60 days and all I got was this stupid t-shirt

A few notes:

A. I am a little disgruntled as I forgot to save my in-progress blog before my iPad died. So, you are getting a newly constructed blog with a newly lumpy attitude.

B. If this blog post dies unexpectedly, you are going to do without. (fear not, I think I learned my lesson-click save. . . . click save . . . . click save. . . )

C. The logicboard went out on my beloved apple (before you start the mourning, I'm going to try and get it fixed when I get home) literally a week after arriving in Bali. So there. That's another excuse I can throw at you for not updating. Sure Suuuuure Tom has a laptop, but it just doesn't feel natural. Oh, and don't ask me what the heck a logicboard is, I just know it's important and it's broken. TGI-iPad?


Okay so Tom and I are approaching our two month baliversary. And yes, I'm aware that I've only updated the old blog two times. You're welcome. We are both enjoying Bali thus far. My school is bigger than Tom's (we have about 1,000 kids in my school, not sure about Tom's). There are about 20 foreign teachers at my school, mostly British or Australian with some other Americans and Canadians mixed in. At Tom's school, there are 4 teachers. My day is mostly teaching in the classroom. I have about 16 classes a week, with a few online classes sprinkled around. Tom only teaches in the classroom, and he has fewer classes than I do. I don't think this is fair, but at least I have opportunities for overtime : /

I still cook often (expanding internationally to curries, stir fry, and a homemade bolognese sauce thrown in there). But food is so cheap here, that we give in to the temptation to eat out often. On average, a meal for both of us is about $8 (if you include a beer, it's between $10-15). And I'm talking nice restaurants. I eat lunch for a dollar a day, and that is still homecooked traditional indonesian food! Our groceries are still only about $40 a week. For two people, that's not bad!

Once again, Tom has taken the backseat to learning the language. Don't get me wrong, I think Tom is one of the smartest people I know. He just has a natural aversion (I call it "guys are lazy") to learning something 100% foreign to him. Understandable. In Korea, we were surrounded by shapes and symbols that had no natural meaning to us. We got around well enough without it, so it wasn't until somewhere around month 7 that I even learned to read Korean. Upon returning home, I regretted waiting so long. So I won't be making the same mistake Indo-style. I've been trying to learn at least one word a day. Which seems ridiculous that I would only learn 365 words in a year, but at least I'm getting a start at it. I can proudly count to 8 now, and of course I know more than half the stuff I see on menus. Food is obviously the most important foreign language vocabulary anyway.

As most of you know, Tom and I have been cohabitating (living in sin, whatever you want to call it) here in Bali. Let me tell you, it's going pretty well. Of course we had little tiffs here and there in the beginning, but after a bit our oddities seemed to adjust to one another. At the beach, Tom likes to chase crabs; I like to read. I like to cook our dinner; Tom likes to eat. I reluctantly clean the bathroom; Tom sits and watches TV. No, but really in all actuality it is great. After all, without a few growing pains, I'd be concerned.

I've been reading Game of Thrones. Or many would probably say "obsessed with" Game of Thrones. But baaahhh who are they? Let me live in my fantasy war-torn winter is coming world of Starks and Lannisters, midgets and Others. (obsessed.) Basically, you should read it too. For your own personal enjoyment, there's an HBO show on precisely the book I'm talking about.

So my life is now composed of teaching, beaching, biking (both bicycle and motorbike), hiking, and cooking (and Game of Thrones, obvi). I think we've covered quite a few of these topics today. Until next time . . . .