After a shamefully long delay I've begun the first entry for 2014. "Better late than never!" is the popular saying, and I hope that proves to be true. I could offer several excuses (laziness being one) but the main reasons were that (1) I was working on my "Europe again" photos and blog and didn't want to switch focus; and (2) that after 4 previous trips I felt I had not yet seen anything new to write about. I didn't want to repeat past blogs.
Now "Europe is finished (except for the possible addition of "Singapore" as a kind of "postscript") and I've mentally kicked myself for waiting so long. It's time to let you know that I am back in Bali again, and I'm still alive.
This is my fifth term as a volunteer teacher and conversation coach at the Universitas Dhyana Pura (known as Undhira Bali). In 2010 I came here for what I thought would be a "one off" assignment for Uniting World (an agency of the Uniting Church of Australia) and the GKPB (Protestant Christian Church of Bali). I returned, and then retuned again. Now this is trip 5, and more than likely the last. It'll be the end of a most enjoyable era for me.
After 5 weeks in Europe and Singapore with Judy we split paths in Singapore and she returned home to family - and work! I went to Chiang Mai for 5 days to visit my god-daughter Little, her husband Joe, and to see the new baby "LJ".
From Chiang Mai I travelled on to Bali after a plane change in Singapore, and settled in to my familiar room on Thursday 7th August. Today is day 38 of my 68-day stay, so I'm just over half way through. The town of Dalung has changed a little - some familiar shops gone, some more fields built over for housing, and traffic even worse than before. On campus the big difference is the departure of the "Harapan" (vocational school) students. They are now squeezed into their new (2011) building which is running morning and afternoon shifts. A new building is going up for them on what last year was a car/motor cycle park, and before that a rice field. The rice field I watched attentively in 2010 has been a vegetable field for about 3 years. (see Blog in 2010).
The high school's departure from Block A (the northern building) has returned much needed office, classroom and laboratory space to the University. Now staff are expanding from their previously cramped, poor office space into something more suitable. I must regularly redraw my mental map of where everybody is located, and also walk a lot further during the day to meet people.
I arrived on campus half way through the "Matrikulasi Inggris" teaching period. All new students must take the 12-class course on basic English before they can undertake their chosen field of study. Standards range from the "wonderfully impressive", down through "adequate", "understandable with patience" to "downright disappointing". It comes as no surprise that those at the bottom end are also the least inclined to participate in even the simplest and most basic teaching activities. After the end of that preparatory period the new students were put through a week of gruelling activities during OKK (orientation week).
Then there was a week's break as registrations and teaching schedules were finalised. Now we have completed 2 weeks of lectures. The new Semester is well and truly underway. I see many familiar faces from past years, but i'm missing some old favourites. The students of the first 3 classes I taught in 2010 graduated last week (blog entry to come!) and it was a joy to see them as new and aspiring graduates. Still, I'll miss the regular chats with them, and their presence at my regular "movie nights".
Now that I've overcome my writer's block I'll avoid the temptation to start another topic. That can be the subject of the next blog. Until then, "sampai jumpa"
Paul in Bali
Dalung
September 2014
From Chiang Mai I travelled on to Bali after a plane change in Singapore, and settled in to my familiar room on Thursday 7th August. Today is day 38 of my 68-day stay, so I'm just over half way through. The town of Dalung has changed a little - some familiar shops gone, some more fields built over for housing, and traffic even worse than before. On campus the big difference is the departure of the "Harapan" (vocational school) students. They are now squeezed into their new (2011) building which is running morning and afternoon shifts. A new building is going up for them on what last year was a car/motor cycle park, and before that a rice field. The rice field I watched attentively in 2010 has been a vegetable field for about 3 years. (see Blog in 2010).
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| View from my window in 2012. Everything to the right of the extended fence line is now a building site with the workmen's barracks. |
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| View in 2013. The trees are growing and blocking the view. The rice field seen in the 2012 image is now a field of grey-white gravel spread out to make a car/bike park. |
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| The view on 27th August. I've counted 42 workmen on site at times. |
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| By 5th September the workmen are preparing for the first floor concrete pour. |
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| Little Java. The camp for the on-site workers. |
I arrived on campus half way through the "Matrikulasi Inggris" teaching period. All new students must take the 12-class course on basic English before they can undertake their chosen field of study. Standards range from the "wonderfully impressive", down through "adequate", "understandable with patience" to "downright disappointing". It comes as no surprise that those at the bottom end are also the least inclined to participate in even the simplest and most basic teaching activities. After the end of that preparatory period the new students were put through a week of gruelling activities during OKK (orientation week).
Then there was a week's break as registrations and teaching schedules were finalised. Now we have completed 2 weeks of lectures. The new Semester is well and truly underway. I see many familiar faces from past years, but i'm missing some old favourites. The students of the first 3 classes I taught in 2010 graduated last week (blog entry to come!) and it was a joy to see them as new and aspiring graduates. Still, I'll miss the regular chats with them, and their presence at my regular "movie nights".
Now that I've overcome my writer's block I'll avoid the temptation to start another topic. That can be the subject of the next blog. Until then, "sampai jumpa"
Paul in Bali
Dalung
September 2014
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