Yes, we are still alive...you know, in case anyone was wondering

We haven't blogged in a while, I know. We got back to Indonesia a little less than a week ago and since then we've been either busy or nearly passed out from jet lag. The last week hasn't been uneventful, though, but I am too tired to make things run together nicely so I'm going to borrow writing style from my students here..."Ma'am, can we write in dot-points instead of real paragraphs?"

*It was nice to be back in the U.S. We didn't get snow, but the weather wasn't freezing cold either, so that was fine. We also got to see a lot of friends we didn't see last year, and it was nice to catch up. It was also great to shop in my favorite stores, eat my favorite foods and watch my favorite American TV. In case I haven't mentioned it before...The Daily Show with Jon Stewart...Best. Show. Ever. Added bonus: we got to watch a great episode of Letterman where Bill O'Reilly was the guest and Dave totally called him out for being the self-righteous, pompous ass he is. Tee hee.

*American Airlines sucks to my assmar. (Read Lord of the Flies if you don't get that one.) For the second time in two trips, they lost half of our luggage. Way to be 0-2, crappy domestic carrier. We were met at the gate in Hong Kong; a very nervous-looking Cathay Pacific representative stood there holding a sign with our names on it. "Oh, *&%$, someone died," was my first thought. "They overbooked, we're getting upgraded!" was Travis's. Guess we know whose glass is half full. Anyway, the nervous man informed us that two of our four bags "were not seen" in San Francisco, when our luggage was to leave the uncapable hands of AA and get loaded onto a Cathay Pacific 747 for a 15-hour flight across the ocean. Goody. Luckily, our luggage was later delivered, safe and sound, to our house-just one day after we got home.

*Our flights home had more than the average amount of crazy people, it seemed. On the Chicago-San Francisco leg, we sat near an insane lady and her young daughter-a little girl who at first glance seemed precocious but upon further examination was actually kind of a brat. Insane Lady screamed at a flight attendant who asked her to fasten the little girl's seat belt. Classy dame, Insane Lady. On the San Francisco-Hong Kong flight, we sat behind two large surly gentlemen who for some reason decided to scream at the lady in front of them for slightly reclining her seat. The lady, a super-tan 50-something in a velour and rhinestone track suit meant for someone half her age, responded in kind in a raspy, heavily Jersey-accented voice. Yelling ensued at various times throughout the 15-hour flight, but all of this commotion did not stop the large surly men from reclining THEIR seats all the way with little regard to the tall girl (me) behind them, or her kneecaps.

*Teaching while jet lagged is probably a lot like how teaching while drunk would be. We got back to Indonesia Tuesday afternoon and started teaching right away Wednesday. It wasn't pretty. There was a lot of slurring of words and staggering involved. Not even coffee can help sober up the severely jet lagged.

*We officially signed on to stay in Indonesia for a third year. We're just not ready to leave yet. I think it's safe to say our biggest reason for staying right now is the students. It's impossible not to love them. So here we are, Armknechts abroad for a little while longer.

*Beans did a very good job of pretending he didn't miss us while we were gone. He acted indifferent when we got back on Tuesday, sniffing briefly at our bags and occasionally casting disinterested glances over his shoulder. Once I crawled into bed, though, he caved and went into a fit of purring and snuggling. This lasted for about 20 minutes until, thoroughly embarassed by his undignified behavior (this from someone who licks himself on an hourly basis) he retreated to the end of the bed and proceeded to stare at me, unblinking.

*We booked tickets to go to Istanbul, Turkey in March. Whoo-hoo! We're very excited. If you're reading this and thinking, "But my God, what about bird flu?! They have bird flu in Turkey now!" then chill out...they have bird flu in Indonesia, too, and as we don't spend copious amounts of time wallowing in chicken poop, we aren't going to get bird flu. Seriously.

*Best way to see a movie? At the Premiere theaters in Jakarta. There are only a few, located inside a couple of the regular theaters at some of the fancier malls. 100,000 Rp (about $10) will get you one of 40 leather recliners, a brand new snuggly blanket and all manner of food and drink personally delivered to you, chairside. Leather recliner+Corona+nachos+movie=fabulous experience. We saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in such a theater back in November, and just this Friday we saw Memoirs of a Geisha. Incredible book, beautiful movie...though I'd probably happily sit through Tom Green, Pauly Shore and Vin Diesel's entire film catalogues in a theater like that one. (As long as they kept bringing me Corona, that is.)