Hey again,

so another week gone and living & studying in this superamazing place is going so great that the time - and I must say it even if it is such a cliche - is speeding sooooo fast when you are enjoying yourself in such a paradise!

Firstly our lectures started on Monday. Must say I was really looking forward to get to know other educational system than the European one plus my interest in this unique country is actually enormous - I guess now bordering on obsession:). I really want to get to the core, learn tons of new info and get to know Indonesia from a different perspective.

So the first couple of days at Udayana Uni was quite different experience than from my home uni in Prague. I guess the major difference is that lecturers here want us to participate and communicate more. It's way more interactive, but I think it's only positive. The system of teaching is very similar though and the quality of teaching is indeed on an ok level. Since this is the program on Asian Studies in general we are given the most important facts in the classes plus a lot of references where to look up for more detailed info. All of the lecturures are experts in their fields and can speak English fluently, altought the accent is sometimes hard to handle, but I guess it only takes some time of getting used to.

We got our first group assignment already in History&culture and I really find Bahasa Indonesia very useful, we practise a lot the basic vocabulary and conversation. Next week is our first out of school workshop on the program - our task is to buy a traditional set of clothes in a Denpasar's biggest market and haggle over the price in Indonesian. Should be a real fun, especially when I'm such a hardcore bargainer already:) From my perspective the whole program's concept is set up ideally - classic lectures are mixed with workshops - this week it was about traditional Balinese ornament being produced from palm leafs - we could actally make one ourselves just by following the given instruction and we ended up having quite fun time trying to handle this puzzle.

Another benefit for us students is that guys from Asia Exchange organize also out of school activities for us, e.g. next week is white water rafting on the menu - I've never had a chance to try and I'm definitely up for any adrenalin activity:) Big plus is also a fact they managed to get us a special reduced price. Also there were two presentations this week - one from the guy who ownes a diving company and the other from the guy who established a surf company in Bali. So loads of useful info. I'm actually planning on doing this open water course thing - only tried snorkling before and I guess being really able to go deeper down must be totally different experience. And there is also a considerable discount arranged for us.

Anyway this school week was pretty short, only monday to wednesday, so we had a lot of free time for our own activities. And safe to say there is countless - at least from my point of view there is no other place like Bali. I guess one of the things which makes this island so unique is that anyone can find anything in here. You have the legendary surfbreaks, awesome beaches starting with white sand with all this palm trees, ending with breathtaking cliffs with unforgettable views, incredibly cheap and incredibly delicious local food, one of the world's best diving and snorkling sites, you can go hiking to some of many volcanos or just walking through the exquisite rice paddies and I guess I could go on and on and on:) plus essential fact about Bali - locals are probably the friendliest people you could ever meet. So this entry was mostly about introducing the school and next time I'd like to write about hints a tips and overall about everything one can enjoy on the Island of Gods.

C u