Saturday, December 31, 2011

Hari tiga dan empat (Days 3 & 4)

Day 3

We had orientation at USD (Universitas Sanata Dhrama) today.  We were given our timetables for the next three weeks.  We will be kept busy taking language classes, having school visits and meeting for one on one language lessons. 

Today, I had my first taste of rumbutan and salak.  I thought rumbutan tasted like a lychee and salak tasted like a tropical nut, though it is a fruit.  Some people say that salak is an acquired taste.  

In the evening, we had dinner at USD and met our Pendamping.  A Pendamping is a volunteer who will take us around to interesting places in Yogya.  The Pendamping is a popular and well sort after role. 

On the way home we got caught in a heavy down pour.  None of us had an umbrella, so we all got soaked.  But as the Indonesians would say “Tidak apa apa” (Whatever).  Welcome to the wet season in Yogya.   

Pendamping Saya


Diman tas plasti, Stacie? 



Day 4

Today we went to Plasoan temple and Ratu Boko palace.  The Plasoan is old runes of a Hindu and Buddhist temple.  The temple was built by a king to show his love for his wife in the 9th century.  There are many Buddhist stupa and Hindu carvings on the walls. 

Ratu Boko has many temples, an audience hall; several caves for mediation and bathing pools for the princesses.  There is a legend that mentions that if you throw an object of value into one of the pools and made a wish a princess or goddess would appear and offer you a choice between two objects.  A new one and your original.  You would then need to carefully choose which was your original object, because if you didn’t she would take you into the water.  If you did you would have what you wished for.   

On the way back to Yogya, the engine in our tour bus cut out, so the bus had to pull over to the side of the road.  The next thing I saw was the bus driver quickly jumping out and footing it to the back of the bus to try and start it again.  This could have been a big problem, as the air conditioning in the bus also had stopped working and we were all sitting there in the humidity and sweating.  It took about 5 minutes to get the bus working again. 

Tonight is New Years Eve and we are planning to have dinner then go to the Yogya plaza.  Many street stores are selling dragon trumpets, as 2012 is the Chinese year of the dragon.  I plan to pick one of these up on my way. 











Thursday, December 29, 2011

Kabar dari Indonesia - News from Indonesia

Day 1 & 2

On Wednesday we flew from Canberra to Sydney to Jakarta.  The flight was just over 7 hours.  It was a cloudy and overcast day in Canberra and though I was looking forward to the warmer weather of Indonesia, it was still a shook to be met with a wall of humidity as I walked off of the plane. 

Many of the signs at Jakarta airport were labelled with a number of languages.  I was pleased to realise that I was able to read three of these languages.  We all collected our bags and made our way through customs.  It was great traveling with people who had been to Indonesian before, because waiting at the baggage carrousel was a number of people who would kindly offer to help you carry your bags and then expect payment in return.  We collected our own bags...

While waiting for our transfer from the airport to our hotel for the night, we had our first taste of what Indonesians call "Jam Karet" or "Rubber Time".  As we had to wait the better part of 30 minutes for the transfer to arrive.  However, the following morning our transfer to take us back to the airport arrived early.  This resulted in me hauling my bags in a wild dash through the hotel in order to make it to the bus before it left.  These are the moments I like most about traveling.  

We then flew from Jakarta to Yogyakarta.  This flight took about an hour.  When arriving into Yogya we met a bit of turbulence, which made for a bumpy ride.  This turbulence was caused because Indonesia has two seasons - "Summer" and "the Rainy Season".  I had be perviously told that it could be bumpy flying into Yogya during the Rainy Season.  

We were able to explore Yogya a little today.  We found the University where we will be studying and met the other people who are also completing the course.  Yogya has made a good first impression on me.  It is definitely and interesting city that has a lot of character.  Its streets are filled with kaki lima's, beca's and many other things.  I hope to explain these in more detail over the next three weeks.  One of the funnier signs that I saw today involved a Durian fruit.  The Durian is a tropical fruit, that is known for its bad smell.  Out the front of the Yogya Plaza Hotel (A five star hotel) was a sign that read "No Durians" other wise a fee of Rp. 500.000 would apply.
  











Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Di mana Yogyakarta? Where is Yogyakarta?

From Drive the World
Map of where Yogyakarta is found

When I have told people that I am going to Indonesia, the standard responses have been:  "So how long are you staying in Bali?"  or "Are you going to Jakarta?"  I have then had to follow these responses with an explanation that I am not going to Bali and I am only spending 3 days in Jakarta.  I then explain that I will be spending most of my time in Yogyakarta or Yogya  for short.  Yogya is referred to as the university capital of Indonesia, as it stations a large number of universities.  Yogya is on the same island as Jakarta but is towards the south of the island.  To help make this clearer I have included a link of where Yogyakart can be found.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Pak Nathan pergi ke Indoneisa di Yogyakarta

I have created this blog to document my 3 week study trip to Yogyakarta, in Indonesia.  I will be studying at Universitas Sanata Dharma.  I hope that the information and photos shared on this blog will inspire and intrigue others to learn more about Indonesia.