2/12/2012 1st Impressions

I've been here nearly two weeks and I must say the settling in process has been more of a challenge than Mongolia. In fact I'm finding myself comparing everything here to my experience there. Perhaps not the best practice but it's a subconscious process. Difficult to suppress. For one thing the food is far superior. Lots of spicy peppers, peanut sauce and fried noodles. Great stuff. And the people are all smiles, very polite. That's certainly an improvement. I guess the real problem is my accommodations. I'll get into that shortly. First off, my arrival:

The flight from Madison to Bogor was largely uneventful. No HazMat Bio-quarantine team in search of Swine Flu to delay the process. My flight outta SF left at 12am, 2am Madison time. Pressed against the window for 13hrs in a metal tube, the claustrophobia produced insomniac tendencies that would last long after my arrival. Upon landing in Jakarta at 9am local time the sun was blazing and the plethora of jungle flora was just soaking it in. 22hrs of travel from the icy grip of midwestern winter to humid tropical heat. That alone was shock enough. I stepped onto the plane in Madison in a hoody sweatshirt and chef coat. However, I had planned ahead. Immediately upon my arrival I unzipped the legs of my UFO pants below the knees, zipping the two sections together and pulling closed the ankle drawstrings I was now in shorts and equipped with an ample satchel for bulky shoes, chef coat and sweatshirt. Brilliantly functional garments them UFO pants. Ha! They should pay me for such endorsements!

I was relieved to be picked up by a fellow Boulé (Indonesian for "honky"), albeit a Limey from Sheffield. We jumped into a car and proceeded to join the chaos that is Jakarta traffic. We discussed life in Indonesia, internet access and such. I was surprised how chipper I was feeling, considering the travel quality. However, the stimulus was overwhelming. I was taken to my new office, met a bit of the staff and then deposited in my new digs.

By now jet lag had gotten the best of me. I didn't even notice the stained, stiff mattress or the rough pillow. I was out like a lamp.

Cyclocross Nationals with New Camera

Door County with Old Camera

"Manity (not Manatee) Plate"

Are we hard or what? WHAT?!

If I were in a rap crew...

Door County looks straight outtuhva storybook.

Back to the Blog 1/25/12

Hola, faithful readers. Once again I must report it has been a long time since I posted last. Frankly no new adventures have cropped up since my visit with Jason in VT. That was nearly nine months ago. However, as I write this I'm once again bound for foreign lands to teach English. This time someplace warm. And humid. A place with beaches and jungles. Indonesia! Bogor, in fact, a suburb of Jakarta on the island of Java.

But first, to summarize, a few slight escapades of note:

My friend and Ultimate Frisbee teammate organized a camping trip to Door County (for those that don't know, it's the "thumb" of Wisconsin. Nice area. Attracts a lot of tourists. Grow some mean cherries up that way, so they do.) Four of us fellas, high school buddies, myself, 2e, Fair, and Zach were to car pool. Zach calls me the day of with problems. Brakes in his whip probably won't make the trip. However, a solution. We can take 2e's sister's family van, if we clean it out for them. Sounds reasonable. However when we arrive there's one fluke, the van's licence plate clearly reads "Man Van." *Whap* Four dudes rolling cross country in the Man Van. Just sounds douchey to me.

I'm glad we cleaned the thing out though. The kid's bathing suits were hanging to dry throughout the vehicle. I can only imagine the conversation when the police officer pulls us over, "No sir, I cannot explain the child's underwear strewn about. I swear we've had no contact with any minors within this automobile." Right. A likely story.

Anyway the camping was enjoyable enough. The men sat about the fire and carved pointy sticks while the women complained about our lack of creativity. But seriously, what else am I supposed to make out of a stick if not a brutal cudgel? Sheesh.

Before I begin the real story of my Indonesian adventure I wanted to share some images taken with my new camera. I've decided to up my photography game. I hope it pays off. Above are some shots of our day at the cyclocross races. Enjoy and stay tuned!

disConnect

For those that know me.....

I'm in Singapore, strung out from lack of sleep. My employer sent me to Jakarta for a 6am flight. Work Visa stuff. I'm not entirely sure how it works or how it could possibly be legal. I met some dude in a McDonald's, handed over my passport. He'll be back in a few hours, and then it's back to the airport for a return flight. All in all a pretty strange day. I'd like to see this city a bit more but as I said I'm a bit knackered and I really don't wanna get lost. Being late could spell the loss of my passport and then I'd be effed royally.

Besides I've got hours to kill and a decent internet connection, something I've been lacking ever since touching down in Bogor a month ago (has it been so long?) I find my self constantly comparing my experience here to my time in Mongolia. Looking back on old posts I realize I was anxious to be blogging immediately upon arrival and distressed for lacking connection as well. Only then my woes alleviated within a week. In Bogor I'm still waiting for a proper residence. The school is putting me in some kind of boarding house for the first month. Place is dicey, and that's being generous. No fridge, sweat stained mattress, had to buy my own pillow and sheets. Fuckin' lame man. For all my complaints about Mongolia at least my employer had the class to provide suitable housing. What a mess.

Anyhow that's the basics. I wrote some journel entries in anticipation for this day. I think I'll post them now (see above.) Hopefully I'll get around to securing a proper home with reliable connection. All I can say for the time being is hold tight lads and lasses. I'm as eager as you, or perhaps more so, to see this blog progress. Forward!