Routine...

 Well it has been a while since we have last posted and figured that it was about time that we do so. I figured that it would be kinda cool to fill you in on what we do day to day in a regular week as well as share an exciting trip that we were able to take a few weeks back...so here we go!

So we'll begin with our trip.  We went to Bali which is a small island to the east of Java (the island we live on). So you will see a few pics from that as well! The island is tremendous and a totally different feel from Jakarta! Much cooler and cleaner! As well it is almost completely Hindu.  This was very interesting for us. We travelled with Ron and Nadine and had an absolute incredible 5 days! Here are a few pics: 

Legian Beach, Bali

Drinking Cocao, Lemon Tea, and Kopi Luwak Coffee

Silas mixing the Kopi Luwak Coffee Beans -- google it :) -- great story!

Kintamini Volcano -- Bali

Ubud Bike Tour -- 24 km!  Amazing!

Nisha with the Rice fields behind her - beautiful!

We had the privilege to bike through many villagers and see them living their day to day lives -- yes...a privelege!

Rewarding Traditional Balinese Dinner after the Bike Tour -- Kid's are adjusting very well to the change in diet!

So here's a little window into our day. It begins nice and early at 5 am - everything just starts earlier and ends earlier here. The sun rises and sets with a fluctuation of about 30 minutes wavering throughout the entire year. It rises between 5:45 and 6:15 and sets at about that time in the evening as well. So routine lasts throughout the year. People generally start earlier and finish earlier. We usually go to bed between 9 and 10, and the kids get ready for bed around 6:30 and are in bed at 7. It took us a while to get used to this but we actually are quite in tune with it now!

Doreen's K-3 Class on Batik Day

School starts at 7 and we try to be at school by 6:30 -- the time that most of you are cleaning your dishes from dinner or getting ready to take the kids to the soccer pitch! So this means we try to be out of the house by 6:20. Everything just takes a little longer around here which is the reason why we get up quite early. We are hopefully eating breakfast by 5:45 - some kids are dressed and some aren't. Silas is usually still in his underwear which makes the maid laugh every morning. He still has her wrapped around his finger.

Our drive to school is not far, passing out of our compound by the security, past a few traffic circles and into the school...through the security once again -- the drive is only about 5 minutes and we usually park in the Junior School Parking lot on the other end of campus. This is where Fred splits from the family and walks over to the senior campus. There are 3 floors in the Junior school -- Doreen and Silas are on the ground floor, Derick and Alia are on the 2nd floor, and Nisha is the Queen of Junior school on the 3rd floor. Next year she will be moving to the middle school!

Swimming Lessons for PE class!

Silas, Alia and Doreen have school till 1:00 while the rest of us go straight till 3. Doreen usually fills here day with (required) tutoring and meetings- some of them with her grade level and other Professional Development meetings. She is feeling quite well supported and feels like she is learning an immense amount about the Primary Years Program (PYP) of the International Baccalaureate (IB). It is busy and so we covet your prayers to able to balance two full-time positions, family life and on-going adjustment to a new culture.

Riding Indonesian Style...this is not just a pose...for real!



Nisha, leading with her group, an original game!

Nisha, Derick and Alia are all adjusting differently because of their personalities and approach to change. Nisha has been invited to a few birthday parties already in downtown Jakarta and is getting right in to the mix. She is a our risk taker and has very much enjoyed getting picked up by her friends and their drivers and taking off. This has been an adjustment for us letting our 'little' girl go off with people we still consider strangers but she has loved it! Birthdays are extremely important here and usually celebrated in a big way in Indonesia! So some of the parties she has been to have involved lunch and dinner... bowling, movies, swimming and shopping! 

Nisha doing a lay-up in her first official game!

Nisha takes her education in stride which is a beautiful thing to see. It's difficult and stretching for her but she understands who she is and accepts the gifts that God has given her. I think that sometimes her mom and dad stress out way more about her assignments than she does... actually we're pretty sure of that! Currently, she is gone for 3 days at a Retreat about 4 hours away (Puncak pronounced PUNchuck :). It's in the mountains and is a bit cooler then here.  It has been all she's been talking about for the past week or so.  She was so excited--what a girl!

