PERTH WITH PALS: THE FESTIVAL

Dearest Friends,

Shortly after arriving in Perth, we discovered that we'd got there just in time for the Fremantle Festival -- Australia's longest running festival (2012 will be its 107th year!). The festival is named for Fremantle Harbour, "port of Perth", and the Fremantle area is a tourist mecca known for its art, culture, cafes and of course, shopping -- just what we had come for!

What a great way to begin our Aussie adventure!

ARTISANAL

Dearest Friends,

To reach Bukittinggi by road was a 90 km trip, with a gradual climb to about 930 meters above sea level. It lies near Mount Marapi, which was formed by a still-active volcano. After leaving Singapore during WWII, the Japanese made this their headquarters, and left behind quite a network of underground bunkers and tunnels. The town had its origins in five villages that served as the basis for a marketplace, which might account for the many artists and craftsmen in the area. These are just a few of those we visited.

Here you are probably seeing the seeds of what was to become this blogging obsession of mine, for I seem to remember that while all my friends were busy collecting souvenirs, I was more concerned with collecting memories -- taking photos and trying to remember as much as I could, so that I could share it all in my letters home. Kind of funny when you think about it, seeing as I probably have just about the only hubby in the world who is actually disappointed, if not down-right irritated, when I come home from a shopping excursion empty-handed!

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

Dearest Friends,

I think Melody, Rich and their two kids were the first of our close friends to transfer out of Sumatra. Fortunately, they only went as far as Jakarta, so it wasn't too bad. We could actually go visit them if we really wanted to. When friend Patti found out that she, Brad, and their three littles would soon be heading to the States, she started to panic over whether she had seen everything she needed to see, and bought everything she needed to buy.

There was a whole lot of stuff you could buy in Jakarta that we never even saw out in the middle of the jungle, so that's exactly what she did -- she went to visit Mel! And, being such a good friend and all, I offered to go along -- just for moral support of course.

If there was anything left in Jakarta when we finished there, it certainly wasn't for lack of trying!

Once Patti and her family departed, it was as if someone had left the stopper out of the drain, for there seemed to be a slow but steady exodus from that point on.

LETTERS HOME: BACK TO SCHOOL

Lex and friends perform the candle dance at Open House

5th October, 1993

Greetings All,

Well, it's October again, my favorite month. That means the holiday season has officially begun, as far as I'm concerned. I played a few Christmas carols the other day, just to help John get into his holiday mode (as in "Bah, Humbug!"). It worked.

I am loving this quilting class I'm taking -- taught by friend Teri, who also leads our early morning water aerobics sessions down at the pool (where she taught me to add some fresh lime to my diet colas, to cut that awful metal aftertaste). The quilting is almost addictive! Of course, so far, all we have done is machine-piece a bunch of blocks to go in a sampler quilt. That goes so quickly that you really feel like you're making progress. When we get to the tedious hand sewing part, I may get bogged down. The bad part is that you tend to get compulsive about buying fabrics and my shelves are filling up fast. In fact, Teri says they have a saying -- "She who dies with the most fabric wins!" I had to take Alexis out to the orthodontist in Singapore last weekend, and without any conspiracy on our parts, three other quilters were there as well. We spent hours at a neat quilting shop, and I got some gorgeous Christmas fabrics to make either a quilted tree skirt or a table runner.

Austin is now in Mrs. Zavala's class (the wife of his teacher last year) with four of his best buddies.

I thought things would slow down once we got all of these going away parties behind us. What a joke! By the way, we had a pretty crazy one last week. The Ellisons have been transferred to Nigeria, so as their send-off to "the dark continent", their going-away party was held totally in the dark! We all had to wear black and bring flashlights. We also had to bring something to go in a "Nigerian Survival Kit". Those parties are behind us, but I'm still doing my quilting class twice a week, and co-teaching a craft class for the kids. (I volunteered before I knew it would be on Wednesdays, which means no Shanghai until Christmas. It's killing me!) I've also been asked to help with a play the K-2nd graders are putting on at the end of the month, which means I have to meet with them three mornings a week. 

Lex gets ready for school, wearing new duds brought back from the States.

