Studying in Bali - what is that?

My University started two weeks ago. The Udayana University is located in the capital city, Denpasar, and driving to there takes about 20-30 min depending on the traffic.  During the first week we took a taxi to the Uni because we didn’t know the way and driving with a taxi is really cheap here. Now we are driving to the Uni with the scooters but we still get lost almost every day, because the way is not that easy to remember. :)

 

Studying here is not that difficult but the quality of the teaching still surprised me in a good way. We have quite many hours of the Indonesian language and the rest of the studies are mostly about tourism, business and culture in South East Asia and mostly in Indonesia and in Bali. Indonesian language is not actually that hard and because we use it all the time, we learn every day something new. We have lessons only from Monday till Wednesday and Thursdays we have a cultural workshop where we get to know about the Bali culture. The lessons are in the mornings so in the afternoons we also have time to go to the beach. The nearest beach from our villa is about 10 min with the scooter so not that far at all!

The way of life here is really laid-back and the Balinese are not that strict with the time. This is also seen at the Uni because often we might go to a lesson and find out that it has been cancelled. The facilities at the Uni building are not that great and for example the Uni library is really old-fashioned. There is one computer available in the whole faculty and if you want to print out something, you have to ask from the student office.

Our exchange program, Asia Exchange, organized us a big ice-breaking party in a cool beach lounge last Saturday. The club was huge and there was a big pool downstairs. There are many clubs and bars in Kuta so you can have a good night out any day of the week.

Last week we also made a visit to a local orphanage which the Asia Exchange also supports. There were about 70 children living in the orphanage and they were all so happy and excited to meet us. The children were really talented and were singing to us and playing different instruments. Some of them could also speak good English. The visit there was an eye-opening experience and I wish to visit there again while I’m in Bali.

Settling down to Bali

So here I am! After 5 months I'm back in Bali again! And I'm loving it!

My first weeks in Bali have been really busy organizing the living situation and the studies in the local university but of course there has been time to have fun too! After spending only 2 nights in a hotel in the beginning of my trip, I already found a place to stay for a longer period. I moved in to a really nice villa to a place called Canggu with 4 Germans and 1 Finnish girl.

In the villa I have my own bungalow with a bathroom, a huge bed and a balcony. I’m sharing a kitchen, a living room and a pool area with the others. The villa is quite big and view from the villa over the rice fields is really beautiful, especially during the sunset. And the rent of the villa is really cheap!

Living in a villa like this is so luxury compared to the life in Finland. We have our own maid, who comes here every day. I get so lazy here because I don’t need to make my own bed, do my dishes or clean my room. Even the laundry is taken by the maid! We also have our own gardener and a security man during the nights. It is important to have the security man here, because the living room area is an open space and there are no walls so anyone could come in from the field side of the villa. However, all the bungalows have their own locks. 

The only down side of this place is that it is quite far away from everything and therefore you have to have a scooter.  Traffic here is terrible and the roads are in a really bad condition. However, driving rules don’t differ much from the rules in Thailand, so I've gotten used to driving here already. The most difficult thing about driving here is that there are no good maps of the roads, not many signs to guide your way or no house or street numbers. So finding a way to a new place is impossible without asking many times from the locals where is that place! Therefore also the taxi drivers never find the way if you don’t know the name of the “banjar”, which is the local community or village where the place is located to.

Luckily Balinese are lovely people and they will happily help you if  you get lost or need some help. Like our teachers in the Uni always say, as long as you are patient and keep smiling, you will be fine in Bali.