Discoverys

Hello All,

So I am sitting at work on a Sunday so I thought that I would catch up with everyone.

Bad news is I have an ear infection, which is so painful I have to cry sometimes!!! he he.
Hospitals here are fantastic I must say, as I only had to pay 8.00 quid, and I go to see a doctor and get all the meds too( and there was a lot to give me as well), so I am impressed by that. I am even more excited I got my own hospital card with my name on it( small things please me)... but of course I am hoping that I don't need to use it so much whilst I am here.

Hmmm, I discovered an internet place, and a very cool coffee shop near my house, which I can bike to now, so I feel a lot happier that I can at least go on the net to chat to my old friends.
Yes I know only little things the net and coffee but it's a big deal for me, as I am starting to find new places and things around me.... Oh and I am going to do Yoga!! as I also on my bicycle exploring found a yoga place!! yay...

Hmmm Hmmm Hmmm..... Me and Arda are great, of course I miss him like crazy when he is in his hometown, and my working hours have increased a little which means I can't seem him as much at the weekend... We have a crazy relationship in terms of traveling etc... as we live far from each other... but it works....

I have just started to do a new class, it's called " Conversation", basically there are no books and no set curriculum just talking, I was scared at first as I didn't know how I would handle such a class, but I have fallen in love with the lesson and the students, such a great class... I really look forward to teaching them every Tuesday and Thursday....

Me buying a scooter is just around the corner, I am a little scared, but I have now mastered the bicycle- if you could have seen me the first time I cycled on the road.... but now I am a pro!! he he....

I would love people to come and visit me, although I don't really have much time off work, I would love to have some visitors...

Spoke to my sister the other day, and I feel so much happier after the conversation.... I love u both!! and miss you so much...

Love always

xxx

Halo... Apakabar

Hey All,

So I have been working as a teacher for one month now, which has flown by. It’s crazy how quick life goes here, surprisingly quicker than London, but of course the quality of life is very much different.

So what have I achieved after one month!?

• To confidently (well sometimes) ride a bike on the roads of Jogja.
• To drive a scooter
• Lots of new words in Indonesian
• Confidently teach a class full of 7,8,9 year olds and 17,18,19 year olds.

I love it over here, but of course there is that old problem of loneliness that creeps into my life sometimes, as I don’t speak the lingo yet, it’s sometimes a little hard to immerse myself into the whole culture here, and my lack of confidence when I speak Indonesian hinders me somewhat, I am scared that people are going to hear me speak Indonesia and laugh in my face, at my pronunciations of the words, so here comes the Indonesian lessons…. My friend Eric has kindly volunteered to spend sometime with me to teach me the lingo, and my lovely boyfriend has also upped the ante on the lessons- So maybe in 3 months I will be sounding a little better.. Of course there is also the problem of transport, now if you have been to Indonesia, you will know that you need transport, buses simply do not exist (well they do, but with no structure or timetable) so to get around you need either a scooter or car, my bike is only for getting to work, I simply cannot cycle everywhere its not possible, for me anyway.

So right now if my boyfriend or my friends are not with me I am stranded in my house… Although I do love my house I don’t really want to be there all the time.

So the solution to this little loneliness problem is………… speak Indonesian and get a scooter- my two things to work on for the next few months, hopefully this will allow me to make friends.

So my boyfriend has just joined this new band, it’s a Brit pop band stylee, and they have asked me to be a singer in the band, now I have always harboured an ambition to sing in a band, even dreamt about having a sell out tour and people chanting my name everywhere I go. So yeah I would like to do it, but my boyfriends having none of it, doesn’t want me there cramping his style, as the band is his thing- in his words “ You are too good for this band” HA HA….. so in revenge I am making my own band… anyone want to join, I have spaces for guitarist, bass player, drummer, that’s basically the whole band…. Oh Dear it’s not going to work, my dreams of been a rock and roll star are over. Although I do still have a piece in this band, as they are currently in the studio rocking out to my song that I wrote (my boyfriend did try to pass it off as his own song), it’s a song about Fate. It sounds pretty cool, so from now on just call me “ The songwriter”