Next week a wonderful batik artist from Medan is coming here to do some workshops at the school, and he's agreed to do some for the moms as well. I'm really excited about that, but I hope I don't fall in love with it. I think it could be very time consuming and expensive, and one of those kinds of hobbies is quite enough! In addition to these little projects, we're beginning to crank up on the Halloween carnival, and of course, there's my big 40th birthday bash. Luckily, that doesn't require any work on my part. John has enlisted two of my buddies to help him, and they even went so far as to book me in at the salon for "the works" on the afternoon of the party, to get me out of the way. Should be interesting!

If you will compare my second grader's size with his buddies the guards, who are full-grown men, you will understand why we had to bring all our clothes from the States!

A couple of weeks ago was Open House at the school, and we were really proud of both kids. The older ones had to learn a very intricate Indonesian dance where they hold lighted candles on the palm of each hand, and spin them all around. Alexis did really well, and looked fabulous in her elaborate costume. Austin was chosen to be narrator for a little shadow puppet play, and everyone was totally amazed. He read more smoothly in Indonesian than most kids his age can read in English!

Her only problem was keeping the headdress from sliding down and blocking her vision!

Alexis' big adventure trip to Lake Toba seems to have gone quite well. I'm not sure if she would classify it as "fun", but I know she will remember it for the rest of her life. They all kept journals, and I want to make sure that she keeps hers to show her kids someday. They are pretty funny. After they made the half day trek up to the top of the volcano, they went in some hot sulfur springs to ease their muscles. Lex didn't care much for the smell of "stinking eggs." They did a lot of shopping and the teachers all said Lex was the best "bargainer." Some of the rooms they stayed in only cost $4.00 a night, and they had to order all their own meals (lots of rice) and make sure they didn't spend over $7.50 a day for all three. It was definitely a learning experience!

Guess that's all for now. Take care, and keep those letters coming!

MAY MAYHEM

Dearest Friends,

Anyone who refers to the "merry" month of May has never been an expatriate mom. Those of us who have know that it is anything but. It was not merry, it was mayhem, bedlam, and I doubt if my hubby has any clue how close I came to edge a few times -- especially when we'd get everything worked out, only to have him come home and announce a change in plans. Here is just a sampling of what I found written in my agenda for the last few weeks of the school year in '93:

• hosted/attended at least 16 lunch, dinner, and cocktail functions, over and above the usual weekly things like Shanghai group and Girl Scout meetings
• planned and carried out the infamous Girl Scout campout
• prepared for and taught the littles in Sunday School each week
• stressed out over the care of my sons eczema, which had flared into some icky infection
• went to choir rehearsals and performed on Mother's Day
• made hotel reservations for the stops on our trip home, confirmed flights, and updated friends and family on our plans
• held a scout leaders meeting to make our plans for the following year, and to figure out what supplies needed to be purchased in the States while we were there
• prepared and sent out invitations for a special murder mystery party I was planning to host the following fall, since guests might want to gather "parts" for their costumes while home
• held a teacher appreciation luncheon
• withdrew enough money to pay our staff salaries while we were away, and took it to my next door neighbor, along with instructions
• met with the school principal to tie up loose ends, since we needed to take the kids out of school a few days early in order for John to attend a school in Cincinnatti
• bought last minute hostess gifts for all the people we would be staying with over the summer, including Marie Biscuits and cans of the coffee-flavored candy that everyone loved
• made shopping lists of everything we might possibly need in the coming year, that we couldn't get in Sumatra
• tried to figure out what to pack for a family of four, three of whom would be away all summer, and two of whom would be going off to camps and such, so that we would have everything we might need, but still have plenty of room left in which to bring back all that stuff on the above shopping lists
• left instructions for our staff, and prayed that they would take good care of our puppy dog
• Oh yeah! There was another play to help out with too!

I don't really recall what the play was about. All I know is the kids wrote the script themselves, and somehow managed to include wizards...

Kitty Kats...

Vampires...

and the cutest big red ant ever!

GOOD LUCK FOLLOWS ME AROUND THE GLOBE

Dearest Friends,

I have always been rather lucky when it comes to contests. You'd be shocked at how many  prizes I have won, considering how few contests I have bothered to enter. In Sumatra I shocked even myself, however, by winning the grand prize in a contest I didn't enter!

Almost everyone on the compound had ordered at least a few pieces of teak or rattan from the furniture-makers in Medan, but only a few had ordered from this one fellow in Singapore (Or was it Jakarta? I really can't remember.) I had been with friends when they ordered from this guy, and his stuff was indeed beautiful, but it was just way too expensive for this frugal frau. Then, however, Danny and Peggy invited John and I over to admire their new fold-out bar when it arrived, and that was all it took. My hubby just had to have one! We knew we couldn't take our full-sized patio bar home with us -- there just wouldn't be room for it in most houses. But this? This would fit in most any house! Eventually, I caved in.

