very soon I will be in Bali/Gili Islands getting a tan, so that I don’t get back to Australia and have to face your incredulous questions about where I have been living because of the enduring whiteness of my skin!

So anyway, today I am going to tell you about something that amuses/dismays me everytime I ride along Jalan Casablanca on my way to work on the back of the motorbike with a scarf tied around my face to block the pollution.

Jakarta has some of the worst air quality in the world, it also has some of the worst traffic in the world. The government, having in it’s wisdom decided that these two things may actually be connected, in an effort to ease the congestion in the CBD, implemented a law that says that between certain hours of the day any car on the road must have a minimum of three passengers.

Ok, cool. But because some people just couldn’t care less about complying with the spirit of that law, that is by organizing for example (shock horror) ‘car-pooling’, a few enterprising young souls realized that they could earn some spare cash by standing on the side of the road, and jumping in the cars of the law-breakers, earning probably the equivalent of a dollar or less, and then jumping out when the risk of the driver getting a fine has passed. It looks to me like the kids who stand on the side of the road, and who by the way are probably homeless/unemployed/orphaned or all three, have regular “customers” who pick them up everyday. Good on the kids I reckon, but in the meantime, absolutely nothing is being done about the pollution problem.

That is one thing that gets to me about Indonesia. Everything comes wrapped in 27 layers of plastic, people look at you like you have three heads when you say you don’t need a plastic bag, and the idea of throwing rubbish in for example, a bin, as opposed to the street or a public waterway, is quite a foreign concept. Burning rubbish is also contributing like mad to the poor air quality. Even many of my exceptionally well-educated friends that I have met through the internship don’t quite get the idea of taking care of the environment. Nonchalance about the environment is systemic, endemic, epidemic, call it what you will. Sadly, the Western world can put their shopping in recyclable “green” bags as much as we want, but while this kind of ignorance prevails in the developing world, it seems hard to see anything improving. Of course, this is all anecdotal and based on observation only, as opposed to facts and statistics, but I am pretty most people who have lived here will understand what I am saying. And my the way, I don’t attribute blame toIndonesian people generally. In the absence of a government that prioritises the environment, and strong civil society with influential and well-resourced NGO’s, it is probably not surprising.

Ok, enough ranting. One thing I realized the other day is how little I have mentioned the importance that music has had for me while I have been here. Right now I have a minor obsession with Gnarls Barkley, who I saw on MTV two weeks ago (that song Crazy…) and as yet, have been unable to find the CD. I bought the new Keane album the other day though, and that is very good. What else have I been listening to here?? Madonna-Confessions on a Dance Floor (yes I am a remarkably daggy Madonna devotee, still), Peterpan – Alexandria Soundtrack, Jamie Cullum, Neil Young and James Taylor, Tiesto, Pete Murray, m-FLO, Joanna Newsom, Kanye West- Late Registration (I still can’t get sick of that hip-hop masterpiece), Ween, John Legend, Goodnight Electric (of course), Kyoto Jazz Massive, Radiohead (of course), a Coldplay MP3 CD that I bought and has about 200 songs on it, and Nihtin Sawnhey! And a heap more of course, but there are some of the particularly important musix that now have memories of Indonesia embedded in their choruses and hooks. ;-)

Anyway, I’ve had my whinge. Time to go an upload this baby onto the blog. And if anyone can tell me more about Gnarls Barkley I will be, forever in your debt. Oh and btw, I am going to add a link to vimeo to my blog soon, which will let you see my video’s. I haven’t made many, but now I can share them I will make more. Sip!

Child Squeezing in a Capital Market

Am at work, its Friday night, and I think I am about to turn off the lights and leave at the conclusion of my third week here. This is notwithstanding the fact that half of the firm is stuck in a professional development seminar about capital markets, and from the sound of their laughter, something about the purchase and sale of shares is tickling their sense of humour.

