A General Update About Indonesia (AKA: What I Learned Today)

So far Indonesia has been really great. Thanks to my program and my location at University Gadjah Mada I'm surrounded by amazing people. Today Suraiya, Sarah, and I went through orrientation and got to see a bit of the UGM campus. But, during this time I learned some pretty interesting things I thought I'd share...

First off, Indonesia is big. It's actually as wide across at the United States! The different islands  (aproximately 17,700 of them) stretch across the same distance as California to Maine.

Secondly, the ring of fire is a serious thing. And I'm living in it: right next to the most active volcano in the world. There's still ash on the sidewalks from the last eruption which was awhile ago. Here's a depiction of all of the volcanos in Indonesia:

I have other fun diagrams too! Mostly because not only is Indonesia big, it's also diverse. This is what the general religious landscape of Indonesia looks like:

If you look for the island in deep red, that's Bali. Then look at the lime green island to its left. That's where I'm at. Roughly in the area below the little orange blip on that island. Also, you might note that there are two main types of Islam in Indonesia. Modernist and traditional. The names actually seem a little backword to me, as Modernist Islam is what you think of when you think of the Middle East. It's more traditional in the direct setting of Islam. However, Traditional Islam is actually in reference to the traditions of Indonesia. It takes Islam and updates it to thrive amongst the already existing Indonesian culture. Honestly, after only 24 hours here I don't feel qualified enough to list examples of what habits, traditions, and beliefs come from where, but I'm sure I'll discover more about it particularly because my internship is at a local interfaith organization.

Last brief example is the ethnic diversity. When I'm talking about multiple cultures, it is a real thing. Even the US seems to pale in comparison to Indonesia as a "melting pot" of sorts. Here's a map of the different ethnic groups in Indonesia:

It's crazy how diverse Indonesia is. Even in one day I can get to know people who come from a variety of backgrounds and islands. I'm living in a beautiful university town (known as "The City of Students") but life is different all across Indonesia. In one region (Aceh) there is strict Sharia law and the police enforce the wearing of hijabs, but on the other side of the country (Papua) there are some people who still don't even wear any western conception of clothing.

Point is, it's day one and I'm already amazed at what Indonesia holds. I think I definitely underestimated how richly diverse and exciting the country is. I can't wait to see what two more months here is going to teach me!

Celebrating Europe Indonesian Style

It's my first full day in Yogyakarta! On the way back from lunch we took a walk through the university campus we're staying at and got to explore a little bit. Turns out the International Relations department is hosting European Week this week. When we were walking past the department there was an outdoor festival celebrating different European countries. Needless to say, I bounded up to the Germany booth and greeted them with German. After an excited "Guten Tag!" the girl on the left immedately responded (in perfect English) "You speak German?!". So I acclimated to their booth. Leave it to me to make friends with German loving strangers in Indonesia.

How Not to Get to Asia

I can tell you right now, travel has never been so much work. Getting from Erie, Pennsylvania to Yogyakarta, Indonesia has already been an epic adventure in itself, and I’m still thousands of miles from Indonesia. I wanted to make this post as sort of an index of the traveling adventures you can scroll down to behold, because my lack of internet up until this point has required the posting of a variety stories simultaneously. But continue to read on, because below you can find posts on:

-          Why United Airlines Rocks

-          Spontaneous Overnights in Tokyo

So please, do scroll down. Because if the last 24 hours of my life have been anything, it’s blog fodder.

The Tokyo Airport Isn't in Tokyo

My connection to Tokyo did not leave on time. In fact, it left hours later than it should have. Precious hours I spent Snapchating my sorority Little and chatting up cute Marines. However, those extra hours were not so helpful in my attempt to make my connecting flight. I touched down at the Tokyo airport roughly 15 minutes before my next flight took off. So there, at the end of the deplaning area, were airport agents prepared with new flights and complimentary hotel stays.

That’s how I ended up at Hotel Nikko Narita. Which is directly next to the Tokyo airport. Which, ironically, is two hours from Tokyo. Even downtown Narita is 30 minutes from the Narita hotel. So what I was hoping to be a night in Tokyo ended up as a night in the Hotel Nikko Narita. But Japan has been kind of an amazing place for me in the fact that I’ve never felt less alone than when I’m wandering around in Japan. Last year I met a sorority sister. However, this year I met brothers; triplets in fact, joined on their trip by their half sister and her boyfriend. They too missed the flight to Jakarta. So we bussed over to the hotel where we got assigned to our respective rooms and then met up for our complimentary dinner.

We got acquainted fast and found out that they’re actually from a town right near where I used to live in Massachusetts. I kid you not, I was discussing mutual friends from middle school with near strangers in Japan. Before long we were following up our dinner at the hotel’s sky lounge, which played a strange array of smooth jazz over the leather booths and near-skyscraper view of the airport and surrounding city.

My newly acquainted friends at the hotel.

However, even nights in Tokyo must come to an end, and we departed back to our rooms. Which I feel is interesting enough it deserves its own commentary. Here’s a picture of my little room:

200% of the recommended nightly dose of bed.

