The International Teacher 2011-2012 School Year Edition

Life overseas. Schools with first class facilities. Dedicated and polite students. A salary and lifestyle that allows you to put some money in the bank every month. An opportunity to expand your professional and personal horizons. New experiences waiting for you every day.

Does this sound like something that you want? If it is, read on.

So, how do you have a terrific time while making a great living? International teaching is your portal to a life of adventure, professional development and financial security. Jobs for teachers overseas continue to increase as new international schools open around the world. However, as opportunities increase, obtaining a job as an international teacher is more competitive than ever. Teachers need to be prepared for the competition, which is why I wrote this eBook.

The International Teacher: A Guide to Teaching Overseas, has 550 pages of up-to-date reviews of 300 international schools along with key articles on topics of fundamental importance to teachers searching for positions in international schools. In Section One of The International Teacher you will find articles on:

1. Finding the Fit
2. Writing a Cover Letter
3. Job Fairs
4. Interviews
5. Professional Development
6. The International Teacher
Section Two contains articles on International Education Organizations including:

1. The University of Northern Iowa Placement Service for Educators
2. Search Associates
3. International Schools Services
4. East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools
5. International Baccalaureate Organization
6. Quality Schools International
7. Oasis International Schools
8. Teacher Recruitment International
9. International Supply Teachers
10.The Council of International Schools

Section Three contains reviews of 300 international schools from five continents. Each school review contains:

1. Coverage of the school mission, facilities, curriculum, extra curricular activities, technology, professional development, employment details, and sociocultural information about the school’s location.
2. Updated links to the school website, employment information, email addresses, and more.

Why You Should Buy This Book!

This eBook is in downloadable PDF format with hyperlinks that allow you to instantly access the most recent information on 300 schools. The articles in Section One cover the most important aspects of finding an international job and allows you to be competitive in a highly competitive market. My years in international education have given me an insider’s knowledge of the international teaching market. As a retired teacher commented on a pre-publication of this book:

I wish that you had written this during my teaching years. The ease with which I was able to access information on so many schools, including ones that I have never heard of, would have made my job searches much more enjoyable and wide-ranging than they were.

A long-time international teacher commented:

An excellent resource for teachers looking for schools. Well written with witty comments and comprehensive. Cool images, which make most eBooks I have seen look positively dreary. A good buy!

For some examples of what you will find in The International Teacher go to my blog, The International Teacher. You will find reviews of schools as well as articles on teaching overseas. This eBook grew out of The International Teacher blog and covers more schools in greater detail with the most current information available. Plus, as a benefit for all purchasers of this book, you will receive next year’s update (due out in July 2012) for free. You can download two free sample chapters here and here.

About the Author

I have a Ph.D. in anthropology, and I’ve been teaching now for 33 years. My positions have ranged from preschool to university. I’ve been overseas for the past 20 years. In that time, I’ve taught just about every subject that schools offer. My first position overseas was teaching Second Grade to a group of expat students in a small mining community in Indonesia. Since then I’ve taught computers, math, anthropology, physical education, art, library, social studies, science, health, and more. I’ve been a computer coordinator at four schools, an elementary/middle school principal at two schools, and I’ve served on countless accreditation and curriculum committees as well. As a teacher and administrator, I’ve been on both sides of the job search – interviewer as well as interviewee.


Buy This Book Today! (And You Might Be Shopping in Dubai Next Year)

You can have your own copy of The International Teacher in time for the international recruiting season that starts in December. Read about the international teacher recruiting fairs that are just around the corner. You'll want to be prepared so that you can get the teaching position of your dreams.

Do you really want to keep teaching in your home country? Discover the world of overseas teaching! You could be living in a tropical paradise or one of the vibrant international cities that you've only read about.

Payment is via PayPal. The International Teacher is only $6.00 and you get all future updates for free by purchasing the second edition now.

$6.00

Best of luck in your search for an international teaching position.

Fourth in a Series on Moving Overseas: Thailand

Last week, I wrote about Stickman’s website about Thailand; this week, I’m covering another popular website about living and working in Thailand, Ajarn.com. This website has been around for a long time, and it targets English teachers in Thailand. Why another site about English teacher’s in Thailand? Well, because there are so many of them, and so many more arrive in Thailand on a regular basis.

