Wrapping 2016 with Gratitude

 

Time passes real quick. It feels like yesterday when I was still in my parents' home busy preparing for our wedding early this year, then moving city and in 3 days, the year of 2016 is ending.

 

As usual, wrapping each year, let's look back and see how we have grown and start another year bringing a better person and forgiving a less "good" quality behind.

 

This year is definitely an important year for me. There are many changes in life since I got married. Early this year, I wrote about 2015 in a glimpse but didn't make any personal resolution for this year, because I honestly haven't figured out things for myself since I got married. It is no longer about me, it is more about "us" (Henki & I), as Ajahn Brahm said and supported by Mom and Dad.

 

Moving to Bali is a bitter sweet experience. I am super close with my family and relatives back in Medan. The bitter part is that I am now quite far from them (I joke that Medan - Bali flight is like flying to China, it takes almost a whole day), and I miss spending weekends afternoon, playing, catching up with my sis, niece, nephew and cousins. The sweet part is that I am here in one of the heavens on earth with my other half now, sleeping better, and playing harder. Also, living further from family makes me realized how I love and I am loved by my family back home. Early this month when my dad and mom made their visit to Bali, my grandma and aunties were buying me lots of good food from Medan. Everybody was busy shopping and preparing cooked food for me and Henki. Honestly, whose relatives are still doing that??? I am blessed to be raised in this family, aren't I?

 

About Married Life

 

Being married is not the end of a "happy" story. It is just the beginning of living LIFE in a more humane way in general. It is building a family after all. Some people asked me when I am planning to start a family, referring to "having a baby". Deep in side, I tell myself that I am already starting a family, by being married.

 

Being married, I learn about so many things, I think it is the same for Henki too.

 

We have to make lots of adjustment in our life and learning (yup! still learning) to accept one another. It is putting 2 different individuals and hope they are walking towards the same destination after all. First year of marriage is not really a honeymoon period, it is a learning period (a continuous one, in fact!). Lots of respect, patience, tolerance, forgiveness (at times) and of course the "never-give-up" attitude are needed to make things work. Those things are not cliché. Those things are REAL! You have seen lots of our happy moments captured on camera, you just didn't see those nights sleeping back to back, trying hard not to touch one another. I am glad we made it through those nights, reconcile and get a better understanding (hopefully) about one another. 

 

I am proud to say that we do start this family as those in the olden days did. We experienced those shopping for household items and making a place HOME with our hard earned/saved  money, not asking from anybody else. We started from the kitchenware, dining table, bed and lastly an old secondhand car for practical purpose. Looking back, there are some "soury" feeling to not being able to buy the things that we "want", because we want to save it for something more important and matter, but most of the feeling is Pride!

 

In this case, I really look up to some family and friends who can actually afford luxurious things, but choose a simpler way of living a life, with a super generous heart to those in need and things that really matter. They are my other role models (other than my parents). I learn from them not trying so hard to impress others with what we have, but instead of what we are as a person. This life value is easier for me to practice, because I grew up in a small town where people are more sincere, although not all, than those in bigger metropolitan city. From this, I learn too not to be impressed easily by people who talk big about what they can do and what they have, because most of the time, we can see through them. 

 

From here, I learn what kind of family that we want to build and what not. If lucky to have any, what kind of values that I want to teach my children in the future. Things are not always as comfortable as what some of other newly weds have, but dad and mom started simple too and if they make it works to date, I hope Henki and I can too. I hope we started right. Bless us!

 

Carreer & Work

 

One of the biggest adjustments that I have to make is in term of work. I tried a full time job as a school teacher, teaching Mandarin. It didn't work out well for me, as I am not 100% satisfy with my working environment, so I quit. On top of that, Henki had to sacrifice his resting time (due to my early work schedule) and work longer hour. Exhausting for him. Although he didn't complain. Thanks for those one full month, Baby!

After that, I applied for a part time job, and was having the power to bargain for work schedule as much as I think I want/am capable to handle, by giving house chores, my family, as my first priority.

 

I know it might sound silly to some others, but growing up one of the most important things that MIGHT contribute to how Dad and Mom turn out to be, for me, successful parents is that they keep those values that we youngsters deem as outdated now. For example, always making the time to eat, at least, dinner in one table together, how mom no matter how busy she was with the shop, she had never neglected the needs of her children. We are always her first priority, we had always had breakfast before we go to school, she prepared our snack to be taken to school, lunch has always ready when we got home. Those motherly chores might seem 理所当然 as Chinese put it or "as it should be by right", but those things are the things that we appreciate the most now as their children.

 

Those 'outdated' things are the things that I want to keep in my own family with Henki. Just during the visit, my dad told me (he is not a kind of dad who will sit me down and tell me all kind of life lessons, but he did this time), to prepare a glass of water when your husband is home after a long day of work. A more 'modern' part of me will tell myself that is the thing that he can do on his own, but there might be certain things that need not modernization, thus, I try my best to do as dad and mom told /showed me on how to be a good wife, hoping that my current family will work out like how Dad and Mom build their home. A home where I am very proud of and can't stop to brag about!

 

So, for now, work with the sole purpose to earn is a less important thing. I work to fill up my time and to keep continue doing things that I am passionate with. However, tell you the truth some part of me do fear that my value as a person is lessen because I am not able to support myself, to shop without feeling guilty and other petty negative feelings about being too depending on someone else.  That's my sacrifice. I hope it will be worth it, as they said.

 

That's mostly about my "work", not so much a career.

 

There are more to Henki's career though.  I know only certain parts of it, but I do know he works his "b*tt" of this year. He has his heart full at work when he is at work, and sometimes even when he is home from work.

 

He does make progress in term of career advancement, and I am a proud wife. Don't argue with me, I am a true believer that hard work always pays off, one way or another.

 

He decided to take a new role in his company this year, to be out of his comfort zone, from Revenue to Sales & Marketing, and I think he does well that he was trusted with a new property to handle, starting the very end of this year.

 

I don't know much about what's going on EXACTLY in his daily work life at the office, but I hope that he will learn to take care of himself better, after the 110% that he had put in at work.

 

"What's done is finish", said Ajahn Brahm

 

I kind of understand how he felt about "unfinished" work, but work will never finish, there are always things to do, if you do not want to stop at just being good or enough, things can always be better. However, that's a worry for another day. At the end of the day, our body is the only things that stay with us (yup! even people we love/love you, will leave us one day, hopefully not by choice), so better take a good care of our body, when we can.

 

I just want to let him know that he has done super good here!

 

Others...

This year is not a good year for me physically. I was coughing for almost 4 months and just got better about 2 weeks ago. I went for a consultation and being diagnosed with bronchitis and pneumonia (caused by bacteria called Pseudomonas Aeruginosa) and were hospitalized for almost 2 weeks. during the hospitalization period, I had measles and was isolated. After being discharged, I was still on antibiotic (lots of them) and not getting better until I stopped the intake of the drugs given and went for a second opinion in Singapore, just to be told that there might be wrong diagnosis and I am young and healthy. It might be just my body recovering slowly and for sure, the side effect of a month of antibiotic. 

