Medan

Medan is the capital city of North Sumatra and the third largest city in Indonesia.  Medan is Sean's 7th assignment and the 4th assignment for us as a family for the period of Summer 2006 - 2008.   Sean is the Principal Officer of the consulate and covering Sumatra and some neighboring islands.  Sean went to this island at the first time on Indonesian election period in 1999 from May - July that year.  Pictures below are taken when Cheech came to visit Sean over the weekend. 

Medan is located as exit entry point for traveler.  There are boats take you to and from Singapore and Malaysia daily and flights connections basically to anywhere.  Medan is a neat city with Dutch influence.  Many streets has samples of European architecture.   Medan divided into five main ethnic groups; the Coastal Malays living along the Malaka Straits; the Bataks consisting of the sub-tribes of Toba, Simalungun, Pak Pak (Dairi) and Karon of the highlands around Lake Toba and Samosir Island; the Pesisirs of Central Tapanuli along the Indian Ocean coastline; the Mandailings and Angkolas from southern Tapanuli and Nias lslanders off the western coast of the province.  If times permit, we are planning to visit some of these places. These groups each have their own dialects, religious beliefs and traditional arts, customs and culture. There are also several ethnic groups who live in Medan and other towns of North Sumatra, the largest of these being Chinese and Indian. Other parts of the archipelago are represented, but non more strongly than the Acehnese, Minangkabou and Javanese who now live in many parts of the area. As a result the area is often regarded as constituting a natural museum of Indonesia's proto-Malay heritage in which ancient customs and traditions have been preserved. The diversity of arts and cultures literally make this region a Garden of Eden for social scientists and culture seekers. It is a treasure chest of culture and tradition waiting to be explored, with ancient graves of Batak kings, unique dances and ceremonies, and beautiful arts and crafts. North Sumatra is also one of the richest provinces in Indonesia for flora and fauna with a wealth of birds, butterflies, buffalo and deer. The Province proudly boats of its Orang Utan Rehabilitation Center in the Gunung Leisure National Park which is bordered by the fast flowing Bohorok River and some delightful countryside and of course lake Toba, legendary birthplace of the mountain-dwelling Bataks and the largest inland lake in Southeast Asia. The region also produces more than 30% of Indonesia's export commodities and handles about 60% of them, making it a vital  cog in the Indonesian economy. Tobacco, palm oil, tea and rubber are produced in large quantities, particularly around Medan in the north of the province.
December 2007
Christmas Party
July 2007
4th of July Celebration
Big dinner reception at our house for  USINDO with a theme: "Medan Tempo Doeloe" (Medan in the old days)
May 2007
DARE TO DREAM PROJECT
	In May Jakarta asked the Consulate to organize a book launch for the Indonesian translation of the book Dare to Dream, an inspiring collection of stories about Americans who overcame hardship to do something great.  We'd never launched a book before so we brainstormed and decided to hold a dare to dream writing contest where students had to write about Indonesians.  Some of the stories were predictable -- written about Indonesia's first president or well known resistance leaders. Some of the students, however, really searched to great but unknown Indonesians to write about.  To generate buss, Sean worked with local radio stations so the winners could talk about their subjects on the air. He also hosted a press conference so the kids could get their pictures in the paper along with their stories.  Turned out to be a big hit -- so much so the big bookstore we convinced to host the event contacted us again to let us know that we're welcome to launch books there anytime.
Beside Berani Bermimpi, CAPSTONE VISIT one of the highlights in May.  To see more of this visit, please see Aceh page.

Healthy Kids Program Sometimes others think up great ideas and we just get to go along for the ride. The "Washing hands with soap" campaign was one of those rare events. In this case, USAID arranged for us to speak at dozens of elementary schools to encourage kids to wash their hands before eating as well as at a huge televised event including over 1000 kids.  The program was a great success.
April 2007
	Indonesian Police case Dallin's Visit Noni's visit Tangkahan on Earth Day (April 22) Big luncheon with American Alumni Association

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Temple visit with Diane

President Bush came to Indonesia after attending APEC Leaders Summit in Hanoi this month.  Demonstrations have been held across the country, including in Medan.  Our demos began on Thursday Nov 18.  Non-Mainstream groups such as Hizbut Tahrir, the Front for the Defense of Islam, and Majelis Muhammad in Indonesia took an early lead in calling for demos, but before long, mainstream groups like Mohammadiyah and PKS joined in as well. Because our home has all the security features of, well, a home, we have to evacuate every time there is a demonstration.  This time, we had to flee with less than 30 minute’s notice. Not even enough time to prep the kids or pack our bags…Security doesn’t think it prudent for us to go back before Tuesday (Nov 21); that is when the President left the country.  Security was right…(read more on this story check our kid's blog or click here)

Top picture: 3 hours before the party, welcome speech and the game has began

We LOVE orchids!