For those of you who are new to the expat world, English teaching is one of the favorite ways to have an income while exploring the world. English teaching is particularly popular with the backpacking crowd, and the guys who are looking for relationships with Asian women. Why? That’s the next in this series; right now I want to discuss the Ajarn website.

If you want to move to Thailand, but aren’t an English teacher, this website still has a lot to offer. There are sections on the cost of living – some very detailed writing including the daily expenses for a month’s living by an expat in Thailand. There are sections on getting an apartment or a house and obtaining health insurance. There is a section on immigration and visas – very important topics for an expat. And, if you are an English teacher, or want to be one, there is the famous Ajarn job board. I found a job through there once, although in the end, I accepted a position that I found elsewhere.

For folks that want to live in Thailand, but don’t want to live in Bangkok, there is information about other regions of Thailand. And a big addition to this site is the Ajarn Writers section where you can read about the experiences of teachers in Thailand: sometimes they cover life issues of living in Thailand, other times they cover teaching issues. Some of the writers are quite good, and most of them are humorous.

So if you’re thinking of moving to Thailand, I’d recommend the Ajarn site along with the Stickman site. Once you’ve gone through both, you have a really good idea of what’s waiting for you if you move to Thailand.

Third in a Series on Moving Overseas: Bangkok, Thailand

Thailand has always fascinated me. As a long-time expat in Asia, I’ve visited Thailand many times, although I’ve only explored the Bangkok and Chiang Mai areas of the country. Thailand has a huge expat population, many of which are employed in the English language teaching industry. But, Thailand also has a large number of Western retirees. Web sites and blogs on Thailand are numerous with varying quality.

One of the sites that I visit every week is StickmanBangkok.com. The website’s creator, Stickman, has been living and working in Bangkok since 1997. I’ve been following his website since 1999.

While one of the most popular sections on the website is Stick’s weekly column that is mostly about the “naughty nightlife” industry, there are sections on Living and Working in Bangkok, Thailand Visas, Teaching English in Bangkok, Travel in Thailand and more.

You can find specific and detailed information about food, renting an apartment, hiring household help, paying for utilities, local transportation, the Thai language, local culture, dealing with the police, the cost of living in Bangkok and a lot more. Just about anything that you need to get set up in Thailand is available here.

Stickman has been working as a teacher for many years, although he may have retired from that profession now. The section of the website on teaching English is filled with information for the new or potential teacher. If you are thinking of moving to Bangkok and securing a teaching position, you should definitely read this section.

So, if you’re thinking of moving to Thailand, part of your homework should be taking a look at Stickman’s site.

Second in a Series on Moving Overseas: Margarita Island, Venezuela

I’ve been writing about living overseas online for the past 15 years; most of my writing has been about living in Asia – an obvious location as I live in Indonesia. But, expats and potential expats these days have the world to choose from. South and Central America is one of the popular locations for both Europeans and North Americans. Today’s site is about Margarita Island, Venezuela.

Margarita Island is a Venezuelan island in the Carribean Sea. The island is known for its white sand beaches and laid-back lifestyle. The website that I’m highlighting is written by an expat who has lived on Margarita Island for over 20 years. While the layout of the website is basic at best, the information therein is first rate. The site creator is a Canadian, Dan O’Brien, and he covers all the basics that a potential expat needs to know when making a plan for a move to paradise. Dan has a little villa, bed and breakfast, and is married to a Venezuelan lady so you would expect that he has a good grasp on the local realities. One of the pluses of this site is that Dan updates it regularly. This is an important part of a site that offers information on moving overseas.

Dan has information on weather, property ownership, foreign exchange matters, starting a business or looking for work, costs of living, language, banking, hiring household help, the political situation (something that you want to keep track of these days), medical issues, and transportation. I found the information here very helpful, and it answered most of the questions that I would have before moving to a foreign country.

One of the comments that I particularly liked was Dan’s advice: “I strongly recommend that anyone considering a permanent move to Margarita Island first rent from 6 months to a year to see if living here is to your liking.” As I’ve mentioned before when discussing Bali, I’m amazed at the number of people who just move to an island location without ever having visited. It might seem like a cool, impulsive thing to do, but island living is not for everyone, and it really is advisable to try it before you move lock, stock and barrel.

