As things stand now, Daniel is in Grade 10 at the American "High School", Joel is in grade 8 at the "Middle School" and Ruby is at a different campus in grade 2, "Elementary School". Caroline is Boarding in Australia and is in grade 9.
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| At Home in Jakarta |
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| At home in Jakarta |
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| Of to see a movie |
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| Off to a Murder Mystery Party |
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| Releasing Turtles - Lombok |
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| Caroline in Australia |
The children have all been accepted in to their respective schools for when we return, thank goodness :)
I'm enthusiastic about getting back to our little piece of "Land" and working hard!
Tony seems to mosey along as always and is also keen to be living back in our own little piece of paradise on the Sunny Coast.
Until then..... Feel free to read this old blog below if you wish.
Liss :)
Old post: I was just looking back at the first blog I posted before we left Australia. I included some pics of our family doing things we used to do in Australia. Swimming, visiting with friends and family, jumping on the trampoline, swinging, spending time in the back yard...... I can't believe how different our life is now!
We still keep quite busy, but the types of activities we do are very different. Most people here go to shopping malls or indoor play centres for entertainment. The big kids have discovered a water park that was great fun so we'll probably head back there during school holidays.
We still spend a fair amount of time traveling on the weekends for sport, the difference is that the distance we travel is very small but the time it takes in the traffic is long. We don't drive ourselves, we have a driver so we spend the time in the car chatting amongst ourselves, practicing our Indonesian with the driver or reading (or playing on iPad's etc).
The Children all go to school of course but, once again, it's very different from Aus. Daniel and Caroline are in middle school which is run more like a high school in Aus. They move around to different classrooms for different subjects and they have a "Home Room". They don't pack their lunch but eat at a cafeteria. They pay for their lunch using an electronic wristband that they top up at a machine regularly. They attend various after school activities including sport and "clubs". I don't have a lot to do with the school (except via electronic means, so many emails and bulletins to read!!!) because the children catch a bus. The bus picks up Caroline and Daniel at 6:25am inside our gate and brings them home again anywhere between 4pm and 7pm depending on what activities they are involved in after school. Yes, life has changed for all of us but the children are all settling in well.
Joel also travels to school by bus, leaving at 6:50am to a different campus. Joel is in elementary school until August when he will join the others at Middle school. For now, he is in an environment similar to primary school in Aus. He is also participating in sport and after school activities, he's in a basketball team and is starting Tae Kwan Do this week. I think Joel misses his mates back home more than anyone. He has made some new friends though and is doing well.
Ruby is going to a preschool very close to our home. I drop her off each day at 8:30 and pick her up again at 12:30. If I'm busy, our "pembantu" (helper) picks her up, sometimes on a motorbike which she really enjoys! I spend most afternoons at home with Ruby as she too will be moving to elementary school in August and she will have longer days and leave on the bus like the bigger children. Wow, I think it will feel very strange to put my youngest on a bus to school although they do have a chaperone for the younger children. Ruby has settled into our new life very quickly and is her usual happy self. She has become firm friends with our two helpers, Atun and Tini (Cook and Cleaner/child minder) and our security guards as well. She plays basketball outside with the guards and is learning some indonesian songs from Tini and Atun.
Tony has been quite busy with work and finds it challenging but fun. He has travelled to Bali, Kuala Lumpur, Dili, Brunei and Singapore, some of these places more than once already. I am planning to join him for 2 nights in Bali later this month.
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| Outdoor Bathroom |
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| Thousand Islands |
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| Puncak - mountains outside Jakarta |
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| @ Pulau Seribu - Thousand Islands |
I miss being able to take the kids to the beach, there's no beaches here. I know that might sound strange considering we are living in an archipelago but Jakarta itself has no beaches, at least none you'd swim in. We also don't have much time after school for playing as the children get home quite late and have to do homework and get to bed early for their early starts. Most of all, we miss our friends and family.
Like I said, life is very different. There are some difficulties and some benefits but all in all we are enjoying life as usual. We hope to see some of our friends and family here during our posting to share our experiences.
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| Penang - Malaysia |
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| Couple of Rabits... Temple in Penang |
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| hehe |
