Trip to Yogyakarta (Jogja)

This past weekend we traveled to Jogja, mixing a bit of business with pleasure. On Friday we visited the International School that Katie will be attending in January. The school is much smaller than the school in Salatiga but unlike Katie's current school, it is not a Christian school. There is a mix of Christian, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu with most of the kids being the children of business people. Another big difference is that the school is comprised of several converted houses and so very different from the school environment Katie is used to. Because it is a smaller school, the grades are mixed so Katie will be in a class that has younger and older children. We met Katie's future teacher who was very nice and excited that Katie would be joining her class. She was a teacher in Alaska before deciding to try something different. The school seems to have a very good learning environment.

After visiting the school, we got down to the business of vacationing. After having almost three months of language classes six days a week, this was our first holiday break. Due to some confusion, we ended up staying in two different hotels over the weekend. The first hotel was much like hotels we are used to but attached to a larger mall. The hotel was in the north of Jogja, which has most of the universities as well as malls. Our second hotel was in the south of Jogja, which has most of the tourist sites including Malioboro Street and the Palace (Kraton). This hotel was a group of converted houses with a small pool in the middle and beautiful gardens. The rooms were comfortable. The hotel seems to cater to tourists and backpackers. We didn't do any tourist stuff but spent most of our time either at the pool or shopping. It was hot (34C) and humid.

We are trying to find a house for January that is close to both of our universities. The process of getting a house has been complicated but we hope that the situation will be settled by the end of December. This coming semester I am scheduled to team teach a course on Justice and Human Rights. My Muslim colleague will teach the first half so I won't really begin teaching till April. There is a chance that I might pick up another course from another university.

I keep forgetting to take pictures of my university but I just posted some pictures of the campus from the outside road. The universities are on break and closed so we couldn't go in. The buildings are very new because the old ones were destroyed in an earthquake two years ago. The classrooms are air-conditioned with most of the electronics one would find in universities in N. America.

I am teaching in the graduate department of UIN (Universitas Islam Negeri - State Islamic University) Yogyakarta. My students are all Muslims with some being women. I met some of my future students and their English is relatively good. They seemed bright and looking forward to working with me. I am very excited at this unique opportunity to be teaching in an Islamic university.

Phil