The third week in Bali

Hi guys!

It feels like it was just yesterday when I arrived in Bali but actually I've been living in the paradise island almost for a month! And after I've said that, it's good to note that I'm leaving Bali for over two weeks only days after I've learned to think my villa as my new home. Still I can't be bitter at all because next two weeks are going to be at least as interesting than my first weeks in Bali have been.

You see: I'm visiting Bangkok, Phuket and Kuala Lumpur because there's Asia Exchange's exchange students in all those locations. So for the next two and a half weeks this blog actually isn't going to about the student life in Bali because it's a little bit difficult to write about it when I'm not here. As compensation I try to write few short updates about the student life in Bangkok, Phuket and Kuala Lumpur during next weeks :) After that I'm flying back to Bali and then I'm reporting only about the student life in Bali until the autumn semester ends in December.

But the end of semester is not an actual topic yet. There's still lots of great experiences ahead both in the university and outside of it. One of them is coming already on this Sunday: Snoop Lion himself is playing in Seminyak in the beach party! I'm really excited about going to Bangkok but I'm still a little bit sad about the fact that I'm sitting on the plane when Snoop Dogg would be playing really near to my place. I hope many of you (who are now in Bali) are going to see that show :)

That's all about the future: I'm also supposed to write something about this week in the university. The beginning of the week (from Monday till Wednesday) was already pretty normal. It's a kind of funny to see how quickly everyone has adopted to the everyday life in Balinese university which has to be at least a little bit different than own school in the home country. Although I have to say from my own experience that the lessons I've been able to attend have been really similar compared to the Finnish university's lessons. Especially the Business law lesson reminded me really much of the Finnish ones. Bahasa Indonesia lessons on the other hand are pretty much shame than any other language lessons. I've enjoyed the Bahasa lessons a lot because it's so rewarding to learn more and more every time. Now I can already communicate with people in the restaurants and stores in Indonesian :) Or at least I can try to do that.

The most interesting moment of this school week was on Thursday, when Asia Exchange's students had their first workshop. For the most of the school weeks our students are going to have either a workshop or an excursion on Thursdays. Most of the workshops and excursions are about local culture but some may also deal business etc. I think the workshops and the excursions are really interesting part of the studies because there's no way you could otherwise get so good chance to get to know new things about local culture. In the first workshop the students made some nice palm leave ornaments with the help of the local students. The ornaments are used in Bali for example for decoration.

So that's everything about this week in Bali! ...Or actually not completely everything because there was of course more than just studying also in this week. Especially on Thursday there were some good full moon beach parties to complete this school week. And now it's a weekend again! Tomorrow I'm going to see the northern Bali before I leave this island for two weeks. What plans do you have for the weekend? Are you going to Snoop Lion's show?

There's some pictures from Udayana University's campus area in Jimbaran and some from Thursday's workshop:

First videos!

Hi guys! Finally there's the first video interviews I've made with the current exchange students during the first weeks :) There's going to be more in the upcoming months but these are the first ones. Enjoy!

Traffic in Bali

I guess I've already mentioned the crazy Balinese traffic in a some side note in my first two blog posts. In the future I'll be writing a long story about the craziness of the local traffic but now I'll just tell few basic facts:

1) The Balinese traffic is left-hand.

2) The Balinese traffic seems to have no rules - but it still does! Or that's what my intern colleague Jana has told me even though there's just a very little logic that I've been able to notice. But I believe her and actually the traffic seems to have more and more logic every day. So maybe in few weeks I'll be able to write an article about the traffic so that the future exchange students know more about the Balinese traffic than just the craziness of it.

But anyway, the main point is that everyone must adjust to local traffic because everyone has to be part of it - in most cases they also have to be driving themselves. That's because the public transport here is really weak: no trains and very few buses. So the only good options are either taking a taxi or driving some vehicle by yourself. Almost every time the vehicle is a scooter because it's the easiest one to handle. I would never drive a car here. So there's really many scooters on the road and that causes problems sometimes.

But I'll write a longer text than this in the future. The main reason I wrote this post is because yesterday I got a Facebook message from Aleksi, who's a current exchange student here in Bali via Asia Exchange. He had already made an excellent video about the local traffic! As usual, the picture (or in this case the video) tells more than thousand words, so I don't have to write more about the traffic now, because this great video tells everything that's necessary to know at least now.

