Puzzling

It's been another crazy couple of weeks.

Making mango hard tack candy

My supervisor was out of town the last couple of weeks, so it was just me in the consular section to manage all of the interviews, U.S. citizen services, managing the consular section, etc. My days were very full as many people were trying to get visas to go to the U.S. for the holidays and U.S. citizens trying to get their passports renewed or extra pages before traveling for the same time period. One day last week so many people were on vacation from our small post that I was technically the one in charge of the whole consulate. Good thing everyone pretty well knows their job and nothing really exciting happened. I mostly just had to sign more papers than usual and remember combinations and passwords. On that note, I counted up in my head today something like 17 passwords and/or codes I have to know just for my work. That doesn't count my own personal passwords and codes for my own Email and bank accounts and so on. After 4 months I pretty well know most of what is essential for me to know and I'm starting to work on really doing it right and well and more quickly. Sometimes things don't go as I would like and people complain, but sometimes I do things exactly right and people complain! It's been fun in its own way to be the only one I can go to and to have to just figure it out. But it will also be very nice to have my supervisor back to take a little of the pressure off.

Cheese Puzzle - difficult!

We got any of our last minute preparation done for Christmas in time to make it enjoyable and memorable for our children. Thanks to my wife and on-line shopping, she pretty well had it all organized and under control. We just had a bit of a scramble for a couple of gifts that were taking a little more time to figure out and we had some unexpected visitors over this weekend. We planned on having the missionaries from our church who are serving in our church branch come over and also my supervisor who was just getting back from out of the country on Christmas Day. They came, which was great, but we found out that the President of the Indonesia mission of our church was going to be in town for a change in our branch presidency. We couldn't imagine them having Christmas dinner by themselves in a restaurant so we begged them to join us for dinner and they accepted. We had a good time talking, eating turkey, potatoes, coconut cream pie, and so much more. That was on Christmas Day. Earlier that day, I had an interview with the mission president and, probably luckily for this branch and my family, was called as the 1st Counselor in the branch presidency and not the president. The president has been the president of this branch a couple of times before and the other counselor has been the branch president as recently as about a year ago. We'll have fun doing our best to build up the leadership in the branch and reactivate people.
Our children were happy with their presents, we played games, watched videos, made candy, ate candy, put together puzzles, went to the mall, played Christmas songs on chimes, and had a good time. One of the best things this last week since my children were out of school was that one of them came to lunch with me every day last week. It was fun to introduce them to "Es sop jambu merah" which is a bowl full of shaved ice and strips of red guava on the bottom. Very refreshing in the 90+ degree holiday season weather. Yeah, the temperature really doesn't change very much around here except that it's a little more rainy right now. Anyway, I really enjoyed eating lunch out with them and showing them where I work.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Mall Week

Let's hear it for another 4-day week! Tuesday was a holiday, (Islamic New Year), so it felt a little like I had two Mondays this week and two Saturdays. Made for a little disorientation, but I can certainly live with it. For some reason this week was mall week for me. I was there a couple of days this week and several hours altogether. On Saturday, my oldest son and I were there from about 10:00 until about 1:00 and then we went back for a couple of hours that evening! We looked around, ate, got haircuts, got lost, discovered places and stores we didn't know existed. We thought we had entered another dimension or something. We even decided on a whim to try a little fish therapy place in the mall. For less than $3 each we put our feet in a pool for 15 minutes that had ultraviolet light shining in, and the best part, hundreds of little fish that eat the dead skin off your feet. I was the first to put my feet in and within 2 seconds my feet and legs were completely covered in little brown fish who were literally nibbling at my toes. I almost couldn't stand it because it tickled so much. It was decent entertainment, that's for sure. And I'm not sure I've ever cared about this, but I think my feet really are softer and more beautiful like the signs promised! The only troubling thing about it is that I couldn't help get an image in my head of piranhas and how grateful I am that these fish aren't larger, have bigger teeth and like live flesh.

Fish therapy - yummy dead skin!

Okay.
In other news, today I gave my first talk in church in Indonesian. I was assigned to speak for 15 minutes. After writing my talk out and making the Indonesian sound reasonable, I had no idea if it was that long and didn't have time to do anything about it. I only had past experience to go on knowing about what needs to go into a talk to make it that length. I was a little worried when I saw that I was the last speaker since I don't feel I am quite to the level of being really good at flexible with my talk in Indonesian yet. But in the end I had almost exactly 15 minutes to speak--just what I was assigned. And the best part is that my talk with a couple small items added in finished just in time! What's even better is that I think that they even understood me.

Starting the holidays

I wasn't feeling very well last week and must have fallen asleep before posting anything. In fact, my wife and I have talked many times about how since moving here we feel tired and go to bed earlier than we used to. I'm not sure all the reasons, but some of it, I'm sure, has to do with the timing of day and night. Every day, all year, the sun comes up and goes down at just about the same time. It comes up around 5:30 in the morning and goes down around 5:30 at night. Every day. I think I already said that. I remember in winter time at home in Utah, when the sun goes down earlier it just felt like time to go inside and when it's dark and when it was dark and I was home it was so easy to get sleepy. And when I was on my mission in Russia it was hard not to feel sleepy in the wintertime when we rarely saw the sun. So that's one thing, but really it starts getting light even earlier. Now we are getting up before the sun comes up, like around 4:30 a.m. to exercise, study scriptures, eat breakfast, and so on and then, for me, get to work by 7:30 a.m. You might say, "duh," when I say this might also be part of the early evening sleepiness. But I still think it has to do a little with the sun since it comes up so early.

