The Familiar and the New

Campus Changes
Arriving here on campus I immediately felt at home - after all, I've spent a total of 15 months living on campus.  I've lived here for a longer time than anywhere other than my home city of Adelaide.  There are little modifications, little improvements here and there.  Many facilities inside buildings have improved but these are not visible at first glance.  

There is, however, one change which can not be missed.

The original entrance to the lobby of the main building. 

Building B - lobby, administration,
library as I remembered it.

The old lobby was open to the elements.  On a wet and windy day it was not always a comfortable place for reception staff or a welcoming place for visitors. On a good day it did have a friendly and informally welcoming feel to it, but it didn't really work well.  Not only that, on a wet day visitors had to make their way from the small car park without protection from the rain which is very heavy at times.  The new lobby and driveway with sheltered arrival area has changed that.  At first I missed the familiar old and friendly appearance, but now I appreciate its many benefits.  The approach is better, and the lobby is now much more usable.  It's not just a "change" but a definite "improvement".

The approach to the new entrance of Building B.

High School Building

During my early stays on campus I enjoyed the view across the rice fields from my bedroom window.  Then one year the field became vegetable gardens, and then part of it was cleared and it became a temporary motor cycle park.  In mid 2014 work began on a new building for the "Wira Harapan SMK".  In 1948 the GKPB (Protestant Church of Bali) established a Foundation to provide quality vocational education to the children of Bali.  There are now several schools of this type.  "Harapan" means "hope or expectation" (I'm sorry - I've forgotten what "Wira" means.  Help!).  SMK stands for the Indonesian designation of a Vocational High School (SMA is the traditional general high school).

When I left in October 2014 work had just begun on the first floor for the new building.

August 2014 - early days.

September 2014 - going up!

September 2016 - finished and in use.

Based on past experiences I'm not sure that the building is truly "finished".  The other SMK building on campus was opened in 2011.  Five years later it has coils of electrical cable protuding from ducts in the external wall where decorative lighting is still to be attached. Still, finished or not it is in use.   The SMK will move students from the smaller 2011 building into this building, then the vocational part of the University/Training College (the PPLP) will move into the vacated building, and in turn, the University will expand into Building B which is mainly used for PPLP classes. Musical chairs!

August 2016 - another view of the new building.

The rooftop garden

Here I must report a very sad change, although perhaps in time it will lead to an "improvement".

During all my assignments to Undhira University I've lived on campus.  For the first 5 I lived on the 4th floor of C Block above the classrooms.  When I say this many students are puzzled.  Why?  Well, why not?  It's definitely a convenient location, especially when I often teach in the rooms just 1 floor below me.  The 4th floor of this building does not extend the full length of the lower floors.  The corridor opens onto a rooftop garden.  It used to look like the first 2 pictures following  (2010).  

When the weather permitted I would come out here to relax, to read or to meet people.  It was especially pleasant on balmy evenings when a local gamelang band would have its evening practices and the exotic sounds would drift up to the garden.  Two farewell barbecues for me were held here, as was a "welcome" barbecue for a group of students and staff from the Torrens Valley Christian School (in Adelaide) when they stayed here for a few days during a cultural awareness visit to Bali in 2012.

The rooftop garden (2010)

The rooftop garden (2010)

Unfortunately by 2013 it was looking rather run down and some of the garden beds and furniture had been removed.  In 2014 only the small pavilion (Balinese "bale") was left and it looked very sad and forlorn indeed.  I was further saddened when I went to the garden last week and saw workmen smashing and removing all the paving tiles.  The pavilion had gone and only rubble remained.

My memory of the pavilion (2012).   It was a pleasant place
to relax on a hot night.  As Dalung got busier I heard less of
the gamelan band and more of the motor cycles taking
advantage of the newly sealed side road to test their speed.

Pictures of the garden appear in the 2016 promotional brochure so I hope this indicates an intention to rebuild it.  But why is it like this?  There are structural problems and water leaks through the gaps between the tiles, and then through cracks in the concrete "floor" which is also the "roof" of the floor below.  The removal of the garden fittings was the first step in the remedial process to seal the surface.

