accomodasi ya!

i found a kos! at least for one month anyway- i have a room in a lean-to attached to a family house about 10 minutes walk from uni. lisa (my traveling partner and good friend from uni) is taking the other inside room and there are 20 outside rooms where indonesian girls live.

i have no curfew (rare) double bed, fridge, fully furnished as well, shower (currently broken but will be fixed), no AC but a fan, and my laundry is included. all for the princely sum of 550,000 rupiah a month- which is about $77! unbelievable.

it is the same place i looked at yesterday and i have a really good feeling about it- especially since the ibu kos (kos mother) saved the room for me- actually turned people away- because she was hoping i would come back! so we move our stuff there tomorrow and then we will go shopping for stuff to make it homely- TV, cushions, etc.

i went to a party last night at the rumah kontrakan (contract house) of an ACICIS student who is heading off to Malang for a semester. It was a very cool house- everyone sat on the marble floor which is raised, temple-like above the main level of the house. there were lots of people from INCULS there- the centre where foreign students study language at Gadjah Mada Uni- i met a russian, a german, an austrian, and there were japanese, koreans, french and south americans there too. the only thing is after 1 and a half small bintangs i felt like i had drunk a carton of big bintangs! so i had an early night before going to look for kos today!

i don't think i mentioned yesterday that I found out that my uni here is ranked #56 by the Times education supplement- it is like the Harvard of Indonesia and carries a lot of weight around the entire country! bonus....! the campus is impressive from a distance- i haven't been there yet- that is on monday for enrolment - but when i find a warnet that actually lets me use USB i will upload some pictures. they are explaining the course options etc to us today..... still not sure how i will go in immersion subjects, and reluctant to take a class that has an exam, but will keep my mind open nonetheless.

what else??? my helper- princess dini- is taking me to see a gym about 15 minutes from my kos where they have a pool, aerobics and equipment- and i could join until i leave for about $100. a lot of the girls who have been here a while have said that it is easy to gain weight- and i am not interested in getting fat, so i have to find a way to overcome all of the palm oil, and palm sugar that is in the food! mind, swatting the scary dengue mosquito's should burn a few kilojoules!!!!

anyway, speaking of food, it is nearly lunch time and for the first time in a few days i am really hungry, so it is back to the hotel to prepare to move to my new home and decide what on earth i will study this semester!