Salamat hari natal

With a flurry of gifts and a half day of Christmas parties, the 1st semester came to a close here on Wednesday.

For most Asian families, in the celestial pantheon, teachers exist somewhere slightly lower than the Holy Trinity and slightly higher than pop stars. This was good news for me. In spite of a semester of slogging my way through IB Economics, gifts still rolled in most of the day. The school has actually set a price limit on gifts for teachers (for that reason I had to return a nice Italian leather belt), however, I still did fairly well with chocolate (mostly) and a few other gifts.

Now, our attention is turned toward Bali, where we will spend a few days enjoying a different island with a very different mindset. Bali is a smaller island than Java that remained Hindu/animist when the Muslims took over a few hundred years ago. This gives Bali a different cultural color and texture than the rest of Indonesia (not to mention that people are free from dietary and clothing restrictions allowing them to cavort more easily than anywhere else in Indonesia). I’ll do my best to keep Janet out of the bars :). For us, we will enjoy the resort amenities while visiting some Hindu temples and Balinese dances, snorkeling, body surfing and touring in the sun.

Talk more when we get back.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,

and ransom captive Israel,

that mourns in lonely exile here

until the Son of God appear.

Refrain:Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to thee,

O Israel.

O come, thou Wisdom from on high,

who orderest all things mightily;

us the path of knowledge show,

and teach us in her ways to go.
Refrain

O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer

our spirits by thine advent here;

disperse the gloomy clouds of night,

and death's dark shadows put to flight.
Refrain

O come, Desire of nations,

bindin one the hearts of all mankind;

bid thou our sad divisions cease,

and be thyself our King of Peace.
Refrain