The Kerobokan Getaway Bali 2013 from Aleksi Laitinen on Vimeo.

So, really big thanks to Aleksi! This is also a great moment to remind all of you current exchange students that you can send me some pictures or videos (e.g. from your weekend trips from Bali, Gili islands or anywhere else) if you want them to be published in my blog. And you other readers: if you want to know something specific, tell me! You can contact me in Facebook (Juuso AE) or with e-mail (juuso[at]asiaexchange.org).

The first weekend and the week after that

As I said in my previous post, there was a huge ice-breaking party for new students after the first week of Autumn semester. Actually the whole ice-breaking happening lasted two days: the first party was on Friday night and the second one on Saturday night. Between those two parties there was also a special surf lesson for our students in Saturday morning. All in all, the weekend was full of action, meeting new people and maybe also drinking few Bintangs (which is the famous local beer).

I think that most of our current students agree with me that the parties were well-deserved and greatly needed. The first week was really busy and also a kind of stressfull so it was extremely nice that for two nights we could just relax and enjou good music, company, food and drink. At the same time everybody could forgot their culture shocks and other little problems that they had had during first days in a completely new place.

Friday's party was held in Wingdome, located in Kuta, which is the biggest party (and also beach) area in Bali. The place was really nice: in the upstairs there was a big outdoor area where you could sit and enjoy the great view of dark Kuta area. Me and many others also liked Wingdome because on Friday they had a special offer: Bintang (the local beer I already mentioned) costed only 6 000 Rupias, ergo approximately 0,40 Euros. The offer was so popular that Wingdome ran out of beer during that night.

Besides the speciality of the place was very hot wings. Few of our students accepted a challenge where you had to eat extremely hot wings in a short time. Two of them succeeded but the feeling that came afterwards may not have been worth it (or then it was, maybe I'm just so sissy that I can't understand that kind of glory). After the beer had ran out and the wings were eaten, parties continued in many bars in Kuta. Most of us went to some of the Kuta's most popular places like Alley Cats, Engine Room or even Skygarden. 

So, Friday's party didn't end early but still 15 of our students were in Kuta Beach already on Saturday morning, when the surf lesson was held. The lesson was held by Pro Surf School that has been chosen the best surf school in Bali for three times. Bali's one of the best surfing places in world so you really should try surfing even though you wouldn't have done it ever before. Even I tried it this week and it was so much fun! I have to go surfing again next week.

The main event of the weekend was the pool party in Pro Surf School's Beach Lounge and it started on 5PM. The place was unbelievable. There were a huge swimming pool and you could jump into it from the second floor (the drop was maybe 3 metres). I guess I don't even have to tell that many of us made some crazy jumps during that nights. However, the pool wasn't only thing there. The place was huge, there was a great dj and cool lights. The feeling was like straight from some American movie.

So, in overall I would say the weekend was great. There's no better way to start new semester like a good party or even two :)

 

Also I should say that the second week in the university has went well. It's also not so stressful any more because the routines have started and there's not so many problems with practical arrangements any more. Also the courses have began properly. I still haven't had time to visit other courses than Bahasa Indonesian but those lessons have been really interesting and rewarding, as I already told last time. It's so nice to really learn something new every time.

Also this weeks has been a good time for students to plan some own activities, because there was no excursion or workshop on Thursday so the students had a really long weekend. There was a bonfire on Wednesday evening near to Uluwatu and also many students are planning their first trips to somewhere in Bali or even other islands. I'm going to see the Gili islands but it'd be nice to hear from your weekend trips!

First week of the autumn semester in Bali

Finally, this is the first blog entry about the autumn semester 2013 in Bali. For the new readers: as you can see, this blog has been in use already during the spring semester 2013 and now it's going to be used more frequently than it was during the spring (the plan is to have one blog post in English every week). For this blog's old readers: from now on this blog has a new writer. I'm Juuso, Asia Exchange's intern during the autumn semester that began here in Bali last Monday :) I'm especially responsible for writing blog posts and articles about the student life in Bali. A little bit more information about me can be found on this blog's sidebar. My goal is to give as wide picture about student life in Bali as possible.

The first week was very busy for the new students in Udayana university. First there were the orientation days in Monday and Tuesday. After that students had their first official school days on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Normally the school week at the campus area in Jimbaran lasts only from Monday to Wednesday (excursions and workshops are held Thursdays). So it's no surprise that most of the students were a little bit exhausted on Friday. Luckily Asia Exchange had organized well-deserved ice-breaking parties both on Friday and Saturday.

