SENIN (Monday) 29th Sept
Caught angkota to campus with Pak Agna, went to his office for my official meeting. UKSW is a private university, with 12,000 students, 60% of whom come from Java, the remainder coming from Ambon, Sulawesi, Papua, and West Kalimantan. Pak explained how the university was established, how the university year is structured, and what its vision is for the future. Each Monday is "Kebaktian Senin," an obligatory church service for staff.
Following our meeting, it was time for Nova to take me to the Faculty of Language and Literature, in F Building. There I was enthusiastically greeted by Pak Hendro, the Dean of the Faculty; most of the faculty here are linguists rather than literature students. I was shown around the building, met numerous members of staff, including, in the hallway, Duncan, from Queensland. I'll be sharing an office with Pak Nico and Ibu Listyrani. It's open planned, to some degree, with four staff members to an office, glass screens allowing visual and aural access to other staff in adjacent rooms, and no respite from other stakeholders - the students - who hang around the corridor waiting for a class or to meet a lecturer.
Lunch time: Nova helped me out by accompanying me to the cafe and ensuring that I got something vegetarian. Also used an ATM. Rows of tables inside the cafe, all taken with students who, later in life, will likely lose a lung and maybe regret the lunchtimes they spent at UKSW. Packets of cigarettes are tiny, holding 12 smokes. Used my lunch time to practise bahasa.
Went home at 2pm. Exhausted. Huge amounts of mental energy is required to keep up with conversations. By hometime, I'm zapped, fried, ready for a lie down. At that time of the day I seek the random pleasures of iPod shuffle (the first set list was posted earlier).
Then, hit the books, looking up new words, clarifying old words. Read through the various handbooks I'd be given, including a guide for foreigners to how to behave at UKSW and in Salatiga.
Early to bed. Stuck Efterklang on the iPod, and barely made it to the 3rd song.
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