Am going to see Goodnite Electric later on tonight with a bunch of work people. They all just got bonuses (well the Associates did) so apparently I will once more be getting my drinks bought for me which is always nice ;-)

Anyway, this week have been up to my elbows in Indonesian Broadcasting Law, and I can’t resist but share with you this little gem from a translation of a law relating to broadcast advertising;

Article 46 3) e) – Commercial advertisement broadcast shall be banned from exploiting a child aged less than 18.

Ok fair enough, but the elucidation of this article then goes on to say........

“Exploiting a child shall be, for instance, the act of employing, using or squeezing a child in order to obtain personal, family or group gains.”

Employing, using, or squeezing. What the hell does that mean?

So all ye exploitating “child-squeezers” out there beware, no broadcasting of such abhorrent behaviour shall henceforth be permitted in Indonesia.

And for your information, the correct translation is something along the lines of blackmailing.

Will write more on Sunday!

Be Patience Darling

I received the above message in an SMS from my fellow intern Amel this morning. Don’t you think that’s a motto to live by? Be patience.

Anyway, handed in two pieces of work to my supervisor this week and haven’t heard anything back yet, so I am going in to ask him on Monday. I hate not getting feedback. Even if he says “that was rubbish, do it again” it’s better than hearing nothing.

Aside from work this week I did some pretty cool stuff.

On Monday I went and watched football at a bar that was absolutely chocca-bloc full of Aussies. On reflection, probably not the safest place to be in Jkt. I don’t think I will go there again. A) It was an average bar and b)if I am going to hang out in a bomb-target there are plenty of better ones in Jakarta. Hehehe. (Mum, Dad- I am being deliberately provocative- santai! Relax!) Anyway, bad result- absolutely unbelievable finish. But if we had made more of our opportunities when Italy went a man down, we wouldn’t have lost like that. And by the way- how the hell did Harry Kewell get gout? Can someone please explain that?

On Wednesday I caught up with my Japanese friend Kenta from Yogya. He is also doing an internship up here. We went to my fave Japanese restaurant so far in Indonesia- Sushi Groove in Setia Budi. It was another one of those occasions that freaks out Indonesian’s- one of the “why the hell are those to foreigners communicating using our language” moments! Anyway, Kenta is a champ- we had a good conversation about whaling- and agreed to disagree, with respect to each other’s points of view.

On Friday, I finished work at about 8pm and was invited by several colleagues including 2 of the partners to go to a bar to watch the Germany v Argentina match. Little did I realize I was the only girl, until one of the Associate’s friends showed up. Meanwhile this bar was like a relatively high-class escort establishment- i.e. not somewhere you go for a girl’s night out! I had been warned it was a bit seedy, but in the end it didn’t matter. The rule is if you go out with the partners they have to pay, so I got to drink a couple of glasses of lovely Western Australian Cab Shiraz. If you had asked me 6 months ago if it was lovely, my answer may well have been different- however given the fact I have hardly drunk wine here my palate is back to basics I think. Aduh.

And then, in the continuing theme of being given little choice as to whether I will embarrass myself in front of my colleagues, I became a cheerleader for the firm at an inter-law firm tournament. Every year 15 law firms across Jakarta take part in a sporting tournament, and yesterday morning was the opening ceremony as well as the opening of the women’s futsal tournament. I have already uploaded the relevant photo’s. I even suited up for futsal however because I hadn’t trained the coach wouldn’t play me. Nice waste of time!

Last night (Saturday) I stayed home- I can hardly believe it- but at 7pm I thought “I will just have a little nap” and then woke up at 10.30, ordered McDonalds home delivery (shame on me- but it’s so easy!) watched England lose on penalties and then fell asleep again.

Which brings me to today – it’s ¾ time in the Crows v Geelong match – the first Adelaide Crows game I have watched all year – I am typing this blog – eating Pop-Mee that is, instant noodles (I swear – I usually eat more nutritional food!) and then I think I am going to head out with my pal Riri to the Zara sale. Jakarta shopping is seriously fabulous. And I love Zara. It has to come to Australia soon.

