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暖かい歓迎
09.01.04 (1:08 am)   [edit]

私たちがモニタリングす とき、いつもア ェ避難民事業の受 益者のお母さんた は私たちを心尽 しの暖かい歓迎を してくれます。笑 を見せながら、 手を出し、伝統的 な柔らかい握手を ます。挨拶とし Selamat Datang [ようこそ]あるいはSelamat Siang 「こんにちは」と さしい声で言い Silakan, Silakan「どうぞ、どうぞ を繰り返しなが 、家の中まで案内 してくれます。だ たい家の中には でできている素朴 な家具があります 、グループの人 が多いので、土間 の上に竹で作られ 広い縁台のよう ものに座り、グル ープディスカッシ ンを行います。 通はその台の上に 寝たり、食べたり 家族が家は太い や梁でできており 、家作りは古い日 の農家に似てい す。


グループディスカ ションが始まる にお母さん達はイ ンドネシアの伝統 な美味しいお菓 を出してくれます 。そして、私たち お皿を推し進め がら、また「Silakan, Silakan」と言います。お 子の全ては心の もった自家製のも ので、口の中でや しく溶けます。 粉でできている揚 げたゴマだんごの うなOnde「オンデ」という 菓子の中には潰 た緑豆の餡が入っ ており、甘くて美 しいです。新鮮 サツマイイモ、キ ャッサバやカライ をから揚げにし ほかほかのままで 出すのもお楽しみ す。他には, Misro[ミスロ]もあります。ミス も米粉を丸めて げただんごのよう なものですが、中 黒砂糖の餡です


お母さんたちは支援で収入向上の めに野菜栽培、 ご作り、煎餅作り をやっていますが 必ず事業で作っ 煎餅を出してくれ ます。煎餅は日本 海老煎餅に似て ますが、内陸の方 なので海老を使わ に、塩味だけに ます。煎餅はパリ パリで、さっぱり した味がします 食べ始めたら、本 当に「やめられな 、止まらない」 ど美味しいです。 お腹がいっぱいに ってもお母さん ちはニコニコしな がら、「遠慮しな でもっと食べて !たくさんあるか ら!」と言います


私たちはモニタリングを っていますので もちろんちゃんと 事業における受益 の声を聞き、進 状況や問題点やそ の解決策などなど 話し合わなけれ なりませんが、と きどきお菓子が心 そらしてしまい す。気が散らない ように集中力が必 です。砂糖は頭 回転が活発になる 効果があると言わ ていますので、 母さんたちのお菓 子をいっぱい食べ ら、最高のモニ リングができるか もしれません!?:shock:

 
Maluku
07.19.04 (8:48 pm)   [edit]
Its been a long time since I have blogged. Work has been crazy as usual. It is easier to work hard without getting tired if there is some clear goal that you are aiming for. In my case it is to convince HQ to keep the Indonesian office open and to convince them to allow my family to come here.

The last 11 days have been spent in Maluku Province in East Indonesia. We have been to some great places. We spent 2 days on Seram island, 4 days in the remote Kei Islands and the rest of the time on Ambon Island where the provincial capital is. There was a conflict flare up here in April which lead to about 40 people being killed. Luckily the conflict didn’t spread to other Islands. Many people have reasoned that the reason why the conflict didn’t spread this time, unlike in 1999, was that the community’s resistance to conflict has grown. They are not so easily provoked by those intent on spreading the violence.

This was one of the most impressionable things during the trip. Everyone we spoke to on Seram and Kei were able to see the conflict flare up in Ambon city for what it was, namely, an act of provocation from outside. They didn’t want to be part of it and took positive steps as a community to prevent the conflict coming to their Islands. Even in Ambon city where the violence took place, ordinary people wanted to get on with their lives although there was more fear here than in other parts of Maluku.

The city of Ambon has returned to close to normal now just 3 months after the flare up. People are using the markets together, are crossing the religious lines invisibly drawn over the city and transport networks have been reestablished. There are still parts of town where a Christian dare not go and visa versa, but these are decreasing. There is a lot of work for us to do here.

We have to make a choice to begin our peacebuilding work in Poso, Central Sulawesi or here in Maluku. Both areas suffer from Christian/Muslim fighting with a strong undercurrent of political motivations. Ideally we work in both areas, but at least initially we have to make a choice.

Poso is a smaller town, has a smaller international NGO presence and there is more room to move in terms of the programs we could do. Maluku has bigger needs but also has a bigger international NGO community, has better infrastructure, and is better known of in Japan which can help funding. Even though there was a flare up of conflict in Ambon city in April, Poso feels more dangerous. The last serious violence there was in October last year when unknown gangs attacked Christian communities burning and killing. Last Saturday, there was a bomb blast at an arts event organized by an international NGO for peacebuilding between the communities. Just last night too, a Christian priest was shot dead in a nearby town by unknown assailants. These acts are done by what is known as spoilers. That is people who want to disrupt the peace process.

The main two theories behind the violence in Ambon on April 25 are that Wiranto (an ex-hard line genral and now Presidential candidate) organized the violence to try to discredit Susilo (another ex-general but more liberal who is also a Presidential candidate and favorite to win) who had been part of the peace agreement process and had dismissed the RMS at that time. Also to discredit Megawati (the incumbent President) by showing that she had not done anything to solve conflict in her 5-year term. Another theory is that army units stationed here had organized the violence and sniper shootings to maintain their valuable protection rackets. Businesses and other entities pay the army to protect their property and it is a huge business. If there is no conflict, the motivation to pay protection money goes away and the army loses out. I think it is a combination of both. Both Wiranto and the army were beneficiaries of the violence but thankfully it wasn’t enough to get him through the first round of elections. Theories about organized terrorist groups are generally dismissed as having no basis at least in Maluku.

In Poso though it is a different story. There abound theories of the presence of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in Poso. This is a group that has some links to Al Qeada. Although I doubt how big a threat they are in Poso it is still a concern. If they really wanted to disturb the peace process they could more than set off a small bomb that did virtually no damage. Theories regarding the participation of the military in the attacks all also rife here. The attackers use military issue weapons and are obviously trained. There have been no attacks against foreigners. It seems they are more set keeping the Muslim and Christian communities apart.
All pretty evil stuff I reckon.

