It has been awhile since I’ve posted. I’ve been busy with teaching and just life in general in Medan. Just want to give some information for anyone who has found my blog through searches about the situation here. I do not think the media has been showing the reality of the protests. It is such… Continue reading
Author: admin
A look back on 2011 and ahead to 2012
The last couple of years have been some of the best of my life so far. 2010 saw the completion of my BA from University, my 30th birthday and the breaking free of a job I didn’t like but kept at for the entire decade. I managed to complete my degree in the amount of… Continue reading
North Sumatra Road Trip
In about 7 hours me and a couple of mates are going to head south out of Medan for Lake Toba for a week-long road trip through North Sumatra. I plan on leaving the laptop at home. The camera will be with me but it’s unlikely I’ll be making any posts before I come back.… Continue reading
Christopher Hitchens: Intellect & Realist
I’ve only had two heroes during my adult life. While Captain Jean-Luc Picard will never die and can always live on through replays of Star Trek: The Next Generation, my other hero, Christopher Hitchens, has died of esophageal cancer at the age of 62. However, he too can live on forever through his words. He… Continue reading
The day I found the pizza I was looking for…
It has taken a long time but I’ve finally found pizza in South East Asia that at the very least, does the job. I won’t begin to try and convince you that this holds up to American standards as far as pizza goes but it’s by far the best pizza in Medan that I’ve found… Continue reading
Food Friday: Rendang
There are few foods in this world that make my tongue dance the minute it touches them. Back home in the United States it’s definitely a nice thin slice of New York style pizza and maybe BBQ pork doused in delicious sweet sauce. As far as international cuisine, there is green curry chicken in Thailand… Continue reading
ESL Game: Scattergories
This is one of my favorite games from back home. If it is fun for 20 and 30 somethings to do on a Friday night it’s sure to hold the interest of ESL students. I’m still trying to find ways to make a variant of the game myself but the version I play in the… Continue reading
Food Friday: Nasi/Mie Goreng
Nasi goreng and Mie goreng are considered national dishes of Indonesia. Nasi = rice mie = noodles and goreng means fried. So, it’s simple, fried rice and fried noodles. This is the first food that people usually try when arriving here because it’s simple and recognizable. Usually wrapped in a banana leaf from street stalls,… Continue reading
Halloween activity for ESL classrooms
The Horror: Scary Movie Night Halloween is my first major holiday as an ESL teacher. The student’s knowledge of the holiday is limited as Indonesia doesn’t celebrate it and only English language schools hold any sort of activity for the holiday. My school did a horror movie night for the students. I was quite surprised… Continue reading
Learning Bahasa Indonesia like a young learner
I keep telling myself that I need to sit down with a Indonesian-English dictionary and each week pick a new topic like medical, sports, food etc. and learn all the vocabulary. My laziness on picking up new words has stunted my growth a bit. I’m really good with memorization so it shouldn’t be a problem… Continue reading