A few weeks after I placed the order, I got a letter from the furniture-maker. I expected it to say the usual "Oops, so sorry! Delivery will be much later than we told you." That is not what it said. Instead I found out that, unbeknownst to me, there had been a drawing for several pieces of furniture, and they had entered the name of every single person who had ever placed an order with them. Guess who won, not just any old prize, but the muy grande prize of a Fold Out Bar? Yep, little ol' me. They gave me a choice: apply the prize credit towards the bar we had already ordered, or use it to order something else. Sooo, we ended up ordering this...

and then we couldn't resist ordering this as well...

and, oh yeah, there was also a cute little curio cabinet to hang on the wall. So, yeah, as you can see, winning that contest ended up costing me a bundle. I should have know better than to let John go to the showroom with me! But, here it is, almost 20 years later, we're still using all those pieces, and they are still gorgeous, so...maybe it was all for the best, huh?

TWO WOMEN ABROAD

Wow! I do not miss the styles of the early 90s -- especially belly bags and craftily adorned tee-shirt sets.

Dearest Friends,

After Carolyn had spent about a week with us there on the company compound, she and I headed off on our big adventure. We took the company plane to Singapore first, and I introduced her to a few of my favorite places.

Soaking in the atmosphere on the verandah of the Raffles Hotel

Afternoon tea at the Raffles

I believe this was inside the Singapore airport.

From there we were off to Hong Kong, where it was Carolyn's turn to act as tour guide, since she had been there once before. Well, come to think of it, I guess I had to, as John and I stopped there on our honeymoon. Her visit, however, was much more recent, and of a longer duration!

We dined at one of the famous floating restaurants, and ate Salt & Pepper Prawns that made me moan out loud!

An Indoor Market

Riding the Kowloon Ferry

A gorgeous stall in the fabric market -- too bad the photo sucks.

There are places in both Singapore and Hong Kong where little old men gather  each morning beneath thousands of birds in ornate bamboo cages. We each bought one of those cages, which Carolyn had to hand-carry all the way back to the states.  Guess what they were selling at every Pier I Imports, by the time I moved home?

Dim Sum

It was a fabulous adventure to be shared with my big sister, and we felt ever so intrepid, for it was the first time either of has had explored a foreign country without being part of a tour group, or at least having our hubbies along for protection!

THE HOME-LEAVE WHIRL

Dearest Friends,

Our first home-leave with the kids can be described in much the same way as the one John and I took as newlyweds: "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." Disney World was fabulous, except for the parts where our son kept wandering off and getting separated from us, causing his poor momma to panic. I guess he'd been in a safe, enclosed environment for so long, he'd forgotten all about "stranger-danger." He managed to survive but, I'm sad to say, I seem to have misplaced every single picture I took on that trip. Doh!

Dress-up tea parties with Granny Kay

I'd thought the original multi-stage, two-day journey to Indonesia with John and the kids had been a nightmare, but compared to making it twice in one summer without him -- just me and two exhausted, grumpy kids? Well, it was a piece of cake!

The idea of shopping for a year's worth of clothes, toiletries, gifts, crafts and party supplies seemed kind of exciting at the beginning of the summer. But, as the budgeted funds and the space in our suitcases dwindled, it became less and less fun, and more of a cause for panic.

Slumber parties with the aunts.

Finally getting to see our parents, siblings and best friends, after a year away? The best! Having to stay in other people's houses and living out of suitcases for the whole summer; trying to keep the kids entertained by filling their days with all the enriching activities that weren't available on our little compound in Sumatra; being apart from John for two thirds of that time; and, most of all, having to say goodbye to everyone again, after so little time together? Well, not so wonderful -- especially when it came to John's parents. John's father did indeed get himself kicked out of the rehab facility in record time, but we hoped that, once he was home in familiar surroundings, maybe he'd be more motivated and successful with outpatient therapy. We also hoped he would be much nicer to the young aide Theda had been lucky enough to hire, than he had been to everyone at rehab, since she was the only thing that kept poor Theda from losing it altogether. Unfortunately, things weren't looking too good on either front.