Derick has had a more difficult time. Before I continue I want to explain that things are much better now. Derick is our intense boy. He stands quite large but behind that stature is an anxious little boy. He struggled to 'know' the routine. Whereas Nisha just accepts and deals with whatever comes down her path -- Derick has quite a different approach. Derick is one that needs to KNOW! He is our questioner, he's our inquisitive learner, he is our persistant reminder! Things need to be just so. When this is compromised...things crumble. About 3 weeks ago we were at quite a low with him. Derick was sick a few days before our Lebaran Break at the end of August and we felt the brunt of that when we returned to school in September, on labour day :-) . Because he was not up with all the new stuff that was going on, missed some assignments and tests...he was behind and this was something he could not handle. His anxiety was off the charts -- he didn't want to go to school, he didn't want to participate in after school sports (totally not him) he was to the point where he was throwing up in the morning before leaving. The school schedule and curriculum is rigorous, so adjusting to the new routine of school, new curriculum, new country, new friends, new teacher and a new instrument (guitar) all compounded till he crashed. We were spending ridiculous amounts of time trying to catch him up in the evenings on homework, so this wasn't helping out either. It was tough.

The first week of school after the break was our toughest week here by far.  Added to the stress of seeing Derick in that state, our helper did not return.  We were uncomfortable at first with the idea of someone living in our house and "taking care" of household chores.  But by this point we had come to the realization that life is barely manageable when all the homework, teacher work and household chores had to be done after 4pm!

So with God by our sides, Derick pulled the tough stuff and we're happy to report that he is his old self again!!!  Thank you, Lord! 

It was a trying, low time for us but God has allowed us to reflect on the experiences that we have had so far and we have already learned so much about ourselves and each other.  We have never had to pray that way with our children before so we are thankful that our heavenly Father is faithful to us and that he carries us through it all!! God is there as we miss home, family, friends - everything familiar.  We have been reminded by our kids as well through their questions, conversations and learning at school that God is steadfast will remain faithful through times of joy, sorrow and struggle.  Amen. God also knew we couldn't do this completely on our own and so we're SO thankful to have such good friends here with whom we can unload! Ron & Nadine are the bit of home we needed to carry us through the tough days.

Decorating cupcakes for Alia's Birthday party

Alia and Silas have seemingly made the most smooth transition.  Actually Alia is our surprise.  Aside from Derick we were concerned with how Alia would handle this move. She was our quietest child.  Well, she's still a little quiet but in some ways she has really blossomed here.  She has connected well with Gabby and the other girls in the class which is so great and comforting.  Alia still deeply misses her good friend Emily and talks of her often... something like "I really wish Emily could come here for a sleepover for .... like 2 weeks!"  Alia is also loving basketball!  She is part of an after school program that meets from 1-3 two days a week. Who would have thought?!

Searching for clues to the find the present...a tradition for the
Breukelman kids...they all love it!

Silas is the same ol' same ol' --- He is the youngest and knows it...hmmm - - come to think of it he doesn't get that from a stranger! :)  Silas is a charmer and makes his siblings laugh uncontrollably.  He has numerous times made Derick laugh so hard beyond the point of crying ... yeah... bathroom calls :).  Silas is loving having his mom be his teacher.  He has exploited this privilege repeativly but ... well... he's the youngest right?  He can get away with it!

Where was I again? ... Back to our day -- Lunch time comes a little earlier usually just after 11 in the junior school since the day starts so early and Derick and Nisha (especially Nisha) have loved the privilege of being able to purchase their lunches once and a while at the Canteen for about  Rp 20,000.  We'll let you figure out how much that is.

So after Silas and Alia are finished they sometimes come home and are watched by our helper or sometimes they hang out in the Kindy area with Doreen.  This time after school for Alia and Silas is good down time for them although Doreen does struggle not being able to just take them home after they're done and hang out. Since we have had our new helper she has prepared food for us most evenings. What a blessing!!  After homework bedtime is between 6:30 and 7. 

Introductory Diploma Program/Middle School Years Program Seminar

Doreen and Fred then get a little time to prep, mark, or chill (Fred does more of this) before we go to bed between 9:30 and 10:00.  We have also tried to fit in a time to work out/ play tennis with Ron & Nadine once a week. So those evenings we leave the cell phone with Nisha and if she needs us she will text.  I don't know if we mentioned this but our helper does not speak a word of English - yes, this makes it a bit tricky!  And she does not read so google translate is no longer an option for us! 

At Dairy Queen at the Grand Indonesia Mall in Jakarta!

Well this is getting awfully long so I'm thinking that I need to stop here.  There are so many more experiences I could write about but I will leave that for another post. 

Till next time!....

Here are a few more pictures that I just took tonight while at the supermarket -- Hypermart.

Rice, Rice, and more Rice!

Mmmmm....turtles!!!

In the Checkout at Hypermart