So if you’re interested in moving to an island in South America, check out Dan’s site.

Life in the Tropics: Moving Overseas

I've decided to use my blogger blogs as the place for several series of blogs that I want to write about living in the tropics. I started this series over on my blog at Wordpress, but never got beyond the first blog which I am reprinting here as the beginning of this series.

Here is the first site in my series on Moving Overseas. Living in the Philippines is a site for the expat who wants to move to the Philippines, or is considering the Philippines as a potential home.

Don A. Herrington is the creator of this site. He has been living in the Philippines since 1989, and currently resides in Cebu. Don has a Filipina wife and has been around the Philippines as long as I’ve been in Indonesia. A lot of the advice he offers is similar to the advice that I offer to potential Bali expats. Some of the topics that he covers are:

• What Do You Need to visit the Philippines?
• Why Will You Want to Live, Retire, Travel or Do Business in the Philippines?
• Why Will You Love the Philippines, the Filipinas, and Filipinos?
• Do You Want to Find Romance in the Philippines?
• Do You Want An Expat’s Life with Maids, Helpers, Drivers, Eating In and Out, Amenities?
• Lifestyles – Costs – Who is Here
• Manila and the Other Places To Live
• Maids, Domestic Helpers, Nurses, Employees Eating in and Out
• What Will You Need To be in the Philippines?
• How Can You Have A Job, Business, Investments in the Philippines?
• Join Our Discussion List
• How Can You Get More first hand information, on how to Live, Retire, Travel and Do Business in the Philippines?
• How Can This Website, Free Mailing List and I Can Help You Have A Happy Life here?
• Living in the Philippine Provinces

If you’re interested in living in the Philippines, take a look at Don’s site.

John Hughes, Rest in Peace

John Hughes, the American film director/writer/producer died Thursday of what appeared to be a heart attack while taking a walk in New York City. He was 59 years old.

OK, so another death, another RIP post, what’s the point with Hughes?

Hughes was best known for his ‘80s movies about teen life in suburban America. While Hughes was my age (a year younger), his films hit the movie theaters just as my oldest son was entering his teen years, so I watched a number of the Hughes films, The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, with Aaron.

The films seemed at the time to resonate with my son, but they did with me as well. Hughes, who spent part of his youth in the Chicago suburbs, as did I, set most of his movies in the Chicago area. Despite not having lived in Chicago since 1979, I still have an intensely romantic image of the city that I carry with me throughout my travels in Asia. And, even though Hughes’ films mirrored the realities of ‘80s teen angst, I could see a lot of my own ‘60s angst there (not surprising as Hughes attended school at the same time as me, and in somewhat similar sociocultural settings).

As someone who has just gone through a stroke, I’m at the stage where I notice the deaths of my peers. Hughes created some memories for me, and for that I’ll remember him and his work. Looking around the internet, there are dozens of tributes to Hughes on You Tube. He obviously affected a lot of folks. Here’s one of the tributes.

A Saturday in Sumbawa

One of the reasons that I bought a new motorcycle and brought it out to Sumbawa was so that I could get out of townsite on the weekends and do something beside sit in my little apartment watching tv, grading papers and working on the school website. Last Saturday, I went down to Rantung Beach for a swim on Saturday morning, and I had a great time. I went down today for a little swim, but the waves were really up, so I decided to take a pass.

On the way back to townsite, I decided to drive down to Tongo, but once the road got rough, I decided to come back to the apartment and finish up work on the school website. Hmm, always some work here to do.

Yesterday, two of my former students dropped by for a visit. They have been in town visiting their parents. It was great to see them and hear about what they have been up to even though I hear from them occasionally on Facebook. They are both doing great so it seems that we didn’t do too much damage to them while they were in school here. In fact, one of the girls is interested in anthropology – my main field, and the other is going to be a math major in college – my main teaching field. I love it. The girls did have a good time teasing me about my mishaps with motorbikes, forgetfulness and my sci-fi addiction.

