We haven't been doing much e-mailing lately because our modem has been playing up for some time. It may have been hit by a power surge, which seems to be a common event here. Strangely enough, although it has been pronounced dead by a technically-minded neighbour, it does actually work occasionally. After about thirty tries it may connect. However it certainly can't be relied upon and we'll probably have to get a new one soon.
So, I'm writing this letter off line. Next time I get on I'll send it off to all family members, assuming the e-mail addresses are still current.
We've more or less settled into our new house, though, as is usual in Brunei, there have been a lot of teething problems. For example the phone stopped working. We thought it had died and bought a new one, but it turned out to be a problem in the line. Some men came in and rewired the whole house, but it made little difference. The phones (we have ended up with three of them now - which is fine because there are three outlets) sometimes work and sometimes they don't. People call us and we can hear them but they can't hear us. Or they try telephoning and it doesn't ring. Or we try to ring and get no response. But they do work a reasonable amount of the time. Brunei is like that.
We've also had problems with leaks in three bathrooms, the worst of which have now been fixed. The workmen somehow left us without gas one day, too, but came back and got it started again. Of course we only realised later that the pilot light for the hot water system had gone out when we lost the gas. I mucked around with it but couldn't work out how to light it, but the housing officer's husband came and demonstrated how to do light it using a candle. The cable television system also stopped working after a big storm, but our neighbour managed to get it working again for us.
The last straw for Yoong was when she went upstairs and found the floors flooded and water pouring out of a pipe in a (recently fixed) bathroom. (This happened since I wrote the above paragraph) She managed to get hold of a plumber and then when the plumber called back the phone played up. She could hear him but he couldn't hear her. Fortunately, our back neighbour, a very nice Indian lady from England, came round and comforted her with samosas.
These problems paled into insignificance when we talked to people at a party last weekend in Tutong, a more rural part of Brunei. One woman had woken up to find an intruder standing in her bedroom. The windows were barred, but they were weak enough to be bent by hand. Another told us of a snake she had found in her kitchen. The fire brigade came and handled the situation so ineptly that the next time it happened she decided she was better off killing the snake herself. There's a saying here that covers all such situations - "This is Brunei." One lady has called her cat TIB in honour of this expression. It may be one of the richest countries in the world but it is, in many ways, still a third-world country.
Despite all the initial problems, we are very happy in our new house. It is comfortable, well-located and ridiculously well-furnished. We have two lounge suites, two fridges, several beds, single and double, (our bed actually collapsed the other day, so we've temporarily changed bedrooms) and three dining sets (tables with six chairs each). One of them we have put outside on the big front verandah. We often have breakfast out there in the fresh air. We even have a bar -complete with four bar-stools. When we went to the principal's house for Chinese New Year we found he also has one. Seems to be a necessity in supposedly alcohol-free Brunei.
We had a very successful Chinese New Year Party on the eve of the New Year. This house was a perfect venue for it, and the weather could not have been better, after several evenings of heavy rain. We had about fifty people here. No Chinese though, apart from one married to a European, because that was the night for family reunions. At midnight those who were still here stood out on the lawn watching a spectacular display of fireworks from the neighbouring Chinese families. I'm surprised they're not banned. Actually they probably are!
A few weeks ago we went to Miri (in Malaysia) for a Robert Burns evening, organised by the local Scottish community. We ate haggis for the first time ever (not bad at all), there were lots of amusing speeches and we actually took part in the Scottish dancing, making complete fools of ourselves, along with about half the other couples on the dance floor. The evening was not cheap, at $200 a couple, but this included accommodation (and buffet breakfast) at Holiday Inn. It was a lot of fun, but we weren't impressed by the rooms at Holiday Inn, a favourite spot for Brunei expats.
Another improvement in our new living arrangements, is that we are in a very friendly neighbourhood here. We have got to know a lot of the neighbours, including Chinese families and an Indian family (I mentioned the wife above) who came to our party, despite the fact that they are Muslim. Having lived in England before, they are very westernised - but we do sometimes hear their prayers at 4.30 a.m. However, it is not like the last place, where we would be woken up regularly by the loudspeakers from the mosque. We only hear the neighbours' prayers if we happen to be awake at that time.
School is very different this year. In addition to following my three classes up to Form Two, I have picked up a fourth class, all of whom failed Form 2 last year and are repeating the year. It is a dreadful class, which has caused problems for a number of foreign (and probably local) teachers in the past few years. One woman walked out of the school and refused to come back, due to these same kids. She was quietly moved to another school, where she is much happier. My weak Form class, 2E, which I thought of as my difficult class, now seems like a lovely cooperative bunch compared to these monsters in 2G. Unlike last year, I now have to take some marking home to do as I teach 28 periods, whereas last year I was on 20. It's hard to know what to do with this class, as the students have no interest in learning English and I always seem to have them at the end of the day. The teacher who had them last year told me they only respect Muslim teachers and will not pay any attention to infidels.
Since writing the above we have been to Bandar to meet Don's family - his wife, Maria, and three children, who are all going to an International School. They seem to have adjusted quite well. (Don is the person we shared a house with on our orientation before we moved down to Kuala Belait.) Though they have lived in Brisbane for some time, Don is originally from Northern Ireland, and Maria is from Mexico. When we arrived on Saturday night, we had a lovely Mexican meal at their home, which is a big two-storey mansion even nicer than our place, far better than the original house we shared with him. Don has managed to change schools. We knew he was not happy at his last school, where his students sound similar to the difficult class I have picked up. We found out that he had actually decided to cut the contract short and return home rather than bring his family out, as he could not see himself facing five or six years of such problems. (He would not want to stay for less time than that as it would be too unsettling for the children.) He found out only on the last day of the school year that CfBT had organised a transfer to a better school, which, among other advantages, has a decent discipline system in place and he is now much happier. Maria is also teaching at a Primary school. We are going back to see them this weekend. Saturday is a holiday for National Day, so it's a three-day weekend. We will be going on an organised tour together to Temburong, the most remote part of Brunei, and taking a boat ride up the river into the jungle. (For those who don't know - the weekend here is Friday and Sunday. It takes a bit of getting used to.)
So, that brings you up to date on where we are and what we are doing. Life is quite pleasant here, though it requires patience. It's a nicer place to live than Singapore, though the work is not as good. I enjoyed teaching in Singapore much more, despite the longer hours. We expect to see out the contract, until December, 2002, and are unlikely to extend. We will probably be back in Melbourne for a few weeks at the end of this year. In the meantime please keep in touch by e-mail. We do want to know what is happening over there. Even with the modem problems we check the mail regularly at friends' places, CfBT office, etc.
I managed to get on line last night - but only for 15 minutes - long enough to read our mail, but not to send any. Maybe I'll have better luck tonight.
Just went for a walk on the beach. It's only a few minutes walk from the house. It was a beautiful sunset. Sometimes Brunei really is a tropical paradise. Why not come and share it with us? We have lots of room.