Jeremy's...

Development Seminar

2011-11-29T11:34:00.002-05:00

The other day, a friend and I were able to do a training in principles of development for about 20 college students interested to varying extents in community work. I taught the concept of 'holistic health' in order to make them aware that just because someone is healthy physically doesn't mean that they are healthy socially, emotionally, and spiritually. If we only focus on one aspect of health, real development won't happen. We defined good health as harmony with God, self, others, and the environment. Developing a community will require focus on restoring harmony in all these areas. I was able to explain how in the beginning there was harmony, how harmony was broken, and then we discussed how to restore it. In the photo you can see a small group discussion taking place about how what it means to live in harmony with God, self, others, and the environment and how to obtain it. The learners were enthusiastic and I hope things from our conversation will stick and that I will be able to follow up with them.

Ice? Skating?

2011-11-16T10:44:00.005-05:00

No one had ever seen so much ice before, let alone strapped blades on their feet to stagger around on top of it, until... it came. The people from the other island, the modern one, brought it over one day and just plopped it down in the middle of our shopping center and then started charging people to enter and perpetually fall on their backsides. At first, most just looked on from the outside while the brave few entered into the slippery zone of wonder for approximately $2.50 per hour. Now it's 2 months later and some folks are really getting the hang of it, including some of my staff from the language school who have caught the bug and can't get enough. It has been a bright spot for me these last couple of months, however, the people from the other island say we have until February before they pack it up and take it home from whence it came. We'll just have to enjoy it while it lasts and hope they change their mind...

Visa Run

2010-09-01T00:39:00.010-04:00

Every once in a while when living abroad, your permission to be in the country in which you abide will expire. At this point it often becomes imperative to leave the country in order to apply for permission again. This event is commonly known as a "visa run". It normally takes a few days. I am currently on a visa run. The only international direct flight from where I live is to Kuala Lumpur so it was somewhat of a no-brainer as to where I would go. Did you know that "Kuala Lumpur" can be roughly translated as "River Mouth of Mud"?

Now, I don't have much time to write this post, so I'm just going to post a smattering of photos illustrating the day's activities.

Visited a Buddhist temple...

Got pictures with our respective animal counterparts according to the Chinese zodiac (oh yeah, I ended up with some travel companions... long story)...

We went to one of the many huge malls...

We (2 Hindus, 2 Buddhists, and 2 Christians) visited a famous mosque...

Saw the Petronas Towers (former largest buildings in the world) by night...

And the best part of any trip... eating food...

Thosai...

Roti Canai...

Kwetiau...

Satay...

Did not try...

The end...

Asia's Amish

2010-08-10T07:38:00.004-04:00

Some people are isolated because of geographical issues while others cut themselves off purely by choice. A few weeks ago, myself and some other language school staff took our language and culture students to see an example of the latter. Not only does this tribe reject all things modern, but they also have a dress code. Even visitors to their area must wear black or white and are required to take their shoes off before entering their borders... which is fairly inconvenient considering the 3/4 mile walk from the border to the settlement is over a pointy stone laden path...

So, after the painful trek, we were invited into a house where all the leaders were meeting. We were given an opportunity to ask questions about their culture through one of our friends who speaks the local dialect. This particular village is known for their strong links to black magic, but they were very secretive on the topic. We were warned to be very quiet and very polite the as long as we were on their land. My friends told stories of people who were disrespectful there and either got their heads shrunk or ended up walking in circles for days upon trying to exit the village. Below is a picture of our group...

Apart from the one at the very top of this post, we weren't really able to get any pictures of the villagers as the chief told us that is forbidden to take photos of them after noon. I guess we came at the wrong time.

Teaching and Learning

2010-07-05T09:28:00.005-04:00

A month or two ago I started doing an evening English conversation class with some of the university students. I don't charge anything, but I do require them to bring me food. It is the ideal arrangement.

When you start to get to know people, however, a lot of times they start inviting you to do the things with them that they like to do. Even if that includes things like corporate aerobics at 6 AM on Sundays. I'm not really one to reject an invitation.

Every week they pack out this "city square" sort of area near the beach and break out the music and sweatsuits. I may have been the only white guy, but I was certainly NOT the only one completely lost during the routine. I guess as long as you're moving that's all that really matters right?