On other notes, my favorite holiday came and went. It was a little different from other Thanksgiving Days I have had, but it was still good and much better than the last one. (I had "swine flu" over last Thanksgiving and really missed everything and felt like I was dying.) This Thanksgiving my wife made pies and I made the turkey. Thanks to my mom sending an oven bag, the turkey was still nice and moist and tasted pretty good. All of the food tasted good. We had the missionaries over and I think they enjoyed having a traditional American Thanksgiving just as much as we did. Even the missionary from Canada enjoyed it; he said they have pretty much the same there.
I finally got my bike tire fixed and have been able to ride it a few times. I even rode a little with my two youngest who just learned how to ride a couple of weeks ago! My oldest son and I have gone two Saturdays in a row exploring around on our bikes. We rode over to a nearby neighborhood where there are a few cattle and goats out in the empty spaces where homes haven't been built yet. The last time we went for a ride we were very hot, since it's always around 90 degrees, and it felt nice to cool off with a swim in the pool near our home.
Is it really December already?

24?

The airport tarmac

Man playing the musical instrument

Another busy week just flew by.
I went to work for a couple of hours on Monday morning then took a couple hour flight to the island of Timor for work. The distance from where I live is like Salt Lake to Lincoln, Nebraska or maybe Chicago to New York, something like that. Anyway, it's not very close and it feels pretty far away, too. The climate and plants are different. The air is dry, things look a little different and there are some unique cultural things like this interesting musical instrument and hat. I had to get a picture. The instrument has strings, (I think it's 24?), around a cylender and then the strings are plucked like a harp and the shell in the back can be expanded to magnify the sound, except the one in this picture is plugged in to an amplifier! When I traveled up into the mountains I saw near so many of the homes these little huts where people hang out. Some had the grass roof all the way to the ground and some just a couple feet above the ground. Some things are the same as where I live and this is still Indonesia, but these are things that are not the same.
On my trip I got to visit the home and graveyard of one of the former kings, (I think there were 24 on the island). The king's descendants still live there and carry on the tradition though they have no real governmental power anymore. I think the influence of the king and all his relatives, which are many, are still felt in the community, however.

Welcome to the home of the king

The road up was winding and narrow and interesting with all of the hills, villages, and views. I liked the airport also with it's one runway. The plane lands and then turns around to drive back to where it can drop everyone off on the tarmac. Then a plane drives down to the end of the runway, turns around and takes off. One thing I didn't get a picture of was all of the goats for sell for the holiday on Wednesday, (which I had off since it's a national holiday). They were on practically every main road in temporary set ups. I heard that many families buy a goat and then kill it and eat it on that day. All I did was go swimming with a couple of my own children and some boys from our branch (congregation)!

Elder Pratt

There are only a couple other news items for the week: the doctor was in town from Jakarta so my wife and I went to get our remaining immunization boosters, my daughter and I seem to be getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, she even gets them feasting on her all night despite her mosquito net, we swam more on Saturday, and we had our district conference for our church on Saturday and Sunday with a visiting general authority, Elder Carl Pratt and his wife, who happen to know a cousin of mine very well.
Are there still only 24 hours in a day?

Typical hut

View from hotel room in Kupang

Island hopping

This week I was able to do some different things, some firsts for me.
I went on an assignment for a few different things to a couple of islands in Indonesia. I visited Bali for the first time and went to Lombok on a second visit. The best part is that my wife was able to come along and spend some time with me there since Thursday was a holiday (Veteran's Day).
On Wednesday I had a few different things to do and was able to spend some time at the Consular Agency we have in Bali and with the staff there. It's small, but they are very good and handle a big amount of consular services for Americans compared to their size. It was good to see where the people I work with are working and meet them face to face. Friday I went to Lombok for work and then back to Java that evening.
One of the things that the U.S. Government does for its citizens abroad is visit them if they are incarcerated for any reason to find out how they are doing and keep in communication. This was one of my tasks for my trip and something I am happy to do. Luckily, from what I've seen, there are some things that people in prison can do here that make life a little easier such as have food and reading material brought in for you, and in some cases even use your cell phone freely. They are able to take care of things that need to be done if they have a friend on the outside and keep in touch. This usually makes things a little simpler on the visit since sometimes I have even talked with the person on the phone to let them know I'm coming.

Waterfall in Bali

Choosing fish to grill for dinner

The monkey fell asleep sitting up

Terraced rice fields

The view of the volcano while drinking watermelon juice

Because Thursday was a holiday, we arranged for my wife to come. We had a good time together Wednesday night, Thursday all day and Friday in Lombok after I was done with business. We saw so many different things that I can't even begin to list them here. It was a lot of fun. We saw tourist sites, artists, volcanoes, lakes, the sea and beaches. We ate by candlelight on the beach, breathed fresh sea air, relaxed watching the scenery, and were thrilled and maybe a little scared by the fast driving down narrow streets just missing dogs, motorcycles and ladies with baskets on their head as we zoomed through. In Lombok we saw so many rice fields and horse-drawn carts as well as amazing beaches, mountains and views. In Bali we got a full dose of the musical, dance, carving, and other handicraft artistry that is part their culture. After that and a full Saturday, I fell into bed about 9:00 pm and couldn't get up until late the next morning.

Lombok near Malimbu

I'll have to do it again soon. My wife and I checked out places we will want to go in the future and with our children. I would love to hike a volcano or two, spend some time on the beach and swimming in the sea, see the monkey temple again, ride elephants, and ride in one of those horse carts. Both of these islands are less than an hour plan flight from us. Anyone want to join us?