But before the parties could start, there was the first school week that started with the orientation days that were really interesting. Monday's program began with the traditional Indonesian dance show that lasted almost 10 minutes and was very imressing to say at least. It's hard to describe it if you've never seen it and you really should see it live in front of you.

After the traditional dance show, the first orientation day continued with an information about Asia Exchange and Udayana university. It was nice to see that even the local television channel (Bali TV) was interested in filming the beginning of the international student's new semester. They also interviewed Asia Exchange's managing director Harri Suominen and my intern colleague Jana.

The first school day started at 9AM and was over before 2PM. The second day started also at 9AM (like most of the school days here in Bali) but it lasted a little bit longer because in the afternoon students got a chance to visit Seeds of Hope children's home. As part of Asia Exchange's charity program, AE makes a donation of 30 USD per each of our exchange students to Seeds of Hope. The money is used to make the children's living conditions better and support their education. Every one of the children in Seeds of Hope (that are old enough) studies in a school.

 

It's still good to remember that money isn't everything: the really big part is also to care and to be part of the children's life. That's why you can apply for fulfilling your internship in Seeds of Hope with Asia Exchange's help. At this moment there's one intern in Seeds of Hope, Jutta from Finland. She's working until December. After that next possible starting day is 6th January 2014 and you can send your application until the end of this month (September 2013).

But even though you wouldn't be fulfilling your internship in Seeds of Hope, at least you really should visit the place when you're in Bali. It's so wonderful to see how important and good work everyone in Seeds of Hope are doing. The children's home was founded by an old couple Sandra and Tommy who really seem to love every one of the kids (over 60 of them) like they'd be their own. Everyone in Seeds of Hope seems to be a one big loving family. The older children are taking care of the younger. During our visit the children performed a musical show and after that we got a chance to speak with them and hear about their everyday life. I think many students were touched after the visit and so was I.

So, the visit in Seeds of Hope was definitely the best possible way to end the orientation days. But after that students had three more days in the university because all of their courses began during the following three days. I had time to attend only Bahasa Indonesian (Indonesian language) but it was so interesting and especially useful! Already after two lessons I could use a little bit Bahasa Indonesian when a policeman stopped me during the previous weekend when I was driving my scooter. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one whose life has already gotten easier with knowing few words of Indonesian. And even though I haven't had time to attend the other courses (yet), I will do it later. I've also heard that most of the other ones (Indonesian history, Business law, Indonesian literature, tourism management and economy of South East Asia) have been very promising.

So, that was the first week in Bali. Full of happenings and new things (and maybe a little bit culture shock) but also one of the best weeks ever, I hope. And of course the first week also included the weekend's parties but that's a completely other story that I'm going to talk about later.

Certification ceremony - the end of spring semester 2013

Feels just like yesterday when the students had their orientation days. Needless to say this 4 months have passed fast. This semester has been full of experiences, making new friends and learning about Asia and about oneself. All the things that you would expect from your study semester abroad. The last week of school was also the final exams week. Hard work was rewarded on Wednesday evening when everyone, the students, lectures  and the new just elected dean, gathered at the Denpasar campus for the certification ceremony.

The welcoming dance

For the ceremony students were asked to wear their traditional outfits, the same ones they bought during their first weeks of the semester. The ceremony, like every other official gathering started with a traditional welcoming dance, followed by a short speech from the BIPAS coordinator Pak Rajeg. This semester at the ceremony we also had a great opportunity to show the new dean how our program here at Udayana University is like. For the students the most anticipated part of the ceremony is obviously receiving the individual  certificates and the announcement of the AsiaExchange Role Model scholarship. 

This semester the AE Role Model scholarship went to Johannes Rofner from Austria. The Role Model is chosen together with the students, the host university and AsiaExchange. In his speech the message was clear "This has without a doubt been the best experience of my life". Inspired by his 4 months in Bali he also made a video that he showed at the ceremony 'causing laughs and awws in the audience.

Watch his video on youtube here: Studying in Bali by Johannes Rofner

AE Role Model student spring 2013, Johannes

After the formalities of the ceremony Udayana had organised a traditional balinese buffet for everyone to enjoy. Dining together and sharing memories was a nice way to conclude what the semester had to offer for both students and the staff at Unud. And also time to take some last minute photos.