 

Relief is the biggest feeling that I have, because I have been worried sick about the things that I was told that I had in my body (even search for the "mortality rate" for that disease, yes! I was feeling that terrible that it felt like dying). However, to think about all the stress that experience had put me through, I do feel disappointed at the medical care standard in Indonesia. There was a point that I was asked to go for HIV test to eliminate some aspects that might causes my compromised immune system (Is it even really compromised? Who knows!) It came out negative, but that was one stressful afternoon. My mom was tearing and kissing me in relief when she and Dad accompanied me to the hospital to take the result.

 

What an experience. I am glad that it had passed. During that terrible period, I realized something, that the most scary part about dying is when you think how people who love you might grieving so much that it breaks your heart and it is your fault to put them through that path of suffering. That is the scariest part that I felt, not the fear about dying itself, not the fear about not achieving anything, there was even slight relief that you do not have to be worry about anything worldly anymore, that you have done your best. Anyway, that's just sick body and mind talking.

 

As the doctor in Singapore told me "You are young and healthy." Let's just hang on to that for now :)

 

Henki is generally healthy, there was a few times that he was down because he was too tired, one of those times was when he was taking care of me. I just hope that he will commit to saying goodbye to the "da*n" cigarette very very soon! Oh yeah, I hate cigarette, soooooo much. I am super sensitive to it, in a bad way, I can even smell someone was smoking outside of my frontdoor while I sit here, typing.

 

Moving on, we didn't travel much this year. Henki made a trip to Kuala Lumpur for Work, We made a trip to Singapore for medical care (which turn to short getaway that Henki didn't enjoy much, very difficult man to satisfy, poor him :p), and short trip to Bandung last March. That was pretty much it.

 

 

We had never planned for any honeymoon trip and didn't have any. To comfort myself, I told myself that I am living in Bali, where newly wed came to have their honeymoon. How smart! =D Based on this logic, we have our honeymoon every other weekends for about 3 months early this year, adventuring around Bali. Lots of beach hopping, until earthquake stroke last June/July. 

 

Reading is poorly maintained this year. :( Writing, I have been writing lots of posts that are related to learning mandarin this year, but nothing much personal, 15 posts, including this one, in a year time. Cooking, I learn to cook, and I think (I hope Henki agrees with me =D) that it gets better with time. Slow progress and depending so much on the mood, but I think am slightly better, comparing to the beginning of this year. I know how coriander looks like now, how does "leek" and "lemongrass" look like and how to differentiate the two and many other simple things around the kitchen. In between, lots of hours of phone call were made to mom as my lifeline. Oh yeah, I am that stupid before, slightly smarter now. =D That's the most important thing about life, isn't it? To learn each and every day. Doesn't matter how small the progress is, as long as we keep moving, that's what matter.

 

This pretty much of our 2016, more of mine and a bit of Henki's.

 

I am grateful for whatever happened in 2016, not limited to all the good moments, but to those period of time when I wasn't well, to those times that we have our arguments, to those stressful time of work. I believe we are going to start 2017 a better person, if not much better, a little.

 

2017's prediction is not good for me, however, I determined to make it good and prove the prediction wrong. If I lose, as always "That too will Pass".

 

May each and everyone of our family and friends have a healthy, blessed, prosperous and happy New Year 2017.

 

Love,

Us (Linda & Henki)

 

About Contentment and 100%-ness

 

知足常乐

“Contentment brings Happiness”

 

It's been a while. Life has been in between busy and peaceful to less drama. So there is nothing extraordinary. But I am grateful that things have been going great. Just missing some people back in Medan.

So, here is something that I would like to jot down for myself to read one day.

I have been coughing for about a month plus, so far it is the second longest track record of coughing that I have had. The first still the one I had when I was in Beijing, due to polluted air. Now, it is the same case. However, since I can't sleep well at night because of the cough and I am done playing doctor for myself I dragged myself to the doctor (OH yeah... No one else can drag me and force me to do it.)

The result after the examination is rather as expected. Of course, I am going in with a cough and I am coming out with a cough medicine, on top of that, I am being prescribed with antihistamine called: Alergine cetirizine. Just hope that it clears the itchiness in the throat.

That's not the thing that I would like to remind myself (Although, it might come handy one day).

It is about life in general.

I thought I use my time really well lately. I teach and enjoy the current classes that I am handling and just considering another training for hotel, and around the house, surprisingly I still manage to do the house chores really well. For both work outside and inside, I got a good weekend off. On top of the regular cooking for dinner, I successfully copied the recipe of donut and martabak (4 times) that I found on Instagram. Somebody else is liking it and I am proud. =D For my family, they know, when I was in high school, I don't even dare to touch the stove. During college time, a male flat-mate taught me how to make fried rice. Now, I am cooking for another human being, not super good, but things get better with time. You tell me how can I not proud of that? Often times, we just have to impress ourselves, not others! =D

However, among those activities that have kept me quite exhausted by the end of the day and always happy when it comes to adventurous or even super lazy weekend, I got bored sometimes. I always think that I can do more with what I have. I got excited whenever my partner comes home and discuss his work with me at home. Although I can't help much, the discussion gets my brain going. Especially now that he has already moved to S&M department, more things that I can relate to. I am grateful of him for doing that to me. In that process, there is a certain part of me that always think that I can do more than what I am already doing right now. I am better than what I am right now. Maybe that's true and maybe that's not.

However, my interaction with a doctor today made me learn to be more content. Since I choose teaching Mandarin as something I would like to do (I got an offer to go back to Hospitality industry because as the Chinese market is growing here in Bali, the human resource for that market is insufficient. I decline it because I know I am not cut for a big corporation, too much politics at all levels, my greatest weakness), I might as well give my 100% in doing things that I do. In my life, I have always had done the same. In teaching, some people here told me to lower my expectation and just do enough because we don't expect people here to be as good as the Medanese in term of picking up Chinese language. Lucky that I am stubborn. I do lower my expectation, by slowing down the pace that I teach and the amount of material that I give, but never my view towards my students. Do just enough is not something I would like to do. I like to do my best, because I believe that certain people will be benefited from my effort. What is the greatest satisfaction than seeing our effort paid off, right? I see some students get interested in Chinese and looking forward to the class and actually can start forming sentences with whatever they 'catch' for the past 2,5 months.

Today, just before I went to the doctor, I was teaching my playgroup class. Children in playgroup are not expected to recognize characters yet. However, I believe if we can make it fun, why not. Just now, out of nowhere a 4 year old kid who had just started learning Mandarin (and whose mother tongue is no where close to Chinese language) is reading the Chinese characters to me and know what they mean! To be fair , that kid is naughtily smart. However, if from the beginning I have decided to go with the culture here to give just enough, just go by the textbook (which sucks), it might not happen. No one will enjoy the benefit to know that Chinese can be fun, and I will never get to feel proud, excited and happy, like what I am feeling now. I am so proud of her!!! Ecstatic!!!