Stuff

At our consulate we have dubbed this month "Education Month" and have made plans for extra efforts to promote education in the United States. I have been asked to help coordinate this effort which is why I am thinking about it and writing about it. There are so many little things, plus a couple of bigger ones. One of the things we like to do is go to talk to students about the benefits of studying in the United States of America, what the process is, etc. We're making an effort to get to many more schools and students over the next couple of months and trying to get all of the Americans at the consulate to go out to a local school every month. This month is the kick-off of this effort. We also have a photo contest about what education is like for the students here, plus there are some film screenings, radio talk shows, and a bunch of other things. It's a good thing and a bit different than what I usually do every day.

On Wednesday I got to do something a little different because I was asked to go to the Consulate General's residence to watch the election returns from the U.S. (As the Tuesday night polls are closing in the US it was Wednesday morning here.) It made it really convenient to invite Indonesians from the local government, university officials and students to watch it and ask questions to learn more. It was pretty fun to answer and ask questions. One student was a little shocked to find out that I don't drink alcohol as he assumed that all Americans do. He also kept asking me about the vote on marijuana in California. A lot of them asked me if I thought the president would get reelected in 2 years, which, of course, I have no idea or even care to speculate at this point. Pretty fun.

But the two biggest pieces of news come last.

The first one is very exciting and made the second one possible. After a very long time, we finally have our own things again! Most of it we have not seen for over 14 months. We have our own plates and cups and books and games and pictures and it's awesome. We also got a bunch of food that my wife was smart to buy and have sent to us. I just hope we don't use it all up too fast! There are so many boxes and paper in our garage right now. Everything came on Friday in big wooden shipping crates much bigger than the picture here but similar. Inside each crate was all of our things in cardboard boxes and paper. We still don't have everything organized but have put a lot of things away. It has made our place feel a lot more like our home.

One of the things that came was our bikes. We have not seen them since we left Utah in the summer of 2009. That summer we had not really pushed the two youngest to ride bikes without training wheels. The youngest was just a little young and not really interested and the older of the two was certainly old enough but we knew we wouldn't be seeing our bikes for a while and maybe there was a little fear there too so we didn't feel like it was something we needed to push. But both of them on Saturday learned how to ride bikes, starting, turning, stopping, everything all in just a few minutes! It was awesome. They probably rode for a couple of hours straight. It was so much fun and made us feel great that our stuff arrived just before a weekend so they could have some time to ride while it was light outside.

Short

The power went out today for 3 hours. It has rained really hard a couple of days this week for a couple of hours and filled up our courtyard with water more than an inch deep. There have been earthquakes and volcanoes but not close enough to us that we have even noticed anything at all, thank goodness. I went to Malang for the first time this week. We went to a consulate Halloween party and my wife and I borrowed a costume from some teachers at our kids' school and went as breakfast: toast and bacon. I also carved a couple of pumpkins for it. We also went swimming at the kids' school in the Olympic-sized swimming pool on Saturday. It really is huge. We all tried out flippers. Believe it or not, it was the first time for me. I have always wanted to use them. It was awesome how fast I could go underneath the water. My son and I would throw out a diving toy to the middle and swim like super-speedy submarines to pick them up. It was fun.

Two weeks

One difference the last two weeks has to do with driving. It is this: I now drive my family to church myself on Sundays. When we first got here, another member of my church who also works at the consulate came and drove us to church. My wife and I both remember him saying that it really isn't too difficult and we would learn how to get there pretty quickly. We thought he was a little nuts for saying that since it seemed to us like traffic was going everywhere and we turned a hundred times. Then we hired a driver to take us for a few weeks. We got used to it but only after assuring my family that I really know the way and having them ride with me driving on a few shorter drives did they consent to letting me do it. Well, so far we have made it safely there and back two weeks in a row. I plan on taking us every week unless there is some unforeseen problem. I like this arrangement much better anyway for a variety of reasons. One is that I was having some issues with feeling a bit restricted, lacking freedom to go where I want to go. This arrangement helps me feel better about that. Another reason I like this better is that I really did not like the idea of paying someone to work taking us to church if I could avoid it. (Didn't quite sit well with my sense of keeping the Sabbath day holy, except that it really was necessary for a while and so very justified.) Another is that in our branch the total number of cars driven by members to the church building each week is like 3 or 4, including us, and we may have been the only ones with a driver. I just felt a little out of place, more than I already am, having someone drive me when some can't even afford public transportation to church. I feel like some distance has been closed since I drive my own family now.
Whew, that was long. Anyway, now you know what I think about when I don't have anything else to think about!

The last 2 weeks I have been able to watch "The Amazing Race" on television, and "The Amazing Race: Asia!" I don't know why I like that show, but it makes me feel good.
The last 2 weeks my mom has called me on my Google number. The first of my family to do it, and I have been there to answer. Thanks, Mom.

Not me, but this is batik

There have been school fairs and parties at homes of co-workers the last 2 weekends. We spent a lot of time outside, eating different things, talking, and we also got to see fireworks and I bought a Batik shirt!
For work we had inspectors for one of the two weeks. They come every five years or so and make a lot of good suggestions that we are processing still. I am starting to get used to my new workplace and the routines there and hopefully getting a handle on all there is to do. A new consulate is being built, which will be an interesting change, if I am still here when it's done. I got to see the progress this week and it will be nice for a lot of different reasons.
That's probably enough. There is more, which is why I shouldn't skip a week in the future. What will the next 2 weeks bring?

