Welcome
I live in Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city. The consensus amongst my colleagues is that it is a pretty good place to live. It gets more "westernised" by the day (which is not, necessarily, a good thing), so that there are more services for foreigners.
I am fortunate enough to be the High School principal at Sekolah Ciputra, a large Indonesian private school. My wife, Helen, is the Primary School principal. Our job was to turn an Indonesian school into an "international standard" school. We achieved the first major steps, which were authorisation to offer the Middle Years Programme, the Primary Years Programme and the Diploma Programme of the International Baccalaureate Organisation. The PYP and MYP have now been very favourably evaluated. We currently provide the best education in East Java, with a truly international curriculum, based on the sort of students we want to produce. The word has got around, because we have a steady stream of families lining up to enrol. The School has reached a peak and we are moving on. We are very sad at leaving a wonderful school community.
We enjoy living in Java, and have visited some beautiful places. You do not have to go very far from Surabaya to find scenery that equals anywhere else in Asia, including Bali.
I like playing guitar and harmonica, reading, especially good fantasy stuff, and getting about Bali and Indonesia. I also enjoy playing golf (well, when I get a reasonable score) and cricket. Several years ago, I completed the Landmark Forum and Advanced Course, which gave me a new degree of control over my life.
Further Reading:
Flores, Sumbawa, A party in Kuta, Being robbed, Bali traffic,
Religion in Bali, Why things happen, Eating locally, Market language,
10 days in China, A Passage To India, European Vacation, Chiang Mai
Myanmar, Italy 2007, Rinjani, Malang Re-visited, The Indian Pacific,
