SX020 Kupang trip

 (enhanced) podcast of my trip to Kupang, Timor - where I visited my sponsor child, Rifan.

Not much to say here. I hope you enjoy my breakdown of the valuable and life-changing work that Compassion are doing! :-)


click here to d/load the Enhanced podcast file, but you have to play in iTunes or iPhone or iPod!

SX019 H A Pee Pee Y

What is on the podcast today? Who cares: it is a beautiful day, and I am skipping along (in the rain)!

Life is wonderful. God is good. Rain is delicious. Oh, and I went to a wedding this morning also.



Click here to d/load or listen online


ps- recorded 10/4/2011

SX018 the countdown begins

It's the final countdown.... dah-dah, dah dah. I am being a little premature here, but I feel like my time in Indonesia is almost up. :-(  Aw, sadseez.

Is it totally evil of me to deliberately wait to collect my final scholarship money; just to make sure that my University does not pocket it?
Yeah, it's not much cash - but it's the principle!



(pic above; i am sipping my tea at Dwi's wedding last week).


you can right-click here to download the MP3 file if you like

Here is a bonus picture or 2 -> 

The picture above is at Uka's graduation. A lovely guy (who used to live in my Kost). He always makes time for me & chats slowly to me in Indonesian. Sadly, he's moved out, and only pops in once a week  :-(

SX017 a pinch and a punch

Pinch and a Punch for the First of the Month! Today is 1 March 2011.
Walk with me as I go to buy some 'pulsa' for my Mobile phone. Enjoy the dulcit tones of the mosque too!

As I wonder the streets I realise that I really need some food - which is tricky to find in the back blocks.

House & flatmates update too. Find out all the latest craziness and stress from Brisbane regarding my tenants.


You can click here to listen also

SX016 Prepared for Semester 2

Am I prepared for another semester of teaching? It really is a TON of work! Hats off to all teachers out there.

Indonesian Uni students are SO sweet, friendly and innocent. That sure makes work a lot easier than rat-bag Westerners would be.

I try to rev-up the girls to ignore [Muslim] cutlure, and to speak up. Everyone in MY class is equal. Girls are not second-class citizens, nor are they to remain silent. 

You can also click here to get the MP3 file

SX015 semester 2 begins at UMM

Semester 2 starts tomorrow (cause Indonesia is on the crazy Northern-hemisphere timetable), so I am off to Coffee Time to prepare for English Seaking 2 classes. blah

It really is off-putting to have the REAL year disected by a fake academic year, like in USA & EU. Semester 2 is starting, at the start of a new year. :-(

Should I buy new iPad, or new MacBook Pro?!

2 voicemails today :-)  yippee!  thank you, boys.

You can listen to the MP3 file here too

ps- Photo is at Arofat's wedding last weekend. 

SX014 Bali trip (for real), part 2

Enhanced podcast of Bali trip, part 2. Today I waffle less and actually talk about the trip and the photos I'm showing.

Hope you enjoy it, and get a slice of tropical Bali pie while you listen.

Warning for all Dutch listeners (& Germans)... you are gonna get a roasting!
Warning 2: some R-rated pics near the end.

You can d/load the enhanced file here directly

SX013 Bali trip, part 1

Enhance podcast of my January trip to Bali with Ferdi. This is part 1 of my holiday - I chat about unusually good Travel in Indonesia, and about the first few days... alone... with just the boyfriend!

Oh yes.... travelling with a new boyfriend... you know where this will end up!  ;-)

You can download the enhanced file here (but you need to watch in iTunes, or on iPod/iPhone!)

SX012 the lights are on...

Cultural learnings, gender opression & repression. The lights are on... but nobody is home.
I spend the first half of the podcast with some scary observations on Uni students and the education (school) system here.

In fantastic news, I have now changed rooms in my Kos (boarding house)!
Oh yeah, and have picked up a new BOYFRIEND too!!! :-)

You can listen online by clicking here
PS- recorded in Dec, 2010

SX011 oh yeah, it's gr8tle

Ajir, Yenni, Anni, Robi, me - Rumbio, 2010

You can probably guess that this means there is good news on the crackBook hardware front!

Well, whilst my laptop is now restored to it's original (2009) glory - with tiny 160GB HDD - the internet has decided to pack it in now.
To use my iPhone4 I need to have the newest version of iTunes. After 3 hours, and a crash (meaning I had to start again), it is back to saying "5 hours" to download. I hate to think how long this 2mb file will take to upload.

You can click here to listen online, but iTunes is easier

holy Jihad on Apple!

Still no laptop for me, so no podcasts for another few weeks at least. My extremely bad quality white macBook of 2007 is literally cracking everywhere now. Shitty apple. Wish i still had my old 12" PowerBook!! My mum is posting over my old HDD, so here's hoping i can pop it in my crackBook OK.  if not, i'll be buying a new laptop - even though the new models will come out in Feb.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. :-(

 our TV is still broken, and my laptop is dead - so not much news for me lately. I have to go to internet cafe to go online. Urgh.

re; my news.  I've been on 3 dates since arriving in Malang. :-)
Am having MAJOR dramas with flatmates at home. She has driven out 1 of other tenants, so my house now has an empty room! :-(  very stressed.

love you all, miss you all.
Scotty.