Long

This last week was a long one. We had quite a bit to do at work and my supervisor was out of town the last two days of the week, which sort of increased my load. I fell asleep on the floor at home on Thursday night at 8:00pm. Even though it was very uncomfortable and I kept waking up, I just couldn't get up enough strength to wake up and get off the ground of the family room and go to bed!
After the week it was great to have a long weekend. I get Monday off because it's a federal holiday. On Saturday we took a look around the harbor area of Surabaya, where we haven't been before. It was pretty interesting to see. On Sunday, our branch was watching the General Conference Broadcast from Salt Lake City in Indonesian, so our family stayed home and watched it in English on the internet. We had a guest over, a former federal court judge and his wife who are members of my church and are visiting Indonesia to meet with officials here. And today, my wife and I got to take the kids to school together, go shopping together and visit the Arab quarter of the city together. It was fun to have a long date together. I even met a new friend while we were there!
I am glad for long weekends. I especially like Monday holidays.

Event popular . . . that shouldn't miss!

"Event popular Malaysian Style fragrant spices chicken curry that shouldn't miss!"

That was the description on the menu for a Malay Chicken Curry dish that I ate on Saturday. What does that even mean? All I know is that it must mean that it's good because it was. I also had a drink called "Ambula" that I had no idea before I got it or after I tasted it what it was made of. To me it tasted like a cross between a green pepper and the skin of an apple in the form of a thick juice. Pretty refreshing actually. I found out it is made from a fruit of a different name. I am including a couple of pictures from an interesting food Web site that has a recipe for it.

There were a few other things this week that I would also classify as "Event popular, that shouldn't miss!"

Some of you will be happy to know that I finally got a haircut. I was really concerned about getting one here because I like it a certain way so it has been since the beginning of August. It was long and bushy, but now looks nice and trim again. This young, hip-looking Indonesian guy who was wearing a side bag with his cutting equipment in it cut it for me and did a good job. Oh, and they washed my hair at the beginning and the end of the haircut. Nice.

This week for work I got to go to Jakarta for a couple of days to make connections with people in the Embassy and take a look at how they do things there. I always love to get to know a little about a new place. Jakarta is a huge city and it takes a long time to get anywhere. I was glad I got to go do consultations there. I saw a lot of people I know and met others I only had heard of. I stayed in a cool hotel and had dinner with some friends. Definitely "that shouldn't miss!"

Another big thing was hearing back about my next assignment. I will be going to Moscow for my next post with a couple of months training back in DC. I and my whole family are excited about it. In a way it's kind of nice (and fairly unusual in my line of work) to know where I am going to be for the next 4-5 years. We don't have to think about that much at all and can enjoy this post and Indonesia for all it has to offer and know that we are going to get a different experience with the next post.

Any of you who were thinking of visiting us, please don't wait until Moscow. Visit us both places!
We will try to make sure it is event popular that shouldn't miss!

Mangga

I love mangoes. In the states one of my favorite snacks or lunchtime additions was Philippine brand dried mangoes. Mmmmm.

Since I have been here in Indonesia, I am even more in love. I have fresh mango for dinner most every night and I can hardly even think about the rest of the food, I just want to eat all of the mango pieces. It is so good to me I'm saying "mmmm" to myself as I'm writing this. When the fruit at our dinner table does not include mango, I have to admit that I'm disappointed. But luckily this does not happen very much.
On Saturday, after visiting a factory where they roll cigarettes by hand, faster than humanly possible, we went out to eat. (And just in case you are wondering, no, I haven't taken up smoking but just though it would be interesting to see hundreds of workers rolling tobacco into paper and packaging it by hand. It was.) Anyway, we went to eat at an Italian restaurant. (Yes, they have some in Indonesia.) They had several kinds of gelatto (Italian ice cream) there and I, of course, tried the mango. It was very good.

I have wondered aloud a few times since I've been here if mango has some kind of addictive something-or-other in it. If it does have it, I wouldn't be surprised since I think I'm a mango addict. In Indonesian it's mangga, so maybe I'm a mangga addict. Can you eat too much fruit? It's too good to care. I'm just going to keep eating it.

All day

There are only a couple new and different things I can think of about this week, besides desperately needing a haircut all week long and not getting one.
One big one is that for a couple of days my supervisor was out of town. This means that I was the only officer in my section for those days and responsible for everything that goes on there and an increased workload. Not like I haven't had plenty to do already, but I had plenty to do! It is pretty fun, though, to always have something going on and to be hopping the whole day long. I would much rather have that than sitting all day long with little to do or just one thing all day long. That can get pretty boring; I know since I've had that at times before. Most days now I am going full tilt from about 7:15 am to 5:15 pm or later and I still have plenty left to do.
So at the end of the day it's nice to come home and have dinner and watch the kids run around and sit for a little while. But then at nights I'm so tired, and since the sun always goes down at around 5:30 pm, by 8:30 or so at night it seems so late and I have a hard time staying awake. Today is Sunday, and definitely not as demanding as other days, but as I sit here typing just before 9:00 pm I am feeling tired and my wife is yawning from across the room. I'm used to the sun going down late in the day when it's hot outside. But here it goes down what seems like early and it's still 85 degrees at 9:00 pm. I am getting used to it, but it still feels a little weird.

Anyway, on a different subject, yesterday we went swimming again and to the mall and watched our first movie at a movie theater here. The seats were very comfy and the movie was 3D and in English. I didn't love the movie, but had fun watching it. I also had this really interesting thing for lunch. It was a couple of pancakes with a piece of crispy fried chicken on top along with some spicy sauce and veggies. It was actually really good. And it was totally a work of art. The kids had pancakes with whipped cream and baked bananas with chocolate sauce and ice cream. Also very good. The restaurant says it's Australian, but, never having been to Australia, I wouldn't really know. I would definitely go back, though. And I will never think of pancakes in exactly the same way.