Making a Language Course

2010-05-30T02:08:00.005-04:00

One of my recent activities has been building a new language program for foreigners from scratch to be used by the university that sponsors me. There are little to no culture and language acquisition programs in the city, and that presents a good opportunity for both the university and for foreigners interested in working short or long term in the area. The course is designed to accommodate the desired timetable of the learner who may be a professional, a tourist, or a student looking to get anywhere from 2 weeks to 1 and a half years worth of language.

It's actually been quite fun and beneficial for me. First of all, I really enjoy language and have often thought it would be a neat and challenging task to develop curriculum. Now I'm able to get experience doing so. Secondly, I have been able to meet many people in the process and build rapport in the educational community. Lastly, getting to know the people I have been working with has been a joy. Below are some pictures of our curriculum development team...

And the first class in action...

Di Pantai... (at the beach)

2010-04-10T03:34:00.006-04:00

I've been trying to get to know some people around here. Right now I'm volunteering at the language center for the local university and a middle school teacher that I met there invited me to the beach for an outing with his class and some friends. It rained the whole day, but it was pretty fun anyway.

One thing about being invited places here is that you're never really sure what you should wear. Going to the beach one would think bathing suit... towel... sunscreen. Well, none of those things were to be seen on this particular day at the beach. The more conservative culture here opts for things like jeans and t-shirts instead. I actually felt really quite wrong dipping into the ocean with my levi's on, but I kind of got used to it by the end. And after I thought about it, I was glad that t-shirts were the rule of thumb... it really spared some shock for the folks around here who aren't accustomed to seeing excessive white and hairy-ness. I believe many lives were spared today.

Anyways, before heading to the beach that morning we had a traditional breakfast food called "bubur ayam". It is basically overcooked rice served drenched and drowning in it's own mushyness mixed with some other stuff like chicken and green onions

I actually feel blessed to have met these people and I'm hoping the relationships continue. This weekend I'm headed to one's home area so that'll be cool and it'll be my first time leaving the city since moving here. Looking forward to that...

Scary Eyes

2010-03-23T12:32:00.005-04:00

Well, I do indeed have some post-able pictures of my new place, but in order to avoid having two blog posts in a row with pictures of empty rooms, I am taking advantage of the occurrence of something interesting in my life to post about instead. Call it pink eye, scary eyes, conjunctivitis, sakit mata, or anything else I don't really care, but for some reason I've got something like that.

Sorry about the scary picture... See, I woke up two days ago and had trouble opening my eyes. Upon opening them, I looked in the mirror. Upon looking in the mirror I thought, "Hey, you're pretty ugly today... what's up with those eyes?" Well, I had to teach in an hour and couldn't get out of that so I had to struggle through 2 hours of insecurity teaching a class whose clear eyes I could feel glued to my weird-looking eyes.

I ended up talking to some people about what to do in my situation, as my approach is to normally ignore medical issues until they go away. An Australian I work with who has before suffered the same ailment advised to apply warm salt water every couple hours and it should be gone in a few days.

Well, I thought I would ask a native as well for good measure and she related that in her family they find a nursing mother and borrow some of her milk and apply that to the eyes. Well, I laughed and said too bad I don't know any nursing mothers and I'm sure not gonna go out and find one then ask for her milk so... The girl then proceeded with an offer to ask around for me. I just chuckled, thinking she was surely kidding around... surely...

She sent me a text later that day and asked for my address saying that coincidentally enough she has a friend whose sister is nursing. I responded nervously and said that I couldn't possibly steal milk from her friend's sister's poor baby. She said, "Well, it's too late I've already got it, I'll bring it over." Um, well, I guess if you insist...

No harm in giving it a shot I guess. Hope it works...

Living...

2009-10-24T01:12:00.003-04:00

I have been bouncing from here to there for the last month. I first met my sponsor and got all set up in the town where I will be based until January. I of course secured the cheapest accommodations I could find and then found out later that it was so cheap partly because there was no bed, desk, dresser... nothing. Well, I made due for a couple of days and then some gracious friends of a friend donated a mattress and a water dispenser for me to use. Here's the pictures of my "pad"...

And then the "fully furnished" version...

