Oh, I Laugh!

March 5, 2011 by · 2 Comments

Today’s post is a bit generic.

But because I really love to laugh…

and because right now, I really need to laugh…

here are some reasons for you to laugh!

We had a lot of fun with random signs during our time overseas. It seemed like there was always something to take a picture of for a good laugh later.

And, a few disclaimers: I really loved Indonesia, so this is in no way poking fun at it.

In fact, a couple of these pictures were not even taken there.

One of them…well, if you are one of the few people privileged enough to know how much I hate a certain word, you may NOT use this as your platform to publicly humiliate me. I shall delete your comment faster than you can say that word! šŸ˜€ Oh, and there’s one that’s a tad bit inappropriate, nevertheless, SO worth the laugh. :)

Enjoy…and laugh! It’ s good for the

soul.

First up…You have to look closely, but this is a “manicure set”. Oh, yes…please, someone do my nails with THIS!

:)

I certainly hope that’s not really where the baby is!

:)

I suspect that the reason we found this so funny was because I was pregnant and very sick…and it was some form of entertainment while waiting for my blood test results.

We laughed unnecessarily for way too long.

This wouldn’t have been as good if we weren’t from Minneapolis. :) It was odd to find it in a mall in Jakarta.

Just my hubby being himself…but it was pretty funny at the time!

As seen at Starbucks: “The Ugly Chicken Crispy Puff. P.S. Ugly But Tastes Yummy!” I never tried it, but boy, did I laugh at this sign.

šŸ˜€

Thank you for the instructions…just in case I forget. :)

And…the best for last.

Truthfully, I don’t know why this was so funny.

Well, I do, but you don’t get to know why.

:) Spotted in Thailand in 2006. NEVER FORGOTTEN by my husband, who will often bring this picture out just to embarrass me.

 

Sig

Filed Under: culture shock, Indonesia

10 Indonesian Adventures

March 4, 2011 by · 4 Comments

Time for another top 10 post.

:)

So, I bring you…10 Indonesian adventures

I will never forget. (Pardon me in advance if some of these are TMI. I had some solicited help from a certain someone in my house. :)) Oh, and I didn’t even attempt to number these in any particular order. Tobin said it best…they were all adventures for their own reasons.

And even though some of them weren’t fun at the time, I smile now. :)

10. Using a Squatty Potty. Some would argue that this

is an actual adventure.

I beg to differ…seeing as the first time made me cry. I will spare you the details, only to tell

you that I eventually figured it out and came to the point where I preferred them over regular toilets.

9. Surfing at Kuta Beach. Surfing was always on my Bucket List but kind of one of those things I was afraid to try. But in April 2007, I took a trip to Bali with some friends…and somehow I found the guts to go out, find a surf instructor, and rent a board. Not only did I stand up on the board and actually ride it to shore, I was hooked immediately. I still love to surf…I just need an ocean now. :)

8. Bukit Lawang. In 2007 I took a trip with some friends to Bukit Lawang in the jungles of Sumatra.

We went on an eight hour hike to see the orangutans in the preserve there and went white water “rafting”…in a raft made of a bunch of rubber inner tubes. It was fun…not necessarily something I’d do again but something everyone should do once if they get a chance. And the orangutans were pretty cool. :)

7. Being Jane. And while I was on the above trip

? I. just. had. to. be. Jane. Just once. I had always w anted to swing on

a vine, and our guide, though he thought I was crazy, very nicely went out and found me the perfect swinging apparatus.

6. Eating Octopus. While we were in Indonesia, Tobin and I loved eating sushi. (Because there, we could afford it!) We went with some friends to celebrate Tobin’s 30th birthday, and one of them pulled a plate of baby octopuses (octopi?) from the conveyer belt that went by the tables. I have to admit that I was really grossed out but eventually ate it. But really, only for bragging rights. :) Not something I’d eat again. (I can’t believe how long my hair is in this pic, either!)

5. Taking the Ferry to Singapore. This was an adventure in the worst way possible. Now, I can look back on this particular day and smile. Then? I thought I might die. Anyway, in an effort to save some money, we decided to take the ferry from Batam to Singapore before flying on to Thailand for our Christmas break.

