What's New?

Well looking back over the last couple weeks we have had a few new experiences here in Indonesia.  And even more recently today and yesterday for the first time we have had a bunch of Indonesian kids in our yard playing with our kids.  It was a little strange yesterday as Julie and I went for a quick shopping trip to a couple close by Toko's or stores.  And when we left the house, our neighbor was in the back yard trimming the grass as he usually does a couple times a week, and our kids were inside the house doing their usual thing of either watching a movie or playing a video.  Then upon returning home we found our backyard had acquired several kids playing with a soccer ball.  However, to our dismay our kids were still inside still in-groused in their activities.  But with some strong encouragement from mom and dad the kids went outside and enjoyed playing with all the kids.  Then again today our yard became a playground for a few Indonesians and Franklin as well as he was home at the time.  I'm very glad to see our kids playing these past couple days with local kids.  I'm unsure of what changed yesterday from never seeing locals come into our yard to having them enter in these past couple days on their own initiative.  I'm hoping over time this will continue and provide some much needed interaction for our kids with the local kids.

Two weeks ago I think I (Greg) also set a personal record for the number of kilometers driven here in a single week.  It started with Franklin and I heading to the south coast to find us a beach.  Then upon our return a friend of ours wanted to road test a bike he had just recently bought so I gladly jumped at the chance to ride with him around the lake that is not to far from Salatiga.  So him and I set out Friday morning for a ride around the lake with a detour through a mountain pass over to one of his favor spots to eat.  Then Saturday morning our neighbor was taking some of his goats to market to sell and then find some more valuable replacements.  So on the spur of the moment him and I were headed to a traditional market not to far from town but far enough to add another 30kms or so to my weeks total.  Then later that same day our friends from our first house SMS me and asked if I wanted to go to Kopeng.  Not sure what happen between the time I said sure to the time I arrived to head to Kopeng with them.  And at first I was a bit confused as to what or where we were going as Pak Trisno (husband) road with me on my bike and Ibu Surati (Pak Trisno's Wife) road with a friend on their bike and we weren't very long traveling together before my friend Pak Trisno mentioned we can go faster than them as we have further to go.  Turns out we ended up in Magelang to visit a high school friend of Pak Trisno.  Kopeng is about a 20-30 min ride depending on weather and traffic, Magelang a little over an hour if traffic and weather are good.    It was a great week of bike riding around Central Java.  All in all I racked up a little over 600Kms which may not seem like lots but take in consideration the average speed I likely traveled at would between 40-50km/hr.  My bikes top speed if conditions are favorable 90km/hr and occasionally and very rarely 100km/hr.  It likes 70-80Km/hr but most times the traffic and roads don't allow for sustained high speed travel.

Last week was a busy week as well I started back to school for unit 8 of 9.  Julie was busy studying as well with a couple of days break because her tutor was busy with some special activities at her university centered around an international theme.  Which Julie was also involved as she was asked to cook and bring some Canadian food.  She made some very tasty homemade butter tarts.  I heard from somewhere that there might have been a bad one or two so I took it upon myself to eat as many as I could to find the bad ones before she started to give them away to strangers.  Sadly, I failed finding the bad ones but I did enjoy all the good ones I ate.  Along with this special event at the university we along with some other families from different parts of the globe were invited to the Mayors house for supper Thursday evening.  I'll be honest I was a little nervous as a simple farm boy from Canada, it was intimidating trying to prepare myself with what to wear, what would be good to talk about.  Not only am I immersed in a foreign culture, then to add a meal with a person of higher social standing increases this farm boy's stress level.  All in all the event went well from my stand point.  I wasn't the most under-dressed person nor was I over dressed either.  Our kids were basically the only kids there and for the most part they behaved great, that is up until picture time.  There are more then a couple pictures taken with our kids making funny faces or actions, or another way to put it they photobomb a bunch of pictures.  Not sure if "photobomb" is an official word but it was the new word I learned that evening.  Even here I'm learning new English words on occasion.