Variety is the spice of life

Monday was Labor Day. Since I work for the U.S. Government I get U.S. holidays off work. We took advantage of the day to go outside of town to a park "Taman Safari" where you can have a Jurassic Park-like experience driving through electrified enclosures with wild animals wandering all around. The one with the very dangerous animals like bears, lions, and tigers had double gates, electric wires we drove over, and signs letting us know we should not roll down our windows or get out of the car. I couldn't help but think about the movie and all of the problems that happened when they got out and the animals mixed that weren't supposed to and I wasn't arguing. It was a really fun experience. After that we even rode an elephant and a camel, watched white tigers eat chicken while we ate, got pictures with live animals, and saw a couple of shows including one where some owls swooped down to scoop up live mice and eat them.
Tuesday and Wednesday were work as usual, and usual has been very busy lately. I stayed extra late one day to try to get some things done and only took a little chunk out of it. On Tuesday night we had two of the full-time missionaries for our church over to have dinner with us. It's great to have them over.
On Thursday I got to fly to a nearby island to visit an american in jail to make sure all is well, make contact, etc. It was awesome to be able to do this. I expected to just go in and meet with him for a while and maybe talk a little with the police, but shortly after I got there I was sitting in the office of the head of the police with about 5 others from the force like the detective and investigator, the american and a friend of the american. Then they all just turned to me to start. I had to come up with something fast. They were very nice and accommodating. Part of the fun of it is the challenges along the way. We had a couple of power outages, the places to eat near the police station were closed because everyone else was fasting for Ramadan, there was a huge rainstorm that made it nearly impossible to hear the person sitting next to me and the storm also caused a delay for my flight home causing me to leave at about 9 pm instead of 5 pm.
On Friday and Saturday I got to relax with my family since I didn't have to work because it's one of the biggest Indonesian holidays of the year. I drove, yes I drove, our family to the mall. (The driving and steering wheel are on the opposite side from the U.S., traffic is heavy and they don't really look at lines.) Luckily, the only issue was whenever I went to turn on my blinker I flipped the left side which made the wipers go on. We went for a tiring, sweaty walk in the heat of the day to a restaurant that ended up being closed but made it good by picking up some ice cream at a little store near our home. We played a couple of games of Monopoly. We also went out to the school field near our home at night to play tag, a modified version of capture the flag, and have skipping races around the track. We had fun.

Sunday was also a little different since I was sustained to be the Young Men's President in our ward. Later I was set apart, which is the first time I have been set apart to anything all in Indonesian. And I went to the YM meeting. Luckily the outgoing president was willing to still teach the lesson he had prepared. I might be in trouble very soon since my Indonesian still leaves a lot to be desired. I am just relying on the blessing during the setting apart that my Indonesian would be smooth so I could do my calling.
I've always said I like variety and this week certainly had it.

Getting to know you . . .

Two weeks now in Surabaya.
There is way more to write about than I can actually write.

I have been getting used to a new job, of course. As with most new jobs this includes a new boss, new co-workers, new names to remember, new passwords and access codes, new time schedules, and new duties. There is a lot to remember. Plus work is extremely busy right now. Luckily, part of the time I had a chance to interact and observe the person I am replacing here. That was helpful. The first day of work I didn't go straight home as I was scheduled to help out at the Consul General's house with an "Iftaar" with some community leaders. During the Islamic month of Ramdan, Muslims fast from sun up to sun down the entire month and break their fast after sun down each day usually together with family. There have been a number of these events during the month, which ends at the end of this week. I also went to one later that week and took my family. This one was at a little school run by a non-profit organization that gives a high-quality education to children from lower-income families. The kids were really impressive and I think our kids were also impressed. We have been to a couple of things since then, too. It's like that when the consulate is small.
I usually ride in a van to work with a driver from the consulate until I find a driver of my own to take me. It takes less than 1/2 hour if I leave early, but if I leave just 15 minutes later it takes at least 45 minutes. Traffic is crazy with all of the motorcycles and crowding into the lanes. The normal thing for a couple of lanes of traffic is a couple of cars and several columns of motorcycles. It reminds me of the time example where you fill a jar with big rocks and then fill it in with gravel and then sand to fill it up. The jar is the street, big rocks are cars, gravel is the motorcycles and bikes and pedestrians are the sand. It's full.
On other matters, we have met so many new people, from other ex-pats to teachers to church members. It makes your head spin, but I'm glad I have a wife who is good at meeting new people, remembering their names, and becoming friends. We live near a group of teachers, so we sometimes see them around the area. We even went to a swimming pool with one family we met who has some children the same age as ours yesterday. That was fun. The expatriate community in Surabaya is also pretty small, especially compared to some other large cities in Southeast Asia.
We are trying our best to participate in church even though it's all in Indonesian. I can understand quite a bit, but certainly not all. My family doesn't understand much at all and is at the mercy of translators, so it is quite a challenge for them. But they are trying to be positive about it. I did understand enough to get the time to clean the church building yesterday. We went as a family and cleaned windows, vacuumed and cleaned benches, which are all wood. We got a new branch presidency today and I was called into the branch president's office during the last part of Sunday School and issued a calling. So I guess I'll have to use the Indonesian I know at church more than just trying to understand what's happening.