Speaking of coming to Australia soon. At this point in time looks like I am coming home late-July. And after that, who knows???

pompompompompom

pompompompompom
Originally uploaded by adelvice.

As you can see, i am not averse to embarassing myself, especially where there are pom-poms involved!

Kulcha

Well that football game last night was extremely disappointing- possibly the worse way to lose. But the following email to "Crikey" today made me laugh:

"A Crikey reader writes of the football: I am bereft. The only brighter point was walking home with Fed Square attendees last night past the art gallery when I overheard this sensational exchange: Fan 1: "Let's go to Lygon Street and break things." Fan 2: "No look, let's just break something at the gallery – there's a Picasso exhibition." Fan 1: "Mate, I reckon he's Spanish." That's Melbourne – passionate about footy but at least our hoons have kulcha."

Hehehehe. Does anyone even read this thing anymore btw??? Yuk! Commentlah!

Miss Jakarta Contest

Miss Jakarta Contest
Originally uploaded by adelvice.

As well as running counter to many of the feminist principles that I hold close and tight to my heart, this was also very embarassing. This is me with fellow interns Jesse and Amel.

Oh and BTW - I had to get a new phone number- so for those of you who love me- here it is : +6281385385861

A New Groove

It seem to me that no matter where in the world we find ourselves, it is human instinct to start carving out a little niche, a little routine, and a little zone of predictability. After just over a week here my little niche is well and truly carved, and the pace at which it has happened has given me an insight into what my life here would be like, if for arguments sake, this internship became a job.

I was pretty stressed and anxious before moving up to Jakarta, just because it was a big change from the happy little life I was living in Yogya. However, the instant I moved into my kos, the anxiety dissolved and I realized that I had been worrying subconciously about the fact I had nowhere to live. As such, surprisingly, I was not that nervous on my first day when I took the lift up to the 21st floor to start work.

The office is I imagine, fairly typical of top-tier legal offices the world over. Because the Indonesian firm I am with is linked with the international firm who authorized my placement in the first place, they are forced to work to international time keeping standards and meet monthly billable hour targets set in the States, but as consolation they receive their wages in $US. I have absolutely no doubt that they are working far harder than lawyers in the vast majority of other law firms in this country.

I have been assigned to a Partner who is American but has lived in Indonesia for over 20 years. He is a nice guy, even if he has loaded me up heavily with work, but has given me quite a bit of responsibility for a memo that that has been a long time in the making. My task has been to plough through an enormous folder of law (about 30% not yet translated into English i.e. in Indonesian) and check that it reconciles with what has been written in the memo and then make sure that all the various parts of the big fat thing don’t conflict. That was a nice baptism of fire for me.

The cool thing is that I am actually lumped in with the Indonesian interns who have all recently started in the firm (however their terms are for 3 months plus) and so I kind of had an instant support network of fellow travelers in the office. It has been very interesting to get to know some of them over the past week (and last night), and has reaffirmed my suspicion about this country about the way money flows to money. All the interns are from very wealthy families have grown up in the best districts of Jakarta and I am sure have never had to cope with the day to day struggle to make ends meet that most other Indonesians endure. That said, they are all good people and they have been very welcoming of the random white girl who showed up to their office. They also find me hilarious because I go to work at the Stock Exchange on the back of a motorbike (I pay the guy about $10 a week to pick me up from my kos and take me) whereas as they all come in their own cars, or with their drivers.

On Friday it was Jakarta’s 471st birthday (or something) and also the firms 17th birthday, and so there was a bit of a function put on at lunchtime (we get lunch free every day but this was a “special” lunch which was kinda gross) which entailed each of us new kids putting on traditional Betawi (original Jkt people) dress and being interviewed as part of a “Miss Jakarta” contest in front of all the employees of the firm. We each also had to dance in the Betawi style with one of the Partners, which was very embarrassing as I had never seen the Betawi style until I entered the room where the party was happening. The whole thing was conducted in Indonesian and although I can usually understand everything that is being said, the Jakarta dialect is very different from the Central Java dialect and combined with the fact that they were speaking at a million miles an hour, I had very little idea what was going on. So that was a good way to impress my colleagues. Wearing strange clothes and a blank expression.

