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.