Congratulations! Class of spring 2013

The ceremony behind it was time for the students to let their hair down and get ready to  party. Villa Uma Sari had invited everyone over for a get together before hitting the party scene in Kuta. The students had also invited fellow exchange students from the IBSN program to join the celebration. Villa quickly packed up with students from all different countries, new and already familiar faces, smiles, great vibes and of course bintangs! A perfect ending for an unforgettable semester here in Bali.

From somewhere you'd rather be ;)

Final greetings to you from our students this spring

"Best decision of my life!"
"What are you waiting for? Do it, do it now!"
"Everything I expected and so much more!"

Now are you ready for the experience of a lifetime..? :)

Interview with our students Heta and Tiina from Finland

• Only 2 more weeks of the spring semester 2013 left. Here's what our two Finnish students have experienced so far!
  
  Tell us about you
  
  I'm Heta Länkä 24 years old and I'm from Somero and now I'm living now In Turku Finland. I study Beauty Management in Turku University Of Applied Sciences.
  

  
  

  And I am Tiina Linna and I am 23 years old. I come from Askola, but I study in Turku. I also study Beauty Management in Turku University of Applied Sciences.
  
  

  

  Tiina (left) and Heta (right) at the Bali Zoo

  
  What made you decide to come here to do your semester abroad?

  H: I got the idea to come here from my friend Miraz who was in same exchange program before in 2011.
  
  
  

  T: I got the idea for student exchange in Bali from a friend of mine, who's friend had done a semester here before. It was kind of a sudden decision.

  
  
  

  How do you find the university? What's your favorite course?

  H: Udayana University is very good and teachers and employes are very nice and helpful. Everyone can speak very good English so it's easy to come here to do your exchange. I think that my favorite course is Literature. Teacher is the best! Campus area is pretty nice also and the food from the canteen is also very good, my favorite food there is nasi soto.
  
  
  

  

  Excursion to Besakih temple

  T: Udayana University is good, the teachers/employees and other students are also nice. All the teachers can speak good English and they are helpful. My favorite course is Bahasa Indonesia because I like language studies and it is always interesting and useful to learn the local language.

  
  

  Has the semester and life in Bali been what you've expected? 

  H: Yeah its been so good i haven't missed home at all!! We have meet so many nice people and have lots of new friends and its pretty good to live in a  Villa with a Pool  Weather is amazing here in Bali and Balinese people here are nice and the culture here is so unique. Didn't experience a big culture shock but i was a little bit afraid of the traffic but now i drive everywhere with my scoopy (scooter).
  
  

  

  Balinese temple. Hindu culture is everywhere.

  
  

  T: The semester abroad has been amazing! School is going well and everything has been what I've expected and more! I have made lots of new friends and learned about culture and history here in Bali. I have not had any culture shocks or been homesick, okay maybe sometimes I miss my mommy, daddy and three cats!  I have also grown so much as a person here and gained confidence.
  
  It's almost the end of the semester. What are your favorite memories?

  
  
  

  

  Road trip! There's so much more to see than just beaches

  
  H: I have so many good memories this has been my best spring ever!! For example trips to Gili islands, trip to Cambodia, pool parties, amazing beaches (nikko beach), surfing lessons and great people (locals and other travelers). I'm sad to be going home but i'll definitely come back here after christmas  After  the graduation we're planning to go to Mengjangan island to snorkel and sun bath  We have still 3 weeks to go.

  
  

  T: My favorite memories here are the trip to Gilis (where I snorkled for the first time - loved it) and the many crazy parties in Kuta. I have never before travelled so far away from home, so everything is new and exciting to me! Hard to pick just a few memories. Surfing lessons have been a great experience although I am not good at it  We also did a road trip with a car, with no travel plan - it was fun and spontaneous! 
  

  
  

  

  Valentine's pool party at Beach Lounge

  
  Anything you'd like to say to people considering participating in this exchange program?
  
  

  H: Yeah people should definitely come here amazing island and culture  Sun, surfing, beach, people, villas, traveling, no stress.
  
  T: To the people who are considering coming to study here in Bali I want to say - DO IT!  The experience will be so amazing and unforgettable! I have not regretted any moment here. 
  
  

• 

  Girls favorite beach, Nusa Dua beach