Bacon Double Cheeseburger. Please. (6/18/11)

We had an AMAZING meeting at Education USA today. One professor asked me/us to come back to Indonesia and give our presentation of American schools to the students at his college. We were very honored and were able to get a lot of students interested in coming to ISU. One students even asked if there was a way that Iowa State could partner with an Indonesian school to create a dual university program to make it easier for students to transfer internationally. “Funny you should say that..that’s actually the purpose of our visit.” After our outstanding presentation and networking meeting we went to a batik exhibit. Batik is the traditional form of painting designs on clothing by using melted wax to create borders for the dye. There were over 400 exhibits…I think I saw all the printed fabric I need to for one life time. But I found the food court and relaxed in there with our Aussie tour guide for a while. I could listen to him talk about “bloody Indonesians” for hours. But we had to keep moving , because a visit to Monas was next on our itinerary. Monas is the national monument of Indonesia, sort of like our statue of liberty. I couldn’t find a description of its importance/significance anywhere. And all the Indonesians I asked didn’t seem to know either. But nevertheless, we got a lot of pictures with this statue.

John, our Aussie tour guide and constant comic relief, wanted to show us the National Museum..but he didn’t know where we were, or where IT was. That didn’t stop him. We walked around the park and forest area for a solid 30 minutes until we found a building he recognized. Following this crazy guy was like following Mr. Magoo. But that’s half the fun. I was a little perturbed we had to leave the park and carnival area (yeah, there was a carnival) so Bettina and I risked our lives to go on a pony ride. There are these little carts, andongs, pulled by miniature horses. We saw them earlier and didn’t want to spend an HOUR looking at figures and maps when we could get a andong ride. So without our professor knowing, we got in the cart and left area (don’t tell dad). But don’t worry. Our driver spoke a little English and we spoke a little Indonesian so we were able to relate that we needed to be back at the museum in time for them not to notice our absence. It was THRILLING! I felt like we were breaking the rules and I loved it. Professor didn’t seem to upset when she saw us coming back all smiles. No worries J

Next, we headed to John’s favorite pub for a burger and fries and some great dancing music. Julie, don’t judge, but I had a double bacon cheeseburger with fries….what else would you expect!? I needed that grease in me. As the night went on, we were “welcomed” by some British blokes who were so kind as to show us the error of our ways. They pointed out some serious defects in our schedule and living situation (most of which we were already aware of) and even had the nerve to approach our professor about his objections. He was a bit of a downer, but everything he said was completely realistic. He ended the night on a high note; singing karaoke songs all the way home. I’m glad “Ain’t No Mountain” is  well known, and that we were able to harmonize throughout the chorus. We may not be able to see all of Jakarta…but we can assemble a gospel choir on the spot! Look out now!