On the Kei Islands we saw the most beautiful beaches. There are a number of these type of remote islands groups in south Maluku. They often have great beaches but suffer from poverty and suffered greatly from the conflict in 99-2000. Most of the international NGOs work in the areas around Ambon city but few venture to these islands where needs are high. From a logistical perspective, starting activities from a place like Kei would be tough. We were hosted by a large international NGO whom we share a global alliance with. They also have a strong base in Ambon city but work in remote areas like Kei as well. I think we would want to start in Ambon, but in the future I would like to try and work in areas like Kei. There are the Aru Islands, Tanimbar, Babar, Lucipara and Wetar amongst a whole range of islands and island groups that have no external assistance. Although they can cope on their own a lot could be achieved with the right type of assistance.

We stayed at a beach resort the last two nights. Although not right on the beach iand basic it was nice. They had karaoke there and people would go there to sing and drink alcohol until 2 am. It was so loud. Our partner organization knew the people there and so we were encouraged to join the karaoke. I thought I would give it a try. The room was so dark with a single disco light dimly flashing in the middle. There were two women who worked there who we had been talking with during the day. They were typical karaoke bar girls who were cheerful and laughed a lot at my bad Bahasa.

One of them was reading a romantic novel and some women’s magazines when we returned one afternoon on the verandah of her cottage (it was a row of cottages all joined). I looked through the magazine which just a normal looking housewife orientated magazine and there were advertisements for all sorts of creams and pills to enlarge buttocks, enlarge breasts, lose weight, put on weight, increase desire, and to tighten vaginas. There were also adds for vibrators and other sex toys. These ads in women’s magazines are normal in Indonesia it seems. For language study purposes only of course I began reading some of these ads aloud and asking the meaning of all these words I didn’t know (There was a lot of words I didn’t know as I haven’t got to the ‘sexlife’ section of my beginners bahasa text book). This inevitably drew howls of laughter from everybody. I then moved to a steamy scene in the novel where I really got in to some serious vocab building. The word that got the biggest laugh was ‘jrott’. I am not sure what it means exactly but it appeared when the man came. Maybe its like an onomatopoeia for ejaculation. It was actually good reading practice which I haven’t done much of.

Another memorable experience was a visit to Wayame outside of Ambon city. There we visited some community leaders and talked about there experience through the conflict. Wayame is significant because it was able to maintain the peace throughout the conflict since 99 even though it is a mixed community. I was curious to find out how they were able to achieve this significant feat so that we could possibly apply it to other communities. However, the meeting was memorable for the reasons different to what I thought it might be. We met a Christian and a Muslim leader and the Christian guy was so agitated from the outset. He couldn’t keep still, refused to look us in the eye and shook his head continually. He spoke with such anger and passion. He spoke about the rottenness of politicians, the army and all the people who came to talk to then like objects, of which we were another in a long history obviously.

But we listened to them both patiently and at one point they said something that really caught my attention. “So many people come and talk to us, to learn the formula of how we kept the peace. They then think that they can apply what they hear in a one hour conversation to their projects in other areas. What we did grew out of experience. What we did was tough sometimes and other communities may not be able to swallow such bitter medicine to keep their communities healthy. We are the only ones who can pass on this knowledge. We want to pass it on to other communities we haven’t had the chance”.

I thought, “Wow, what a great idea. These guys have a wealth of knowledge to share. Real life experience. They have survived the conflict in peace and want to share this knowledge. This is a great chance for us too.” I asked them if they had ever offered their services to other people who had come earlier and they said that it was only a recent idea of theirs. There are plenty of communities in Maluku who have become divided by the conflict. Usually one religious group has been driven from their homes and are still living as internally displaced persons (IDPs) elsewhere. An important part of the reconciliation process is getting people to live in peace together again. The government is supposed provide a housing package, although there are often delays and bureaucratic red tape typical of Indonesia. If we could work in coordination with the government to facilitate the return of the IDPs it would be good I thought. The leaders from Wayame could play a great role in this talking about their experiences of how a mixed community was able to live in peace. We’ll see how this turns out.

We visited one community on Seram Island that was an IDP community. They had been displaced since 1999 from their village on the other side of this big island and no one had been back since. They desperately wanted to return but had received no assistance from the government for housing despite numerous promises. They had no money for transport back to see their old village and meet with their former neighbors who they fled from in fear 5 years ago. They were living temporary houses made from palm fronds and wood planks. They really needed some help. We contacted an international NGO that were working on this Island and told them about this community. Hopefully they can be helped.

What else?? I don’t know. I’m sure there were more experiences I will recall later. Anyway, now I have to put all this information in to a comprehensible presentation to convince HQ to keep our programs going here. And to allow my family to join me. Its going to be a busy 9 days until my return.


 
Missed plane
06.14.04 (2:48 am)   [edit]
My driver assured me that if we left the apartment at 4.30 am we would make the 5.30 plane. We didn't! There were no traffic jams, no breakdowns, no car jackings, nothing. We got to the airport at 5am. Got to the check in desk at 5.05 and were told that check closed at 5am sharp. So much for being a rubber time country. I haven't been pissed off for a while but I was pissed off at the driver this morning. :x I told him off and he realized his mistake but it was impossible to tell if he knew the hassles he had caused. I asked him if he understood and he said "ya ya sorry sorry"??!!

So after exploring other options we rebooked for tomorrow and came back to Jakarta. I wrote some reports and emails, worked on accounting issues and plan to go home early. Tomorrow we leave at 3.45am. :oops:
 
US will win in Iraq
06.14.04 (2:36 am)   [edit]
Really I don't think anyone will really win in Iraq at this stage. This is just part two of my experiment. Since my last entry entitled "GREAT SEX" my hits went up by 58. Considering I have been doing this blog for about 5 months and had reached only 1905 before the entry, it was a huge number of hits for one day. People sure like sex. I will see how it goes with the above title. I am going to West Papua in far western Indonesia tomorrow. I don't whether I can connect to the internet?!? :?
 