A couple of things about the firm- the owners are both women (which I think is unusual even in an Australian context…….) and the business of the firm is conducted predominantly in English. This does not however, mean that I can get away with speaking only English. Because people know that I speak Indonesian and it is a novelty for them to hear an expat using Indo in the office, they insist on speaking to me in Bahasa. Which is good really and means that even if I don’t improve much this month, at least I won’t be going backwards.

Some other observations- there is a secretary in the office called “Candy Baby Joy Christie Wawaruntu”, Indonesia has a “Department of Manpower” and there is no such thing as a professional ring tone in the office- I have to laugh every time I hear the house music ring tone of one of the particularly serious partners.

Anyway, that’s the first week- it was pretty full-on- I can’t believe I forgot to mention the working hours- I start at 8pm and finish between 7pm and 10pm. A lot of the new kids brag about pulling 2am finishes, but I have seen their productivity levels after 6pm and the way they drop dramatically, so I am not going to be busting my *something* just to look like I am staying late. I would rather get my work done and leave, than hang around trying to look busy! This rule will especially apply on Monday night, as I refuse to sit and watch the Socceroo’s in the staff kitchen or while sitting in my kos, so I am going straight from work to seek out some compatriots to share the love with.

Ok. I am going shopping. Sampai ketemu lagi.

Gotta Kos, Seentha Office, dAH bANkrup!

Ok so am 15 hours, a world cup game and a nervous tummy away from starting work. My first few days in JTown have been interesting and expensive (mum- please bear in mind when you see my credit card statement that I have been buying work related clothing! except for the one drink at the four seasons where i was caught embarrassingly short on cash!!! :-) !!)

anyways, flew in to Jkt with Sam and Lauren (yes Heights people- Lauren Carter) and that was good cos it took my mind of feeling sad about Yogya and being nervous as I was around people excited about having a debaucherous Jtown weekend.

On Thursday we traipsed around in a million cabs looking for a hotel for the first night which was a pain in the proverbial. Something hilarious happened- we went to one hotel in Chikini and were rejected because they have a rule about unmarried opposite sex people staying in the same room. It was pretty hilarious. We ended up falling back on the Lonely PLanet option which was mediocre but was run by a very nice man who taught us how not to get ripped off by taxi drivers.

Anyways that night we went out to Plaza Senayan- a playground for the rich and ridiculous (one of many in this city) and all got haircuts. I needed a business-y style cut and wasn't prepared to risk my locks at Johnny Andrean- Indonesian wide chain cutter- so paid for a haircut that worked out to be about $A35. My Ibu Kos will hopefully never find out- she freaked when I paid $8 in Yogya- most Indonesians pay $1 or less. Anyway, we did that, then went out to the wine bar Vin+ and drank some Aussie red then watched England play in the bar Second Floor.

The next day I had to look for a kos, and made the mistake of waiting ages to start doing it. I fortunately came across the nicest taxi driver, certainly in Jkt and possibly the world, who then drove me around for 4 hours. All the places recommended by work unfortunately were full, although all proximate to the office- it's a shame, one of them was next door to the Iranian Ambassador's Residence.

Anyway roamed hi and lo, and after a lot of stress found the perfect place. However they couldn't give it to me straight away cos someone had put down a deposit. So I waited and then they called me back and said no it was definitely taken and I couldn't have it. I was very annoyed and stressed a) because it was perfect and I could have fitted half of yogya in my airconditioned hot water shower room and b) cos I had nowhere to sleep that night. Ended up going for option 2 which was at the time my distant 2nd choice. About $300 for the month, air con, tiny room, washing included and warm water. Turns out it was a good choice, I have cable tv in my room, free drinking water and a very helpful guy in the kos who is going to drive me on a motorbike to work and pick me up for $3 a day. He also set up my tv so that I can watch world cup! Woo hoo! So this is the reason when my first choice kos called me the next day and said "actually we do have a room we got it wrong" i said "no i am quite happy here thanks". oh and the other cool thing was, they reduced the rent for me in my kos to only $200 for the month because I am only staying 4 weeks. they were initially going to make me pay for the whole of july then took pity on me! for those of you who know about my dire financial situation and the fact I am NOT GETTING PAID while I am here will appreciate just how important that is!!!