No one warned me about what happens to people on a ferry who get extremely motion sick. Imagine…the most excruciating 60 minutes of your life spent heaving into a garbage can. While the boat goes up and down. And up and down. And up…and down. While all 200+ people in the room watched the extremely sick white girl, wondering if they should take pictures. (Some probably did.) Yeah. I was so sick that once I got off the boat? I laid down on the floor until the line for immigration was shorter. Worst morning EVER. (Oh, and quite obviously, this picture was taken BEFORE the ferry left.)

4. Climbing the Steps of Borobudur.

This was another item on my Bucket List. I couldn’t wait to see Borobudur, and it didn’t disappoint. I loved it…loved it…loved it. I want to go back again.

Anyone for a trip to Indonesi

a?

3. Driving to the Beach. I did not take pictures of this. It is not worth remembering although I am extremely unlikely to forget it. I still have images of the many bus cepat…fast buses…speeding toward us. Each time I was sure we would be crushed…thankfully, each time I was wrong.

In general, drives to the beach were long and slow. One beach was 200 km from where we lived.

(I just made up that number, but I think it’s about right.) That equals about 124 miles…which took us anywhere from 6-8 hours.

Yeah, it was that slow. And full of dodging buses, trucks, motorbikes, carts, and pedestrians. Bonus points to my hubby for keeping us all alive on such trips.

2. Motorbike + Tidal Wave. You can read the full account here. It’s a good one. Let’s just say that for the three years we drove in Indonesia, we had a knack for getting caught in the rain more times than we can possibly count. And one time during our first year, we met a bus. Bus + two bules on motorbike + monstrous puddle = two very wet people + bus full of laughing passengers. Oh, memories.

1. Hiking Tangkuban Parahu in Flip Flops. One time when a friend was visiting, we decided to take her to the volcano about 45 minutes from our house. It was kind of a rainy, cold day there and we figured we’d just go, look around, take some pictures, and then head to the hot springs, which was the real reason we went up there in the first place. :) However, once we got there, we decided that we should hire a guide to show us around. We thought? That he would take us around the rim, point out a few things, and we’d be done.

Oh, no. Not at all. He took us on a “hike” down to the bottom of the volcano. We were all wearing flip flops. It was wet and muddy. And cold…well, cold for Indonesia. And the best part? We had to hike back up to the top…which re ally is

a story for another day. Now I can say I’ve hiked a volcano in flip flops. More bragging rights. :)

I heart adventures.

So thankful for the memories.

Sig

Filed Under: adventures, culture shock, Indonesia, remembering, Top 10, travel

Controlling the Urge to Chop

February 13, 2011 by · 2 Comments

Warning: Stop reading now.

Why are you still reading?!

Ok, so today’s pos t

is slightly indulgent and more-than-

slightly ridiculous.

But, really…when I plan to blog every day for a year, there

are bound to be a few like this. Maybe it will even make you laugh. (And laughter is meaningful…so there ya go. :))

Basically, I am learning huge amounts of self-control right now. Probably not the way God intended for me to learn it, but nevertheless, I’m learning!

Why, you ask?

Because of my hair.

That’s right…my hair.

The long and short of it (HAHA! Please tell me you laughed?!) is that I am completely addicted to cutting my hair…and I change my hairstyle often. It is actually quite amazing that I’ve had the same haircut for more than a year right now…

I’m a spontaneous person, and I like change, so I think that has a lot to do with it.

No, let’s back up. I like change when it doesn’t involve transcontinental relocation. :)

Anyway, a few weeks ago I decided that I was tired of my hair…and because it is so short already, that means only one thing…no more haircuts allowed.

Oh, here we go.

Much self-control needed.

A little (but not short) story:

So, when we went to Indonesia, I had pretty short hair.

That was mostly to give myself some time

to find the courage to get a haircut there. Well, that courage never came, and I just let it grow. By Christmas, it was long enough for a ponytail.

But what I hadn’t counted on was what the humidity in Indo would do to my hair.

It wasn’t cute. AT ALL.