This is week 2 of not smoking, and it still is a problem. I have this intense desire to just go out and buy a pack of cigarettes and smoke all of them. I’ve been rationalizing this by saying that I can quit smoking once I leave here and get home to Bali where I will be with Su and the kids who will be a good support group. On the other hand, I could have another stroke in the 16 more weeks that I have to work here if I start smoking again so there’s a strong motivation to not start up again. Nothing like addictive personalities.

Back From Singapore, Life Changes and a Bit of a Rest

It’s been a long week, and I’m back from the hospital to pick up from where I left off. SOS had a few problems coordinating my leaving home, but all in all, I was very pleased with the way that they handled the whole medical evacuation.

The trip back wasn’t quite as dramatic – no doctor escort, no wheelchair, no special consideration at customs and immigration – but, it was wonderful to be back on my own power. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to do any shopping in Singapore as I had just enough time to get to the airport and check-in once I was informed that I had a ticket to go home. Oh well, I’ll be back in December when I retire again, and I’m thinking of staying a few days while I get my new non-working visa.

I actually arrived back Tuesday morning, and co-taught a double biology class. By the time that I was done, I had a terrible headache and went home for the rest of the day. I came back to teach on Wednesday, but had a headache within an hour. I stopped by the clinic to see the doctor, and we discussed the headaches as well as the results of all the tests done on me in Singapore. After a long discussion, we came up with three likely causes of the headaches as it was clear from the scans and blood tests that the headaches weren’t caused by any problems with my brain: stress from trying to adapt to my new realities, a reaction to the medicines that I’m taking, or a reaction to nicotine withdrawal. The doctor told me to take the rest of the week off, and I’m on the last day of my rest period. The headaches have stopped since I’ve modified the amount of medicine that I’m taking, so that’s a good thing for me.

I’ve been thinking about the stress factor a lot during this rest period. At first I discounted it, but after a few days at home, it started to make sense to me. Lots of changes in a short period of time- turning 60, having a new granddaughter, oldest daughter turning 18, wife moving one year closer to being 50, working on my last contract, learning to live without cigarettes, and then a stroke. Yes, it does make sense to me now that I’m probably growing through a bit of stress as I enter another stage of the life cycle. Well, just going to have to deal with it.

Tomorrow back to work once again.

Singapore and Hospitals in Singapore

I’m still in Singapore and still in the hospital. The tests have all come out ok, and I’m ready to go home. I just have to wait for SOS to get me a flight out to Bali and then a flight to Sumbawa.

I’ve been restricted to the hospital for the last three days. Yesterday, I snuck out and took a quick little walk out of the hospital and down Orchard Road. I haven’t been in Singapore on a Sunday in many years. It was fascinating to watch the maids giggling and laughing in small gatherings on their day off. The street was absolutely packed. I love Singapore.

After 10 minutes, the whole trip was giving me a headache, and I decided that the last thing that I wanted to do was fall over on Orchard Road so I headed back to the hospital, had some meds for the headache and took a nap.

My eldest daughter was online with me for a while yesterday, and we had a chat about my health and the hospital. She found the hospital to be quite beautiful.

Weirdness within Weirdness within Weirdness

I’m writing this from my hospital bed in Mt. Elizabeth’s in Singapore. From the window of my shared room, I can see a canyon of walls in this massive complex. Nothing to gaze out at and conversely nothing to gaze in. Restricted to my bed because of regulations, I pee in a cup. I’m on a fast due to testing coming up sometime this morning, and it’s been 20 hours since I’ve had a cigarette. As you can see, this is not my normal life; how did I arrive at this situation where I have assigned the right to direct my actions to others, and in this case, specifically to a group of others whom I’ve never met.

So back to the past – in this case back 33 hours ago. While watching television and talking to my children on the hand phone, I suddenly lost the feeling on the left side of my body. There was some accompanying discomfort in that I was finding it quite difficult to keep track of what the children were saying, that is make sense out of their words, and at the same time verbalize some response to them. I managed to end the conversation without alarming the children, and as I rose from my chair to get some water, I stumbled. 15 minutes later the episode passed, and except for continued numbness in my left arm, I was well enough to go to bed.

The next morning I went to work as usual, but after doing a quick search on the internet, I discovered that I may have had a tia (transient ischemic attack) – basically a mini-stroke. So after teaching my first period Social Studies class, I made an appointment at the clinic in townsite with the expat doctor. After an examination where the doc noticed that I am pretty fit for a 60 year old, he said that I should have immediately reported the episode right when it happened and that we would need to do some follow up work including CAT and MRI scans.