anyhoo, thats the kos. it has worked out better, but the kos vibe here is way different to yogya, i have only seen 2 other people who live there- it's definitely a business type kos. oh and its mixed so there are boys and girls, and i can actually have my male friends come in my room without having to ask permission like in yogya- so thats nice cos my only 2 friends here are riskhy and ryan- who obviously are both boys.

so i have done a practice run up to the office, and it looks pretty plush. i went up on the saturday thinking i could get the elevator up, see the office and then leave stealthily and undetected. but my plan was foiled by the fact that two lawyers saw me gawking in the door! i went in and said hello, all in Indonesian, and said see u Monday and then left feeling stupid. Oh well, would have been stupider if I hadn't said hello.

Right, so this is already long enough, have to go home and read my Indo law book and try not to be too nervous about tomorrow and also think about watchin the world cup. am gonna be watching it solo in my kos.... bit lonely, but I would be an idiot to go out and watch it the night before starting work...... Come on Aussie! Post me some comments people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some Kind of Ending

Well it's my last morning in Yogya. In about 90 minutes I will be leaving my kos for a flight to Jakarta and in 4 days I start work.

12 Hours Ago I finished a party with my kos family and the girls and they gave me a bunch of presents and all wrote really beautiful messages for me in a book. I had to give a speech which no doubt made absolutely no sense, but they all nodded and smiled so i guess they got the gist.

9 Hours ago I got home from final drinks at Bar Bintang with the crew who are still in Yogya (a lot of people have gone to Bali). Because the staff there know my name (shame on me) and I often joke about with them, they put on my favourite Bintang music namely Abbey Road by The Beatles and then my other favourite Bintang music 311! None of the heathens (!) I was with understood the magic of The Beatles so I pondered the longevity of that album while stirring sugar into my Lemon Tea. Yes that's right no beer for me. I start working on Monday gituloh!

15 Hours Ago I got home from the airport to say goodbye to Ben, who, in the next chapter of his ongoing story of impossible bad luck, broke his hand on Tuesday and was told by one of the Aussie doctors to "just go home mate" because of the seriousness of the break (on his right & writing hand) and the high risk of infection here.

36 Hours ago I had a hot shower at the Hyatt in one of the rooms of the AusAID staff- a theatre nurse whom I had never before met and who gave me use of her room for one hour while she had her final briefing-we then got taken out to dinner to thank us for our work. We are also getting some kind of letter acknowledging our contribution to the relief work, which will be on Federal Government letterhead and will no doubt be quite useful in the future.

So thats my last day and a half in Yogya. Too many goodbyes. And although I suppose it should get easier as I get older to say goodbye to people, I find terrifying the thought that some of the most interesting, intelligent and kind-hearted people that I now call my friends, by virtue of the situation in which we met, I will probably rarely see again.

Yogya has changed in the last 2 weeks btw. Which isn't surprising I suppose. But where before I could walk the length of Jalan Kaliurang and not see another single foreigner except maybe the odd Australian, now I see one every 50 metres. There are also so many SUV's on the road now it is staggering, each with a little white sign in the window identifying it as the vehicle of a particular NGO. There are 65 NGO's in Yogya, all working hard, all distributing aid and providing medical care and logistical assistance, many creating dependencies and tensions within local communities which will be very hard to dissolve when the NGO's pack up and go home.
The dilemma for all time- how to do it all properly. And from 2 conversations I have had with different people since Sunday, the United Nations really has no idea either.

Ok, so I am off to J-Town to find if the streets are paved with gold and see whether people actually do wear 3 piece suits in 32 degree 97 percent humidity. And Dad, I don't really know anyone in Jakarta so I am going to have to find a bar or something to watch the game in, either that or watch it in my new kos........... Iii-aaa.