The men in Indonesia, can be a little in your face here, I get so much attention, I should charge people 1000Rupiah every time they look at me. Now this is NOT because I am a beautiful goddess, it’s because I am female and white. Which is problematic, as I can’t stop being white or a female. It’s ok when I walk down the street if people want to stare or make lewd comments I can somehow take it, but when I am already wobbling on my bike, to have a scooter honk and drive right by me, or even start speaking to me is a little distracting to say the least. Not just distracting though, it’s potentially dangerous for me as I am no award winning bike rider so I could easily fall off my bike or worse still hit the offending scooter. So I have been thinking of ways to make myself look less “British and Womanly”

• Eat 40 doughnuts a day, get really fat and look so hideously unattractive, causing pain to the eyes if you look at me.
• Wear a full helmet and facemask when riding the bike, or even when walking down the street.
• Paint my body neon orange; making me so bright people can’t see me.
• Paint my body brown everyday and shave all my hair off which will make me look like a man.
• Go into Hibernation in the day and only come out at night.

I am opting for the 40 doughnut a day one, they do the most amazing doughnuts here in a place called J.co… yummy…

I just want to show off my Indonesian learning( which is minimal)

Well enough ranting,miss everyone.

xx

All Moved in...

Hey All,

Hope everyone had a really amazing Christmas and New Year. Heard it’s snowing in England at the moment, which I am a little jealous of, as the weather here is too hot! I am literally sweating half my body fat everyday. So I have just moved into my new house which has Dua Kamar, Satu Toilet and Satu Garasi… Yes I am showing off with my Indonesian that I am learning at the moment!

Moving into my house has not been without problems, at present I still have builders here as they are still renovating the toilet and kitchen (as if you would have seen it you would have run off screaming), totally traditional Indonesian, outside kitchen complete with various insects to keep my food company and a toilet that is basically a hole in the floor( yak, yak, yak) so all of this getting done up now! So this is my new home for one year…. So please come to visit- I know my sister may come, more please!! In reality I will not be coming back to England for a year, as my wages just will not allow such travels to happen at the moment, and with me just paying for one year for this house, and kitting it out with furniture I am all spent out…. But it’s worth it, my pad is cool and I am closer to my boyfriend… but far away from my sisters who I am missing more and more everyday… Grrrrr….

Today I visited the leader of my village who welcomed me into the community (well my boyfriend as I don’t speak Indonesian). Complete opposite of London where you don’t even know what your neighbours look like.

Christmas has passed in a blur, with my crazy trip to Singapore and moving house; I actually don’t feel like I have had a Christmas. So to cheer myself up I bought myself a new bike to get around, no, no, no I know I said a scooter but in reality if I drive one of those I am instantly doomed to be dead within a day or so… so I went for the safer and cheaper option of a bicycle, the only problem is that I am SCARED of cycling here, as driving doesn’t seem to be Indonesia’s strong point.

Hmmmm, my trip to Singapore was problematic, but talking about it makes me want to cry so better not! My trip to Jakarta proved that after six months of travelling, I am still a target for tourist rip off prices…. Oh how I hate it when that happens… Jakarta is so different to Central Java, as the level of poverty is very high, the worst I have seen in my travels around Asia, just looking how people lived made my eyes water, I had to look away at times, as the guilt that I felt was unbearable, but what it better was that all the people seemed content and happy with what they had, it’s a great thing to see, puts things into perspective for you.

Last year was a rollercoaster, I had moments when I thought life couldn’t get any worse, I was diagnosed with Gastritis of the intestine, which then took over everything for five months…. I thought I would never get over that, and worse I thought it would never get better. But it has everyday I am thankful that I have no more problems with my stomach…. I have my sisters to thank for supporting me (and listening to my endless list of worries) Aylin who cared for me in Cyprus( but also made me gain at least a stone in weight, due to bread eating) Tony who did a little bit of mental magic and mostly Arda My boy…. Who made me see the light again.

There of course were many highs, travelling, riding elephants, facing my fears, having a family moment in Hong Kong, meeting the love of my life and becoming a teacher.

New years resolution?! I don’t make them, but I know what I want to achieve/do.

1. Speak Indonesian
2. Ride a bike without killing myself on the roads of Jogja
3. Speak to my sisters more
4. Experience new things
5. Make lots of friends in Indonesia
6. Keep in touch with England Friends… Aylin, Rory, Tony, Liz the Itsu Crew….

Well that’s it,

Miss you all

Niketa xxxx