J_25&26: First feature and Grade A schmoozing

Buenos dias! This 'writing every day' thing is not going very well, but nezza mind, I will try harder...tomorrow, maybe...

SO Monday, I drifted into the office at 10am, which is my wonderful start time, and spent a day of writing my pornography law feature and frantically ringing people to check that what they said was right. One of the more subtle problems with the language barrier is that people here will often agree with what you've said to make you feel better, when they don't understand, which means real trouble later when you quote them on it. One of my interview subjects said twice that he didn't want to change Indonesian law, and then twice that he DID. He then told me that child pornography ownership is illegal in Indonesia, when a human rights lawyer told me it isn't. So I rang him to discuss this and he said "Yes yes yes, I agree that it is illegal. Yes it is. What? I'm not really listening to you, I'm in a meeting. I'm not actually sure, email me later about it." Not. Helpful.

Anyway I rang UNICEF to sort it out and they were AMAZING, getting me an expert opinion overnight that clarified everything (the law is fairly dicey and open to interpretation on the subject which is what caused the confusion) and I managed to write a semi-decent feature that I haven't yet heard any complaints about. Unfortunately I had to stay until 9pm to get it all written up, because we were told at the very last minute that when they say deadline at my paper, they actually mean the day before. Sigh.

So I got home really exhausted, but still managed to watch an episode of the Hills with Helena (don't ask, it's so dang addictive) and found out that the tiramisu ice cream I bought her to pay her back for eating hers has COFFEE in it and so she can't eat it, due to a severe lack of taste. Ay yah!

Due to my losing my phone, I have to get Helena to smash my door in every morning to wake me up, and this morning I could have sworn she DID knock on my door, because I woke up, thought "I'm way too tired for this" and decided that since my time was supposedly my own and I'd stayed at work an extra 3 hours to write my article, I would sleep in. When I woke up again, I had the impression it was 12pm and panicking, I booted up my computer to find it was actually only 8:20am - so who knows when I actually woke up originally. Of course, I fell back asleep in relief and was an hour late ANYWAY but luckily no one here gives a hoot when you turn up since we're contributing work for free, as long as you get your deadlines on time.

Today was spent trying to write up another feature and planning for tomorrow, which is going to be a really busy day - I need to go to a meeting about our special section, which I've done nothing on, and then go to an exhibition and interview the curator/some artists, and then write the story up. Um. Do-able, right?

At about 5pm I got a call from the head of the JPP course (or rather, Helena got the call) and she said she'd heard I'd lost my phone and that this wasn't allowed - apparently ACICIS needs a number they can contact me on in case of emergencies (such as the bombing of a Western-frequented hotel...). I refrained from pointing out that if I were in a position to not contact my family myself, I probably would also be unable to use my cell phone even if it were on me (besides, I don't have the insurance deal that gets your coffin flown home) and agreed to purchase a new phone ASAP and she would drop me off an old phone of hers to use until Friday, when Michelle will be coming to visit Jakarta, bringing with her my PHONE! (And, unfortunately, my old simcard, which she somehow also got off the shady Bogorian driver, legendary).

Then it was off to the NZ ambassador's house for dinner! To be honest with you, we had all expected someone's apartment, some beers, jandals and a very laid back, casual dinner. But the ambassador's residence is HUGE - marble doors, 12 person dining table, pool, massive mirror in the entrance way, chandeliers, and WINE! Ohhhh, to taste that delicious liquid again! We DID have a BBQ, but it was true "let's try the natives food, darling, ho ho" style, with perfectly grilled chicken, bratwurst salmon - everything was DELICIOUS and so nice to have after weeks of Indonesian food (which is delicious, but it was nice to have a taste of home).

The ambassador was an intelligent, lovely guy and not snake-like at all, as I have found with other ambassadors. He was very definitely a diplomat, but I found it refreshing that he could be somewhat candid about certain questions. It was also really lovely that he had hosted a dinner where three lowly NZ journo students were the guests of honour - we felt very abashed! (That's a word.)

I met lots of distinguished people - the deputy editor of Tempo, Indonesia's best investigative journalism magazine, journalists who have been in the business for 40 years, some during Suharto's era, Tempo workers who had won journalist of the year for confronting officials about their corruption. I didn't realise it at the time, but the ambassador had obviously invited a whole heap of his contacts he thought we'd be interested in. We all felt distinctly underdressed too, since we'd had to come straight from work, and I had had to wear my not-so-posh trousers, everything else being in the wash (I'd planned to wear my fancy work skirt, but had been walking home last night when I passed an ojek driver fiddling with his chest. Random, but I thought nothing of it until I felt something warm splash the arm opposite him. I turned to confront him in confusion, only to see him looking up in indignation into the tree above me. So, did a monkey urinate on me? Was there someone in the tree? I don't know, but I threw the clothes into the wash when I came home and scrubbed my arm raw.) I had a wonderful night and it was lovely to connect with Kiwis, and to have a really nice dinner with some nice booze on the side.

So I am a satisfied trooper tonight, what with a freezer full of ice cream too, but fingers crossed I can get this feature done for tomorrow, and then the one for the next day, and the day after that. That's right, four features in one week. Friday, I am going to be free!

LESSONS LEARNT 25 & 26:

- When the dress code says casual/smart for an embassy, go for smart, rather than casual

- Wine helps conversation flow

- Social skills are very important

- Ambassadors are fascinating to watch in awkward social situations, like master ice skaters, whirling around and performing conversational pirouettes.

- NZ is a great little country, but we're so very little compared with our neighbours

- Try not to mention how your diplomats have failed you in the past...