Ole Ole Ole Ole auss-ie auss-ie!

aussie gila
Originally uploaded by adelvice.

What a win!

My third to last night in Yogya and what a way to celebrate it. After the game we proceeded to terrify half of Yogya by driving all the way to Bintang on the bikes with flags waving, engines revving in third gear and horns beeping. You bloody beauty!

We watched the game in a big outside bar with all our Japanese friends. They were understandably vocal for the first half and a bit of the match, but sat there in dismay as we proceeded to tap three into the net! Good sports however, and we all shook hands at the end!

Anyways, am leaving for Jakarta on Thursday morning and start work on Monday which is very inconvenient timing given the Australian match on Sunday night. Still having mixed emotions about leaving Yogya and I am feeling quite nervous at the prospect of J-Town minus the safety net that all us Aussies take for granted here, but it will work out fine.

And I apologise to anyone who sat listening to ABC this morning-turns out the interview I did was on Radio Adelaide. I was so damned tired however I have no idea how it was........aduh! Selamat world cup!

Flutterbies

I might be going out in the field with AusAID tomorrow so am posting this now in case I can't later- but sometime Tuesday morning I am doing an interview on ABC Adelaide. It is 6am my time (rather inconveniently early given that Australia play Monday night). That's all I know.

And btw- am well aware that "rationalisation" is incorrectly spelled on my previous entry. Serves me right for trying to use 6 syllable words with a hangover and an enormous sleep deficit. Salam!

Stars Align

It occurred to myself and my friends last night that it is only by a rare and rather fortunate twist of fate that one can sit, in a bar, in an earthquake zone, with an erupting volcano in the distance, with friends from all corners of the globe, drink beer, listen to Indonesian reggae and watch the World Cup. Some might call it an incarnation of their worst nightmare (hi mum!), I call it bloody cool.

Last night was a good night. Sad because it will be one of the last times I do that in Yogya, with that particular group of people (Turkey, Irelandia - you hear me?!) but also not sad, because if you have to leave a place behind, then this is the way you want to do it. Well, that is, excluding the thumping headache that I woke up with. Doing it all again tonight, but on lemon tea instead of Carlsberg. Eng-er-land!

Today I turned my bedroom into a little cinema for the kids in the kos. I had promised them before I left that I would take them to the cinema, but the earthquake sorted that one out, so the trade off was that I bought them a bunch of lollies chocolate and softdrink and we rented some films from the video shop and watched them on my laptop. Resa, Kotzar and Vikri- gorgeous little children who I am going to miss very much, at least for the next month while I am in Jakarta.

I am putting off going across the road to the supermarket to get a box to pack up my room because it is something I would rather not have to do. Alas, being overseas and living in Yogya is not the end in itself, it is the means, and now I its time pursue different means to move a little closer to the end. Does that even make sense? I am tired, and my brain understands it anyway......... it's my rationlisation of my situation to try and dull the blow of leaving behind good friends.

As for the chance to stay on here and work.... I have had a somewhat nebulous offer of work from a contact I have here. In Indonesia I feel that "somewhat nebulous" can be equated with what you and I know as "in-principle agreement"........ so will wait and see with that one.

Ok peeps, time to sleep sebelum piala dunia mulai lagi. That is before the world cup starts again.

Updatelah

Hmmm, just completed all my exams in a big chunk. Have one more big assignment to write in Indonesian now and then I am done.... 10 days till Jakarta and I am so disorganised it isn't funny.

On Sunday and Monday I made my interpreting debut with AusAID- don't get excited I was doing simple logistical stuff, unlike some of my compatriots who were in surgeries (i don't have enough faith in my abilities to do that). Anyway it was interesting, and the guys in the team (mainly men) are really top Aussies, hell ocker, and interesting to talk to. They also bribed us with Australian chocolate and paying for our lunch he he he.