Going back to the doctor, the doctor asked me if my work require me to be out a lot and asked what I do for a living. When I told her what I did, she gets so excited to know more about Mandarin and she makes me feel that I have got an exciting life teaching Mandarin. While most of us (including me) think that doctor is a profession that is not everyone who wants to be, can be. Because of the requirement of the brain 'capacity', which I believe I don't have. Also, things that they do are so 'technical' (I don't even know the word to describe it), that I think it is something prestigious.

However, seeing her eyes lighted up discussing Mandarin with me (the light that I don't see when I first walked in and when we discussed about my cough. To think about it, maybe Chinese language is more interesting than my cough. haha), it reminds me to be just grateful, content and give my 100% in everything that I do now and every opportunity that knocks.

For all of us who find that we are stuck and want to do just more of many OTHER things, because we are bored, ask ourselves if we have given our 100% in the moment, in things we do, to people around us and to improve what we are doing right now. Then, we might know what to do next.

As for me, I would like to be better in Mandarin, MUCH Better. Test can only grade us to a certain level. My HSK 6 certification means nothing to me now, because I know although that is the highest level for foreigners, but I think I still have so MUCH room to improve, sooooo much more.

Love Life,
Lin ^ ^

The person I want to be and NOT want to be

Dealing with certain people make me realize the person I want to be and the person I will try my hardest NOT to be.

This is a reminder to myself. I hope in 10 to 30 years from now, I will look back at this post and hope that I do not stray off course.

I WANT to be a person that always be grateful of the little good things that others have done for me. ALL THE little things, including, accepting the offer to serve me a bowl of soup and I want to always say THANK YOU for those thoughtful act.

I DO NOT WANT to be the person who is unappreciative of the things that others have done for me, even though it maybe not exactly what I want, but if I know that they do it out of good intention, I will accept it with an open heart! Because that what lifts people up! The opposite puts people down and make others not want to do anything else for us. Example: If someone is dying to share their most favorite food with me, I will devour it and for that one time NOT insist on my own preference and put down theirs. We can always have our own "good food" some other time, so much time for that. The fact that others want us to have a taste of their favorite things should be a sign of love and that is priceless. So, Appreciation is the least we can give them in return.

I WANT to be the person who is easy to deal with, like my dad and mom. They are just happy about almost anything that we do for them. It is so easy to buy them gifts, foods, or even take them anywhere. They will use the things that you buy them, they will give the foods that we bought them a try (and decide if it is good or not later on), they will have a good time whenever you take them to. Looking at how our efforts are appreciated makes us want to do more for them.

I DO NOT WANT to be a person who is difficult to deal with. I learn that someone who is picky about food is not a good companion to be with. There is a difference between personal value and being picky. Some of my friends are vegetarian, so we respect their choice of life and we will go to vegetarian restaurant and have a good time together. Come on!!! We have so many other days to enjoy non vegetarian meals! However there are some people whom we take to a good place for Soto or Indonesian yellow soup (that we know they like) and still unable to satisfy them, throwing out comment like "Prawn Soto is not good, chicken and beef Soto are more common" (with the unsatisfied "face"), "I do not like this", "I am always picky." GOSH! ?

I WANT TO communicate kindly to others. When we are happy about something it is easy to praise (although some people still find it difficult to say the kind words and always find a way to put down others, I DO NOT WANT to be that type of person), what more difficult is when we are in disagreement or unhappy about things. However, I have seen people who can manage those kind words even when we know from their face that they just try to be appreciative and do not want to discourage us. Towards these group of people, it always encourages me to do better for them. My dad is a good example. For Conventional Older Chinese Folks, Pizza may not always be their favorite. Given the option, they might prefer those comfort food like Chinese noodle, dumpling, Nasi Padang etc. Once, my sis and I took our parents to the Pizza Restaurant. They finish all the food, no waste, but we can tell that dad is not a fan of Pizza. However, when asked, he will say "It's good." Know him well we asked "Wanton Noodle is better than Pizza, isn't it?" He smiled and nodded. We know what to do next. However, from time to time we always try to share with them the food that we like, such as: Japanese Sushi, Korean food, or whatever available in town. There are times that they can't stop telling us that the food is good and of course it is all over their face and will gladly order much more for them! That is so rewarding.

Most WOMAN do this from time to time; We keep quiet and hope for people around to 'get' the unhappy vibe that we sent out and hoping for others to understand and be emphatic towards us. Most of the time others do not get what we are trying to convey in that "sour-y" face. I learnt this for the past few weeks and find that irritating. Thus, I DO NOT WANT to be that kind of person. I will say what I want and not want, again kindly! However, I really have to be thankful of my partner and family that they have been so patient towards me. I have to thank the person who have shown this irritating behavior ALL the time too. The person has made me realize of WHAT NOT to be.

Lastly, about being thrifty and a penny-pincher. I have seen my mom saves from nothing until she and dad can finally give the family a comfortable life, good education to their children (something they do not have before), and a decent roof above the family's head. I do not understand why she did that before. Growing up, I had lots of want as part of peer pressure. Branded stuff in small kampung is only in the level of "Adidas", "Nike" and friends, never to the extend of "LV", "Chanel" and friends. But at times, although I know we can afford it, my mom still didn't always grant my wish, most of the time the reason is that because I had already had an existing that still works just fine. Now, I know why. It is not about being a penny-pincher, but it is about prioritizing what is important. For them, when it comes to learning, my parents had never said no. I attended Sempoa class, Piano class, Mandarin Class, English Class, Taekwando, and all other classes that our small town can offer. It was always a YES! from them. When they struggle to afford my education (for some it is not much money), they sell their comfortable air-conditioned car to send me to school that give me bigger opportunity to see the world with a much more open minded attitude.

Lastly about being thrifty and being a penny-pincher. For me, "no food go to waste" discipline is not about being a cheapskate. I do it because I think about those people who has nothing to eat. So for me, now that I have something to fill the stomach, I want to be grateful about it, appreciate it. Of course, I do it whenever I can. When I can't, I won't. There was one time, that I left the food that I had cooked and the rat which is up for ANYTHING came and had it tasted before the human did. I have to throw it all away, because I know rats are dirty and I do not want to risk being ill by sharing food with them. However, whenever I cooked more than we need in one meal, it is normally because I can keep it and eat it the next day and I WILL eat it. So, it has nothing to do with being a penny-pincher and I do not appreciate people throwing my food away.

Oh yeah, it is not easy to plan perfectly to avoid food that ends up in the dustbin. But it is much more difficult when you have to keep throwing food away everyday. I would rather put my head into the planning of how much should I cook than being an 'efficient' person that throws food away, because that is EASY!

Please also differentiate people who are being Thrifty and Prudent to those who are a penny-pincher to the extend that know only to take advantage of others.

