On arrival in new country, so many potential posts, so little internet time

I'm in Jakarta now, spending a week doing "in-country training" which has so far consisted of a language teacher cooking us food she can't eat (fasting for Ramadan) and telling us about our star signs (in English). We stepped up training this afternoon by going to a shopping centre with a swimming pool and taking a very enjoyable dip.

I've taken a few photos and have even racked up a few ideas for posts, but left my camera in my room when I came downstairs to a cafe to use the wireless internet. If I intend to be a diligent poster I am going to have to be on the ball in future.

Jakarta is hot and polluted as you might imagine, but I love it. In the beginning everything just smells and looks and feels exotic and "away from home". I'm guessing that would wear pretty thin pretty quickly if I lived here. We spent at least three hours in traffic today. One of those hours was pretty bloody awful because I needed to wee. The bus driver kindly stopped at a petrol station for me.

I will be flying to Banda Aceh on Friday morning after a big night of karaoke we have planned for Thursday night. I can't wait to get there and start sorting myself out.

Life after business class

More hours in a Qantas Club lounge. This time in Perth.

Here is a list of things that were good about business class:
1. The footrests were very comfortable
2. The seat was enormous
3. You get cloth napkins at mealtime, including one draped over your tray table as a table cloth
4. The tray table was much sturdier and bigger than a standard economy table
5. The flight attendant knew my name and asked me "Would you like something to drink Ms Fortuna?"
6. There was quince and almond ice cream for dessert

Here is a list of the things that were just the same as economy
1. The food (apart from the ice cream) was not very good
2. You still have to struggle to get out of the window seat to go to the toilet
3. The flight attendant can still forget your meal (I had to wait for a long time because she overlooked me and by then there was only the lamb left...devastating)

Here is a list of things about this particular Qantas flight in Business Class that were substandard compared to other airlines
1. No TV in back of seat (I could sometimes catch a glimpse the main screen which was not a problem because the movie was dull)
2. Particularly un-nice food (as compared to other airlines)
3. Limited music options

Today was educational in many ways. I look forward to being upgraded again, purely for research purposes.

Moving up in the world via Perth

I'm leaving Australia today, but not just yet. My flight to Sydney was delayed and I would have missed my connecting flight to Indonesia, so I'm now flying via Perth and arriving about four or five hours later than scheduled. This could be seen as an inconvenience, but I've been upgraded to Business Class on the flight to Perth so it's now become an adventure!

Unfortunately all I can think of is sleeping because of the marathon packing effort Marty and I put in until late last night and again early this morning. I guess I will make the most of the big seats rather than the entertainment or whatever it is that makes business class special.

I'll spend my first week in Indonesia in Jakarta doing "in-country training" and then on Friday I will fly to Aceh and get on with business. I'm looking forward to setting up my room and knowing that I probably won't be moving for 12 months. I'll have fun getting to know the neighbourhood and finding the local kiosk owner, who is apparently the source of all essential local gossip.

I'm not sure how reliable my Internet connection will be but my hope is that it will be a good one and that I will be able to post on this blog frequently. For the first time ever I have all the technology a girl could need so my fingers are crossed that I will be able to use it...

Posting photos on blogger: a step by step guide

This isn't really a step by step guide but it seems like all the most popular blogs do them a lot. Actually this time I am just testing the photo options on blogger and need to write something around the photo to get a sense of what it really looks like.

1. I need to go to bed. This is ridiculous

2. The gingerbread icecream was probably a mistake.

3. Not everyone embraces the Legend of Old Gregg.

4.This photo was taken in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

5. Of all the photos I took this was probably the least interesting one.

6. A real word of advice would be: Use not-crap photos in your blog.

7. It sounds so simple when you put it like that, but it's a whole different matter when you are actually introducing these ideas into daily life.

8. Bad habits are very hard to break.

Frequent posting blatent attempt at increasing cred

Now I am writing post headings like newspaper headlines, except they're not catchy and short.

I'm writing again only a few hours later because it occurs to me that you might be intrigued by a blog with a long posting history. I know you don't want to commit to some flash in a pan start up that will be over as soon as it begins. You want to know that this author will be providing on a daily basis when you need it most, as a distraction from work or study. And I am willing to post as much mindless junk over the next few days as I can to convince you, dear reader, that I didn't just start this blog today and will be tired of it in another month. No, I will convince you, under false pretenses, that I have been writing this blog for years and will continue to do so.


Actually I have every intention of maintaining this blog for at least the next 12 months.

Honing the skill of procrastination

Four more sleeps until I fly to Indonesia. Today is probably my last free day to pack up my room and sort through the junk I have accumulated in the last year. I've done a bit, and I must say that I am honestly impressed by the amount of clothes I'm sending to St Vinnies, but if I hold myself accountable for my actions I will admit to having wasted most of the day.

The morning began with six episodes of the Gilmore Girls. And with that the morning was over. After running errands I was in my room and ready to work by about 3pm. Now at 5.30pm I realise I've been on the computer for the last hour working on this blog and some other things. I can tell myself that these things need to be done (I have to take advantage of a reliable internet connection while I have it) but so does sorting through books and magazines and clothes and little bits of paper. The idea of going through my stuff seems like an OK job in theory, but when it comes to the point there are too many decisions (should it stay or should it go?), and I hate making decisions.

I am going to do one hour of cleaning now as a way to ease into it. Hopefully I will trick myself into just getting this work done.

Testing Testing

This is a test post.