GREAT SEX
06.12.04 (7:43 am)   [edit]
Sorry to disappoint you. This is not actually about sex at all. I am just doing an experiment inspired by [url=http://alfranken.tblog.com/]Al Franken [/url] who wrote Iraq War in the heading just to increase hits. But I reckon that humans being humans and generally addicted to sex still find sex more interesting than the Iraq war. So this is part one in the experiment. Tomorrow I will try thing with 'Iraq War'. Currently my hits are 1905. How will they be in 24 hours??? :idea:
 
Ramble
06.12.04 (7:27 am)   [edit]
I’ve been working really hard the last couple of weeks since my family left to go back to Japan. I figure that if a I really put in a few extra miles now before reporting back to HQ at the end of July I should be able to impress the powers above that I am indispensable here in Indonesia and that they had better let my family come here. My intuition is telling me that I have a connection with Indonesia. It is not like I am enamored with the place or anything. It is a similar thing to Japan. I like the Japan and think there are some absolutely beautiful areas and charming people. But I am not a Japan nut. Some gaijin in Japan try to become more Japanese than Japanese. I speak the language better than 98% of gaijin there but still feel that I am not attached to the place. It will be interesting to go back there in July just to see how I feel about the place after some distance both physical and psychologically. I haven’t been away from Japan this long in about 7 years.

The other day at the Embassy there was a meeting about Japanese aid with the Economic Minister and some other government people. I felt a bit nervous in front of this really high level guy and hadn’t spoken Japanese properly for probably a month so ended up not speaking properly. I said some words which don’t even exist. Words which if thought about from the perspective of the kanji characters make sense, but are not real words. I wanted to say that we are planning to revive our emergency relief program which would be 緊急援助のプログ ムを復活する予 があります。復活 fukkatsu means revive but instead I said 再活 saikatsu which if you look at just the characters, 再 means again, afresh and renew, and, 活 is vitality and live, so what I said would be something similar to fukkatsu but the problem is the word isn't in the dictionary. After I said it I sat there thinking while ignoring the ongoing conversation, is that a real word??. After returning home my suspicions were confirmed when I found it wasn't in the dictionary. Nobody seemed to notice that I was using words that didn’t exist, or maybe they were being stoically polite as Japanese are very good at.

Anyway, back to Indonesia, I started learning Indonesian a few years ago when there was a chance that I was going to be sent here to set up an office for another Japanese NGO. I really wanted to come so started learning so as to strengthen my case. The whole thing fell through with 9/11 as all the focus was shifted to Afghanistan. I later went there and did the initial research for setting up an office there. The office in Afghanistan was eventually realized after I left the organization according to my recommendations but that is a different story. (I can’t focus on one story tonight!)

Anyway, I eventually quit my Indonesian lessons as I couldn't see anyway for me to be able to come here for work again. My intuition was telling me to continue but I couldn’t see the point. Logic won out and I gave up. Of course intuition was right and here I am. I am catching up with my Indonesian now. But I think this indicates that I am supposed to be here for a while. I think if I was to be here for 1-2 years my Indonesian would be pretty good as long as I keep studying hard. I certainly think Indonesia holds great potential for my organization to do good work and expand its current small programs. I hope to play the leading role in this fukkatsu of the organization here.
:lol:
 
Trip
06.09.04 (5:56 am)   [edit]
I'm off to Papua, Central Sulawesi and South Sulawesi from Monday for 2 weeks which should be an adventure. I wanted to go to Maluku too but because of the renewed instability and difficulty in gaining access to important resource people the trip to there had been delayed until after the Presidnetial Elections on July 5. I'll try to take some good photos for this blog (and work!). Recently I have been busy talking to other NGOs and Japanese officials here. Things are looking pretty positive in terms of getting new funding for projects. Anyway I gotta go! :shock:
 
decision plus 1
06.06.04 (8:27 pm)   [edit]
One more decision that I think was rally good was the decision to give up drinking and drugs. I want go into detail here but I remember going to parties in my late teems and early twenties and seeing two groups of people. One taking drugs or drinking too much and the other not. The not side always seemed to be having a better time, looked more alive and brighter. So I thought I would rather be like that. From working at some pretty rough working class bars around Melbourne I knew the damage that over drinking could do and from some friends of friends I knew what long term drug taking could even with so called light drugs. With this experience I knew that I didn't want to be part of it, so I quit it all and haven't regreted a day. People look at me sometimes like your an Australian who doesn't drink!!??? They exist??? But people always accept it and once they know they never ask you again. :D
 
Decisions
06.03.04 (7:21 pm)   [edit]
The best decisions I have ever made in my life.

1. Decision to marry my wife, who is the greatest. I was nervous at first about getting married but after 6 months of soul searching I decided to take the plunge and haven’t looked back since. I love her more now than I ever have.

2. The decision to do a meditation retreat in southern Thailand in 1992. I has just said goodbye to a friend who was leaving the island I was staying on. It wasn’t just a goodbye, it was in many ways the final closing of an era. She left and as soon as she was gone I saw a notice for the retreat just 10 minutes drive away with registration starting in 2 hours. I thought, this is exactly what I need, and went to the retreat. 12 years of meditating and countless retreats later, that decision to go to that retreat changed my life for the better.

3. Decision to go to a yoga class at Dance of Life. A friend managed to convince me to go to a 6:30 am class. I had done some yoga before then, but not seriously. 2 and a half years of intense yoga 4-5 times a week from 6:30 am later, my body, my mind, my attitude had changed completely. The friends I made there I still love, my teacher is still the most optimistic energetic person I know and through the experience I met my Guru.

4. Decision to learn Japanese. After traveling through SE Asia for a year I had ran out of money and decided to go to Japan, a country I knew little about, for the sole purpose of making money. Little did I know the relationship that would begin from this materialistic aim. I decided to start learning the language out of curiosity and a desire to move beyond just English. This was especially since when I was traveling I was always meeting Europeans who spoke 2-3-4-5 languages, which I thought was just fantastic. Learning Japanese to the point where I am now has expanded my mind, given me more to appreciate and understand in the world and created fantastic opportunities, which I may not of otherwise had.

5. Decision to follow Amma. Amma has been a huge influence on my life. She is the embodiment of compassion and goodness in this world. Everyday I bow down to her and set her grace.