Oh yeah, I am now careful about spending because I want to create a comfortable life for our little family in the future. But I have never take advantage of others, never want to! I know how hard my partner works super hard and I appreciate it by saving it so that at the end of the year we can travel and enjoy ourselves, by the right time come, we can also to start a family for real comfortably without relying on others. I do not see the need to compete with others let alone impress others and no one can make me do it. I have seen my family and friends who really have something are normally humble and do not boast. And I have seen those who boast actually are empty inside, and they can only fool the fools. Opps! I am not joining the club!

Sorry for the ranting... For the past two weeks, I have been made realize of how I want to be and how I don't want to be as a human being. Phew~

Half A Year

It has been six months since our wedding. We finally do not call ourselves newly wed and he doesn't introduce me as his "new wife", just "wife". =D

People say first 3 months is honeymoon period. For us it is quite true, that's when I just first move to Bali and enjoying my "downtime" with no work (after last few crazy months juggling work and wedding preparation last year), that's when the industry he is working in was in its slow period. So, no pressure in life and it is something that people called as bed full of roses. Then, I started having enough with down time and wanting to get back in action (unfortunately finding the ideal one isn't always easy), and for him, work is starting to get crazy. That's when as individual we were dealing with our own stuff and affect us as an "us". First quarrel in our marriage life had finally taken place, and I am glad that we got through it. At the end of each quarrel, we normally find out the truth isn't always as bad as our assumption that get us into the quarrel mode.

I am learning so much here. I am someone who is impatient. I see unfinished stuff, I will deal with it until it is done. I like to start things and get them finish as fast as possible. I set goals and I would like to achieve it fast. I found that this kind of spirit is good in a way, but has its many drawbacks in many ways. It often drains me, physically. And when someone is tired, you know how they get irritated quickly over the tiniest matters. In marriage life, patience is the best of friend that we have to make. So I am learning.

He is learning too. He has always been a very hardworking man and takes his work seriously. It is what makes me fall in love with him in the first place (we always like people who talk about his work with shining eyes, don't we?), but it has its drawback too. Anxious about doing his job well (especially the new position he is taking on), he has been working 12 hours or more daily and come back home still reading articles to improve his knowledge about this new field he is in. Human is not designed for that long hour kind of work. At one point, that person will crack. I made this known to him, so that he didn't get lost in the process when trying to excel in work. I want him to realize that many other important things to in life. I can see him trying too here.

For me, I can't stress this enough, to the people whom I work with now when they would like me to commit more of my time to work, I make it known that my family comes first now. I want to work and will definitely give my very best in it, as simple as coming home preparing dinner and make the house Home(!) for us. I would like to recreate the family I come from where dinner time is bonding time. Eating out is good, but home cooked food has its own meaning to it. So, this family has my full commitment. However, I know that I cannot do this alone.

All in all, 6 months of marriage it is not always a bed full of roses. However, it is important to count the blessings and make use "the truckload of dung" as Ajahn Brahm calls it, carry it around your pocket and let it stink or use it as a fertilizer.

Here I want to count my blessing in this marriage life.

He has provided me with the liberty to be picky about work I do. I teach only to channel my passion about sharing things that I like and the good news is that I don't have to do it full time. I can use the downtime to write (something I love and rather good at ;p) and who knows where this will lead. Future has been uncertain for me, in term of work, or maybe in all aspect as how life should be, uncertain! :) 

I thank him too for granting all the little things and wishes that I have, the need for beach time, rice field time, spa time and good meal time over the weekend. This might be the biggest little things that I appreciate, the little things.

Lastly, I thank him for being patient with my cooking and hey, I get better with time. =D He used to not eat the strange tasting food I cooked, which at the end I am responsible to finish it), but I think he now learns that for him to eat the most unsavory meal that I prepare means a lot to me. So he eats them now, although I can still tell from his face that he just want to finish that one meal fast. Haha... Okay, I don't like to fail in my experiment in the kitchen too and guilty for serving it. But I can't throw the food away, while many people out there is dying out of hunger. Unless it is something that is very unsalvageable, then no food gets wasted in this house. That's the rule! So, that's great act at his part to bear with it now! (FYI, I serve something good too from time to time, really good ones) =D

However, I hope he learns to wait patiently! He is super bad at these. I don't like to wait too, that's why I get many things done myself rather than waiting for someone to do it. Or at times, when I thing people are just not doing their job and caused delay in the whole process and cause us our time, I will just make my complain heard to the relevant person in charge! No use in getting irritated at yourselves and the situation and worse people around you! However, I know that in life, there will be many things that require us to just wait patiently and nothing else, unavoidable ones, like doctors, queuing in cashier counter, in the restaurant for food, even when accompanying someone to do shopping.  These are the things that are not going to get better. For now, we are waiting to see doctor for ourselves, in the future we are going to wait for a doctor to see one of our family members, and getting sulky about the waiting time, will only make things move a whole lot more slower than it is.

All in all, in our marriage life, both of us need to learn and forgive a lot (the lighter part such as forgiving the unsavory food. haha, the serious one such as the comment we made to each others when we are busy, angry or sick. I think things happen, have seen my parents quarrel, never so bad, but they did and still grow old together happily. So, I hope we can too =D).We too have to learn to understand that things are not always good. It is life, sometimes we are up there and sometime we are down and bruising. I too believe, there is nothing call "time-off" in marriage. Once you take that time off, you are as good as 'fired'. It is like you are leaving a company when it needs you the most. Why does the company have to retain you when you decide to come back only when things get better? They can survive without you in bad times, then they don't need you. Maybe that's the closest analogy (or does it even make any sense?). I am trying to say here it is good that we leave far apart from our relatives. When we quarrel, we have to face each other. We can't run to others to find companies. Third party in a quarrel isn't always good thing. Have witnessed and heard that kind of stories and it doesn't always end well.

I am learning to stop expecting him to do certain things that he is not built up to do, such as receiving a bucket of flowers, candle light dinner or anything that you can expect from a "romantic" man. I have to live with this unromantic man that I married to, that I want to build a family with, and intend to grow old with. The closest thing we do as a couple is buying matching motorbike jacket, that's for practical reason. Blahhh...

Someone said it right I think, that marriage is like filling things (like love, care, forgiveness, kind words, understanding, happiness and many more things) in a box (called home). Sometimes you have to take things out because you need it but you know when you stop putting things in the box and continuously take, the box is going to be empty one day. Simply put: "Give and Take".

We have a long way to go. 6 months is short, we have another 60 yearas ahead of us. =D

 

So Much Love,

Lin ^ ^

The Beauty of Balinese

Those are Huge offerings for Special days

Almost 6 months in Bali, I seem to find something to do that I am satisfied with. I tried school, it didn't work out so well, as I found that no matter how hard I want to try to make things better, I was abided by the system, which unfortunately is good only in theory but not practical.

So, I am now back tutoring again. This time it is tutoring tour guide, Balinese guides. These people do not stop to surprise me in so many (good) ways.