Well this blog is looking a little long winded so I will close with a few pictures, sorry not all of what I've mentioned are recorded in photographs but what I have I share. For beach pictures you can find them on the previous post.

Mountain village

My friend and his new bike.  (Which he sold again shortly after this trip.)

Julie's butter tarts. 

New Friends from the university.

Julie's new favorite household pet.

Livestock Market

Cattle area at the local market

Same market but the goat section

Livestock Market

Tofu Factory

Anyone hungry?

Small house business/factory setting.

Mayor's house.

Traditional Javanese dance.

This was after the dinner at the Mayor's house.

The Beach Get Away

Well after only living on a tropical island for 8 months Franklin and I finally made it to a beach or two.  The rest of the family though are still waiting for their turn.  Wednesday morning Franklin and I headed out on our adventure, only a couple delays of road construction and some medium volume traffic and 3ish hours we arrived at our first beach represented in most of the pictures to follow.  We also ended up staying the night there as well in a quaint little room.  The bed was a little short for me but I got a few hours of sleep.  Unfortunately I can't upload videos of descent quality but we I came home with several hours of some great video shots including a sunset and sunrise.  I haven't previewed all of the video yet but the few samples I've looked at turned out pretty good.  So I can't share the videos via our blog but I can share some of the pictures that were taken on our trip.

Sebelah Barat Pantai Siung
Siung Beaches West Side

First time on a beach in the South East Asia

Sebelah Timor Pantai Siung
Siung Beaches East Side

Facing South.

Exploring the west side of the beach

Still in Awe

Exploring the east side of the beach.  The wave on the left edge of the picture takes this poor fisherman for a swim.

Front window/door of the local dinner.

Beach number 2 ahead.  No sand at this one but people living and working the ocean here as well.

Beach number 3.  Again no sand but a cool little water fall that some kids were playing beneath.

I think this was taken at the 3rd beach as well.

From atop sunset point back at the first beach.

Hanging out waiting for the sunset.

What a beautiful sunset it was.

Full or almost full moon.

Looking down at the beach from atop the nearest hill to the east catching the sunrise.

Rainbow from the sunrise against a rain shower out at sea.

Our quaint room for the night.

Beach number 4 which we briefly stop at on the way home Thursday morning.

All and all the trip was a great time had by both myself and Franklin.  I was a bit worried he wouldn't enjoy himself but he did well even the 6 hours or so on the back of the bike there and back.  Hope to get the rest of the family to these beaches or maybe a different one soon.  Julie, Isaac, and Jaclynn did well studying hard while Franklin and I played in the sand.

Budding Photograher

A couple weeks ago I got permission to video a church service.  On the day I videoed I took along the camera as well and let Jaclynn have a turn with the camera and it turns out she is a bit of a natural as I gave very little instructions and she took some very good pictures.  Enjoy the following photos take by Jaclynn and these are just a small sample as I think she took around 80 pictures that day and most of them are clear and her subject is well framed.  Not bad for a seven year old with no training.  Like previous post with pictures feel free to click on the pictures if you want a larger picture to view.

Sorrow

These past few weeks as I think of our blog we've struggled with what to put on here as things continue to plod along with our regular routine of school and homework and then more school with a break on the weekend to relax and go swimming, nothing really new or exciting.  These past few days however both Julie and I received news of family members passing on.  Thankfully both Julie's Aunt and my great Uncle are now home in the arms of Jesus, they both will be missed greatly by our families.  Grieving abroad is a surreal feeling as if it hasn't happened and our family members and friends are not really gone we just aren't able to get around to seeing them again.  As I reflex on this I don't know if or when it will sink in as I also think of my two dear friends that previously passed on, since moving away and if it has really sunk in that I won't be seeing them again on this side of heaven.  Unless I really stop to think about them in the back of my mind they are just a phone call away which I just haven't made in while or I just haven't bumped into them at the local grocery store recently.  As you think and pray for our family these coming weeks please pray for our extended families as they mourn the lost of loved ones and for us as well.  The process of mourning here, I think I can safely say it's not harder or easier just different.  As I look ahead I don't know the future but I expect this won't be the last time the Lord calls a friend or family member home before our return.  We are very thankful for the time together Lord has given to us, and may we not take fore-granted our time today with friends and family.

