Ends tied

I've been waiting for my student loan for the last 10 days, and it still hasn't come yet... I was supposed to have it on the 20th of this month.. I did get an email today tho, saying that it should be in my account either tonight, or on Monday!!

There was an add on facebook about NAB doing an offer where you pay $12 a month and get unlimited transactions on any atm / eftpos WORLD WIDE!!! :D so I made an account with them today... usually its about $5 per transaction when you're overseas!!! So that should save me a bit!

In other news, I paid for my flight insurance today... now everything is paid for!! My flights, the insurance, everything! Just need to wait for them to call me so I can go in and collect the tickets! I did forget to ask about excess luggage tho... but there's still time. Also, I am now passport-less as well, sent it off to get my visa processed! :D

It's all starting to feel so damn real now... I actually am going to Indonesia!!

Accidental Flights

Class ran over time by an hour and forty minutes today, thats insane!! anyway.. I planned to come straight home to start the essay that I have due tomorrow. Of course, the thing with plans is, they don't always go the way you want them to. After class I found myself walking to flighcentre... There was nothing I could do about it, my legs were just taking me there, I knew I should go home and start my essay, but I just couldn't.

Before I knew it I was sitting in front of a consultant and explaining where I wanted to go and when I wanted to arrive. Soon I had a one year ticket waiting for me, great times, costing less than I thought... I ran away to call David and check the semester dates, everything was fine... so I made a quick stop in at Erika's to transfer some money to my account. Went back to flightcentre and put a deposit on my flights.

It was kind of crazy, cause I didn't plan any of it... It kind of didn't feel like I was doing it..I wasn't thinking about what I was doing... it all just kinda happened.. it didn't feel real.. and then when I came home, I still had a travel itinerary..

Anyway, I fly from here to Denpasar via Melbourne on Tuesday the 22nd of January, stay there for a couple of days, I hope Rocky and Arie are free then, or I'll have nothing to do for 2 days!!!! ... then on the 24th I fly to Jogja.

I really cant wait, I have a month off here, then I'll spend a month in Queensland with Dad over Christmas, then a week after that, I'll be in Indonesia!!!

It still hasn't sunk in yet tho...

The day I've been waiting for... Kind of

I got home from Erika’s just after midnight, and there on my computer keyboard was a letter from ACICIS!!! I was accepted!!! Well… the letter inside wasn’t actually addressed to me, but there is a contact list of everyone else participating, and my details were on it, so I guess that’s good enough!! The girl I was talking about earlier, Lara, well she was on the list too!!! Maybe I can get in touch with her before we leave!!

The orientation is a little earlier than I thought it would be though, it starts on the 24^th of January, so I’m hoping to be in Bali on the 22^nd, so I can spend a day or 2 with Rocky. Bad news tho… I was hoping to visit Erika in Malaysia before I went to Indo, but that’s looking almost impossible now, cause I don’t get back from Queensland until the 15^th of January, so it wont leave much time, and also getting my passport back in time may be troublesome.

Anyway, I want to remain optimistic and pumped about it, so the point is…

I AM GOING TO INDONESIA!!!!!

Lestari Widyastuti

Two days ago, I received a text from Louise telling me that Lestari had passed away. I didn't know her, but I was still saddened by this news. Lestari was a long time employee of ACICIS, she had been working with them for over 10 years. I had heard about her from various people who had already had the ACICIS experience and also read about her in past students blogs.

"Lestari was ACICIS, could anything really have run without her? " ~Wayne Palmer

After reading the things people had to say, I realized that Lestari didn't just work for ACICIS, she was like a second mother to the students. She provided support and assistance when students needed it most, but not only that, she was a friend to them.

"Senyumnya Lestari adalah senyum pertama yang aku lihat waktu aku tiba di Yogyakarta...Senyum itulah yang menanamkan sebuah ide di otakku: mungkin saja ada sesuatu yang bukan asing di tengah tempat yang asing ini." ~ Luke Arnold
(Lestari's smile was the first I saw when I arrived in Yogyakarta... It was that smile that planted a thought in my mind: maybe there's something thats not that different in the midst of this foreign place.)

I was looking forward to meeting Lestari next year... It truly is sad to hear of such an amazing woman and to find that she has passed away, especially at the young age of just 39.

"Lestari was one of the greatest friends I made in my time over in Jogja, and this news is just devastating." ~Willy Kornoff

These quotes are taken from just a few of the condolences sent to ACICIS. Upon reading them, it is easy to see how much Lestari meant to not only the ACICIS program, on a more personal level, how much she meant to the students, staff and anyone who came in touch with her. Many more condolences can be found on the ACICIS website,

"In every end of semester student survey Lestari was always rated the highest of anyone at ACICIS. Always." ~David Armstrong

There is no doubt that Lestari will be greatly missed by all

UGM Symbol

Meaning of the Symbol

• The rays of the sun and the golden kartika (five-angle star) represent the University's nature as a Pancasila University, a national science and cultural center for higher education founded on Pancasila that promotes science, reality, loftiness, and righteousness.
• The center of the Symbol is a surya binolong (a sun with a hole). The word surya (sun) symbolizes "one" while the word binolong symbolizes "nine", hence "19", Also, each ray of the sun consists of nineteen beams, both of which represent the date on which the University was founded..
• Surrounding the hole, at the center of the sun, are two circles arranged as twin suns inside the five rays that constitute the kartika. The kartika symbolizes "one" while the twin suns symbolize "two", hence "12", December, the month in which the University was founded.
• The five songkoks (official hats of military commanders) and five spears reflect the University's struggle and heroic nature that keeps the University prepared and alert. All the songkoks and spears are penetrated and absorbed by Pancasila; this reflects the nature of the University as a monument to the national struggle founded on Pancasila.
• All the five rays of the sun, the five-angle star, the five songkoks and the five spears represent Pancasila; this reflects the heroic foundation, nature, and objectives of the University, i.e. national struggle for Pancasila.
• The white color represents holiness and purity. That the golden color surrounds the white color symbolizes a sengkalan memet, i.e. a concept that implicitly concludes the relationship between the white color and the golden color. The concept reads murining suci margining kanyatan (purity and holiness are the path of reality). The word murni symbolizes "nine", suci "four", marga "nine", kanyatan "one", from the back they read "1949" the year in which the University was founded.
  
  

http://www.ugm.ac.id/eng/content.php?page=0&display=4

*sigh* ... relief

I kinda knew it would get there, but there's always that feeling of uncertainty.

And now... I wait

Broke again...

I sent off my application and last week I got an email from David, the ACICIS secretariat saying he got it, and everything looked ok...but there was one thing... cause I was so eager to apply, I started organising everything so early, and the price had gone up since I downloaded the application forms.. so I posted another $100 money order, and requested they send me an email when they recieve it.. but I am yet to hear anything, so I hope it gets there :S