The first is that they speak so many languages, maybe not fluently, but good enough to be able to take the tourists around. That's the confidence and willingness to learn that amaze me. Most of my 'students' speak more than 3 languages, they speak Bahasa Indonesia for sure, Balinese as their dialect and a little English of course, then Russian, Japanese, Korean and now they are learning Mandarin, as Chinese tourists is the growing market here.

They said they get confused sometimes, but they are getting used to it with each passing day. Improvement is what I seek, so I think that's great.

Then, last week, had the chance to chat about the tradition that is still well alive in the society; the Balinese praying ritual. Most Balinese knows 3 calendar systems which I think is more than common and makes it extraordinary (my family is conventional Chinese, we use the Gregorian and Lunar, I know how to read both, but many Chinese, especially the youngsters, feel Lunar calendar is useless, so they do not bother to get to know it more). Again, Balinese knows THREE, the Gregorian, Wuku and Saka.

Because of their "persistency" in keeping what they believe in, thus makes this land special. People who lives here know best that Balinese is very laidback, in a way. Most of them put their belief first than work. Thus, many of them will take a break from work (the chance to earn money and make so called "better" living), and do what they need to do "pray". We who live and work here enjoy the benefit of more holiday :)

After a few months here, I notice that full moon that comes twice every month in either Wuku or Saka Calendar, is the same like the Lunar dating system. For these 2 days each month, Balinese normally will have bigger and more special offerings than the usual daily offering that they made. And much bigger for many other special days.

If you ever stepped into Bali, these offerings are everywhere, in front of the house, on the street, in the intersection, etc. They call this "Canang", if I am not mistaken. It is a small weaved basket with flowers, incense fruits, etc in it.

Other than that, this ibu (my student) was trying to explain to me that in Wuku (that has only 210 days in a year) and Saka calendars combined, there are many other sacred days where they will perform ritual in honoring the good aspects in live or merely give thanks to the nature/things around us. Last week, they just had this Tumpek Landep day, and according to this ibu, other than giving things to "metal" things that has been so great in assisting their lives, making work easy (including cars, bikes, laptops, knives, etc), they also give thanks to trees that deliver fruits, corps, etc, they give thanks to animals too, and many more. Each day has its own name.

From my conversation with Balinese, thus working class level, including Grab drivers (Yeah, I use their service a lot and often satisfied), they acknowledged that they spend a lot of money on offerings, that include the "basket", flowers, joss stick and fruits (the biggest amount was spent on fruits), but they think it is something they are willing to do and must do to get that peace of mind, for themselves, for the family, for the community and for this goddess land.

I am quoting what the ibu said to me in regard to that matter: "This is something that we do from our heart. We want to do it. Foreigners, the non-native, may say things about what we do, and take it for granted. They sometimes asked why this land is so peaceful, but they never think that it is what the people do that contributes in maintaining the peace in the land. We, Balinese, believe what we do gives peace in this land."

That statement really hits me. And I believe and I wish they will continue to do so. I know that part of the belief has contributes in keeping the land beautiful (like keeping the building low, not taller than the coconut trees), but I never think about the peace. To think about it now, I have so much respect for them now.

I am not a super religious person. However, I can see how this belief goes well with the universe and among us as a 'humankind'. Again, Respect!

This is Bali at its finest. The essence of Bali is not in the luxurious beach club nor the night life, but in the beauty of its people. Most of these people respects nature, I don't get whistling when I walk around alone, when I get it, I know it is not from the Balinese, but rather people who come from another islands of Indonesia.

Coming from a city that is not always very safe, I was skeptical at first, when my partner left our belongings (in a plastic bag) or jackets or helmets hanging on our bike, while we shop for groceries (it can take an hour at least). I expect to comeback and found something missing, but so far, this place has never let me down yet. I am so glad about it.

If you ever read or hear a story when bad things happen during a night out in Bali, which happened to me too. Don't blame this place, don't blame the Balinese. Blame yourselves. I blame myself for putting myself in a place where I know no good things can ever happen. If you ask me "is it okay?" Of course it is NOT, for me. Although some people are okay with that. I am in another group. Since I can't do anything and can only regret and upset about it endlessly, which is no use at all, the only thing that I can do in the future is not to go back. So, if things, unwanted things happen to you in Bali night club, don't blame this place. Acknowledge the fact that most things happened are not caused by the Balinese, but the people, often (or maybe always) the nonnative and foreigners (NOT the Balinese). So again, don't blame this place and its local.

The tourists and the non locals (like us) who need to behave and learn a little more respect to this land. This place and its people are undeniably beautiful, peaceful and kind.

From the Beautiful Goddess Island of Indonesia, Bali..

What is missing from the kids nowadays? Respect!

Almost every week, I see the post on Social Media about how corrupted the kids/students nowadays. We ask "what is wrong with the kids nowadays?'

Maybe that isn't the right question. Maybe we should ask ourselves "what have we done wrong in educating our kids?"

Although not all (there are always the good ones in those extreme bad ones), I see the difference in value of my generations when we raise our kids. We mostly try to create children that are capable, we need them to be able to survive in the society that is getting more and more challenging. Darwin's theory of survival of the strongests maybe is the foundation in disciplining our children.

Unfortunately, in that process of becoming capable, our innocence children who if guide well, will turn out just fine,  see the needs to make their parents proud in "winning" things that they don't always matter, like winning arguments. Sometimes parents are proud when their kids are able to defend their opinions from people like their grandparents about having cellphones at young age, for example.

Parents think that their kids have a point, when their children who are still in primary ask for a cellphone of their own, those in  junior high school ask for driving lesson, and when they are in senior high school, parents even encourage them by presenting them with their own personal car, sometimes the brand of their choice when parents can afford it. There are even worse ones who think maintaining certain lifestyle to help them fit in their society by all means are important, for example; borrowing money! If the latter is the case, what do we expect from our children? Fitting in isn't always the most important thing. Being with people who accept you as who you are is what matters.  

We justify our action in doing that for so many logical reasons, like; convenience (when you need to check where they are, you can call their cells, they can drive themselves to school, it will save you the trouble of sending them) or most of the time because of social status.

So, when the old fashioned grandpa and grandma make a comment on that, parents will genk up with their kids and make a joke of their outdated grandparents. Make them feel bad about how the world has changed (has it?) and how outdated they are. How nice?!

This kind of thing happens to me before. When I was still in high school, living about 11KM away from school, my uncle would arrange a car for his 3 kids and a few nieces and nephews including me to send us to school. Normally, the driver would drive. However, there was a time, when the driver was sick and as usual my dad would replace him and send us to school. That particular day, my dad was not feeling well too and when I arrived at my uncle's house, my grandma was somehow so irritated that my dad wasn't there yet to drive us to school and she started scolding me and calling my mom. Being a teenager, I do not like that kind of attitude, I expect her to understand that my dad wasn't feeling well and she should not have scolded me or my dad. It wasn't our fault! So I ran back home crying and skipped school that day. Thinking about it now, I feel silly! My dad, on another hand, drove my cousins to school.

