The Work

I will be gone for almost 6 months. Leaving on a long trip takes a lot of preperation. I have to get a visa, which is a special stamp in my passport giving me permission from the government of Indonesia to stay in their country for that long. I have to get my plane tickets. I have get special clearance from my university.

And Hello World.

I am unofficaly launching this blog today. In the resturant biz, this would be called the soft opening. A chance to work out some the kinks and bugs and get ready for the grand opening. This blog is about my trip to Indonesia from August 2008 until March 2009. I am an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Florida. I will be in Indonesia on a Fulbright Senior Scholar Grant. Some of what I want to do is to create a blog for my school age kids and their classmates. I hope to work closely with their teachers and other teachers at their schools, including the amazing Ms. Maida, the media center guru for the school to create and interactive environment for k-5 students to learn about Indonesia through the eyes of one of their classmates fathers. Obviously, anyone is welcome to post comments and if other schools want to become involved they are more than welcome. Beyond my posting of reflections, photos, and videos, I am hoping that students will ask interesting and engaging questions. Ideally they will ask something that my cause me to say, "Let me go check that out and get back to you."

Enjoy!