Now this is one of those stories that can go on interminably, so I’ll present a shortened version as I’m probably the only one who would find the long version of any interest whatsoever.

In a quite short amount of time, the doctor in Sumbawa arranged to have be flown from Sumbawa to Bali to Singapore and checked in to a hospital for a series of test in order to discover why or how, I went through my 15 minutes of confusion. I’ll leave out the hospital weirdness for another blog and focus the rest of this account on strange travel arrangements.

People that have strokes, or at least this person who had a stroke, are treated like they are made of glass. My colleagues at school wanted to drive me home and to the clinic, no riding my motorcycle. Once I made it to the clinic, I was told to stay in bed and rest, no work. Actually, that was quite helpful because I was exhausted from the night before and immediately fell asleep.

Going from the clinic in townsite to the airport/seaport in Benete, I had to lie down in the ambulance. I had a doctor from townsite accompany me from there to Bali where he handed me off to another doctor who would be accompanying me to the hospital in Singapore. There was an ambulance waiting to get me when we arrived in Bali, and it took me to the international section of the airport where I waited in the ambulance until one of the SOS people from Bali had finished arranging my ticket and checking me in. While I waited in the ambulance, I sat on the bed with the backdoor opened and watching all the tourists arriving at the airport making their way back home after a lovely vacation in Bali. Most of them looked quite happy and satisfied. Some pointedly ignored staring at the ambulance sitting in front of the departure terminal, while others stared at me sitting there (thinking by the way, who can I trick or kill to get a cigarette?) looking as bewildered as they appeared looking at me.

Eventually, I was put in a wheelchair and rolled into and through the airport with stops at various locations (ticket counter, immigration, etc) until we made it to the premier lounge where I was actually allowed to walk around by myself and pick little morsels of food and drink. It was lovely. The lounge was quite empty most of the time and very quiet. I tried the internet but it was incredibly slow. We sat around for several hours in the lounge until it was time for the flight.

I was put in a wheelchair again and wheeled through the airport to the boarding lounge where I waited with what seemed to be a full flight. Bali does not seem to be suffering from any effects of the bombings last week in Jakarta. When the boarding announcement was made, one of the Singapore Airlines staff held up a card with a wheelchair. It was quite strange to see all of these people who just minutes earlier had surged around me so as to queue up to be one of the first in the plane, quickly part like the Red Sea to let my wheelchair through.

As an long-time expat in Asia, I’m used to being something of a curiosity and someone to be stared at, but this situation was more intense than normal: a closed space, a large crowd of people who were all about to share an even smaller, more enclosed space with a stranger being pushed around in a wheelchair who looked (or so I suppose) seemingly normal – no obvious injuries or disabilities, no mask over the face, nothing that stood out as an explanation for the wheelchair.

The flight to Singapore was comfortable, but uneventful. Once we arrived in Singapore, I had to wait for a wheelchair to take me through the airport and to a waiting ambulance. Finally off to the hospital where I’ve been since Friday night.

Road Trip in Sumbawa

I’ve been back in Sumbawa for almost a week now after a beautiful month in Bali recharging my batteries for teaching and for life. The last term of the semester was one of the most trying of my professional and personal life, and, to be honest, I barely made it through the long ten weeks.

But, being back with my family, being back in Singaraja, being back in Kampung Bugis, gave me the breathing space that I needed to re-evaluate my life and my priorities. Part of the problem was reconciling myself to the end of my brief retirement and the extension of my working life for another six months.

I’ve always been one for speaking in absolutes as my therapist once pointed out many years ago, and I’ve worked on modifying that mindset. The key point here is that absolutes negate the possibility for change, and my life has been a continual unfolding of change, a crooked path of zigzags and weaves, doubling back sometimes, leaping over logical progressions, and sometimes just moving in circles. But, all that has lead me here to Sumbawa and Bali; and this is the place right now where I am happy and, at least for this time, fulfilled.

The last vacation was eventful: my 60th birthday, my eldest daughter’s 18th birthday, a new granddaughter, a new closer relationship with my youngest son, and an accepting of some new limitations brought on by the aging process as well as the realization that there are still new possibilities ahead.

