Friday, 21July06

Highlights: another quiz, visiting PhD Ben Smith talk, karaoke

Our quiz today was to talk into a recorder & describe (in bahasa Indonesia) what we would do if we turned into the classmate sitting across from us for a day. I’m not sure why Jessica was holding her breath when It was my turn, but… ha ha.

After class, we had a visiting Poly Sci professor from the University of Florida, Ben Smith, drop by and give us an hour or so of his time to describe the political events surrounding the last two Presidential elections here (1999 & 2004). Really interesting stuff. These were the 2nd and 3rd democratic elections in Indonesia’s 61 year history as an independent country.

Some say the way a country transfers power from one administration to another is a telling indicator of its development as a modern country. It seems many political scientists are still holding their breath about Indonesia,, as they like to measure trends in decades rather than monthly or yearly developments… but there are many positive things to be said for Indonesia- which is great.

Karaoke tonight! Oh man,, every once in a while, a little cutting loose really does the body good. Ha ha. Tonight was as good a night as any to gather up at Happy Puppy, the top local karaoke spot. I’ll let the video do the talking (=
The guilty culprits are: myself, Eric, Stacey, Dan, Bryan, Karen & Christian.