But here’s the really cool part:

I know by now you probably just think I really enjoy photographing Japanese toilets (see last year's post), but look closer…

Yeah. My private toilet has adjustable butt warming capabilities.

But wait, there’s more! For the same price as Everything’sFreeDueToUnited, you get…

Actually drinkable water!

And look at the photo of the beds again.

That’s right. You can control all the lights in the room from the comfort of your bed. Best free hotel room ever. Plus I can get a break between my 14 hour and my 8 hour flights. And complimentary breakfast.

Fly United. If not for me, do it for DiCaprio.

My United flight from Washington D.C. to Tokyo was nearly 14 hours long. However, it was the best international flight I’ve ever had. Any flight where they serve you free gelato is a great flight.

And the in flight entertainment was particularly choice. I watched Tangled and Frozen, and could have spent hours upon hours with Leonardo DiCaprio thanks to Wolf of Wallstreet and The Great Gatsby amongst others. I felt cultured watching Fish Tank Kings auf Deutsch and Frozen with Arabic subs. Wadjda was offered too. (A fantastic Saudi film I discovered this past semester.) And who could be bored with hours of Friends and Sex and the City episodes to rot my brain to?

The best entertainment though by far was the flight attendants. I had two women in my area of the plane and at the height of my restlessness I joined them in their compartment at the back of the plane. In between their food and drink rounds they had time to join me in conversing about traveling, international work, and all the fun flying drama going on. Tip: treat the flight attendants well and they’ll return the favor. As we were approaching Japan one of the women came to my seat to wish me well with my connection, my coming internship, and actually gave me a set of United wings to celebrate my coming summer plans.

So this is my shout out to United for just generally being awesome. Thanks for helping me start out my trip right.

At the end of my 14 hour flight right after recieving my wings!

New Adventures Await!

Image comes from The Motivated Type on Etsy.

I can't believe it's been a year since I started preparing for Thailand. A year ago I was still somewhat terrified of where travelling by myself to Asia would take me. But it went well, except I ended up with a pretty significant side effect: a feeling of wanderlust for South East Asia. 

So, me being me, I went in search yet again of work that would take me to the other side of the world and back. And that's how I found America's Unoffical Ambassadors (AUA). AUA focuses on connecting American's with Muslim communities around the world to be a positive influence and in turn come back to the US and educate people about the experience (you can read more about it here). So, I applied. Because, why not? And for some reason God only knows, I ended up hired. Again. So... this is the official post announcing....

I'm going to Indonesia!

Yogyakarta, Indonesia in fact. I'm going to be interning for an interfaith NGO called Dian Interfidi. AUA describes Dian Interfidi saying, "Dian Interfidi works to promote religious tolerance, resolve conflict and build peace among different faith groups in Indonesia. Working with the government, universities, schools, the media and religions institutions, the organization runs educational programs about world religions for students and teachers, operates training and conflict resolution workshops and publishes studies on key social issues such as HIV, domestic violence and human trafficking". (Description found here.)

 So... that's that! Another summer of exciting tales, interesting work, foreign cultures, and I'm sure just as many ridiculous circumstances that should provide for plenty of entertainment on your behalf. We'll see what happens.

'Making A Connection' Can Mean More Than Just Your Flight

I actually stumbled upon another blog post here awhile ago that I immedately connected with. I'm not sure if it is just because I am an outgoing person, or if the airport really is some sort of magical place to make connections before your next departure, but I have always stumbled upon interesting characters in the airport. Even when exhausted and feeling inclusive, there is this oppertunity to people watch and take in another unusual persona even if for a brief moment. I went a bit beyond this on both directions to and from Thailand. So I thought I might share my airport connection stories from my past trip.

At one thirty in the morning in I'm-not-even-sure-who's-timezone I was standing next to an electronics charging station in the Toyko airport after my fifteen hour flight. To my left an older Indian woman walks up and asks if all the plugs are taken. They are, but I offered up mine since I had another two hours of my layover left. Shocked about her flawless English I inquired into where she was flying and why.

Turns out, prior to living in Asia she lived in the United States, where her children still lived. Her (daughter, I think it was) was getting married and she was traveling back to help out and attend the wedding. She was incredibly sweet and had an intriguing amount of life experience from random nooks and crannies from around the world. Apparently, an eighteen-year-old American on her own in Asia seemed a little more interesting to her as she interrogated me about my travels. Upon learning I was going to Thailand she gave me an ultimatium list. A list of things I had to do before I left. Just to humor her I created a digital post-it note on my desktop. She rushed off to her connection and I honestly do not remember much else about that connection. I was exhausted.

But I want to focus on the fact of what I do remember. I remember this very random social happenstance with a woman who I'm not sure I ever even asked her name. Now at the time we had a much more extensive conversation about where we were in our lives, but still. I remember her. And what is even stranger, is finding the post-it again after my trip and realizing that not only had I done or visited everything on the semi-intensive list, but they had been some of the most memorable parts of the trip. Things on the list included visiting Pattaya and Platinum Mall. At the time I scoffed at the Post-It. But looking back, some of my fondest memories came from places on the note. Unfortunately, I've since deleted it.