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Showing posts from August, 2012

Where's your manners?

I've got the back to work blues after a week's holiday. After one hour back at work, I'd counted how many work days are left this year; approximately 87. I know that's actually not much, but right now it feels like a death sentence. I have no motivation to plan for teaching 60 students, or to prepare seminars for 30 teachers, mainly because no-one cares what I'm doing here, or knows how much work goes into creating a course for teachers who get paid so little for the job they do that most of them (quite rightly to be fair) put professional development very low on their list of priorities.  I realise I sound like a grumpy child. That's what arriving at work to find that my desk had been moved did to me. My back is to the window (a window to the hallway), exactly where I didn't want to be, and the previous teacher's junk has been left in a dusty pile on the floor for me to clean up.  If only it was that simple... Wanna know what else is annoyi...

White Lace & Promises

Dear readers, as I think most of you know by now, I recently tied the knot over here in Indonesia. For those of you not connected with me via facebook, here are some highlights from my wedding day. Here we are arriving at the church. One of Hadi's cousins surprised us by hiring this vintage Mercedes for us. We arrived together and also walked down the aisle together, with parents in tow. I have no idea if this is just the preference of our church, or a wider tradition in Indonesia. Either way, I love the symbolism of it, of the couple walking together towards marriage. Hadi's Father's family are Bataknese, a community who have very detailed wedding traditions. Here we are following just one of those traditions: Relatives present us with an "ulos", a beautifully woven cloth that is wrapped around the couple as a sign of support. My Mum also received one, as a symbol of Hadi's family's friendship towards her. Ladies in Red. The lad...