Delicious Fresh Food

24 June 2012

I went to church this morning.  I enjoyed the music, and the message was relevant to me/all of us who had come from Bina Bangsa.  It was about “church shopping”, basically.  Everyone seemed really friendly, and it’s quite a large congregation/fellowship.  There wasn’t a full house today, because of the summer holiday break, but they said there are close to 400-500 people at the service, and there are two services on Sunday mornings.  I was super tired, because I was on the internet for quite awhile last night, since it was finally working consistently for me, so that was exciting.  Next Sunday, the school will provide transportation to a different, international church so that we can find one we like.  They are in English, and the one this week had a lot of expats there, and one of the elders is originally from Lake Geneva…small world…and the man who spoke the message graduated from Purdue (note, there isn’t a designated pastor because it’s a fellowship, so people take turns, I think). 

After church, we went to the third big mall that I live by.  Setayan City, I think it was called.  We heard that there is a Food Hall there, and I’ve been looking forward to buying fresh food that isn’t at CarreFour in our mall.  Nicole and I plan on frying the chicken and making pasta some night for dinner, in my apartment, of course, because her gas burner isn't hooked up yet.  It turns out this mall is close to where we live, but we would just have to take a taxi (another interesting fact, it’s spelled 'taksi'...very phonetic).  Danna, Nicole and I walked around looking at some clothes and the stores, which were even more upscale than the shops in Central Park (our mall).  The first star we saw was Versace and then there was Armani…moral of the story is that Perl showed Danna a department store outside of Central Park that has good clothes for cheaper prices, which is exciting, because I definitely didn’t bring enough clothes (which, I didn’t have many in my closet before I left, anyway).  I figure buying something here will make it easier for me to gauge how appropriate it is, except the sizing will be interesting.  I was trying on some capris today, and they definitely did not fit me, and it was the biggest size they had out on most of the racks, but maybe the department store will have more of a selection. 

Tomorrow we are supposed to have time with our HOD (Head of Department) during one or two of the sessions, so I’m trying to get some planning done, so that I can get feedback.  I’m a bit unclear how fast I should be moving in the first few weeks.  I want there to be a good balance of fun games and getting to know you activities as well as getting into the lessons.  I just remembered that even though the students are coming back from “summer” break, it’s not like in the States when it’s a much more extensive break. 

Speaking of Summer break, I think I will be coming home over my Christmas break, since I get an entire month off for that.  We’re still trying to figure out the logistics, since our flight home is supposed to be in June, so that should be interesting…but we did check with the school and it is possible, at least.  And, now, speaking of vacations, a group of new teachers is trying to organize a trip to Bali during our first break this year.  We don’t have school from August 15-28 for the Ramadan holiday.  Okay, orientation is starting soon, so I’ll update more next week.