Alex Unplugged

Today definitely marked a new chapter in my life. It was officially the first day I am the only Semester 31 student left in Jogja (although Sophie will be back next week); it was also the first day of study at Sadar (Universitas Sanata Dharma). I'm actually a little confused about the whole thing and feel like I have no-one to talk to about it. Ina is busy; Rifqy in Singapore, my Sem 31 buddies in Australia and due to a miscommunication the person I really want to talk to won't talk to me. There are others of course but I don't feel close enough to them to explain and I feel like people at home just don't understand. There's an air of sadness and aloneness for me but I feel hopeful and happy at the same time.


This journey has been life transforming and it's hard to explain the influence it has had on me to people on the outside. I obviously miss my friends from last semester, my friends from home and my family - I feel that they are/were my safety net - but it is strangely liberating to be in this on my own. I feel like I can do this and in many senses am free from the burdens of last semester (and subsequently the burdens of the last three years) - where marks have been everything and the pressure has been on to perform. Whilst, there's still pressure (I am here on a scholarship after all), it's now pressure I've put on myself to perform rather than pressure to pass or please people other than myself.

How to explain................ for starters I have made a concerted effort this semester to choose classes that no other bules are in (though it's hard and there is obviously a few compulsory classes we share). I want to branch out of my comfort zone (apparently moving to a third world country is not enough) and challenge myself as much as possible. I also feel unfulfilled with my language acquisition so far. I can easily hold my own in a conversation now and can communicate fairly effectively but it still isn't enough for me which is entirely my fault for not taking control of my language learning. I feel my language is still at a far lower level than I wanted to be at. So this semester is for that - achieving fluency (hopefully) - and immersing myself more in the culture (which means hanging out with Indonesian's and living like a local).


I'm also looking at this semester from the perspective of a future career now. I'm taking journalism language classes and multimedia classes because I can see myself pursuing something like that in the future (who knows). The idea of foreign correspondence continues to appeal to me so I figure I will absorb as much information as possible.

Already I've been trying to attend more cultural events, including going to concerts. I also want to try out pencak sila (an Indonesian martial art - thanks for the inspiration Kat and Yassie) and hope to take up Javanese or Balinese dance classes. I'm also considering doing a course in Indonesia ceremony etiquette and hope to do some work for an NGO, possibly teaching Children at a school set up for the needy.

What is apparent is that one chapter of my life has just closed and I'm anxious and excited to see where this new chapter takes me.