With so much to learn, remember and do, it's good that I am back to running in the mornings and that I am sleeping (mostly) normally. I say mostly because every once in a while the gecko that also lives in my bedroom, (I think of it as a pet of sorts), makes noise that wakes me up. I found out from a book my youngest checked out from the school library that geckos are the only lizard that make noises. The gecko in my room sounds like it has a little laugh and I'm starting to get attached. I would include a picture, but when I tried to take a picture of it up on my wall near the ceiling the little red light on the camera that goes when you focus made it run behind the curtain and I just got a shot of the wall. The only other thing is that on any given day I have at least a couple of mosquito bites that are itchy. I'm getting a bit used to that, too.
Surabaya, getting to know all about you.

Arrival

This week was mostly travel and the good news is that we made it to Indonesia safely. Even all of our luggage made it! It is strange to actually be living in a place so far away from where I am from with my family. It feels like I am still in America with my family while at the same time being someplace very different. I am at home and not at home at the same time.
I enjoyed spending a couple of days in Hawaii where I was able to meet with some people from the Department of Homeland Security to find out more about their job and how my work outside the United States affects what they do or not. I was also able to do some fun things with my family while I was there like the beach.

On Wednesday we set off on our travels. It was quite an adventure. We took an 8 hour plane ride to Tokyo, which was definitely long. We missed a day as we passed the International Date Line. We left Hawaii on Wednesday afternoon and arrived in Tokyo on Thursday evening. I had to experience a little of Japan so I tried out the toilet in the airport with the bum washer and also exchanged some dollars for yen so I could by a Japanese drink from a vending machine. We had fun for the couple of hours we were there. We then took another flight almost as long as the previous one to Singapore where we arrived at 1:00 am Friday morning. There is a hotel in the airport in Singapore that can be booked for times shorter than a full day, as well as just about anything else you can think of. We checked into the hotel, took showers, slept a little in beds instead of airplane seats, and generally took a good break. We then got up early to catch our 7:00 am flight to Jakarta. This was a pretty short flight, but just like the other two flights, they served us a small meal. It was a sausage with an egg and hash brown and orange juice. In Jakarta we were met by someone from the embassy to help us go through emigration and customs and get to the right place in the airport. It was nice to have someone help us with that. It ended up going pretty quickly, so we had plenty of time to wander around. We even bought ourselves some Krispy Kream donuts! Our flight to Surabaya was even shorter than the flight to Jakarta. I'm actually glad we made it since our ticket and the direction we were given at the airport was to go to one gate but as we waited there I heard someone at that gate give an announcement in Indonesian that our flight had changed gates! So I told everyone that we needed to go and they were a bit confused at first but glad that I heard the announcement when we were able to get to the right place in time. While we were waiting there an airline worker came up and asked me if we were going to another place in Indonesia, where tourists usually go. I guess they don't have too many tourists flying to Surabaya. I think we were the only non-Indonesians on the airplane. A few people from the consulate met us at the airport and helped us get our luggage and take us to our place. The driving is quite an adventure. In America many drivers see the speed limit as a suggestion or guideline of sorts but not a hard rule. In Indonesia they seem to regard most traffic laws in that way. They don't really worry too much about lanes of traffic or that sort of thing. We made it to our place, which is nice. We were able to arrange the furniture so that each one of our children can have their own room, which they are so happy about. We were also able to get some food to eat and the kids set up in school; (they were actually expecting them and already had their names on the rolls and everything). We have done a lot of furniture rearranging, unpacking, exploring. We even all walked down the street together to a little market and bought some things to eat.

"Graduation"

I didn't write at my normal time. I have been rushing around so much it got away from me, not to mention that I am currently 6 time zones away from DC and just crashed on Sunday night instead of writing.
Last week I completed my training, "graduated", from my most recent round of training. I was pretty excited that I even got 100% on my last couple of tests! I also completed 4 on-line courses during the last month.

I packed up all of my things, gave away food and household supplies on Wednesday night. Then right after work on Thursday a friend and member of my church who is also in the foreign service gave me a ride to the airport. I made it there in plenty of time, which was good since after he left I realized that I had left a bag in his car! Luckily I got a hold of him and he came back after a few minutes. I met up with my family in Salt Lake City the next day and then we went on together to Honolulu, where I am now. We went to the Dole Plantation and the Polynesian Cultural Center and went to church meetings and saw the temple and BYU-Hawaii campus and I also made final arrangements for the real reason we were able to come here, for work. I came for consultations, (meetings with just me and I ask questions), with DHS. It's been kind of a whirlwind, but I feel blessed to be able to do my job and come here, and I'm glad that we have made it this far already. So, I guess I'm done with the training phase of my job for now and on to the work phase. Hopefully my training has prepared me because I'm ready to start.

Boxes

Tuesday everything, except what I can put in my suitcase or work materials I can send in a separate box, was put into boxes to send off to our new home. Some is going by air and some by sea. I'm not really sure when they send it as well as what we have had in storage for the last 11 months, but it will arrive sometime after we do for sure. I was so glad Amy was here for the packing because with her help we were able to do quite a bit before the movers came and she was able to be here while they packed everything since I had to be at work in training when they were coming to do it. Two men came and it only took them about 4 hours.
Then after they left I took Amy to the airport in the boxy car I had rented. Sad to see her go, but good that I'll see her soon enough.
I have spent the rest of the week checking boxes on my huge list of things to do. Thankfully I only have a couple of things left. I sometimes let things pile up at the end and my wife keeps reminding me that I need to spread them out. I probably can't change some addresses, pack, get a haircut, do laundry, and tie up any other loose ends and still get some sleep in one night. Yeah, good point. It's not that I think I can do everything at once, I just always feel like I have more time, or nights, or something. So, we'll see how the week goes.
On Saturday I helped out at a ward service activity. I painted fresh lines for the box and key and all other parts of the outdoor basketball court. I also helped dig out old ground covering under the playground and put new ground covering in. It was a lot of work but also rewarding.
I got a phone call late Friday night and was asked to fill in for someone who couldn't make it and speak in Sacrament meeting today. I hadn't spoken in our ward before today so I guess that I got to check that box, too.
Soon enough the last big box to check will be actually getting on the airplane. So many boxes, so little time.