That’s all I can think of for now. After writing about these decisions, I just noticed a pattern. All of them were bold and required sacrificed and hard work. I am now learning Indonesian and working hard here away from my family, which requires sacrifice and effort. I hope that in the future that decision will be seen to be a great one. :D
 
Warm Japanese
06.01.04 (6:14 am)   [edit]
In my last Japanese entry I wrote somewhat harshly about Japan. How people had become strangers and lost some of their warmth. However, now I feel that I may have been too rash in my feeling. May be it was me who had lost my warmth, toward Japan at least.

There have been a couple of events that made me review my previous feeling. One was the treatment my wife got at the Japanese consulate in Melbourne when she had to get a new passport made for one of my sons faster than usual. My son’s passport was soon to expire and was unable to leave Australia on the date planned. This wasn’t discovered until check in at the airport so there was a mad rush to get a new passport. My wife said the staff there were so kind, expressed such empathy and did so much for her beyond the call of duty. My wife she said she almost felt like crying from such kindness. The consulate didn’t ask for details but expressed sympathy for my wife and made the passport overnight at no extra charge. In contrast when she tried to get an Australian passport at the local passport office for my son they were inflexible and accusing. I realize the terrorist threat but my wife said they were just cold.

Another event which made me review my feelings was a group of Japanese older women who came to Jakarta and who donated some money to us. It was the first time for me to interact with a group of Japanese people for a whole day in a few months and I really enjoyed it. I was like their tour guide for a day. I was a Japanese tour guide all throughout my graduate school studies in Melbourne so it brought back a lot of memories. I enjoyed that job. I wouldn’t want to do it as a career as it has not much in the way of challenges and promotions once you get the job down, but it was fun, light and a nice way to help people to enjoy themselves.

These Japanese women were all very qualified (doctors, executives etc.) and rich, but they were humble, polite and still could enjoy a good laugh. Of course I had to be polite to them, but unlike what most non-Japanese think, Japanese politeness isn’t necessarily cold. I enjoyed joking with them and stirring them a bit. You can go too far in what you say, but just like anywhere in the world, if you say it with a smile and without malice (and use the right polite verb forms), you can get away with a lot. They were fairly typical Japanese women (maybe richer than average?) but really nice people.

So I think Japanese people are still warm people. I think I was having a bad day, or maybe month. I don’t want to lose my connection with Japan as it has been so good to me. Given me so many great experiences and opportunities. For that I will always be thankful. 8)

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View from the back of a bicycle taxi on the way to Sunda Kelapa port in North Jakarta. Do you like the skier on his shirt? A nice contrast in tropical Jakarta I thought.

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On a boat tour through the port. These photos have nothing to so with the blog entry.

 
new photos
05.30.04 (12:58 am)   [edit]
I added a photo of the elevator air freshners in Indonesia which was the topic of my May 11 entry scroll down if your interested. Also I have noticed that sometimes quotation marks sometimes turn into question marks. If I fix it once by editing the entry it seems to be OK but then it might revert back to question marks later?? I don't know why.
 
love fest
05.29.04 (11:40 pm)   [edit]
Lovefest! My wife and kids came and we had a love fest together. After some delays and tears over whether they should come or not, they arrived Wednesday and stayed one week. It was so nice to see them all. From the moment they arrived it felt special, probably because of the earlier problems.

I had the maid ready and waiting with dinner when we arrived back from the airport. Thursday was spent at a safari park outside Jakarta which was so great. So many tigers and other big cats. The boys and I even had our photo taken with a leopard while it was sitting on our laps. The orangutans were great. They just walk around in certain parts of the park and you can go up and shake their hands. They are so affectionate. They put their arms around us and seemed so comfortable just sitting there holding our hands. We patted pythons and elephants, rode camels and watched a tiger and lion show.

Friday morning we went to check out an international school. It was good but my wife thought it was too Indian. I then went to work but had lunch with my family and Japanese woman who has lived here for 7 years and so she able to tell my wife all about life here. My wife felt more at ease about things like the children getting sick etc. after that.

Friday afternoon my wife went shopping and then we had a dinner date just the two of us at a traditional performance restaurant. We were the only customers there and there were about 8 performers, 5 waiters and obviously a number people cooking just for us. The show was good. The funniest part was when they did short versions of different types of music from around Indonesia. They started with Bali. It was quiet as the musicians got ready and then all of a sudden there was a rain of crashing, banging and hitting. It was so loud and chaotic. There was a sense behind it I think, but a sense of what I’m not sure. It went for 10 seconds. 10 full seconds of full sound, then suddenly stopped dead, followed by “That was music from Bali” in a most somber voice. My wife and just looked at each other and burst out laughing. We lost it for a while. We were like “What the fuck was that!” The music came and went in a flash. We tried to control our giggles to be polite to the performers who were very much focused on their only audience and trying very hard, but it was tough for us to stifle our laughter. We calmed down a little by the time the next music started. Thankfully it went on for a few minutes this time and was more subdued otherwise we would have been on the floor throwing up our gado-gado from laughing too much.

Saturday was spent by the pool here. Saturday night we went to a dinner for work. A group of donors from an international women’s charity organization were coming to Japan to meet their Jakarta counterparts and we were invited for a friendship signing dinner. So my wife and I went to that and left the boys watching the Cat in the Hat VCD on the computer with the maid and my Indonesian teacher who speaks English.

Saturday we all went to a town outside of Jakarta in mini-bus, which I had organized with the Japanese women and some of their Indonesian counterparts. We went to a tea plantation and had a tea factory tour with an English guide and me interpreting into Japanese. The there was tea tasting and souvenir buying. It was chaotic. There were 6 Japanese women. They bought between about 100 big boxes of tea. 100!! The only reason they didn’t buy more was because the tea plantation ran out of stock!!! This is like a 100-acre tea plantation. It’s huge and it ran out stock. One lady bought 40 boxes. They also bought hats, honey, toys, paintings, and postcards from the various vendors hanging around like hyenas around a lion kill. I was interpreting Japanese/English/Indonesi an (badly). I didn’t even get to taste any tea!!