It was this crazy mix of waves and curls, and it drove me crazy.

So I decided to chemically straighten it.

Yeah…it’s pretty much like it sounds and pretty much horrible for anyone’s hair. (You can read my mildly horrifying but oh-so-entertaining account of it here. And, ok…after re-reading this post, I have to put in a disclaimer here: I was even more of a drama queen five years ago. But hey, enjoy the drama. :))

And that worked for awhile…until my hair started to grow out. Then I had a mix of crazy curly and straight. Hello ponytail for five months.

So when we headed back to the States for the summer I decided, what the heck? Let’s go curly.

Oh, horrors.

Once again, I hadn’t counted on the humidity factor…my hair started out fine in the mornings. But after about 30 minutes, it would be crazy. Again, we say hello to the ponytail. I’m pretty sure I didn’t leave my hair down for one day the entire semester.

So once again, around Christmas, I decided to try straightening it.

Really, Mel, did we NOT learn the first time?!

Apparently not.

This time I went with a friend, and we both got our hairĀ wrecked straightened.

The only good thing that came out of this is that my hair was longer than it had been since, like 3rd grade.

But again…humidity kicked in.

Really, why did I even try?

I made it another semester, but my hair never made it past 9:00 am before I put it up.

I just couldn’t take it and knew what I needed to do.

The problem was, we had decided to stay in Indonesia that summer, and so I needed to find the guts and just get it cut. I ended up chopping about ten inches off, and it was the best thing ever.

I loved that haircut (even though I still had to cut it every four to six weeks or so). :)

And then…last Christmas…I had a moment of weakness. Maybe it had something to do with being pregnant and puking all day long while living in the boiling tropics? I totally chopped it…it was so short that when I looked in the mirror, I almost cried. But then I went home and smiled when I figured out it only took me five minutes to do my hair. For a pregnant, puking girl, that is priceless.

I kept it short after Maelie was born, but lately have been kind of getting the itch for something new. Or at least longer.

It has now been almost seven weeks since I’ve cut my hair.

And it. is. killing. me.

I so want to grab scissors and just start hacking away.

Self-control, self-control, self-control.

Be patient, be patient,

be patient.

I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.

Wait, wait, wait.

And while I wait and practice patience and self-control, I’m trying to be thankful. Thankful that my hair grows faster than the average person’s hair. Thankful that I’m still taking prenatal vitaminsĀ so it’s growing even faster. (My hairstylist says it’s about an inch a month–I think it’s even more.) That’s just crazy. And even more thankful that there’s something called a flat iron.

I’m even thankful that I have this blog for moments such as this. Instead of thinking about chopping my hair or running around the house looking for scissors, I can just write about it instead. :)

So, there you go…what’s going on in the land of Mel’s hair. (Probably more than you ever wanted to know!)

When my hair is long enough for a ponytail, I’m throwing a party. Stay tuned. :)

Sig

Filed Under: hair, Indonesia, remembering

What I Miss

February 10, 2011 by · 2 Comments

I had an interesting conversation today with a few people about Indonesia. The question, “What do you miss?” came up, and I almost wasn’t sure how to answer it. If you asked me that question every day for a week, you’d probably get a different answer every time.

I listed a few things…and then I thought about it for the rest of the day.

What exactly do I miss?

So here’s my top 10 11…enjoy. :)

11. The climate. That’ s a given on a day a

s frigid as this one is. I don’t just mean the weather, though…because truthfully, it was always a little on the hot side for me there. I miss the mountains I saw every single day when I looked out the upstairs window. I miss the palm trees in our yard. I miss the smell of rain and the fun of riding a motorbike when it was so completely pouring. I miss the beaches and the many vacation nights that Tobin and I would sit out on the sand in the dark, stargazing and listening to the waves crash.

10. Starbucks. There is something about Starbucks in a country such as Indonesia. To me it represented more than coffee…it was my little slice of America in a place so different from my “home”. It was there that I often found my sanity, there that I spent hours with friends as we laughed, poured our hearts out to each other, and bonded over similar circumstances that no one else quite understood.