Love

I think that the word love is very powerful, but when you put that small four letter word into action you can move mountains. This is something that God has been really showing me (Julie) as I walk and drive through the streets here in Indonesia. One of the first things that they will teach you here about the cultural is that the people are very social and love talking with you. Actually, if you just nod your head in acknowledgement their whole face will light up just by that small act. And if they feel that you really are interested in them we have noticed that sometimes it feels like they want to cling to you.

Then God reminded me of a very important verse the other day from the book of Ephesians 5:1-2. "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."  Really it is a very simple verse with simple commands but I think it is something that gets lost along the way with my busy life here. My hearts prayer is that as I walk through these streets here in Indonesia or where God leads me that I will be imitating His love towards the people.

Back to the Grind

Last week, well most of last week and, well most of us enjoyed a break from school.  Julie continued studying while the kids had spring break and I had 4 days off from class.  Julie was able to move her schedule around so that we could do some family outings in the mornings before the afternoon rains came.  A couple mornings our family headed to our favorite swimming spot.  Then on Wednesday morning we piled on Buzz and JR for a ride to the waterfalls Franklin and I had visited about a month ago.  The falls were flowing heavier this time and we brought extra clothes so we (the kids and I) played under the falls for a bit.

This week we are back to normal with the kids back in school and I'm half way through week 1 of unit 7.  Which means I have approximately only 55 days of classroom time left here in Salatiga.  However we are still waiting to hear from MAF when we will be cleared to move to Sentani. We pray that we find out sooner than later as waiting can sometimes be very difficult and stressful. Maybe there is some character building that we need to experience while waiting in which case hopefully we learn it fast :).

This past week I was also able to take each of our kids out for a special meal just the two of us.  The only problem is we haven't found or made arrangements for a really long time for someone to watch the kids for us so that Julie and I could enjoy a date night.  Maybe at our next base there will be some easier options for making arrangements for date nights.  I am missing living close to grandparents for the availability and willingness to watch the kids for the evening or a night away.

Hopefully the pictures of the green grass and palm trees can bring you to a happy place for those still knee deep in snow and living in the deep freezer of Canada and northern USA.  It may not be quite the same, as our friends and family who are looking forward to not having to shovel snow and sport the winter parka, I'm looking forward to not having to carry my rain gear with me every-time we leave the house.  I've been told that in May/June we can start leaving the rain gear at home.  We've learned the hard way a couple times that it's not smart to look at the clear and sunny skies and leave your rain gear at home because 10-20 minutes later you can find yourself in a tropical down pour.  So clouds or no clouds, the rain gear is an essential item to have along even for short trips between Oct/Nov through May/June.

Isaac standing in the background Franklin under the water after jumping in.

Isaac making his splash.

Isaac heading to the bottom.

Mister Isaac fishman himself.

Julie checking out the falls at a relatively dry distance.

Jaclynn and Dad on an afternoon Lunch date.

Pak Denni and his assistant. 

This last picture has nothing to do with the above post but just a random picture of Indonesians using there above average biking skills to haul the everyday things on the back of a scooter.  For sake of clarity in front of Pak Denni (Good friend of ours) is a small banana tree that he is taking home to transplant in his yard and his assistant on the back of the bike is carrying one of our dinning room chairs to Pak Denni's which is in need of some repair.  You may noticed the comment "above average biking skills" that maybe an understatement as the traffic here is indescribably different yet there seems to be far fewer accidents here then back in North America where there is far more control and regulations to follow while driving.  Traffic laws here seem to be more of recommendations rather than hard and fast laws, but it some how works.  I will have to be careful when we return as I have adapted to Indonesian driving maybe to well.  Passing on the shoulder or in the opposite lane with on coming traffic feels normal now.  Having said this I don't think I'm quite ready to be hauling banana trees around yet :).