So im quite sorry it has taken me awhile to write a new post. so i think its been three weeks since my last oops. well Nyoman and i didnt really do much for the holidays. which was fine with me :) first week back at school was good. only maybe 20 people turned up though. many students were still on holidays in Thailand and what not. In Bahasa Indonesia class we have started to do listening exercises which is quite easy if the person talking isnt speaking at a million miles an hour lol
 we had a workshop on Balinese writing, which was quite fun and quite hard. Nyoman was impressed even he doesnt know how to write it lol.
ooh we have a new addition to the family lol. Nyomans sisters dog had puppies and the mum wasnt really looking after them so Nyoman went to village and bought back our lil coco. she is only 6 weeks old now. 4 weeks when we got her. she likes to sleep alot and pee alot and thats about it haha. Nyoman and i have started to take her to the beach in the afternoons for walks but it seems she only really wants to eat the sand.

so there is only 4 weeks left of school eek. it has gone so fast. when the course finishes Iam hoping to do an intership here in Bali. im currently looking up jobs and interships on the internet. wish me luck.

so its been a wee while since i last posted. last weekend we went up to village for Nyepi day. Bali new year. we travelled up to village last thursday. it was much better going up this time only rained a little bit through the mountains. mind you this time we seemed to have stopped a few more times. took us about 4 hours instead of 2 and half hehe. on the friday, day before Nyepi we went down to the beach for a huge Om ceremony. i said to Nyoman that mum would have laughed at me if she saw me. i was dressed in the Bali uniform and sitting sideways on the scooter travelling down the mountain that the street was broken everywhere. i could not stop laughing.  

this is a photo of Nyoman and i at the ceremony on the beach. there was more than a thousand people there.. it was kind of hard to sit still when we were all sitting on  ants eek. Nyomans nephew looked very cute in his uniform. after the ceremony we scooted back up to Nyomans house and just relaxed for a few hours. well i studied for my mid tests and Nyoman played cards with his sisters and his cousins. watching them play is so funny.. its a very confusing game if you dont know whats going on. we went back down the entrance to the village and watched the Ogoh- ogoh parade, if you dont know what they look on google images. every village or temple within a village makes a scary looking monster also known as an ogoh ogoh. they make these as an offering to the bad spirits on Nyepi day. on saturday (Nyepi Day) this is a day for silence. no electricity, meaning no lights no t.v and no fires. they do this so as when the bad spirits come to Bali in the evening they will see that the island is dark and empty so they will leave again. its very interesting what they believe. we however being  in the mountain went totally againts all this. we made a fire. we had torches, we were being very loud, and then when it got really dark we played cards with two scooters facing us.. oops lol. so we came back to Kuta on sunday night. on the way home got a flat tyre then when we finally got home our room was entirely flooded. i mean like a foot under water. was not happy. had mid tests this week. all went ok i hope.Bahasa Indonesian was pretty much the same as the practise test hehe. the other were a lil bit hard but lets home the results are ok.

i now have ten day holiday.. uhhhh what to do... well ill let you know what i do.. till next time.

So next week we have our mid tests.. eek. we had our first practise test for bahasa indonesia today. it was really quite easy. however its a pain in the arse coz i can understand it more than i can speak it. lets just hope but the time final exams come around ill be talking the language a lot more. Not much happend last week at school. we had an excursion to the Bali T.V studio. which was really quite interesting. they not only make T.V shows but also make the Bali Post newspaper and a few other things aswell. this week we have the Balinese dancing workshop. that shall be very interesting. i was told by my tutor that we get to dance at the closing ceremony aswell. hah that will be fun and embarrassing. ill put photos up as soon as i get them haha.

today monday. Nyoman and i both had a massage from his sisters. oh my was it strange..different and relaxing.. so by using  hot oil and a coin this is the result.. i have the same on my back. looks like it hurts but it doesnt. so anyway ill update my blog again in a few days. see ya soon