Anyway my interpreting highlights have been as follows:

1) Having to explain to the naval commander running the field hospital (which is a half-finished basketball stadium) that he needs to do something about the people who are washing their clothes in the toilet out the back.

2)That he needs to do something about the raw sewerage emanating from a toilet in close proximity to the hospital, while I was pointing at said sewerage.

3) That he needs to stop helicopters from landing so close to the AusAID installment because it might cause severance of electrical cords (true) or cause dirt to enter the medical equipment (lie- but more effective in achieving desired outcome)

Anyways, this guy wearing navy uniform and loads of badges just stared at me like I was an upstart of a 23 year old Australian girl with average Indonesian and no uniform and what the hell was I telling him for. Which wasn't far from the mark. But the helicopters started landing further away.....

Anyway, my head feels distinctly fluish. Not surprising really.

My immediate problems in life are as follows- where am I going to find a shop selling suits in my size now that all the big malls in town have fallen down, where am I going to find shoes, and where am I going to find the one book in existence written in English on the Indonesian legal system which was impossible to find before the earthquake and it seems, will be more impossible to find now.

Aduh. Sampai nanti.

A Few Moments for Reflection

It has been to say the very least, the most challenging, emotionally testing and rewarding week of my life. The earthquake happened a week ago, and it feels like no time and all time have passed. The weirdest feeling.

ACICIS, through the donations we received, I estimate spent about 100million rupiah last week on sending aid to some of the most remote areas of Bantul and other areas of the province of Yogya. Which is approaching 15 thousand dollars. However because of exams, that unfortunately still must be completed, we have to stop work until Thursday at which point we are going to reassess what would best be done with the residual money, of which there is still a lot. The reason I know so much about the money is because I was put in charge of finance during the week, which was hilarious to me as I loathe accounting, but gave me a good focus and something that I could do properly and well.

So until next Thursday, no ACICIS related activities, but there are a few organisations that need interpreters including AusAID, so I might do a couple of shifts with them starting tomorrow.

We had our ACICIS final dinner last night at Parsley, and it was a good chance to unwind and relax with a beer and our close friends together. Somewhere in all the chaos, Lauren, Sam with Lestari (ACICIS employee) managed to find time to come up with awards for all of us. Alana won the Tequila award (for drinking the most free tequila at Hugo’s) Ben won the Bad Luck Award (for having Typhoid, losing wallets, having hundreds of dollars a watch and a ring stolen, and other miscellaneous bad luck) and I won the Turkchaser Award. If you don’t know what that means don’t ask. ;-)

To end the evening, Katrina (ex pat Aussie married to an East Timorese guy & living in Yogya) and I sang the Yogyakarta Blues that we composed on Thursday night. When I get the lyrics from Kat I will post them, although they are full of in-jokes and token Indonesian words, so y’all might not find em that funny……. We then commandeered the band and proceeded to sing for another half an hour. No-one paid any attention to us, but it was a good stress release.

Anyway, it has occurred to me coming to the end of my time in Yogya and given all that has happened that I really don’t want to leave. I am settled in well, my Indonesian would benefit from another 6 months here, and it is an easy place to live. If my internship in Jakarta doesn’t bear the kind of fruit I am looking for then I am going to look for work with an Aid Organisation here in Yogya, they have already started advertising so I am sure that there are going to be a lot of opportunities. Don’t worry mum, I will come home first. Anyway, nothing may eventuate, but I am going to try anyway and see what fate throws up out of the cracks in the road that weren’t there a week ago…………..

Update

Hey ppl,

Stuff we have been doing summarised below.



Dear ACICIS supporters, family and friends,



This is an update from the ACICIS office in Yogyakarta as of Thursday, June 1.


Firstly, on behalf of all the ACICIS students working on post-earthquake relief efforts in Yogyakarta, we sincerely thank you all for your wonderful support.

We would like to update you on what we have done so far, and what we intend to do.

