The work starts tomorrow

It's been a very quiet weekend.  The staff wing has been deserted, apart from me and the guard, except for a few minutes when I met an Englishman who dropped in to collect something.  I've explored the campus and made myself a small map to familiarise myself with the layout.  I've had a chance to read some of my notes, organise my images and get started on the blog entries.  The mini-mart is just 5 minutes away, so I've purchased a few supplies to last until I can get to the supermarket.  Meals this weekend have been simple except for this evening's meal at a nearby warung (local food store) sketched on rough map by Trevor and Maureen Miller, friends from Hope Valley, and quite by chance my predecessors in this role.  The meal was certainly worthy of their recommendation and I had a good fill of local vegies.  I will definitely be a return customer.

Rural life is just on the other side of the college fence and I've observed farmers harvesting vegetables and rice, and women winnowing the rice.  There are cows just 50 metres down the rear lane from the college gate, and there are fruit trees and crops I don't recognise.   Roosters are abundant, especially at 6 in the morning.


Rice fields with college rooftops beyond

This morning as I sat in the rooftop garden space at the end of my corridor I could hear deep drum notes coming from one direction, and that exotic metallic chime of gamelan metallophones coming from another direction.  A couple of hundred meters away men were flying kites in twirling paths.  Kites, some quite large (a few meters across), are visible in the skies over Dalung.  They are tethered and stay aloft for days or weeks until the wind drops, or they disintegrate.  Their remains can be seen on the tall power lines and in the tree tops.  One of my guide books says that the Bali Kite Festival is held annually between June and August, and it draws participants from all over SE Asia and Japan.    I'll try to find out more and may be able to see some of the kites in action.

Tomorrow morning I report for duty, and will be introduced at the staff meeting.  Then I'll get some ideas of my specific duties, of the standard of my students, and contact hours.  And that's when my "experience" starts in earnest.

Paul in Bali
P.S. Skype is wonderful for keeping in contact with family at home, but it can't make me a cup of espresso coffee.  I've been reduced to drinking instant coffee made with water from the hot/cold water dispenser.  Now that is hard to endure.  I was also disappointed to find that the ABC TV replay service "IView" can not be downloaded outside of Australia ("copyright restrictions").