It wasn't long, however, before I would be moving to the capital city for a month to get my English certification. I was able to find a reasonable situation right downtown, a ten minute walk from where I would be doing my classes and teaching. The standard of living is much higher here so I was forced to live in an already furnished room. Even so, the owners (a delightful Chinese couple) almost rejected me upon requesting to move in as they related, "You don't want to stay here, foreigners need their own bathroom and AC" (rough translation). I finally convinced them that their place was exactly what I was looking for and now we have a pretty good relationship. Here's some pictures...

And the view from the roof...

So what do my two places have in common? Awesome bed sheets..

Back in Asia

2009-09-26T20:40:00.003-04:00

Somehow after the last four and a half months away, I've once again become the white guy that sweats too much. I guess it'll just take a little time to adjust back to the tropics. Anyways, all of my flights went great. I sat next to interesting people. On my fourteen hour flight across the Pacific, I sat next to a Taiwanese lady who had much to talk about and had much advice she wanted give me about life. I was hoping to get some sleep on that flight, but at least the company made the hours pass quickly. On my next flight I sat by a forty-two year old surfer who has taken a trip to southeast Asia every year since he was fifteen just to find waves that are less crowded.

Anyhow, upon arriving I had a big decision to make about what food I would eat first. I ended up choosing a "Masakan Padang" joint which is kind of laid out like a buffet where you point at what you want and the nice man gets it for you. Well, it turns out my language may be a little rusty as I thought I asked for a couple of items in particular for myself and two friends, but they ended up bringing about one of everything out to us. But oh boy, was I glad they did- that food tasted so good. It also made us very full... and it didn't even make me sick.

So, I'm just getting settled in here and getting back into the swing. All is well, talk to you later.

Fall B-days / Good-bye Family

2009-09-14T11:51:00.004-04:00

I love these gatherings... the combined extended family birthday party. For me, however, this one doubled as a "see ya later who knows when" party, representing the last time I'll see these peeps of mine before leaving the country for an indefinite period of time. The paparazzi was not in top form yesterday, but here are a couple of pictures nonetheless...

It's not the easiest thing in the world to be away from my siblings and cousins during the years where a lot is happening as everyone is venturing into adulthood. Christy will be driving, Dusty is sprouting more and more body hair as is indicative of being a man in our family, Andrew's back in school, Lisa (our MSU grad) is working the daily grind, Amanda's thinking about things like college, and Sarah's... well.. she's Sarah. They are some of my favorite people in existence.

It was nice to hang with everyone and I'll look forward to next time...

Trip Home

2009-05-20T11:10:00.001-04:00

This section documents the end of my first year in Indonesia. I said goodbye to friends and co-workers and made the long trip home. Don't tell anybody this, but I actually literally shed a tear (yeah.. who am I anyways?) as I rode the bus outside the the city limits of where I spent the last year. I thought of all the great friends I have come to love and how I didn't want it to end and wished I would have maximized my time with them while I was there. Weird feelings.

This photo is of myself and some of my best friends in the world eating sate (skewered meat with peanut sauce) a couple of days before my departure...

I was thankful for the entourage that accompanied me to the bus stop and waited an hour with me for my bus to show up... segala cintaku kusampaikan pada kalian!

My trip home brought me ten hours to walk around the city of London. So much to see... I made sure I saw some of the essential components necessary for any complete trip to "The Smoke". For example, the Tower Bridge...

Big ole Ben...

And for all you Premier League fans out there...

Indonesia: What to Eat

2009-02-21T11:07:00.001-05:00

People all over the world, when having nothing else in common can find commonality in the topic of food. When being questioned about my life in Indonesia, one question sure to be heard is, "What do you eat there?"

Well, I decided to show you some of my favorites pictorally, although it would be better if we could just go out together and get some! For example, I'd love to take you out for my favorite evening meal, none other than traditional Javanese Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice). There is no lack of little stands selling Nasi Goreng should you venture for an evening walk almost anywhere in Indonesia. People keep telling me that I'm getting skinnier and for the life of me I can't figure out why with all the Nasi Goreng that I consume after 6 PM... in fact, as I write this post, there is some in my belly.

Everyone seems to have their own special opinion on which nasi goreng seller is best in town and which ones are "kurang enak" (not so good). Well, the pictures I am showing you are from an old fella named Pak Minto.. he is one of the most well-known sharers of the nasi goreng love in Salatiga. He makes every bowl individually, which can cause a line to back up, but the fact that people continue to come and wait shows me that it's some special stuff.

