I've been feeling progressively tired and less well for more than a week. Last night, I realised that, on Helen's advice, I'd been taking iron tablets (which usually perk up most people). Then I remembered that Mum had said something, a while back, about some inherited disease I might have. I looked up "hemachromatosis", and it has all the symptoms I've been showling. The iron tablets are out, and I'll have to do a bit of a "clean up" diet to try to come good.

Apart from that, work is amazingly busy. We're still in the "panic" mode because numbers are down, and Helen and I have to drive the effective marketing activities. There is light at the end of the tunnel after next weekend.

This could be famous last words, but, finally, my internet access is back on, and pretty stable. It's a mystery to many people how Asia functions. When we were in Australia, during Christmas, we could not access Asian websites because there had been an earthquake in Taiwan. The whole communication infrastructure of Indonesia has been on hold for more than a week because the floodwaters in Jakarta damaged something. Who needs terrorists, when incompetence and political short-sightedness will do the job?

Anyway, back into the "flat world". Thomas Friedman paints a very exciting picture of the world as he sees it. I've been floating a few possibilities at school. We shouldn't have to upgrade the school infrastructure much - every kid should have computer and internet access, they all have a personal music player, and they all have some means of taking a digital photo. We must be able to use this to educate them better.I was really surprised at the luke warm reaction to this proposition from the expatriate teachers. I'll have to investigate their IT skills. I suspect that a lack of confidence in their own technological ability is the issue.

It hasn't rained here much for a couple of days, which means that we've been able to ride, without getting mud up our backs. It's a nice, 10km tour around the borders of our estate most mornings, and much better for my knees and ankles than running. I've settled into a routine of running up to the gym, doing a half an hour, and walking/running back a couple of times a week, which is helping my dodgy shoulder.

Helen is currently in the process of planning our trip to Myanmar. For some reason, it has captured her imagination. We know a few people who have been, and they loved it.

School is flat out, as usual. Numbers are down a bit for next year, so we are in to "marketing" mode. I've been grumpy lately, so I'll have to work on viewing things a bit more positively. Most of the teachers are making a big effort, and I'll have to think of a way to reward them for it.

At last, it's raining. The good thing about Surabaya is that it usually rains in the afternoon or evening, which leaves the day for doing things. However, it isn't that good for my Indonesian colleagues who go home on motorbikes, or who live out east where it is prone to flooding. It will be great for the new garden that Helen finished putting in this afternoon. We went to a different "plant street", mentioned in a newspaper article, and it seemed to have a better variety of plants than the other places we go.

We had a pretty good weekend. On Friday night, we went with a colleague to "The Rocks" restaurant, which has been very good. It was okay. From there, we hit the "Lido", where I jammed with the band, and we had a drink. The guitarist wanted to sell me one of his Fender guitars, which he reckoned was a 1969 model. For only Rp5 million (~AU$700), I doubt it. He said he had twin daughters, who were costing him a fortune (realtively speaking) to put through high school.

On Saturday morning, while Helen went to the gym at the mall, I went to a local primary school, which had been painted by our Year 10 kids in July. The teachers had made a good go of putting up decorations and displays. I was checking out a room that they could use as a library, if our Year 8 kids stocked it.  The teacher and kids from school, who were supposed to meet me there, didn't show, possibly because they remembered it was a public holiday. One of the primary school's teachers was there to meet them, so it was lucky that I went. There are some security issues to go through before we hand over a couple of hundred dollars worth of books.

Just before lunch, we went into in town to stay. We had a voucher for a free night at the Majapahit Hotel, which had to be used by the end of March. (We realised, after eating, this morning, that breakfast was not included, and thought the price was a bit steep, given that the quality of the buffett has slipped a bit since the Mandarin Oriental group has pulled out. However, it was only half-price at check out time, which made it reasonable.)

Last night was interesting. We got a taxi to take us to "Jendela" restaurant, which had been one of the better ones, on our arrival, more than four years ago. It was closed, so the driver suggested a new one. We didn't like it, but tried another nearby, "De Chateau". The menu was very extensive. From there, we caught a becak to "Colours" disco, which cost us ~AU$10 to get in, because a couple of Indonesian Idol singers were on. We didn't wait that long, but the house band was very good.

During the night, I woke up feeling queasy. I tried to get it out both ends. In the morning I was okay, and we went for our usual walk around the inner city. I'd slept a while on Saturday afternoon, and repeated the effort at home, this afternoon. I think I'm coming good.