I’m content – what more can I ask for?

Another Rest In Peace

Back from a two-day break to Sumbawa Besar, I've been catching up on the news reports of the latest terrorist outrage in Indonesia. There are plenty of guesses and theories as to whom is responsible. I'm not going to add mine to the bandwidth. You can go to Jakartass for some links. All I can say at this point is rest in peace to the victims and a quick resolution to the arrest of the perpetrators.

Back in Kampung Bugis, Part IV, and Life in the Bali Sea

We’ve had guests for the past few days so I haven’t had time to blog, although I have been snorkeling. My friend, Stephen, his son, Oliver, Stephen’s friend, Ade, and Stephen’s driver, Wahid, came up from Kuta to visit for a few days. I enjoyed having them all visit; it’s been a while since I’ve had a friend visit the house. Of course, like most teachers, we talked a lot about school and education, but that’s one of the hazards of the profession – getting wrapped up in what we do.

The kids have been out of school for most of the week; we have family up from Denpasar because of the Nyepi holiday so the house has been very busy this week. Today is Kuningan so prayers from the Hindu temple just down the beach have been going on for hours now.

I let Mercedes and Rebecca drive up to Bedugal today for a treat. Lots of trepidation on my part because the roads can be so dangerous here, but I guess that I have to start to let go some as Mercedes is almost an adult – she’ll be 18 in a few months, and Rebecca will be 16 not long afterwards. Still, I’m waiting anxiously for her to call me to say that she has arrived safely in Bedugal.

I’ve been taking hundreds of photos with my Olympus underwater camera, as well as a lot of short movies. The water has been quite clear and some of the photos have come out quite clear, but I’m still working on how to use the camera. Today’s photo is of a fish that I have always called a tiger barb because I used to have Tiger Barbs when I was a kid. I’ve been going through my Collins Pocket Guide: Coral Reef Fishes, Indo-Pacific and Caribbean, to identify this fish. It seems to be an angelfish, butterfly fish or a damselfish. Based on a drawing on Page 74, I think that it is a damselfish. If anyone recognizes it, I would love to hear if I am correct in my classification.

Today’s anti-work quote is:
“Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do.”
—Oscar Wilde

Back in Kampung Bugis II and Life in the Bali Sea

This is my third day back in Kampung Bugis. For those who aren’t aware of my little neighborhood, Kampung Bugis is located on the north coast of Bali in the city of Singaraja. The neighborhood hugs the shoreline just to the west of the large statue at the old harbor of Buleleng. As our house sits back only a few meters from the Bali Sea, the kids and I spend a lot of time in the water.

One of the things that I’ve always wanted was an underwater camera so that I could photo document the coral reefs in front of the house. Recently I was able to purchase the Olympus 1030 SW. My children will be able to show their children what the sea looked like decades before they were born. It would have been wonderful to have had these photos years ago before the coral started dying. There appears to be some regrowth going on, and I want to document that.

Here is the first of a series of photos on life in the sea in Kampung Bugis. The first photo is of a starfish common to this area. Marine biology is not a specialty of mine, but using the book, Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide, this starfish appears to be a Linckia laevigata. This starfish can be safely handled as I see neighborhood kids occasionally picking them up and examining them.

Starfish move quite slowly and their locomotion is the result of the water vascular system. Water is brought into the system and moved to the arms by canals. The canals are connected to the tube feet. The feet have tiny suckers, which expand and contract through hydraulics. This is how the starfish moves.

Starfish are known for their ability to regenerate, and a starfish can be completely regenerated from a small fragment.

And here is my anti-work quote for the day.
"We don't have a lot of time on this earth! We weren't meant to spend it this way. Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about about mission statements."
—Office Space, 1999

What About Bali in 2009?

The start of a new year, and the rhythms of life continue on. School has started again, and the kids are slowly gearing up for another semester of work and study. People in the neighborhood have been using the good weather the last few days to make repairs on their houses before the next round of storms come in. Stores and government offices have been opened and closed and opened and closed with all the holidays that we’ve had in the past few weeks. They’re all closed again today as this is a Balinese holiday.