9. Outlet Shopping. It would be so very wrong if I wrote this post and didn’t include outlet shopping on the list. It isn’t because I am was a shopaholic. (I’m getting A LOT better, I promise. :)) Outlet shopping to me was therapy. It was a chance to go look for a bargain and take a friend and just explore. And while I almost always found a good deal, we had far more fun laughing at some of the crazy T-shirts we found made by someone who didn’t have his/her English quite right. If you ever get a chance, ask Tobin to tell

you about the T-shirt we found all about meatballs. :) Dude, really?! Yep, we bought it and gave it to a friend.

8. Tempe Goreng & Pisang Goreng. Easily my two favorite Indonesian foods.

Tempe goreng is fried soybean cakes and p

isang goreng is fried banana. I loved eating tempe goreng and craved it a lot when I was pregnant…it’s best with lots of kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) and rice. Pisang goreng…so yummy. I actually loved it the Indonesian way, with brown sugar and shredded cheese…but throw a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and I’m just as happy. :)

7. Crazy Adventures. Whether riding a motorbike in a downpour, getting completely lost for hours, swinging from a vine, or tromping through a jungle, I miss the adventures from our time in Indo.

One of my favorite quotes is “Attitude is the difference between ordeal and adventure.” So although our Indonesian adventures are over, I’ m looking forward to

many, many more of them, wherever we are!

6. My Pembantu (Housekeeper). I don’t just miss the fact that Ibu Sari did all of those things that I despise… cleaning bathrooms and the floors, laundry, dusting.

We so appreciated everything she did for us.

But I miss her…my friend. I miss laughing with her and practicing my Bahasa Indonesia with her. I miss our daily conversations. I really, really just miss her.

 

5. Students. I could say I miss the school we taught at, but really, the students are what made BAIS. I spent a LOT of time with some of those students, and they know far more about me than most people.

(Scary, I know.) Really, teaching them changed my life…I gained so much appreciation for different cultures and ideas because of the students I taught. I could list individuals and what I miss about each of them, but that’s for a different day…I so look forward to Heaven and the absolutely incredible reunion that will happen there. :)

4. Friends. Friends come and go in a place as transitory as BAIS…and so we made a lot of friends and lost a lot. Some of those friendships are/were strong enough to make it through living on separate continents, but a lot are/were not. I say that to point out that God gives us people in each phase of life to bless us, to teach us, to encourage us, to help us grow. So I appreciate the relationships we had there even if not all of them were close…and even if not all of them lasted forever. But I can honestly say that each person I knew impacted me in some way, and for that reason, I am thankful.

3. Appreciating the Small Things. Not that I don’t do it now…but I realized not too long ago how much Tobin and I found joy in small things. Like the day Setiabudi (the expat grocery store) had orange cheddar cheese for the first time in about a year. Or the day we spent $8 on a package of frozen bagels and a (very small) block of Philly Cream Cheese. Or the day smack dab in the middle of rainy season that we drove up to Lembang on the bike…and it didn’t rain. Or when someone was visiting from the States and would bring us American chocolate. :)

2. The Indonesian People. I didn’t have as many relationships with the local people as a lot of teachers/ friends I knew did.

But the ones I did meet and know… they were wonderful.

I am so thankful that I was able to live among people from a different religion…because it changed the way I viewed that religion.

I still don’t see it as Truth, but I did come to respect their way of life and tradition. Most of what you hear in the media…well, I just think most people could benefit from living in Indonesia for awhile.

I’m thankful for how much bigger my world became through the opportunity to live among the people of Indonesia. They’re amazing.

1. Maelie experiencing Indonesia. I so wish my daughter could have lived in Indonesia for awhile. (Well, other than in my belly :)) She will hear us talking about it her whole life but never really know what it was like. Of course, we plan on taking her there to visit someday…and that will be fun. :) No matter what she does with her life, though, I hope Mae has the opportunity to spend some time in another culture. It’s life-changing.

This list could have been a lot longer…but here you go.

Maybe there will be a Part 2 later.

:)

I’m glad I miss it…because it means I loved it.

Sig

Filed Under: Indonesia, remembering, Top 10
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