Bersepeda Santai (Relaxed Biking)

To celebrate the birthday of the city of Madiun, we were invited to participate in "Relaxed Biking."

What we thought might only be a small crowd turned out to be a thousand bikers or more. Although they shut down this street, the other streets of the ride involved competition for the road with motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, becaks (pedicab), and a few wandering chickens.

After a long, "relaxed" bike ride at 6AM, what better to replenish your energy than some spicy peanut sauce on rice eaten out of a banana leaf?

The oldest biker? This 94 year-old gentlemen. And by the way, I think he was the only one wearing a helmet too. Correlation?

Nothing more says "celebrate our city's birthday" like dancing with Indonesian policemen and policewomen to spicy, mildly provocative "dangdut" music.

SMA 2 Madiun

The annual Java Journey program sponsored by a Ph.D. in AgEcon from Kansas State University and SMA 2 Madiun (a high school in Indonesia) gave college students from the heartland of America an opportunity to explore and better understand Indonesian culture, language, and people, while at the same time "exchanging culture" through teaching English and sharing about our lives in America. As their tour guide and sometimes translator, my job was to help them get the fullest experience possible, all while thoroughly enjoying a chance to be back around the people I love in the country I love!

After teaching English at the high school, they taught us a form of traditional Indonesian martial arts. Our teacher may have been old, but I didn't want to mess with her skills!

Students

This summer we taught English in high schools and universities. Here are some snapshots. These top two pictures are of university students, the bottom three of high schoolers. All Indonesians wear uniforms for the K-12 educational years.