How do I perceive the world? Now that is a big question for ME now. This is a whole new world, yes just like the song. But the new life here is no song at all I should say. Arrived in Balikpapan on wednesday at around 9.30 am. Balikpapan reminds me a lot of Semarang, somehow. Went to the mall to get lunch. It was like a dead mall. People are barely there and it was lunch time. Gilang said it's working days. Still. Dead mall. And it's only Balikpapan. The mall was nice though, i couldnt recall the name. It was by the sea. It was raining a little. From Balikpapan we rode to Paser. Riding that Bis Pramuka Mas Imran got us. It was 1.30 pm from Balikpapan. The journey has started. We needed to cross from Balikpapan to Penajam. Using ferry it was. I was pretty much asleep during the crossing. Dead sleepy. It took us around 2 hours maybe to cross? I can't remember. Well, i dont know. I was asleep. From Penajam to Paser was a rough drive. We drove through the road that split the deep forest. At that time i recalled the fact that Kalimantan is one of the places with the biggest and thickest forest in this world. Oh hell, what was i thinking?! I'm going to teach here? Who am I going to teach in this thick forest. And God, the forest is indeed thick. Have i said that the forest is the thickest i've ever known? Alright, i was panicking. The road wasnt the best one either. Jumpy and bumpy. Patrya was thrown out of his chair. That was funny. I laughed histerically. It was me panicking. Paser Buen Kesong (Paser berhati baik). The capital city of Kabupaten Paser. Small city. Nice though. Hot and humid. The humidity was out of my expectation. How come it didnt come cross my mind before? I have my own little fear on breathing difficulty. But im dealing it well so far. We stayed at rumah dinas Bupati. Big house. The setting is rather like one of those horror Indonesian movies though. We drove around visiting host-families to be. We dropped out luggage. I have a great school. it's on top of a small hill. Looking out is kebun sawit. If i look far enough, that's the Kalimantan forest. I live deep among kebun sawit. But my house is actually on the side of the main road. The color of the house is green-ish. The inside color is blue and yellow. My room is purple. I live in a freaking candy house. How fun is that?! My "mom" is my age so i call her Kak Rina instead. She's a kindergarden teacher. She has one 4 years old boy. Her husband goes out to the sea a lot. Her parents live right next door. In additional, she has 2 nieces, 5 and 10 years old living in the house. Kids are everyewhere. It's fun though. The separation day. We went to pesisir area to drop Gilang, Ridwan, Mansyur, and Patrya. Pesisir is....what's the word, alerting. We crossed from Lori. The way to Lori is the worst. The road are not there. It was basically mud. All mud. Jumpier and bumpier. When i arrived at pelabuhan Lori the aura was different. You know when the area has never been invaded with strangers before, and that is Lori. I was using my hat and i had to lower it down. Some people were staring. I was wearing bright red tshirt with big INDONESIA written on it. That must be some foreign word if they ever have to read it. I know it might sound too much but that was how i feel. Gilang and Ridwan get a real nice family. Their area is also big. Tanjung Aru is ibukota kecamatan. Going away to Mansyur's place, the village is smaller. The feeling of alert came back to me. Good think that Mansyur seems to have a good family. The school is built on top of mud. The children look quite wild. Goodluck buddy. Patrya has a different story. He might want to write it himself. But my first tears was for him. I didnt have the heart to leave him just like that. Hey Pat, i'm super proud of you. You the neoliberalist. Im wishing you the best of luck. And as you said, it's challenging in every second you endure. And you will endure this year. We're going to America next year!! =D Kawan-kawan Paser, mari menjalani satu tahun penuh deg-degan ini. Keep in