Then we were off to lunch at a mountain pass restaurant that was great. Good food, nice décor, and clean enough for the Japanese women. There were no incidents here except to say it was good. Then to a local orphanage where we had arranged sewing machines, mattresses and a chicken-raising program with money they had donated. It was good see everyone happy. The Japanese women gave them t-shirts, towels and bags they had brought from Japan and the orphans showed what they had learnt in the last week with the sewing machines. When we said goodbye, there were a few teary eyes which always nice too see.

Monday and Tuesday we all went to an Island of the coast from Jakarta. It was fantastic. There are hundreds of Islands off the coast of Jakarta and they are popular with tourists. Some are very developed but we chose one that still had jungle, only simple accommodation and good snorkeling. Our hut didn’t have walls and was located in an isolated corner of the island set a little back from the beach surrounded by jungle. It was spacious and looked beautiful. All meals were included and we didn’t have to do anything. We all went snorkeling together including my 2 yo. He had a ring float around him and a pair of goggles. He has always loved the water and so was soon sticking his head under the water to look at the fish. It was so nice to be swimming around the tropical water looking at the coral and fish as a family. The coral was badly damaged and there was rubbish here and there but it was still beautiful and we had a great time. There were well-maintained walking tracks criss-crossing the island which helped to explore the island under the captaincy of boy no. 1 who directed us on how to find the deer on the island. There were only 3 small deer on the island and we didn’t see any in the end, but he had a great time being captain. There were big lizards also, like goannas in Australia, all over the island. We saw plenty of them. Tuesday night back in Jakarta my wife and played tennis while the boys watched Mr. Bean on VCD. It was the first time for the boys to see Mr. Bean and they were both nearly wetting their pants they were laughing so much. We can back from tennis and watched the last part with them and soon we were all laughing together.

Then it was Wednesday. I went to work and my wife went shopping. I came home early and then we went swimming one last time, had dinner at the poolside restaurant and then went to the airport. It was sad to say goodbye but I felt so happy that we able to come if only for week. It made me feel so much different and gave me strength to work hard over the next couple of months to do a good job and then bring them over here to live. It was really a week when I felt my life is blessed. Thank you universe.:D

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The pool which we all enjoyed

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The view from the office window. Certainly a long way from Afghanistan!
 
hisashiburi ni
05.16.04 (2:02 am)   [edit]
最近全& #28982;日本&# 35486;でブ 2525;グし 390;いな{ 56;のでߡ 0;日久し ;ぶりに 日本語& #12391;書く&# 12290;イン 2489;ネシ 450;ではĄ 85;本語ӗ 1;話す機 ;会はあ まりな& #12356;。本&# 37096;と日 6412;語で 424;くメ} 40;ルでӚ 0;り取り ;してい るが、& #38651;話で&# 35441;す機 0250;は少 394;い。

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僕が一& #20154;でガ&# 12513;ラン 2434;聞い 390;いた{ 92;思っӗ 0;いたが ;、振り 返った& #12425;、そ&# 12398;日本 0154;も聞 356;てい{ 83;。こӓ 8;いうこ ;とを普 通にあ& #12414;りし&# 12394;いが 2289;地球 398;歩きĄ 41;で働ӓ 6;ている ;かどう か聞き& #12383;かっ&# 12383;ので 2289;勇気 434;出し{ 90;彼にࣤ 8;をかけ ;た。や はり、& #22320;球の&# 27497;き方 2391;働き 289;今来ñ 80;度に࠲ 6;版され ;るイン ドネシ& #12450;のガ&# 12452;ドブ 2483;クの 383;めのţ 19;査をඡ 2;ってい ;た。結 局、2& #26178;間ぐ&# 12425;い話 2375;てい 390;、や{ 87;ぱりӌ 9;結構面 ;白い仕 事だな& #12354;と思&# 12387;た。 1069;原さ 435;とい{ 58;方だӔ 9;ど、フ ;リーラ ンスの& #12488;ラベ&# 12523;ライ 2479;ーで 320;球のĒ 97;き方Ӗ 4;けでは ;なく、 いろい& #12429;なガ&# 12452;ドブ 2483;クや 488;ラベ} 23;情報ӗ 8;出版物 ;のため に働い& #12390;いる&# 12290;ほと 2435;ど世 028;中をÞ 38;ってӓ 6;るが、 ;一番好 きなと& #12371;ろは&# 12450;ジア 2289;特に 452;ンド| 93;シアӖ 4;そうだ ;。なぜ インド& #12493;シア&# 12364;すき 2394;のか 392;聞い{ 83;ら、ਵ 2;の日本 ;の田舎 の風景& #12364;多い&# 12363;らだ 2392;答え 383;。僕{ 99;インӠ 9;ネシア ;での経 験はま& #12384;まだ&# 27973;いが 2289;それ 434;聞い{ 83;ら、ӎ 0;なるほ ;ど」と 無意識& #12395;考え&# 12383;。凧 5562;げを 375;たりz 89;おもӖ 5;ゃなし ;での外 遊びし& #12383;り、&# 33258;由に 6208;りま 431;った| 26;する࿬ 3;水が垂 ;れてい る子供& #12383;ちが&# 26412;当に 7963;気で 322;れ、Ð 03;気よӔ 7;生きて ;いる風 景がイ& #12531;ドネ&# 12471;アで 2424;く見 427;。