Details, details

I think I have a strange relationship with details. I notice some details but not others.
I like it when everything is just right down to the smallest detail, but I really want to know the big picture and how whatever it is fits into the larger scheme of things. I notice little inconsistencies in patterns but regularly leave something behind that I needed. I think maybe I notice so many details sometimes but have a hard time remembering them all.
Some examples from the week:

• I took an exam in which I had to know how to look up fine details of the law and how it would apply to a specific case in order to answer the questions correctly, and got 100%, but couldn't remember the name of the medication I take for allergies every day when I called up my insurance company!
• I gave myself plenty of time to pick up my wife from the airport after renting a car, made sure I had everything lined up for picking her up and then going somewhere together, then remembered that I forgot the GPS at home. I still had time, so I drove back home, picked it up and started to the airport. Well, I missed the turn because I wasn't paying attention until I needed to get over and there was a car there. So I pulled out the GPS and then got lost for 40 minutes while trying to figure out it's directions, (it was mostly "re-calculating" since I kept missing the turn off's or turning too early). I finally made it to pick up my wife 1/2 hour late, (the airport is only a 15-20 minute drive from my house). *note: I am very glad she is here, however. It's awesome.
• I was going to the main office in DC to pick some things up so I thought it would be a good idea to take care of some other things I needed to do there at the same time. I made sure I had what information I needed to bring, printed off the right forms, etc. Then I took off and realized, after I arrived, that I had left the forms I had printed on the computer in the training facility, in Virginia.
• Whenever I read a book, I notice any typos or errors in it, but don't ask me to describe what anyone was wearing at a reception!

Anyway, maybe that's enough of the examples for now. Sometimes I think I need to start tying string to my fingers like Uncle Billy in "It's a Wonderful Life," or writing little letters on my hand like one of my former church colleagues, G. Packer. (Except I could never figure out how he could tell what they were for. I would ask him to do something and he would start writing a little letter or something on his hand between his thumb and pointer finger as he was saying okay.)

But, it's great to have my wife with me for the weekend to help out getting everything taken care of and to just spend some time with her. She is awesome. She sees the details where I don't and I see it where she doesn't and together we somehow, (hopefully), get it all done. We did get to visit Annapolis together yesterday and since it was just the two of us it was almost like an anniversary or something!
It seems like there are some things, like international moves, in which big details spawn a million little details and it takes concerted attention to sort them all out.

Pioneers and airplanes

It took the pioneers months and months to get to the Salt Lake Valley. It took me 6 hours, all inclusive.
I went home to Utah this weekend for a quick trip. It was short, but worth it. It was worth it to see my wife and children again after a couple weeks apart.
We had some fun together. At my parent's ward party we square danced, had 3 legged races, spit seeds, ate, and got sun-burned. We also ate at Cafe Rio and went to the Days-of-47 Rodeo.
It was a good time after a week of intense training and aching to see my family. I feel much better now that I've seen them again. The time is going so fast, though, since there are so many hundreds of little things to do. I hope it goes slow enough that I can get them done and fast enough that it isn't long until I see my family again.

Since I didn't get home until midnight last night, today's 5:00 a.m. alarm came awfully early.
It's pretty interesting to me that flights can be so different to and from the same places. I've been on the direct flight from DC to SLC a few times now and each plane seems to be different. This one had video units in the back of each seat, except the section I was sitting in happened not to be working. On the flight back, there was nothing, not even overhead video. Hmmm...  Oh well, at least they still give me something to drink, (if I'm not asleep).

Service

The thing that kept me busy this week was service, as in church service.
Last week I was asked to teach the lesson in High Priest Group for today on Priesthood Organization. A great subject for me, but how to teach it to this group is a little more challenging. I thought about it and prepared for it all week. I decided to do something a little out of the ordinary. But maybe that's just ordinary for me. Anyway, for part of the lesson I asked them to describe the organization of the priesthood by drawing it on a piece of paper, instead of describing it with words or in writing. Then I had a couple of them tell about theirs and I told about mine. It was interesting to have to think about it in a different way and I think it was effective.

Earlier in the week, on Wednesday after work, my home teaching companion and I went to the hospital to give a blessing to someone we home teach who just had a baby. We stayed for a while and I got to hold the baby. I think this was one of the first times in my life that I have given a blessing without being dressed in my white shirt and tie. I try to always do that because I think it is important to respect the priesthood and its ordinances. But, unfortunately, I couldn't find a way to do it this time since my companion was picking me up from work and I do not have transportation of my own. Anyway, it was good to be of service in this way and did I mention that I got to hold the baby?
Then on Saturday morning, yesterday, I had the opportunity of helping to deep clean the Washington DC temple while it's closed for maintenance for two weeks. I got a ride with another member of our High Priest Group who picked me up at 7:00 am. We were the first volunteers there, on time, at 7:45. We worked for 4 hours cleaning. Most of the time I cleaned/dusted the recessed lighting that is at the top of the wall near the ceiling and some lights in the ceiling of various offices and hallways. I also replaced some burned out bulbs along the way. A lot of climbing up and down and reaching up. I think it is always a special experience to clean the temple like this for several reasons. One reason is that it makes me feel a closer connection to that temple. I know it a little more intimately and so I feel more of a connection to it. This may be true of anything you have to care for carefully. Also, I think it is special to be doing deep cleaning and remodeling with a group of temple-worthy members while remembering that it is still a dedicated temple and keeping our conversations appropriate to a house of the Lord and quiet and dignified even while we work.
In other notes on the week, I also went back to the zoo. I also worked a fair amount with more language, other training and on-line training. It's not too taxing, but I leave home at 6:45 am and get back home at about 6:00 pm, (and it's not that far). But the positive is that I did well on an exam I took this week at work. Hopefully that means I'm learning something.
Service.

