First week!

Apa kabar!
Pinch me... Am I really here?  As Dorothy said, "I don't think I'm in Kansas any more".

First impressions:
 - the Indonesians are very friendly people.  If you smile at them, you get the biggest, friendliest smiles back.
-  the weather is better than I expected, hot (about 30) but not too hot and much less humid than I  feared
- huge extremes as far as poverty and wealth
- noisy and polluted here in the city
- great food and lots of choices for not very much money.  So far I've eaten Indonesian, Italian, Japanese and North American and others have managed to fit in German
- beer is easy to get and cheap, wine is harder to get and fairly expensive by Indonesian standards
- the money is hard for me to wrap my head around - 10,000 Rupiah is about $1.00

I have spent the first week in orientation with the 43 other new teachers this year.  It has been at the main campus of the school, which is truly amazing for someone coming from the public school system as I am.  It is more like a resort than a school.  A grand entrance, a beautiful theatre, cafes and lounges in every building, two pools, one that looks Olympic size to my eyes and one smaller one for younger children, beautifully landscaped gardens, pathways, play areas and a state of the art soccer field.
We have had information sessions on everything you can imagine from Indonesian and Chinese culture, ( eg. don't point with your index finger as we do but hold your hand palm down and gesture, don't touch anyones' head, never put your feet up on a table or point with your feet) , Indonesian language lessons, trips to various shopping malls, technology lessons on our new Macbook Air laptops, counselling sessions about what to expect in adjusting to a new country (apparently 8 weeks is the lowest point for homesickness), visits to a Medical clinic where English is spoken, to how to set up house etc. etc.  I'm  told that this school does an unusually good job of orientation and although I can't compare, I suspect it's true!
My move here is much easier than some of the others who have young families, (one couple has 4 young children).  They are needing to arrange nannies, buy furniture and appliances, arrange for cable, internet and electricity. buy school uniforms and many other things.  I will be moving into a furnished apartment and the utilities are arranged right in the building.
The expats here that work at the main campus live a pretty nice lifestyle.  They have beautiful, spacious  homes in one of the many "clusters", most with pools in the backyard.  They all have maids and drivers (can't blame them for that as I wouldn't want to drive here!)

Well, I think that is it for now.  I will try to attach pictures.  I miss all of you so much but "Saya hatiku senang", my heart is happy!

A courtyard at the school.

Near the main entrance of the main campus.

The high rise on the right is my new school on the 8th and 9th floors.

.                                                The pool on the balcony at my school!