翌日の& #37329;曜日&# 12395;中央 2472;ャワ 798;の超Ĭ 00;舎のਬ 1;に行っ ;た時、 おばあ& #12373;ん達&# 12434;イン 2479;ビュ 540;したz 90;家はࡣ 6;い日本 ;の農家 みたい& #12394;もの&# 12391;、皆 2399;素朴 395;生活{ 75;ていӚ 7;なあと ;思った 。農家& #12392;言っ&# 12390;も、 0170;まだ 085;本にē 31;ってӓ 6;る立派 ;な農家 ではな& #12367;、お&# 12400;あさ 2435;達の$ 786;家はë 67;さくӗ 0;、土間 ;しかな い、板& #12391;でき&# 12383;壁に 2399;隙間 364;いっ| 01;いあӚ 6;、昔の ;貧しい 日本の& #12424;うな&# 39080;景だ 2387;た。% 329;銭的{ 95;そのӔ 2;ばあさ ;ん達は 貧しく& #12390;いろ&# 12356;ろな 4847;味で 983;活がä 23;変だӔ 4;、心が ;温かく て、僕& #12383;ちを&# 27475;迎し 2390;くれ 383;。飲| 15;物や೽ 8;家製お ;菓子を 出し、& #29105;心に&# 12452;ンド 2493;シア# 486;で「{ 93;こかӚ 5;来たの ;」や「 何か食& #12409;るの&# 12301;とい 2358;典型 340;なイ} 31;ドネӟ 1;アでの ;挨拶を してく& #12428;た。&# 30342;と握 5163;し、 163;を心{ 95;付けӗ 0;「どぞ ;どぞお 入りく& #12384;さい&# 12301;とニ 2467;ニコ 375;なが| 25;、僕Ӗ 3;ちを迎 ;えた。

もちろ& #12435;現代&# 12398;日本 2395;はそ 398;よう{ 94;暖かӓ 6;歓迎が ;まだあ るが少& #12394;くな&# 12387;てい 2427;とい 358;気が{ 77;る。ਰ 5;本が豊 ;かにな り、お& #23458;さん&# 12395;お菓 3376;を出 377;のはô 03;たり࠺ 9;のこと ;になっ た。こ& #12371;でも&# 12354;る意 1619;で当 383;り前{ 84;が、Ӕ 2;菓子の ;高級さ よりも& #12289;感じ&# 12425;れる 2398;はど 398;ぐら{ 56;その೽ 8;家製の ;お菓子 に心が& #36796;めて&# 12356;るの 2363;とい 358;こと{ 84;。貧ӕ 5;いのに ;心から うれし& #12367;他人&# 12434;迎え 2427;人は 371;の国z 89;特にஸ 0;舎に多 ;いと思 います& #12290;飲み&# 29289;やお 3747;子を 986;して{ 63;ら、࠶ 9;の部屋 ;に行っ て晴れ& #30528;に着&# 26367;えた 2290;夫は 429;うけ{ 88;染めӗ 8;シャツ ;、妻は 鮮やか& #12394;ドレ&# 12473;に着 6367;えた 290;確か{ 95;プラӝ 2;ドが高 ;いが、 それは& #12356;いこ&# 12392;だと 4605;う。

6月に& #65299;週間&# 31243;度、 9694;地調 619;を行{ 58;予定Ӕ 4;ある。 ;ほとん ど田舎& #12391;人と&# 35441;し会 2387;たり 289;情報Ö 54;集しӖ 3;り、車 ;で移動 したり& #12377;ると&# 24605;う。 2381;の機 250;でさ| 25;にイӥ 1;ドネシ ;アを知 るよう& #12395;なれ&# 12400;、い 2356;なあ 392;希望{ 75;ていӚ 7;。 :D
この下& #12398;はガ&# 12513;ラン 2398;パフ 457;ーマ} 31;スだӔ 4;ちょっ ;と暗い 。ごめ& #12435;!
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この下& #12398;は出&# 24373;から 2398;写真 391;す。Ď 05;しんӗ 1;くださ ;い。
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photos
05.15.04 (8:23 am)   [edit]
Well I finally put in some effort to work out the photobucket thing and it was surprisingly easy. Just cut and paste the tag. Anyway I will add some photos to previous entries. For the moment here is me in Afghanistan with a beard. It is the only time I'va had a beard. But it looks OK I reckon! :P

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corrupt!
05.15.04 (7:13 am)   [edit]
Corruption is so rife here in Indonesia. It is embedded in the official system so much that there is only a fine line between bribes and official fees. It is common and accepted practice. Let me give you a few examples.

As a foreigner working here in this highly bureaucratic government centric society I must gain obtain various permits for working, residency, travel to hotspots etc. I must register with several related government departments and fill in almost endless paperwork. To have this paper work processed I sometimes have to pay two sets of fees usually. One is the official fee for which I receive an official receipt on nicely itemized and printed paper. The other type of fees I pay are called "commission". This is unofficial fee.

Or maybe semi-official would be a better description. "Semi" because it is almost common practice across some government departments. Some will even sign a receipt for you for your own accounting purposes. In Indonesia many small shops and taxis etc. don't have their own receipts so what many companies and organizations do, including us, is to have our own receipt books which we fill in ourselves and then get the taxi driver or shop keeper to sign. Obviously, it is open to abuse (Though we are honest! Really!). Anyway, the government bureaucrats are usually willing to sign one these unofficial receipts are the name of "commission" even if it is a blatant bribe. Some don't really sign but just scibble something so that they can't be identified but it is still valid for accounting purposes for us. The unofficial receipts are accepted by professional accountants and auditors. Bribery is part of the system.

Another crazy thing is the level of organization of the bribery. For example, if I have to pay a "commission" of 200,000 rupiah ($25) and I bring in two Rp100,000 notes they won't accept it. I have to bring in four Rp.50,000 notes so the four top officials in on the scam (even saying "in on the scam" isn't right because it is no secret) can split it evenly without having to worry about breaking the notes. They don't like giving change either. They want their bribes made easy. The rate of the bribes and the number of officials on the recipient list is set though it varies from department to department and depends on the type of permission sought. You can ring up and enquire to the relevant bureaucrat.

So what happens if you refuse to pay "commission"? Your application gets lost or just gets stuck in the system for months. I am pretty sure that nearly all foreign companies and organizations (no matter how high minded some NGOs maybe??!!) pay these commissions. I wonder if Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other strongly anti-corruption organizations pay? If anyone knows please tell me.

Granted that government workers don't get paid much, but some of them don't work much either and have almost 100% job security for life. The other day I went to the State Secretariat. Something like the Ministry for the Interior or Home Affairs. Anyway, there are about 100 blue government buses in the car park. Because Jakarta is so huge and congested these buses chug around arriving at the office about 10am. People work for a couple of hours, have lunch for an hour and then the buses leave again at about 3pm. Tough life! NOT!