PS-  my listener line still works!  ;-)  And I have email on iPhone still.

new episode, coming soon

I've been so busy lately, and when not busy am not alone!
there are millions of people in Java - and Indonesian culture is to not let people be 'sendiri' (alone). So, when I try to be alone, sit etc, by myself, I am always approached by someone.

stay tuned though!!

SX010 Student Day at UMM

Enhanced podcast*- Today is "student day", so join me and 5,000 students as we march around the kampung (suburb)! It was quite a spectacle, and also very HOT. Glad we started around 7am.
I am sure I talk about some other stuff too, and get sidetracked, but I hope you enjoy the pictures on your iPod.

* this is an 'enhanced' podcast, with photos imbedded. You must listen/watch in iTunes or on your iPhone /iPod!
Right-click here to download if you like

SX009 flu drugs & teaching

I have become a junkie now. Life in Indonesia has pushed me over the edge - to hard drugs! Luckily here, you can just pop into the Apotik (chemist) and ask for whatever drugs you want.  HELLO!

I also fill you in briefly on my new job, teaching English Speaking 1! Sorry for my waffle, I hope you find the little gems of info!

My battles with UMM's "efforts", at providing bahasa Indonesia classes to us, continue.  :-(

Click here to listen online, but I'd prefer you use iTunes!

SX008 I'm starvin' Marvin!

I only have 2 topics in this show, and 1 of them involves me almost starving to death! Yes, I came close to going without any supper tonight (7 Oct), and you can imagine how that made me feel. :-(

I also share with the entire world, one of my student's very personal "secrets"! It was way more juicier than what I had expected from an Indonesian Muslim student to share. :-O

> please subscribe in iTunes to listen to the AUDIO <

SX007 I'm a dozin' Dosen

Today I wax lyrical about my first few days teaching 'English Speaking 1' to all the young Indonesian students.  Most of them are either like giddy school-girls, or extremely shy.

And it wouldn't be "Indonesia" if I couldn't also tell you about the continuing chaos of my bahasa Indonesia program - yes, what I am supposed to be here for! ;-)

(recorded Thur 7/10/10)

SX006 our lady Maria, LIVE in Malang

I'm singing and dancing on a prayer this weekend, after going to 1 of the big Roman Catholic Churches near the centre of Malang city. OK, well, that's not the reason why actually - but it is part of what I talk about today.

Other than Catholocism, I talk about Indonesia's obsession with Agama (religion), and have some exciting news...

I have a JOB in Indonesia now! (Can U guess what as?)

SX005 moody in Malang

Everyday life in moody Malang. OK, so not moody itself, but I am moody at the moment.
I run through my day and my current thoughts on learning Indonesian at UMM... or not. The clouds are brewing over France right now, as 2 of the French girls look set to do what their government did a few years ago... drop a nuclear bomb in Australia's backyard!

Really struggling to understand and communicate with the Kos boys I live with. Yeah, they look cute at times, BUT I do also want to be able to chat to them.

Lucky I have so much cheap deep-fried fatty food to lift my spirits, and my weight. LOL

>click here to listen online< But it's easier if U subscribe in iTunes!

SX004 city hall & grub

>>> OK, please subscibe to this thru iTunes! I cannot insert the video into this post on slow Indonesian internet. If you don't subscribe, you're missing the actual content. Thnx <<<

Join me and 2 friends (1 is Will) as we wander briefly on the streets of Malang.

Take a walk with me around 1 of the many <strong>many</strong> restaurants near the campus, and my Kos. This style of food is from Padang (Sumatra). Where it is all out on display, and you choose what you want. This restaurant has a bigger range than usual, so great for a vegetarian like Will, - but still no BACON! :-(

This video is pretty darn short, cause of the file size upload issues in Indonesia. Perhaps that suits your attention span anyway? ;-)

ps- the internet is doing my head in. It has taken 45 minutes to upload this file (not yet finished either). urgh
   no, make that another 30 min, I had to upload again. :-(

1st day of class, take 2

Well, as you may have heard in my podcast, I should've started class yesterday (Monday), but we started properly today.  Hmm.... what to say?

well firstly, as I expected, I have been put into the intermediate class. This is because I was friendly and chatty with staff on Saturday and Monday, and now they all think I can do/say/understand more than the usual tourist/intro stuff.
Today all the Darmasiswa students were there, bar 2. I chatted to a lovely guy from Thailand, whose bahasa Indonesia was probably better than mine. However, he was sent to the beginners class! :-(
There are 4 in the intermediate class: me, 2 French girls, & 1 Russian boy. Thus there'll be about 6 in the beginners class.

The real bad news however, is that we also learnt our class schedule...
We have just 3 lessons per week, for 2 hours each time!!!  Yes, just 6 hours in an entire week :-(  I think that is really crap. Will has 4-6 hours/day, every day at his Uni in Semarang. 

So, for 4 days/week, I have quite literally NOTHING TO DO. And on the other 3 days, I have nothing to do after 11am.

oh, cancel that... I DO have something to do. As the only person from an English speaking country, I am thus the sole Darmasiswa student who must 'volunteer' to teach English at the Uni.
- I will get some 'pocket money' for this apparently. I don't have any info yet on just how much I will be doing, or when etc. However; I really don't mind. Anything to meet students and make connections. ~ my tiny sweat box room, is not conjusive to just 'hanging out' in!

ps- please leave feedback on the video/podcasts.