Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! It's really hard to believe it's January when it's 80-90 degrees outside. I'm guessing most of you can't relate right now, although I hear it's been quite the mild winter so far in the midwest. In fact I'm guessing there have already been sunbathers lounging on the OU greens. Well knowing midwestern weather, it won't last, so maybe you should put on your bathing suit and join them!

In case you haven't heard, I spent New Year's in Bali...on the beach...looking at the Indian Ocean. All I can say is unforgettable!

Susan and I had a great time over the holidays. We hung around Surabaya for Christmas since I had promised the women at my house that we would be around. While there was no talk of Santa Clause coming or a Christmas Pageant, we were told there would be a big family gathering involving food and presumably gifts. Well, Christmas Eve came and went with no such get together, then Christmas morning. We woke to find stockings stuffed with presents and candy (which looked like it may have been intended for Halloween). After enjoying some sweets we cooked a feast of toast, eggs, and bacon, yes real pork bacon we lounged around just like at home. Yet unlike at home, where you eventually do have to get dressed, visit with family, and eat a large, but delicious meal, we continued to lounge...and lounge, and lounge. Finally, after hearing no word about what time this supposed meal would commence, I descended only to find some family members at the table already eating. It turned out that most of the family wasn't coming after all, so there would be no big Christmas gathering. I returned upstairs, more confused than disappointed. Had I misunderstood? Had I chosen to hear that there would be a big family gathering just because that's what I'm used to having on Christmas Day? Well I don't think so. I think it was just another day in Indonesia.

But this presented a dilemma. Susan and I had scrambled the night before to buy gifts for all of the family members we expected to see for Christmas. Now that most of them weren't coming, how would we give them their gifts? And more importantly, since it appeared as though there would be no gift exchange at all, how would we give anyone their gift? Apparently although Indonesians have picked up on the tradition of decorating piney-looking trees in their homes in December (despite the complete lack of any conifers in the area), they have not caught on to the true meaning of Christmas: presents. My idea was to keep the presents for ourselves in order to avoid the awkwardness of passing out gifts to the unsuspecting people downstairs. Susan, however, insisted on going downstairs and leaving them under the tree. Sure enough, her idea was a good one because not long after we had returned to my room, we heard shouts and near-screams. One by one they began to come up the stairs. When Susan and I came out, we were met by huge smiles and even hugs (Indonesians don't usually hug)! The next half hour is kind of a blur because it was full of such emotion and joy. It was so much fun to watch everyone open their presents and witness their sincere surprise. All of the sudden we had found Christmas in Indonesia!

After the euphoria wore off, Susan and I retired to my quarters where we proceeded to pass the rest of our Christmas listening to music, watching a Christmas movie, and eating a delicious dinner of grilled cheese and salad. It was a great Christmas!

The lounging of Christmas didn't last long. On the 26th we took a 5-hour train ride to Yogyakarta, "the cultural center of Java". I had been there once before, but had not seen much. This visit was going to be different. The big adventure on this trip was visiting Borobudur, a large Buddhist temple about 2 hours outside of Yogya. We went with some friends of mine (Indonesian friends, that is...yes I have them) and it was awesome. Here are some pics; I think they say more than I can (if that's possible):


While in Yogya we also saw a wayang kulit performance (traditional shadow puppets telling stories from the Ramayana), a huge Chinese cemetery, and the aftermath of the catastrophic eruption of Mt. Merapi last spring.

We returned to Surabaya on the 28th, hung out in Surabaya for one last day and then on the 30th Susan packed up all of her stuff and we flew to Bali! This was my 3rd time to Bali, but let me tell you, it doesn't get old! For our first few nights we stayed in a swanky town called Seminyak. We weren't right on the beach, but you could hear the ocean from our bungalow.

Some other Americans I know, teachers and such, were also staying in Seminyak, so Susan got to meet a lot of my buds. We hung out with them the first night and planned on meeting up for New Year's. Unfortunately (or maybe fatefully), either heavy usage in the area or an earthquake in Taiwan made cell phones pretty useless, so Susan and I ended up outside a club on the beach for the countdown to 2007. It was a great place to be. We decided to find something to drink so we could toast the new year. In the end we landed at what is probably the nicest resort I've ever unknowingly wandered into. As we asked the bartender for menus he suggested champagne. We said that sounded nice and asked if they served it by glass or by the bottle. They had both so we decided, what the heck, and went with a bottle of French. We waited for or refreshments on some beach chairs overlooking the ocean, but soon a nice young waiter carrying party hats and noise makers suggested we try a more comfortable spot- it was a bed-like bench with pillows and curtains and dark wood. It was straight out of a dream...or a magazine that makes you wish you were there. Well we were there!

After New Year's we went to Nusa Lembongan, a small island off the southeast coast of Bali. It turns out there's not much to do in Nusa Lembongan...nor is there an ATM. But there is really great snorkelling. Despite the fact that we arrived after a completely sleepless night, one hour after arriving at our hotel we found ourselves on a boat loaded with snorkelling gear and a random swiss man. It was a beautiful sunny day and the water was the color of bright turquoise. We snorkelled at two different sites and saw the most amazing fish and coral that I have ever seen in my life. The fact that we were exhausted was easily forgotten as we saw starfish, sea urchins, and an array of fish that looked like they had been swimming around in cans of bright paint.

The snorkelling made the trip to Nusa Lembongan completely worthwhile, but after one night Susan and I were definitely ready to return to the mainland, so we took an early afternoon boat back and were quickly on our way to Ubud, one of my favorites.

In Ubud saw a Barong dance performance with great dancing and fantastic costumes, lounged in one of the two pools at our hotel, shopped, hung out with monkeys and even ran into Caitlin and Tamara, two other ETAs. The highlight of our time in Ubud, though, was definitely all of the great food that we ate.

After three days of stuffing our bellies, our last day of vacation had finally come. On January 6 we returned to the beach for one last swim, one last sunset and one more delicious meal. At 11pm I took Susan to the airport for her 1am flight and then I went back to the hotel to sleep. My flight to Surabaya didn't leave until the evening of the 7th, so I spent the entire day on the beach relaxing and reflecting on how wonderful my time with Susan was. I got to see one more amazing sunset and then I too went to the airport and made my way back to Surabaya.



(F.Y.I. The above picture was not photoshopped in any way...it was really that beautiful!)