So what about the next 12 months in Bali? Despite the economic crisis, it seems that Bali is going to see continuing immigration from both foreigners and Indonesians from other island. The island seems to be increasingly crowded, and yet, there are still large expanses of green up in the mountains and along the east and west coasts. The clearing of agricultural land for villas, hotels, and shopping malls is putting pressure on water resources, and it is not uncommon to be essentially without water for a few hours a day. There have been rumblings that the government is going to put restrictions on development, but so far building goes on, and the south of Bali resembles a large construction zone.

Mayhem on the roads continues as more and more vehicles compete for space on the crowded roads and gridlock is common in the south of the island, especially in the main tourist area of Kuta-Legian-Seminyak. Reports are that one person a day dies in a traffic accident, and if you drive around the island a lot, you’ll see numerous accident scenes. On the positive side, the helmet law seems to be working at least here in Singaraja, although small kids seem to be exempt, and you routinely see tiny little ones clinging to their parent or sibling not wearing a helmet. Will road mayhem get better? Not likely as the pleasant, patient demeanor of the Indonesian people seems to vanish once they get in a motor vehicle. I stay off the roads as much as possible.

The imported alcohol problem continues on and a bottle of Red Label costs almost $60. This is bad news for the tourist industry, but doesn’t really affect locals much as even at the old regular price of around $20, it was still too expensive for most Indonesians to drink. The upside – good news for the Indonesian beer and wine companies which will probably see sales increase this year.

Health care continues to improve, and we can get relatively complete physicals done in the north of Bali these days. Still, people with money continue to get major surgery done in Singapore or Bangkok. It will be interesting to see if market forces contribute to an upgrade of medical care. The example being a local dentist whose reputation has spread by word of mouth and who is drawing a continuing numbers of patients away from other dentists. Will they upgrade their skills and facilities to compete? It will be interesting to see what pans out this year.

Rumors suggest that changes in property ownership laws for foreigners make appear on the books this year. This could be good news for expats who want to feel more secure in the homes that they lease; it may not be as welcomed for Indonesians who are in the business of acting as nominees for expat villas and houses.

Despite the changes that Bali is undergoing as it seeks its way through modernization and tries to cope with continuing rampant and unregulated development, life in the villages and neighborhoods continues on with the cycles of ceremonies, work, and more ceremonies.

The End of the Year in Bali

It’s the last day of 2008 and, as usual, we have all sorts of stuff going on here in our house in Kampung Bugis. Yesterday was the 18th anniversary of my marriage to my wife and today I had to pay my annual marriage tax. My wife asked for a new refrigerator and considering that we have had this one for 10 years, I considered a new fridge to be a good gift. We went over to our usual electronics’ supplier and after a lot of looking and measuring and pricing, bought a LG that is a little larger than our old model. So that was one thing that we did today.

My wife is having the beach house renovated slowly using money that she saves from her annual house budget. So the old fridge was moved to the beach house, and while I was watching the move, I noticed new tiles on the stairs to the second floor, a new window in the kitchen, another small fridge that I didn’t know that we had (I rarely go into the beach house), and new fittings on the windows (for those that might think that we have some luxury villa, our houses here in Kampung Bugis are very basic – a fair amount of space but basic in terms of building materials and design. We definitely won’t win any Bali design awards or end up in one of the coffee table books that highlight Western buildings in Bali, but our houses are functional and comfortable. We have seven children and four adults living in these two houses along with the children’s friends, a pembantu, and the rest of our family that lives in the kampung and they all tend to hang out here.

So we have the new fridge, and then we’ve been cleaning up from yesterday’s big storm. I won’t let anyone change the third floor which is where I live most of the time, and as it’s open, when we get big storms water flows down from the third floor to the second floor and then down to the first floor. It only happens when we have really big storms and yesterday we had one.

I wandered around the Beach House looking at old photos of Su and me when we married, and some of the kids when they were small and my adult son the last time that he was here visiting us. I did get a flash of “my god, I looked so young then.”

And now, another 6 hours before 2009, all the women in the family are in the Beach House kitchen cooking up a feast for the end of the year, the men are moving refrigerators and fixing holes in the roof, the kids are playing , and I’m writing and watching the kittens.

Happy New Year to all.