The atmosphere is simple as well as the ingredients... your usual white rice, chicken, garlic, chili peppers, egg, veggies, and lots of oil of course are sure to be included, but one extra star for Pak Minto's place is the fried noodles that he masterfully throws in to the mix.

The greasy, spicy goodness along with the agreeable price (less than 70 cents a bowl) encourage customers to return time and again and keeps the smiles on their faces...

Alternative Medicine

2009-01-30T11:02:00.001-05:00

I've never been one to pop pills. When I get sick, I normally just wait for it to go away. Well, it turns out that when it comes to being ill, Indonesians are full of advice and solutions that don't necessarily involve taking pills. After being inflicted by a variety of ailments ever since Christmas, I didn't think it would hurt to give a couple traditional remedies a shot. In this post I will give you a little glimpse into the Indonesian world of alternative medicine.

The first remedy that I tried, and a personal favorite, is the "Jamu Store". "Jamu" is basically herbal mixtures combined to heal all sorts of ailments, typically found in thick liquid form and ingested orally. You can get jamu from the local mixers in your neighborhood, however, the shop downtown was recommended to me as the source for the most effective jamu...

I love the novelty of it... you walk into the store, approach the counter, tell the nice ladies what ails you, and they go to work on your very own custom concoction. You have a seat and shortly thereafter you are served a glass of the jamu potion accompanied by a very necessary small glass of limy water to wash it down (the jamu is extremely bitter and depending on your ailment, reaches varying levels of disgusting/rancid).

If you're worried about taste, I recommend going to the jamu store for a cold as opposed to stomach problems... the common cold jamu is no delight, but the most tolerable I've had. But hey, if it's disgusting, if must be effective, right? Maybe.

This next method may really surprise/worry you, but I assure you this method is widely used in Indonesia from the rice farmer in the backwoods to the government official in Jakarta. It is called "Kerokan". The basis for kerokan is that many symptoms are caused by a condition called "masuk angin" which means "the entering of air" into the body. When you get cold or wet or leave your mouth open too long, air enters in and causes a cold, sore throat, stomach problems, fever, or a headache. When I first arrived I would see people now and then with mysterious red stripes on their backs or necks. Since everything was new to me then, I didn't think much of it. Then when my friends offered kerokan as an effective remedy to my sickness, it all made sense.

The tools required are simple: Kayu Putih Oil (or baby oil will work), a coin (preferably with rough edges), and a friend.

The whole process maybe takes a little over a half hour. The oil is applied to one area at a time and your friend rubs that spot with the coin for maybe 30 seconds and then moves on the the next spot. This is done in order to increase blood circulation as well as provide an avenue for the trapped "angin", or air to escape from your body, thus making you all better.

It is done to the back, neck, and chest typically. As bad as it looks, I can assure you that it is not painful, just slightly irritating... well it might be a little painful on the neck... there is no blood, scrapes, or wounds of any kind, just red streaks that results from your skin being rubbed incessantly.

My friends say that if you are not sick and receive this treatment, your skin will not turn red like that. The streaks last for 2 or 3 days.

I also wanted to show you a couple other items while on the topic of medicine. I love these cure-all potions... unlike jamu and kerokan, these are not highly reputable...

Assalam is kind of like the Arabic "hello". On the back for the indications at the top it says, "Speeds up Healing... Lord-willing". Then below that heading is the list of diseases that it is effective for. For those of you without a translator handy, here are just a few examples...

jantung - heart
kencing manis - diabetes
kencing batu - kidney stones
darah tinggi/rendah - both high and low blood pressure
menambah nafsu makan - restores your appetite
paru-paru - lungs

And you can also see that it helps with cholesterol problems, tumors, asthma, etc... Lord-willing. So your bases are pretty well covered with this one.

The last thing I want to show you I found rather interesting. The last time I went to the jamu store, I was accompanied by my friend who was not sick. We tried to think of an ailment for her to have so we could get her some jamu for it. Well, she decided that she had memory problems... a common ailment amongst language students. We decided to give it a shot. The nice ladies behind the counter did not whip up a memory-enhancing smoothie, but nonetheless, lo and behold...

At around 50 cents for a hundred pills, we went for it... unfortunately I can't tell you whether they work or not, because she has been forgetting to take them...