Apart

When I returned for training after the 4th of July my family stayed back with family. I have learned that I feel it the most when I come home after work and it is totally silent in the house all evening long and in the morning until I leave for work. Actually I like quiet, but this is different. It's not good when the only talking you hear is what is going on my head. Every once in a while I realize that I haven't even used my voice for hours and when I do it seems strange to hear it. I love my wife and children and I really love being able to make comments to them when I feel like it and to see their reactions and I love to hear what they have to say. I miss that. I know, we have telephone and Email and chat and Skype now, but for some reason those things are just not the same. But they will have to do for now.

I am starting to get into a routine of all of the little things that need to be done since I am the only one to do them with only a couple of hours to do them each evening. The dishes, the laundry, the clean-up, the lunches, the mail, the shopping, and all of the things that still need to be done to prepare to move.

My training is pretty interesting and I do have time to study. That's a good thing since I have extra on-line classes to do and I also started back in a one-hour a day language course just to keep it somewhat fresh. I started that today. I have forgotten some things, but some things come back surprisingly fast, too.

And finally, after the excruciating heat of last week, we have had a little rain to cool it down slightly. So I guess that after a painful week apart, things are looking just a little better or cooler or whatever.

Spinning

What a week!

I have tried to post every week, and with maybe one other exception I have been able to do it. This week I had to delay my post a couple of days because I didn't have a moment to do it.

A week ago I had my last couple of days of language training. I took my language assessment and got the score I needed despite a performance that was not my best and a room that was too hot because it lacked air conditioning. It feels good and strange to be done with my language training and to start other functional training. It's a burden lifted because you can't ever escape the weight of language proficiency weighing over you every minute of every day until you get the score you need. But since I would still like to speak it when I need it, I did the crazy but sensible thing and have already arranged for an hour or so of language training every day for about a month before I head out.

I like my new training and have signed up for some additional courses that will help me. I'm probably a little crazy to sign up for even more training, but I want to learn as much as I can, whatever might help, and I need to fill up my time since my family will be away with relatives for a while.

I love being with my family and it kills me inside to have even a few days away from them. Luckily, I was able to spend the 4th of July weekend with my family and my wife's family for a reunion. I even got to see some of my own siblings and their families and my parents. I really love being around them too and being apart from them is definitely the hardest part of my job.

I almost didn't get my family out when they were supposed to go. We had some problems with the travel arrangements and tickets (long story) and there was one early morning false start, hours of phone calls during breaks at work, and a nail-biting finish. Prayers were answered and we're very grateful for people who were there to help at critical points.

We had a fun holiday spending time with family. We saw fireworks, did sparklers, went on water slides, ran a 5K, (and beat the time I wanted to beat), and had a good time in Utah.

The week went so fast and had so many stressful and crazy elements and late nights and early mornings and changes that my head is still spinning.

All the little things

It's amazing how many little things there are to get done and to make things work and make something come off well.
I've experienced it when giving presentations, planning events, planning and conducting meetings, and now with my job and the ways it impacts the life of me and my family. There are literally a thousand little things to take care of. If some of them don't get taken care of, everything is still going to happen but it just won't come off as well. There are also things that you take care of but if you don't redo them to get them just right it will be just a little harder when the event happens.
Pretty vague, right? Here is an example, but don't worry I won't give all of the detail. When I worked at LDS Employment Resource Services I put on monthly training meetings for employment specialists. It seems pretty simple from the outside, but there are so many things that make it happen. At one point I moved to a new building to better accommodate the group. It needed to be centrally located, easy to find, have parking, have an internet connection that I could connect to, have enough space for all the people, and give me access on the evenings I needed it. It took a lot of asking questions, prayer, visits and checking with people to find the right spot and make sure it was good. Then there is getting the right presenters, making sure they get there and know what to expect and have the right technology. There is also the other training to prepare, handouts, announcements, chair set up and take down, sound, communicating location date and time, recording who is coming, getting help for everything, and the list goes on. I learned that I should always go early and check to see if everything was okay and that systems were working, internet up, had the supplies I needed and so on.

Well, now I am in a job that entails moving myself and my family long distances frequently and it involves a lot of things in a way very similar to that. There are things normal to any job that changes, even within the same company. You have the new office, moving your things, your Email and access and passing things on and new supervisors and co-workers, etc. But there is also all of the details that need quite a bit of attention from a personal standpoint. There are things like, what about the car, what about insurance, the plane tickets, the connections, what will we bring on the plane to keep the children and ourselves occupied, what do we put in our luggage and what do we ship, when do we do those things, where are our connections, what's the right time to get the visas, what about medicine, etc. It can get pretty complicated and pretty important. And just like the meeting I described above, the clock is ticking and it's coming.
Wish me luck on my end of language training test this Tuesday. A prayer would also be nice.
Out.