Even though the corporate sector pays much better it is still a great honor for parents to have their children working as a public servant. (You really have to question the use of the word "public servant" in situations like this as not all of them are serving the public) It is secure, easy, guaranteed of regular promotion regardless of ability, and there is a great retirement package to look forward too. Not a bad life. :?

Below is a uncorrupt Indonesian. The majority of Indonesians are uncorrupt. The owner of this great smile is a woman from Central Java I was interviewing for monitoring a project we are supporting.
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Air Fresheners in Indonesia
05.10.04 (7:04 am)   [edit]
Indonesians love air fresheners. And I?m not talking aromatherapy here. They like typical cheap ?natural & fresh lemon zinger? fragrance type fresheners that you would expect to find in granny?s outback dunny. But they don?t just put these overwhelmingly strong fresheners in toilets but in all sorts on small confined areas so the smell can overwhelm your senses like in elevators. Almost any elevator in a modern building in Jakarta has a special freshener dispenser stuck on the wall made by a reputable company. You can tell when the dispenser has been renewed because it is difficult to breath. I have asked several Indonesians about this phenomenon and they all like it saying it smells natural. Natural!! What a load of shit! Maybe because they live in Jakarta they have lost touch with nature. :?

Maybe Indonesians fart a lot in elevators and the fresheners are there to save face and lungs. They must be really smelly farts to have to use so much freshener. If this new theory is correct then I can probably put with ?natural & fresh lemon zinger? rather than be exposed to what is supposed to be masking. Long live natural & fresh lemon zinger. :lol:

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An elevator air freshner!!!! beware!!

 
Not much
05.07.04 (4:31 am)   [edit]
I have sent so many emails today. Here I am working in a far away, so would exotic land, and I am just sending emails all day. Well, at least it is Friday and I have some adventures planned for the weekend. On Sunday on going on half a business and half a pleasure trip to the mountains to see aome botanical gardens and volcanos. I ahve to go to the Embassy on Monday afternoon. I feel a bit nervous for some reason but I shouldn't. Well at least I think I shouldn't. That's it. 8)
 
Funny experiences
05.05.04 (4:45 am)   [edit]
Well the weekend was a long one but I got sick again with diarrhea. But Ive had some funny experiences in the last couple of days and one is related to the diarrhea! But first the gay encounter.

On Sunday, after a major bout of diarrhea I went for a walk to the national monument or Monas as it is called here. The monument is surrounded by extensive open grounds and a scattering of trees. It is a huge space in the center of the city but theres not enough trees. Anyway, the trees have nothing to do with the story. So after walking around for a while I sat down on a bench and this local guy comes up and says hello as Indonesians like to do. I said hello back and he started talking to me in broken English and some Bahasa. We talk about my wife and kids, work, weather, just stuff. After a while he says he likes me. Mmmmmm, I think. So I ask him what does like mean. So he says he likes me with a big grin. So just to confirm (my gaydar is about as sharp as a bowling ball!) I say you mean as a friend or what and hes like No I like to touch you. Oh I say. But I just told you I am married with 2 children and hes like it doesnt matter, lots of people are like this even if they are married. Lots??!!

So anyway after he gets the idea that he is not getting down my pants, we start talking about gay life in Jakarta. All the places to find gays, the websites, his experience with some English guy (who was apparently married to a woman) who paid him $100 which he used to pay university fees, his future (he wants to get married but doubts whether he can give up the gay life), gaydar (I dont know if this is Australian slang or not but it is the ability to know if a person is gay or not just by looking at them or talking to them) and more. I asked him why he approached me and he said he thought I might be gay. Well I laughed and thought well gays are supposed to be more fashionable and stylish so it could be considered a compliment to be thought of as gay maybe. Anyway, he wanted my contact details which I refused saying clearly but laughingly why. He finally gave me his phone number and told me to introduce him to my gay foreigner friends in Jakarta despite my pointing out that I have no gay friends anywhere in the world. I think Ive already lost his number. It was a funny experience.:D

Story number 2 is that after the come back of my horror diarrhea I went to the doctor Tuesday morning. The clinic I went to is in the building that the office is in and is aimed at Japanese. Many of the offices in this building are Japanese companies. So I go there and everyone is Indonesian but speaking Japanese from the receptionist to the nurses to the doctor. Im like what parallel universe is this? I ask the doctor (in Japanese) if Japanese or English is better and of course he says Japanese. So I talk to him, describing my symptoms and answering his questions in Japanese.

His Japanese was great. Although he and most of nurses had an Indonesian intonation, the grammar and specialized words were spot on. But it wasnt just the language that made the experience Japanese-ish. There were Japanese newspapers (just yesterdays) on the coffee table and the medicine bags had instructions only in Japanese.

Anyway so they made me poo in a plastic bottle the size of a film canister (They really should provide instructions on how to poo with such accuracy especially if you have watery diarrhea. Maybe I could have asked the doctor to hold the canister under my ring and just tell him when the explosion of liquid diarrhea was about to be unleashed with force of a fire hose. The scene would be so ugly. Just imagine shooting a fire hose into a film canister and you can get the image). Anyway in the end I somehow managed. Then they decided to put me on a drip. This is common practice in Japanese hospitals for everything from colds to feeling tired. Put on a drip and get some nutrition into em they say. So I lay there for one and a half hours taking in this pink liquid (later I did my first pink pee ever!) and then the doctor gives me 6 different kinds of medicine. Japanese doctors love giving medicine because they get a cut from the pharmaceutical companies for all the prescriptions they give. I dont know the system here but this guy had the whole Japanese doctor thing down. I then got the bill. It was about US$90. A nice Japanese price! Im glad the insurance will be paying because thats a lot of money for some diarrhea. :shock:
 
What's normal
04.30.04 (4:33 am)   [edit]
It seems the life of my family is far from normal. I spoke to my wife today on the phone and she has decided she wants to move back to Japan. After listening to her explanation I had no real objections except this feeling that the past year has seen us living in scattered parts of the world. One year almost to the day I went to live in Afghanistan for 3 months. The rest of the family stayed in Japan. Then I came back in late July and we had 4 months of living together in Japan. Then I stayed in Japan while they went to Australia in January. I then came to Jakarta in March, then went to Australia for a holiday. Now my wife is wanting to return to Japan for a while. They will probably drop by on route to Japan. It may only be for 3-4 months before they all come here. This is not a settled family life. I don't mind it I think, except there is a feeling that life shouldn't be that way. But who's to say what life is supposed to be about. :roll:

This weekend is a long weekend with Monday off. I am determined to get out and about. I've got a Lonely Planet, albeit a few years old, so I should be set to explore Jakarta. I will go to the national monument, maybe the national museum, the bay area, maybe see a traditional theatre show, and even do some shopping (you really need more than one pair of pyjamas when you sweat like a pig every night!!).:shock:

Even though Queensland University wants me to go there next year, I really want to put it off. I think and I feel instinctively that staying here another year will be good for my career, be a great educational and fun experience and that I would be in a better position to tackle the PhD for the experience. They can wait. Of course HQ has a big say in all this and all I can do is put forward my best case bor, even better, make myself indispensible!:D
 
Busy
04.28.04 (5:00 am)   [edit]
Back to blogging. Well Ive been busy. Ive been working on accounting issues the last 2 days as figures dont add up in different reports. Also gathering info on the latest Ambon flare up by meeting with local NGOs. Gathering info and contacts on other areas on current or past conflict in Indonesia like Central Sulewesi etc. Made a nice Bahasa, English and Japanese version of the organization Vision and Mission, framed then and stuck them on the office wall to give us some guidance in our work. We updated the introductory info sheet in Bahasa about this office to give to people and I plan to make a nice 3 fold pamphlet using Publisher with photos and graphics rather than just the photocopied text sheet we are using now. Ive been gathering info on international and English medium schools here. Been corresponding with University of Queensland people. I did a one full day training for the staff on Do No Harm and peacebuilding principles. Ive been having my Bahasa lessons every weekday morning from 6:30 for one hour and that is going fine.

To be head of a small office of a humanitarian aid agency you have to know a little bit about everything or at least you have to learn about things quickly. It makes it interesting. Even accounting becomes interesting when you have an imbalance and you have to find out why! Kurihara san do you agree? Anyway, I am enjoying my time here. :lol:
 
Indonesia Starts Again
04.26.04 (3:45 am)   [edit]
Well, yes you can call me a slack arse mother fucker for not blogging for almost centuries. Things have settled down after being back about a week and so I have finally gotten around to doing this.

So what to write. :?

Did you know that in Scotland there are towns called Camster? There is Lower Camster and [url=http://www.ukvillages.com/ukv...+Camster-Highland]Upper Camster[/url] . Of course I'm with the Upper one given my surname (which only a privelged few know). Its near the famous Loch of Yarrows where the Loch Yarrows Yonster lives (maybe.....not). It is also near Camster Burns. Man I'm hot stuff. It seems Burns means creek or river. And down the road from Badlipster. I guess that's a hipster gone bad.:wink:

This has nothing to do with my current country of residence, Indonesia, but not to worry.

What is to worry is Ambon. I am supposed to be going there in a few weeks and violence has re-erupted big time. There was an emergency meeting at the UN today but nobody really knew exactly what was going to happen with any certainty. It would be a tragedy for things to get out of hand after so much progress, (or least lack of retrogression) over the past 2 years. :(

I hope that my family can come out ASAP. I dont think we will be living in Ambon going diving everyday but I do miss them and it would be great to be all in Jakarta instead of thousands of kilometers apart. I spoke to my wife today from the office and she is fine but having a hard time sometimes. She doesnt like the uncertainty of not knowing where we will be living in 3 months. Either do I much.

I want to get the photo function happening here. I tried ages ago but it fucked up for some strange technological reason, which I swear had nothing to do with my computer ignorance. The machines are out to get me thats all Im sure.

Anyway, may this be the first blog in a revived regular blog on life in Indonesia by Camster.

Next place of residence Upper Camster on the Camster Burns in Scotland :P
 
Soon Going
03.30.04 (8:19 pm)   [edit]
Well I am off to Australia tommorow for the first time in 21 months, yeah! This is only my second entry for Indonesia. Sorry John and 栗原さ& #12435;!I promise to write more from now on. Well I don't know how much I will write in Australia?? Anyway at least I will write lots upon my return to here. I will also try to get photos organized. I sound like a politician with all these promises.

Dial up is sure slow.
 
sorry
03.27.04 (7:47 am)   [edit]
It has been so long since I blogged. It has been hard to get internet access for stuff like this anyway in that it wasn't really possible to access from the office for personal stuff. Anyway, the current internet deal for the Jakarta is 15 hours a month! I think that will be close to the top of the "to change" list.

Things have been going good here. I have a very nice apartment with a shared pool and gym in the grounds. Next week I start managing our Jakarata office by myself which will be good as the former Rep. was a bit hard to handle sometimes. Anyway I will write more about my adventures next week I promise!!!
 
Cooooommunication
03.10.04 (2:52 am)   [edit]
Well I had the big talk with the chief and all went surprising well. In fact it was an enjoyable conversation.:shock: I got the low down on everything I wanted to know but was able to express my dissatisfaction about her management style which she seemed to accept humbly!! Well there you go straightforward communication. Thanks JJ

I stayed up all night last night at the office to get finished a paper on peacebuilding policy that I have made for the organization. Stuff the contents it was 53 pages in length plus another 40 pages for the appendices! I am so tired now that I have to go home and go to bed. I have to buy a new computer for the wife tommorrw and give it to her friend who is going to Oz next week.

Saturday to Jakarta. Yeah. :D
 
Cooooommunication
03.10.04 (2:52 am)   [edit]
Well I had the big talk with the chief and all went surprising well. In fact it was an enjoyable conversation.:shock: I got the low down on everything I wanted to know but was able to express my dissatisfaction about her management style which she seemed to accept humbly!! Well there you go straightforward communication. Thanks JJ

I stayed up all night last night at the office to get finished a paper on peacebuilding policy that I have made for the organization. Stuff the contents it was 53 pages in length plus another 40 pages for the appendices! I am so tired now that I have to go home and go to bed. I have to buy a new computer for the wife tommorrw and give it to her friend who is going to Oz next week.

Saturday to Jakarta. Yeah. :D