2006 was a pretty good year. Work was good, with a steady move towards the big goal  of having my school widely recognised as the best in East Java, if not Indonesia. There were the usual "two steps forward, one step backward" occasions, but we've consolidated a bit, and the new year seems ripe for putting the pressure back on again. I subscribe to Chairman Mao's view that, when people are comfortable, there is no progress.

Helen and I moved into a new house, and Heln survived the bedroom roof falling on her. We did a lot of travelling together, and Helen did a bit in developing a new role as an educational consultant. I'm hoping that I get the opportunity to do some workshops this year so that I can become a certificated IB trainer and/or visitor. I did one "freebie" to a school, and am hopeful of being able to build up a client base. A highlight was being able to do a workshop at the IB conference in Hanoi, which seemed to go very well - it's the sort of thing we do every week at school.

My health and fitness has been pretty good. I probably need to have a shoulder operation, to rectify an old injury, but I can at least run two to three km's without stopping, and cycle till I drop. I clog up at times, but the doc reckons it's the air in modern society more than me. Like anyone looking at their declining years in the not-too-distant future, I worry about the "invisible" fatal disease.

I don't really believe in New Year's resolutions, but I will try to be a calmer, more tolerant person, make time to "smell the roses" and be respectful of Helen's aversion to "earthy" language. We'll see .........

I could be a widower at the moment, but Helen had a very lucky escape from injury, or worse, last week. I was in Batam, on a school visit, and the phone rang at 3.19 am. Helen said "The bedroom roof has just fallen in on me!". It came down in two big sheets, and one had a hole where her head had gone through it. We don't know why it happened - all we can think of is that the herds of rats running across it each night must have weakened it. It's been repaired and painted, so we'll probably be back in there tonight.

I'm feeling a bit out of it, having had flu, or something for a couple of days. Apart from that, things are pretty good. This week at school is SMART week (Skills, Motivation, Attitudes, Reflection and Thinking), which is an attempt to get more punters into the school and to get them to send there kids here. I'm not sure we've been successful in that aim, but, for the kids who are here, it's been great.

On Monday, we had (my concept of ) "6 X 6 supersports" for the third year in a row. Eight teams play a round robin in soccer, basketball, table tennis and softball, then do tug-of-war play offs, and end with a 6 X 100m relay. The teams consist of 3 boys and 3 girls. We had four teams from outside, and one team from each of our four Houses. Red House won, after a really good day of Competition.

Last night, we had the House Music Competition - another brilliant concept from moi. There were a few technical hitches, and the kids treated it more like a rock show than a school concert, but most of the performances were excellent. The Drama stuff over the past two days has been really good as well.

Today has been a round robin of touch football, netball, softball and handball. It is very hot out there, but the kids have been wonderful.

I'll be in the pool very soon after arriving home this afternoon.

I don't feel a year older, but time seems to whizz by without me knowing it. I seem to spend most of my waking hours in front of a computer, but don't get to do the personal things, such as write emails, update my websites and write the cricket reports (let alone any personal writing). I must have developed other priorities, without realising it.

The rainy season is upon us, and, at the moment, is very refreshing, after the hottest weather I've seen in five years in Surabaya. It was really nice going for a walk this morning, but I was still perspiring profusely indoors. I'm feeling pretty good after making up the numbers in the 5km Fun Run yesterday. Hopefully I'll still be good tomorrow, after netball tonight.

I need to think of something for Helen to buy me for my birthday. The problems are that I don't actually need anything, and I don't have time to make use of the stuff I have. (eg: How many people have listened to all their CD's in the past couple of years?) I have a pile of pirate DVD's half a metre high to wade through, and another 10 or so hours of stuff on the DVD recorder's hard drive. I've still got books I bought last Christmas that I'm yet to read, and I'm a pretty good reader. I did look at my electric guitar yesterday, but that's as far as it got.

Anyway, things have been pretty busy lately, and, coming up to Christmas, the situation looks like accelerating.

I read, somewhere, that ~99% of blogs are only read by their bloggers.  I don't see why that's a problem, but, I suppose if you're in the "Big Brother" generation, you need to be validated by someone else knowing you're out there somewhere. Very sad.

Anyway, with a bit of luck, I 'll be able to document my existence a bit more regularly. No Maths class, so my time is a bit more flexible, and, with more reliable internet access at home (touch wood),  I'll be able to maintain a bit more of an online presence.

