Indonesian Diary Entry

17 January 2002

One of the most striking things about the academic calendar in an Indonesian university is that it seems not to exist. Every time I think I understand the schedule of activities I am rudely reminded that I have no understanding at all.

The university (generally known as UNS, or Universitas Sebelas Maret, which not only does not connect but which I am told may some day soon undergo another name change) is currently on mid-semester break. That would imply that there is a date at which classes will resume. But there really isn’t a date. Or no one knows what it is. Still, there are many students around during the break. All students in the equivalent of our Bachelor’s program are expected to complete a thesis during their senior year. That means that this is the serious thesis writing time. So, naturally, faculty should be around to help students with their theses. It probably comes as no surprise that most faculty are not around. Indeed, I would say that none are around who do not have administrative positions.

In my division or college, Fakultas Ekonomi, a group of faculty (20 to 25) is going away this weekend for five days. Fortunately, I have been asked to go with them so I have an interesting experience ahead of me. But that means that the group will be away until the 28th of the month, and I thought classes were supposed to start before then. Since there is no calendar in evidence that should not be a problem.

The same type of confusion held at the end of the previous semester. I was scheduled (I use that word cautiously) to give a lecture to a class during the first week of December. As the time neared I realized that it was also a week of final exams. Now I am sure that the students would have preferred just about anything to finals, but their instructors would not. Accordingly, at a relatively late stage of the game my lecture was cancelled. Once you get into the swing of things it becomes a lot easier. A lecture that you don’t feel like giving – no problem. Cancel or reschedule it. An extra lecture that you would like to throw in? No problem.

One more thing – there are nine faculties or colleges, and each of them is independent of the others.

Trudy has now returned to the States. We had a wonderful four weeks that passed like four days. To the surprise of both of us, the time in Indonesia was at least the equal of the time in Thailand. My last entry was primarily about Thailand, so it is appropriate to say a few things about our time together here in Indonesia and why it was so pleasant.

As anyone who has been reading these entries would surmise, life in Indonesia has been a constant challenge. I am not sure how or why I have been able to handle it with relative ease, but I would say that has been the case. It has been a challenge, and I have been able to handle it, in part because I have been here alone. That may be counter-intuitive. Being alone can be very difficult. All of the daily decisions are yours, from what time to rise and what to wear, to how to get around, where to go, and what to have for lunch. Some days it feels like the simple matters of daily life have consumed the day. (The other day I actually spent an hour mailing two postcards.) But doing these things alone is also simple. Once you have decided to do something there really is no need to reconsider. Put a second person into the mix and the whole thing changes. Now the burden of decision-making is less, but the process can be more.

I was not sure how it would be for Trudy to be here, in my own domain. Fortunately, she and I agree about a large number of things so her presence in the home and in Solo was really an opportunity to do some things that I hadn’t done and to do some favorite things again. Rather than adding any kind of burden, her presence was totally enriching.

Another thing about having a visitor (and a wife is the ultimate visitor) is that it allows one to check-in on one’s own sanity. Were the stresses of some particular thing warranted? Was that experience that seemed so overwhelming really unusual? Did my reaction to a strange situation amount to an over-reaction? Being able to visit various scenes of incidents allowed us to talk about the incidents and situations. I had not realized just how much gets bottled up over four months. We talked and talked and more often than not, also listened to one another.

We revisited some places that I had visited (and written about here) and I was interested in how she would see them. I think it is fair to say that she enjoyed each, just as much as I had. In revisiting places such as modest eating-places or spectacular sights like Borobadur, I was able to do some reconsideration. For the purposes of this journal it doesn’t really matter how I found them on the second go round, as the interesting thing is just being able to go back. Naturally, a return visit is totally different than an initial one. It is possible to build on that first visit and think about the place in a new light. And in fact, it turned out that I enjoyed all of the sites just as much as before, and some even more. This country really does have magnificence, in its land and its people.

One last thing about the visit deserves note. Most of the time I have been here I have been favored with kind and generous hospitality. This was one of those things that having someone else here to share it clarified just how hospitable people have been, and continue to be. The family I live with charmed Trudy on day one, and were a continual source of help, advice, joy and comfort. People I have met during my time here were honestly eager to meet Trudy and to spend time with her. There are so many things I want to be conscious of on my return, but one thing I must not forget is how kind people can be and how much meaning there is to it.

Now life has returned to what passes for normal. The signs and sightings of the last few days included water buffalo on the school field near my house; a naked man walking along the street (this morning); another new kind of tofu (which only has meaning if you add it to the twenty-five or so that I’ve already experienced); a young man taking a shower (in his shorts) outside my office window (he was using water from a regular tap attached to the building); a couple of massive but brief downpours; a bicycle rider with at least twenty cages of birds and who knows how many birds; the renewal of local football (sepak bola). Within the office I have been too much on my own. My reliable and delightful assistant Emi has been off to Bangladesh for a training program. I didn’t know what I’d be able to do without her, and the answer is: not much. She is away for at least one more week, and I think two. Fortunately for me I will be away all of next week.

And a note or two about Indonesia this week. The Speaker of the House may or may not be indicted for diverting a bunch of money intended to feed the poor to his political party. The agency that is supposed to feed the poor announced a new program to feed the poor – it seems that the food was going to the middle class. The much-troubled province of Aceh continues to be much troubled. Now there is to be a military crackdown and the local independence movement has called a 3-day strike to object to that. It rained in Jakarta this week, enough to flood the airport toll road with 60 centimeters of water. Apparently, the main cause was a small group of homeowners who saw their houses being inundated, and realized they could alleviate their problem by poking a whole in a dike that protected the toll road. The news reported that 100,000 people were prevented from using the road on the first day, and that the problem continued for at least two more days. And then, to end the news report, a plane crashed in the Solo River yesterday, a few miles from here. It had about 60 passengers and remarkably only one person died (a flight attendant). As I remarked to Pak and Ibu Indra (my family), it goes to show just how dangerous swimming can be.

More next week, about Bali.