My mom didn't support my behaviour, but maybe deep down she understood my anger, but she didn't tell me that it is right. In fact, what my dad did after being scolded by my grandma showed me a very important thing in my family, respect for the elders. Slowly, I understand how thing works. It seems like the general rule in the family.

Up to now, my grandma being the oldest in the family has all the respects that she deserves from her children  and grandchildren. There are times that I can still see she isn't always the best in making a rational decision in her actions, however, her children like my mom, aunts, uncles, or even her sons and daughters in law know where they stand, thus they always show respect and love her in their own ways. We always say, our grandma is the most luckiest grandma on earth! She has more than 30 grandchildren, more than 2 dozens of great grandchildren, however her rank in the family is always the highest. She is the general in the family :D

I can see my dad likes to hang out around my grandma, even though he doesn't always have topics to discuss with her, or sometimes even get scolding from her, he is always there when my grandma needs him to drive her around to run some errands. For me that doesn't show weakness, that shows greatness, how big his heart is.

I think I can make the connection of all this respect my grandma has. She was treated very badly by her mother in law, my great grandma. my great grandma didn't like her somehow. She forced her to work hard and did all sort of things that no daughter in laws nowadays would have ever done for their mother in law. But my grandma was patience and her kids can see that great value in their mother, thus the respect now.

The respect that my parents, my uncles and aunts, have for my grandma teaches us to see the good in our parents too and thus, the respects and love we have for them now. I hope we can maintain this and do not get lost in our way, like many of our peers have.

I am still rebellious as ever. Once, I stormed out from my aunt's house because she scolded me over something. Again, my mom didn't think what my aunt did to me is right, but she didn't support me either. Over time, I learn that she has her own reason for doing the thing that she did and I am younger so I should greet her and hold no grudge the next time I see her. Things turn out well and I can see my mom is super proud of me for that. My aunt does the same thing to me too. She holds no grudge, she expressed herself and be my aunt again. She helped me a lot on my wedding day. That's her love for me, as a member of a family. I love her too for being kind.

I have seen parents who laugh when the kids are acting up and disrespect their grandparents, and I am feeling very upset by it! I pity the grandparents for being treated like that and I am waiting to see how will the kid turns out.

Do you see how things work? For me it makes so much sense to show our kids this little thing call respect. Never thing that when we spoiled our kids by approving all their behavior, always stand by their side and not guiding them are the right thing to do. We might thought that they will be able to see how "good" we treat them and we believe they will return it to us. However, in the process of us being good to the young ones, we might have hurt our elders and the good news is: the kids can see that too. So, don't be surprise when the time comes for them to have their own kids, they will standby their children blindly and lose sight of the importance of their parents, YOU and ME!

When this happen, do not say "Why do they do this to me, while I have always given all the things that they want?" I know the answer for that. It is " You have neglected the part about showing by example. The young ones will say: "If you can do that to grandma, why can't I do it to you?" "If you have never showed respect to your own parents, why should I?" At this rate, we know we have failed.

I am not a parent yet, and I believe it is not always easy to practice what I see and say at this time. However, the realization that the thing above is what missing is very important. This is a reminder for my future self when I am blessed enough to have children of my own.

When I was tutoring, the semester report that I sent to some parents always said: "Teachers like me can only do so much, however, what matter most is Family, Parents."

Show them the right thing, if you want them to do the right thing.

To Robi

My current mood: Contemplating on adopting a puppy!

My parents always have always had a dog at home. We are dog people. I looked at my pictures as a baby, I saw 2 dogs roaming around in the pictures. My parents named one of the dog Mary.  She got the mentioned more than the other one. I was too young to remember what kind of dog they were. But growing up, many other dogs come and go. There is Joni, died of old age, there is Mopi died poisoned by a burglar that attempted to get into the house, then there was another big black dog, and then the one that I loved so much, Roby. I have been bitten a few times by him. Long brown coating. I don't even know what kind of breed he was. To me, he was just beautiful. My dad wasn't very fond of him for the fact that Robi sometimes tried to bit him too. He always said "all this while, he has never had a dog that tried to bit him." But even after the biting, I had never stopped loving him. However, I know that I failed him for not being able to help him out of whatever he was experiencing at that time.

This is Robi, whose life was a bit of finding self but failed not capturing heart, my heart.

The memory is very blurry but we have another dog that has given birth to 9 puppies, 3 puppies at a time. Gosh they were so cute. And I always cried whenever other people come to adopt them. :'(

At home, my dad is the one in charge in the grooming, bathing, etc, My mom in the feeding, I am in the playing. My sis is an exception. She somehow isn't really into them.

As parents got older they switched to a smaller breed. The first Cihuahua that they have named Bojes. He died from the injury after the fall that he suffered. My little cousin was trying to hold him and accidentally dropped him. And being so small, the height must have done some damage to him. And he died a few weeks after that.

The next one is joy. Joy is our current dog. She has been with my parents for more than 10 years. My mom is very thoughtful in feeding her, she doesn't want Joy to be obese. So mom weighed her often and try to keep Joy in certain shape at particular weight. My dad sometimes play the harmonica and joy will howl to it. Mom and dad said that is Joy singing.

Lately, I really like to watch the Cesar to the Rescue show on Nat Geo and also many interesting show on Animals Planets. Some of the show is entertaining, putting smile on my face. However, there are a few others that do the reverse effect, they make me cry, touched by their stories. The latest favorite series that I am trying to keep track is the show calls "My Wild Affairs". It is a beautifully wrapped story about the bond between human and animals, not the usual domestic pet, but rather bizzare animals, like elephant, rhino and Orang Utan.

After getting so much exposure on this kind of show, I am kinda contemplating to get a pet of my own. However, I believe it is a huge responsibility to give them the life that they deserve. The thing with most animal is that they are the creature that know best how to love unconditionally. So for us to deserve that kind of love, I thought human to have to commit their 100%.

Still thinking.....................................

