UKSW @ UNY Kamis 22 Okt

Awake at 6am, good night's sleep. Rudi spent most of the night in the lobby, watching Milan versus Real Madrid, 4-3 Milan's way. Game finished at 4am, minimising the time we could bond together. Crept to the bathroom and enjoyed my first shower in a month. A simple pleasure. Hot. Felt as though my hair was finally getting a decent soak. Rudi still asleep, grinding.

Breakfasted alone, then Lauren found me. Joined by Rudi. Butter, bread, fruit. Rudi's grandfather is Dutch, so he likes to eat butter and toast. Hard to find good butter in Indonesia. At the hotel, they had sachets of New Zealand butter, which Rudi pocketed. Then, for Rudi, upacara rokek (his morning cigarette).

More keynotes at the conference. We left the hotel late, hoping to avoid the morning session. Sadly, the keynotes started late, so we got to sit through them all. Disappointingly, the instruments were no longer next to the stage. Would have to make my own entertainment.

After the morning keynotes, parallel sessions, up to 6 I think, which meant most sessions would attract 5-10 people. Papers focused on multiculturalism. Not sure how this concept, used in settler/immigrant countries like Canada, Australia, and, to a much lesser extent, the US, can be used in the Indonesian context. Lots of disquiet from the speakers about the threat of globalisation, Indonesian youth's ignorance of Indonesian history, the problem of sinetron (soap operas), as well as confusion about what constitutes Indonesianness. For many speakers, Java is Indonesia.

Highlight of the day was getting a phone call just as the conference ended: mum, Leonie, Tallulah and Delaney! Surreal to be on a balconey, looking at a mesjid, and chatting away.