Selamat Siang. so its been nearly two weeks since my last post. sorry about that. have been quite busy with school and ive been so busy with my cousins. had my first presentation on thursday. the subject was Balinese temples and rituals. I think we did really well. i had a lot of help from my Balinese friends which im very thankful for. There are so many ceremonies and rituals that i didnt know about so it was really quite interesting. my group has another presentation next wednesday. this one is for our business class. its all about the economy between ASEAN and other regions. To be honest i find this class a lil bit hard but i think ill just have to read over everything again. we also had a workshop on traditonal Balinese offerings. well we made these things( cant remember the name sorry) which was really quite fun.. and challenging haha

This is a photo of my friend Mira and Reija and i making the offerings. these ones are for parties and celebrations. the Balinese hang them outside. i think kind of like streamers and balloons. we are clearly concentrating too hard lol heres a photo of the finished product toothe last couple of weeks has been really fun hanging out with my cousins and there friend. its been abit hard though when we go out its just not the same anymore. my bestfriend from Bali died last year and when my cousin came over with me two years ago we went out every night and just had the best of times. but now when shara was here and we went out all i could think of was god i wish froggy was here. Valentines day was especially hard too. i miss my dear froggy so much. 

so the weekend is here again. time is going so quick. not sure what ill be doing. hopefully ill be catching up with family on skype. its been awhile. well i might go for a swim soon and im sooo freaking hot right now lol.. laters

well my third week ended on a good note. school this week was really good however because i was in hospital the week before i missed my first two classes of international trade and law so i have abit of catching up to do. ive started to make our 20 minute group assignment on Balinese Temples and rituals.. Im hoping that we will do really well in this one as ive been talking to alot of my Balinese friends who have been really helpful in there traditions and whats acceptable and whats not and have found the temple system very interesting. On friday i went to Nyomans village in Karangasem. took us 2.5hours on bike through the mountains.. seeing mount Agung up close is really amazing and picture perfect. the photo that i have put up of a street is just outside nyomans house. The street is very not good and driving on it is very scary. on friday it was very big raining and i was actually really scared becauase it was like driving through rapids. getting to his house was exciting. his mum has done so much since i was there last. There was 8 little piglets to that were only 18 days old. Nyoman said i couldnt bring one home :( haha.. Nyomans sister was showing me how to make things for a ceremony. i made 3 and gave up lol. we left the village just before it started to rain again.. good timing.. my cousin came today(saturday) soooo exciting. went and saw them at the airport and hopefully will catch up after school tomorrow..

well this is my first post since classes have really started. first week went really quick. my favourite classes so far are bahasa indonesian and international tourism. second week of school i was admitted to hospital on the monday with dengue fever.. luckily my case was only mild and i had very little symptoms. damn mosquitos. i was staying at sanglah hospital which is only two minutes away from Unud which really annoyed me coz even though i was feeling fine i couldnt go to school.. on friday morning the doctor gave me the all clear and i could go home. yey. third week of school. have learnt so much more bahasa indonesian and yesterday monday the 31st the students went to "pasar" market to buy balinese uniforms for the workshop tomorrow.. will be putting photos up soon. other than that life in bali is amazing. school finishes most days about lunch time so theres plenty of relax time in the afternoon. well best be off makan malam time :D laters

On wednesday the 12th and thursday the 13th 2011 Asia Exchange and Udayana the host university in Denpasar organised an orientation day for all the upcoming students. it was very well thought out and well planned.. Students from the university welcomed us then  a traditional balinese dance was performed which was really quite mesmorising. The director of Udayana University welcomed us students and introduced us to our professors.
on the second day of orientation we had talks from a doctor who was preparing us for what diseases bali has.. it was definately and eye opener and has really made me think about where i eat and what i drink and i have definatley stocked up on insect repellent
. im really looking forward to travelling to the Seeds of Hopes orphange on Tuesday.. i hope we can bring many smiles to the childrens faces. Asia Exchange is definatley a well planned and orgnised company. Although i am finding it a bit difficult to get along with the other finnish students i know that there are always people that i can talk to and i know its only the beginning. 
classes start on monday.. am getting quite excited.. until then.. Sampai jumpa nanti