I do hope that this area is restored to something like its former state, or made into a new and better facility which is both useful and attractive.

There once was a garden here!
 "former rooftop garden" (Sep 2016)

My present accommodation

I expected to stay in my usual room but this (and adjacent rooms) were undergoing some maintenance and were not available when I arrived.  For now (and perhaps I'll stay here) I'm living in Kampoeng Bali in the north-eastern corner of the campus grounds.  Kampoeng (or Kampung) is the Indonesian and Malay term for a small village.  It was built to house the foreign students who come for the International Classes.  This year the group is much smaller than usual -  just 7 German and 4 Japanese students - and they are staying in a little hotel which is a couple of hundred meters from campus.  Why are they in a hotel and I am in "their" accommodation?  Well, it's a long story - it often is here.  The small classroom for the Kampoeng and a couple of bedrooms were to be demolished and rebuilt to provide better classroom spaces.  The work could not be completed between the departure of the last group and the arrival of this group, so to avoid disruption to the incoming students they were to be relocated.  A contract was signed to use part of the hotel as a kind of "boarding house", with some cooking facilities for the students.  Then the work didn't go ahead but already the deal had been signed with the hotel.  Instead, work did go ahead along the corridor of my old room.  So here I am, in the students' village, instead of the students.  Another Australian volunteer is also in Kampoeng Bali.  Marg from Perth is here to work with and advise the members of the University's Department of Early Childhood Education.  She also visits nearby schools to train and encourage teachers.

A basketball court separates Kampoeng Bali
from the main grounds of the campus.

The western wall of my "village".
Existing classroom in the distance.

A traditional Balinese style doorway gives
access to the small courtyard and lobby area.

The "lobby" area.  The wooden furniture
looks nice but it is very hard  to sit on.

The kitchen and dining area.
The window overlooks the rice fields.

The lobby, kitchen/dining and an open space meeting/lounge room are in the centre of the cluster of buildings.  To the north and south of the communal spaces are two accommodation wings with bedrooms face each other across a small space which is now covered over as torrential rains made the verandas very wet areas. 

The southern wing.  The communal areas are beyond the archway.

One side of the "northern wing" of bedrooms.
The wooden chair is beside my door.

On my first visit (2010) I saw the southern and central section of Kampoeng Bali slowly rise.  Additions soon followed.

This will become the lobby and on the left is
 the opening for the dining area. (2010)

The southern wing, taken from the present basketball court. (2010)

The southern wing of bedrooms (2010)
Compare it with the the recent photo above.

What is around the Kampoeng?  To the south is a basketball court which separates Kampoeng Bali from "A Block" and the main open space area of the campus (its not a sports "oval" but more like a large recreation field).  Our northern wall is hard up against a 2 storey block of apartments and boarding house rooms.  To the east is a large rice field and the wall of the northern wing of bedrooms forms part of the boundary.  This is very handy for the mosquitos as they don't have far to fly for victims and the frogs have an audience for their night time songs.

  

The eastern wall of Kampoeng Bali.

There is a small garden to the west of our compound, between our door way and a boundary wall.  Over the wall is another rice field.

Over the wall is a rice field and a small temple.  I was told that it was
 dedicated to Dewi Sri and gods associated with nature and harvests.
The field has been fallow but is now being planted for the new season. 

The field will soon look like this as the seedlings grow (2012 photo).
The new high school building is just beyond the trees on the left.

You now know a little about the campus and my living area.  If you want to know more I invite you to look through the Archives (on the right of the page). 

My blog entries are listed by year; each year will expand into months; then individual entries will be listed for easy access.  Most links are working but a couple of links to collections of photos seem to be unreliable (or perhaps they are broken).  Let me know (using the "comments" facility beneath each blog) if you experience any difficulty or would like to know more.  If commenting please leave your name and reply email address as the "comments form" can't gather these automatically.

Paul in Bali

Undhira Bali

September 2016