Firstly, we wish to acknowledge that we are not an aid organisation. Your donations are not tax deductible, firstly because we are not working as an organisation but as a group of individuals associated with ACICIS. We understand and appreciate that you have donated because you know us as individuals, or you have been passed on information from other people you trust. We thank you for your confidence and wish to keep you informed as to where your money is going.

Secondly, because we are not set up organisationally to do this work, we are currently gathering information about several organisations we think are already best placed to carry out effective medium-term relief efforts. Obviously we will need to stop at some point and pass on any remaining money. So, today we met and made a plan for the next week all ACICIS students currently in Jogja were invited to attend. We will keep working until tomorrow (Friday) night to carry out activities already in process. We will break from Saturday to Wednesday to study and complete exams. On Thursday we will meet again with fresh energy and new information to decide how to proceed.

In summary, relief efforts so far have been:

Days 1-2 (Saturday and Sunday) Individual efforts by ACICIS students.

Day 3 (Monday) Gathered at ACICIS, those who were there pooled information about what was needed, pooled all available cash, bought medical supplies, divided up and delivered to medical posts same day. Bulk food bought along with toiletries, fuel and water and divided into 50 household packs (one big box each). Used motorbikes to deliver medical packs and rice. One night delivery of other supplies by truck to a village at Terbah.

Day 4 (Tuesday) Record keeping system developed. Start using money donated to Phil s account. Two early morning deliveries of remainder of packs made up the day before. Information feedback from deliveries about more appropriate supplies. Made new bulk food and equipment orders (tents, fuel...). Received bulk medical supplies order made the day before. Delivered back out to medical posts and villages.

Day 5 (Wednesday) Refining record keeping and organisation. Decided to combine efforts with a relief post in the south of the city who are very well organised. Two deliveries to them to distribute. Several bulk supply loads bought and picked up by others to deliver, or delivered ourselves to villages we knew were in need. Another truckload of bulk food bought. Cross checking with other organisations information re needs line up. Students also working with the university on translation tasks.

Day 6 (Thursday) Reassessment of situation. Meeting reviewed all previous efforts. Assessed financial situation and medium term plans. At least $5,000 spent so far, and it appears that at least that amount will be spent today and again tomorrow. Hundreds of different kinds of packs and other supplies delivered to at least 15 different villages to be distributed to scores of families, and scores more delivered directly to families wherever possible. Other supplies delivered to about 25 other places over the course of the week as supplementary efforts and via other contacts. Hard to evaluate numbers of people we have reached. Decided now to focus on the 3 villages we have good contacts in, that we know have not yet received other assistance. Today to be spent on delivering and organising pick up of bulk food that is here. More bulk supplies of rice, tarps, cooking oil and kerosene being bought now. Supplies like tarps are no longer available in Jogja and we are sending trucks elsewhere.

Plan for Day 7 (Friday) Focus on shopping - buy more bulk supplies with the money we have.

Saturday to Wednesday We are taking an official break, studying for and sitting exams. In the meantime, low key efforts over the 5 days will deliver existing supplies, and other contacts will pick up and deliver. We will also do some more information gathering to identify several options for use of any remaining funds.

Thursday 8 June Meeting to regather and reassess.


**

Once again, thank you all so much for your support. As you can understand, the situation is potentially quite stressful. The devastation to be seen is shocking, but the people affected are showing amazing resiliance and patience. We are only one small group amongst many thousands of people - from larger international aid organisations to local NGOs and temporary networks - who are all working to the best of their abilities. Whilst the need is still huge and will be for some time, the urgency is abating. Your help has made a difference up until now there were villages who had still received no government or official aid assistance. This accords with information from other groups.

With regard to further donations, we advise that whilst the work we have done to date has been useful, we cannot sustain these efforts and there are other groups that are better organised and in a position to continue to be effective. We are currently seeking alternative options for donations, and will provide you with a list you can choose from as soon as possible. Donations still being received into Phil s account will be used to fulfil requests as long as we have the energy and people. Remaining funds will be channelled into other organisations to be determined next week.

We will continue to keep you informed of our activities and decisions.


Yours sincerely

ACICIS Students in Jogja