学汉语另一面的乐趣

提线木偶 - 学汉语另一面的乐趣

今年印尼三语学校协会邀请了五华县提线木偶传习所到印尼巴厘与日惹巡演，交流 与 授课提线木偶艺术。在 巴厘岛由文桥三语学校接待 了五华县提线木偶剧团的四位演员。

五华县提线木偶是中国国家级非物质文化遗产之一，也是汉族传统的一种戏剧。至今已有六百多年的历史了。这样的艺术表演带来了很多利益。

汉语本来是一种美丽的语言，可是想要学会，学者需要努力的去寻找，去体会这个语言的用处。有了这样新鲜，有趣的艺术活动，对于学生们，它不但带来了乐趣，也是能提高了小朋友们对学汉语的兴趣。让他们学懂了学汉语不仅仅是读书，写字，而从艺术表演上学者也能帮他们了解中国文化以及看懂了汉语的美丽之处。

为了欢迎和亲眼欣赏这个表演，我们的文桥三语学校的创办人和董事长，江连福先生和江睿董事长，也到场来了。这样的表演不但让小朋友们感到兴奋，当天的表演对于一小部分在场的老师和来宾们也是他们最初的提线木偶表演经验。在文桥三语学校礼堂等着我们的演员进场的时候，大家都包着期待的一种心情。

这次演员们展演了四段精彩的演出。第一个开演的是木偶书法。在此，其中一个演员，李新贤所长，让一个男木偶活起来，书写了四个美丽的汉字“马到功成”。这样的开场引起了小朋友们的注意力。接着展演的是木偶舞蹈。这次，来的四位演员，李新贤，李红霞，李伟平，和李景娴老师，都上台表演。他们戴着黑帽子，帽子连着细细的线和双手灵活的动作给了四个小小的美丽木偶舞者生命，让他们手舞足蹈。

 

最后两个剧目是《水漫金山》与《化子进城》。配着这两段民间传说，观众能听到两首动听的古代音乐和对话。从那四段表演，演员们表现了他们高级的表演技术。

      一转眼，节目已经结束了。小同学，来宾们解散后，文桥三语学校的老师们和五华县提线木偶的演员们就开始把礼堂装备些最简单，最基本的木偶。不久，三十多个想了解这个提线木偶艺术的小朋友们就慢慢的次第进入礼堂，次第入座。

授课的时间虽然不长，而在那短短的十五分钟里，小朋友们多多少少应该体会到了提线木偶的基本技术也亲自扮演了小小提线木偶演员的角色。这次的提线木偶表演让观众们看到了学汉语另一面的乐趣。

Hello Students, Hello Fellow Teachers, Hello School and Hello Education!

 

It is another new chapter of my working life. I will never know if I will make it as a ‘career’, as career is defined as “an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person’s life and with opportunities for progress.” The word “significant period of a person’s life” and “opportunities for progress” are big words for me currently. As of now, I applied for this job because I want to spend my time with a more useful activities, and of course to shed some pounds. I am glad that I did, as for the past few days, I went out for work (not much work to do yet though) and still got my house chores done at home, making sure that someone still comes back to a HOME. Although those left me with not much energy by the end of the day, I have to admit that I am proud of myself for that. Little things count, don’t they?

From this, I am also very appreciative for what my partner has to scarifie to get me to school, every single morning, EARLY. Before I start working, we woke up at 7.30 (earliest), now, We have to be out from the house by 7AM. And I couldn’t make it possible, if it is not for him. This gives me the energy to do more at work and home. Thank you, Baby. The best thing is that we manage to squeeze in our little routine of having breakfast together still. Hooray!

But getting myself here, at school, as a teacher for real, I am looking at those kids and I am very eager to show them that learning Mandarin can be super interesting and fun. Most importantly, it is a beautiful language. Forget about career advancement, I am just hoping that I will make a difference in the students’ learning.

For the past few days, I didn’t have much things to do yet. I will only be starting having my own class when the new term starts. I replaced a few classes for other teachers for the last 2 days and found myself back in my “nature.” It doesn’t feel like new job, it feels like me. And I am happy that way.

However, system and politics in workplace just failed me again this time round. I am not very keen in politics at workplace, but people are just too consumed with work that they forgot the reason that they are here, to educate (or could it be, they were just sticking with their purpose all this while?), I will never know their intention, but I guess I just need to adjust my place here.

Being here for so short period of time, I have already learning. I just witnessed a few things that are jaw dropping for me. I am no expert in education nor have more experience than the teachers who are surrounding me for the past few days, but I am new and distant enough to see that there are certain things that If I can I might want to do differently.

1.       Disciplining kids

As I was writing this, a kid is being disciplined for profane languages in school.That is a good thing, isn’t it? I will definitely do it too. However, it is done in the teacher office with most of the teacher around. Today experience has taught me not to discipline kids in front of public. (NOTE TO SELF) I did that at times, the reason is because of lack of emotional control, things that I am not very good at. Thus, I am living and learning.

 

However, it’s worse if we do it because we are in charge, because we have the power, because we want to show to our peers that we are doing something good, because we are looking for fun stuff to laugh at. I am in no agreement to that, at all. School should have a room for this purpose, if needed, take less new students so that you make room for what needed, to provide quality!

It is not very nice to scold people in front of public, not to adults nor to kids. It is even worse when the kids started to cry, then you took out your phone and started to take a picture of them and threaten to spread it, while you laughed along with your peers. Even I know that you are not going to do that for real, but it is something I don’t appreciate. I have good-ex employer before, who discipline and explain things to their employees about things that could have been done better behind closed doors, one on one. That is a good example that I hope I will be able to follow.

2.       Crown yourself with good title/position at work, but don't forget to be Human!

I also learnt no matter what your position in a company, in life, be Humble. There is a saying in Indonesian “Diatas Langit masih Ada Langit.” As of this, I have good example in our family. My second uncle and his wife are really good in staying humble. With whatever they have in life, they have been great in keeping their feet on the ground. I am very proud to have that uncle. I have the opposite type as well in my family, I am not proud of him but I hope good things happen to him though.

Politics in the office, teacher’s office to be exact, is so obvious between the Mandarin and English Divisions, and I don’t see the need for it to happen at all. But it is there. The school I am with now is well-known for their Mandarin in this island, thus, the division is the biggest, it is happened that I am a newbie in this group and someone on another division isn’t happy about the division that has gotten bigger and decided to declare war from the first day I am in. That person even thought greeting in the morning is too much for the members of the 2 divisions. Bad Example! She must have been so unhappy at work. Poor her! I have no intention to be in the war, so she can have her own war! Amen! J

I am totally self-aware, I am a type who might not make it big in a career, but I will make whatever I have in hand good, well and better. Excuse my vanity! :p

All in all, here I am starting my third full time job as a teacher in a big school. It is not a fancy job, (it even has not-so-good-looking uniform) but I am happy doing it. To be Frank and Hopeful, I can see myself having school of my own and grow it in my own way, as I jotted down almost 4 years ago. As a housewife, I don’t see myself has a dead end in realizing my dreams, I am just taking another route, it might be longer, but I feel it is something visible. Above all, I am just praying for good health, time, physical strength and the continuous support that I have already gotten and I hope to always have from my partner and other family members! 加油！

Nyepi in Bali

Nyepi (Day of Silence) is a day celebrated mainly by the Balinese. This year is the first time of my 29 years of life which I have spent really experiencing a Nyepi day for real! As I mentioned, most of us know the meaning of the word Nyepi, but we have never thought that Balinese takes this day very literally and seriously and that’s so much respect for that!

The night before the Nyepi, there is a kind of parade going on around the street of Bali. You will experience a little interesting performance and a lot of traffic jam. During the parade, they were pushing carriage with ogoh-ogoh (symbolize the monster / evil spirits) on top, in which, from time to time, would be carried on the shoulder and sort of made the ogoh-ogoh came to life in the movement that they created.  