At day 9 of a 10-day holiday, I'm pretty relaxed, although I've still got exams to concern myself with at school. However, being able to read, jump in the pool or watch something on TV has been great. The days seem to go very quickly though, and I thought I'd be able to get a bit fitter. Instead, I've actually put on a bit of weight, and feel tired. Like many men over 50, I worry that I might have something wrong with my health. Fingers crossed.

I need to use my time at work a lot better. My "To Do" list just grows. I suppose I try to do too much, and set the bar a bit high. In the end, most things get done, but it can be a bit stressful. At least I've learned that, if something didn't get done, it wasn't that important.

I'm waiting for a Biology exam to finish, so I can go home, have
breakfast, play some tennis, and head into town to shop. I'll probably
get a haircut.

Yesterday
afternoon, we needed to buy some ice, because the expat teachers were coming to
our place for “thank you” drinks in the evening. 

The place where
we previously bought ice in the village of Lakarsantri no longer sold it., but
there was another place two hundred metres up the road. Helen had been there
before, and had bought a block of ice (~ 100cm x 20cm x 20cm) for Rp 10,000
(~AU$1.30).

Most Javanese
village houses are fairly messy, but this one was exceptional. There also
seemed to be at least four women who were pregnant or nursing babies, with
hordes of little kids around, and a few dodgy-looking blokes. They all looked
as though no-one would be really sure if someone was their father or their
brother. 

Helen, of course,
was recognised, and they sprang into action. One simpleton grabbed a length of
rubber, and his motor bike – there was obviously no ice. “Three minutes”, said
a lady, in Indonesian. 

I thought it
would save time if he took the ice straight to our place. Helen and I attempted
to explain the concept, and our address, with no success. We waved him off, and
he sped into the distance. A while later, he came speeding back through the
village, weaving in and out of the traffic.

The ice was
dumped on a dirty rice sack, and another man proceeded to dissect it. The
courier grabbed a bucket of water (of dubious origin) and took over the
chopping up. He sectioned it into sixteen roughly-equal pieces, and washed each
piece in his bucket, before putting it in the large rubbish bin we had brought.

Helen paid the Rp
10,000 and we got into the car. As we were pulling away, the courier came
running up – he had been left out of the transaction, and wanted Rp 5,000 for
his trouble. We thought that it was a very cheap price for the entertainment.

The new house is excellent - like living in a small resort. The nearby
mosques seem hell bent on annoying all the Chinese/Indonesian and
expatriate infidels in the estate, but you don't notice them much.
Otherwise, it's far quieter than the Ciputra Villas, where we spent
four years.

The pool is a bit invigorating, because it doesn't get a lot of sun.
It will look fabulous once the new plants grow around it - we paid a
gardener from school pull to out some horrible bamboo-type plants, and
we replaced them with hibiscus and frangipanis. Martini had a lesson on
pool maintenance from the previous houseboy, but we may have to get him
to come back.

I successfully got nothing done today, which is disappointing.
Eighty-five percent of the school is on camp, and I should have had
plenty of time to do stuff. However, I've been informally meeting with
one or two of the teachers, and making sure that the kids who didn't go
on camp don't feel that they are being punished for it.

I am really happy that my weight is the lowest it's been for at least
ten years. However, I still have an obvious "belly", and need to keep
exercising and watching what I eat. I'm actually a bit tired from
playing touch Friday night, Hash on Saturday and nine holes yesterday.
I rode this morning, and we have netball tonight. Hmmm.

It's been a very long time since my last entry, because other things
are always more urgent and important. I'm not sure I can spare the time
now, but I will.

Back at school for four weeks, and it's been pretty good. Most of the
time I can see the results of my efforts, but, every now and then, I
realise that it still requires me being there to make it all work, so
there is still a long way to go. We have four new expatriate teachers
this year, and they all look like they will be the "goods". The two
"survivors" are also contributing well. I need a maths teacher though,
and, even if we get someone in January, it will be too late to take the
VCE class from me.

The VCE kids didn't like the change from their teacher of more than two
years to me, initially, but I think they realise they're being catered
for pretty well. It's a lot of work to get many of them to anything
like pass standard in the next two months. We'll see how it goes.

The other task is getting some music together for a couple of events at
the end of the month, related to the 75th birthday of the bloke who
owns our school, and pretty much everything else for kilometres. (And
that's a small part of his business.)

At the moment, we are rationalising stuff in our cupboards, before
moving to another, bigger place in two weeks. There's not as much stuff
to throw out as I thought. There is a lot of of stuff to move, even if
it is only 2km away.