What amazed me was the durability of the ogoh-ogoh. I heard that they are made out of bamboo and processed paper and when you see how uniquely they are shaped and how strong the waving movement made by the carrier, you too will go “wow… they are still intact?” That moment, for me, I know how much time they must have spent in preparing that. Or another sign that we can look for is the proud expression of the people who push and carry them that show you this once a year event is important.

We didn’t spend too much time on the road, the heat (even it was already night time) and the traffic jam just made it impossible to stay on the street too long. I am a happy girl, witnessing that for short 30 minutes are good enough for me. J

Move on to the D Day. My dearest partner had kept on emphasizing on how we should stock up some food for the day. I was a planner, so I did so, not knowing how serious it is. But I believe there will be people who might still take it lightly and I can't imagine how they will spend their day with 3 meals on instant noodle, IF they have them in stock. The day before, I prepared 2 days amount of food, so that on the day itself, I could just heat them up and didn’t have to do the real cooking that sometimes can be noisy. I even bought super giant candle, the only type that I could found in the nearby groceries store (we didn’t use it at the end, because when we tested it out the night before, the light from the candle was visible from outside, and that might invite the visit from the Pecalang who were the only group of people who were allowed to roam around the street on that day to make sure everyone follows the rule!)

So food was good. We had enough to get by. It was quite a boring day though, because you know that you are not allowed to go out. You didn’t stay in by choice that created even more temptation to actually want to do something outside, as restricted. But we were good residents, so we stayed in and suppressed that boredom. That night, the sky was beautiful. The only ray of light that you can see came from the sky, the moon and the star. One day when I have a house with a good rooftop, maybe I would like to lay down and count stars during Nyepi. They were just so clear. No interference from our manmade light that lights up the city for the rest of 365 days this year. However, I must admit that when I peeked out of the window to check out on the opposite unit who didn’t exactly follow the rule and had been visited twice or thrice by the Pecalang, the darkness outside scared me. To my ear the quiet moment were soothing and at the same time foreign. We would not have that til next year.

So, that was my first Nyepi in Bali.

My Version of Living in Bali

One sixth of 2016 has passed, here we are in March. I haven’t set a goal or anything this year, as I am quite busy (I know… no one believes that a full time housewife, with no kids can be busy). Never ask us to explain, because there are no words to better express our work in making a house home, even the small space we are currently living. It takes effort so that when the sudden hunger hits in the middle of the night, there is always things that you can process to satisfy your hunger.

So here are my 40 days in Bali, my 40 days without doing anything that requires me to answer and report to anyone.

Here we are in Bali, Beach is something that a must and given the 40 days which equal to almost 6 weekends, we have visited a few different spots in Bali. Don’t ask me if it is nice, it is always nice to be out and have some fresh air (fresh air here includes the pouring rain). It is just nice to look at the vast horizon and no building blocks your view. It is always breathtaking for me. You know me, I am impressed by all the little thing and I take that at as a blessing. Isn’t it tiring to always live with no satisfaction towards anything that you encounter?

And I am setting a goal that we are going for 24 sunsets within a year time at 24 different locations in Bali. Someone has to do the thinking where to go J I, on another hand, will work on the compilation of photos. Teamwork!

 

Food is another good thing here. I am easily satisfied with food, someone isn’t. However, he manages to be impressed by a few restaurant in town. If he is impressed, I am in heaven! It is whole different level of satisfaction. One of the restaurants that made me fly is La Finca. Gosh… the Spanish food there is superb! I also enjoy sitting at Envy, one of the restaurants in Holiday Inn Resort Baruna Bali. When the weather is friendly, you can finish your lunch and just sit there sipping your afternoon tea and listening to the sound of the wave breaking and practically just do nothing! I super love that! The price at La Finca is quite expensive, so that’s once in a while treat. However at Envy, I think it worth every penny you spent! Medan won’t have this kind of quality food, while Singapore will never have the serene ambience. Bali is Good!

 

The good thing of being together is that we are together. Many things that we did a lot alone last few years, we are able to do it together now, that includes simple thing like breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now, morning breakfast and coffee is a must, while dinner at home has become a test and reward moment for us. It is a test for me whether I am cooking well, and it is very rewarding when someone else finish it and ‘clean’ their plate. Those time and heat in the kitchen is made worthwhile. It is also rewarding for the consumer who come back from work and able to enjoy good homecooked food. Isn't it home definition in the most conservative way? Surprisingly I have done quite well in Chinese food, I think. But I wonder if I will ever be able to master the spices used in Indonesian food. I am really clueless.

 

Even in this beautiful Bali, there are days that we just spent lazing around, watching movie, sleeping at home, and do nothing. It is the ordinary day when both of us get to recharge our body and be ready for the upcoming week. Someone was even very kind to buy me the spa session for my birthday while he was working hard a few weeks ago. Thank you, Baby… That was a very good experience!

 

I am also introduced to many different sides of the city, especially the habits of the locals. I gather that Balinese is more polite than people from other cities in Indonesia. I also awed by one of the 'profession' here. It is the seller and buyer of gold jewelry by the road side. They will just have a chair along the street, about 10m -15m distances from one another, and they will just sit there the whole day waiting for people to come to sell their gold jewelry (and maybe something they sell too). That’s pretty boring kind of work, and I wonder if it can give them stable income, but looking at the number of people who do that (sit and wait), I guess it does generate money!

 

Another big thing that I am waiting for is: Nyepi, known as “Day of Silence”. I didn’t know much and not bother to find out more before, because Nyepi is just another public holiday when I resided in another city in Indonesia. This year will be different. It is just two days away, we have already received a notice from the apartment management to inform us not to turn the light on and keep it very quite on 9^th March, from 4pm to the following day. We are also asked not to go out of our house. My partner told me that it will be very quiet that day and everybody who lives in this island, whether or not we are a Hindu, we got to respect that. Even the airport is closed! The night before the Nyepi, the New year, it is said that there will be ritual on the streets while they carry a huge statue (ogoh-ogoh), before actually burning them, this symbolizes the burning of the evil spirits. I have seen quite a bit of them in some of the temples that we passed by, and I am really excited about it. I wonder how it will turn out that day, will it be boring or serene kinda day? But it is always nice getting to know other cultures. It might be similar to the Konghuchu, or it might be totally different, the most important thing here is to respect.

So… here is a glimpse of my version of Living in Bali.

One more thing, I initially planned to take a few months break here, but not doing anything (cooking and house chores excluded) are a bit boring. So I am starting my teaching again by end of this month. The challenge is not in the work itself, I am pretty sure I will do perfectly fine or even good. The challenge is getting up early. Instead of teaching private class, I am teaching at school for real now. The bad news is school start at 7.15. Wish me luck! Next month, I am wearing a few hats at the same time, I am a teacher, I am a wife, and I am a daughter! A few responsibilities on shoulder, but I would like to do all well. J All the best~